OK. Here's my story:
I'm a 24 year old SAHM of three (6,5,and3). I smoked for 12 years and am now on day 20 of my quit! I have always been overweight and both my parents are very overweight. I would like to do something now while I can still tie my own shoes. I remember being embarrassed by my mom coming to school because of her size and I dont want to do that to my children. I'm not HUGE by anymeans. I am well proportioned and carry my weight well, but I dont want GET huge and I would love to be smaller. I wear a size 18 now. I wore a 10/12 when I was married three years ago. I would love to at least see that as the light at the end of a tunnel, however long that tunnel may be.
My quit has given me extra energy and time and instead of spending that smoking again, I'd like to become even more healthy. I dont really want to count calories. To me, that's just stressful and not very possible in a house with three youngsters. Basically, the past few weeks, I have removed all the junk. Occassionaly, I understand that there will be mac&cheese with hotdogs and peas. I will not, under any circumstances, remove starches from my diet. I love my potatoes, my breads and my pastas! So, I will not be dieting, just eating healthier.
Now that I'm a SAHM (just quit my job so I could focus more on College), I am able to cook more meals at home. Since I quit my job, they will budget meals - beans, pastas and the such. It may not be low cal and low cab, but they are not full of additives and junk which I think is a big improvement. I will be exercising as well.
I have already started getting up at 5:30am for my morning walk/jog. I would love to become a runner, but at 233lbs, it's kind of hard on the body to be bouncing all of that around. Plus being a newbie quitter, my lungs are not up to full function yet. I tried the jog/walk this morning: 5min brisk warm-up walk then 60sec jogging alternated with 90 minutes of walking. After the first 60 sec of jogging, I thought someone had dumped a bucket of razorblades into my lungs. My body was fine, but my lungs were going to explode. I did not try to jog again, but continued to walk this morning until I had been out for 30minutes. Then came home, did some core training and took a shower. I will continue to get up at 5:30am and do this until I am able to do the 60sec run without dying! Maybe then I'll actually get to do the alternating part! Lol. One step at a time!
I weighed myself this morning for the first time in 4months (last one broke and never had the motivation to go and buy a new scale). 4 months ago, I was over 245lbs, so I've done something right these past 4 months. lol. Lets see if I can continue it. Hopefully I'll be able to post some improvement pertaining to tomorrows A.M. run!
Wish Me Luck!

Good luck!

And good job getting a start on your diary. You have some goals, and that is such a good place to start from. I don't know very much about quitting smoking as I never did it for long periods of time, but it would seem as though there may be breathing exercises and whatnot you could do to try to get your lungs back in shape.

Breathing Exercises

I do some of those to improve my breathing with music and it seems as though they may help you get your lungs in shape too. Can't hurt anything by giving them a go!

Not able to post anything about this mornings run. I got home from class (On tuesday I have class from 8am until 9pm) late, had to watch HOUSE and then Simpson's with my husband. Well, okay. I didnt HAVE to, but I chose to. Since I stayed up late, I slept through the alarm clock and woke up in time to get my older two to the bus for school today. When my youngest takes his nap, I'll pop in the DVD and do some core and strength training. Tonight I WILL post that I at least did something to break a sweat. Haha.

Doing good. I've managed to avoid all the JUNK that my husband brought home yesterday and just eat my veggies (celery is a wonderful snack!). I'm discovering many new things about myself: foods that I like, the fact that I have a muscle infront of my shoulder..etc.

I did get up this am at 5 to walk. Going to hold off on the running for now; just until my lungs heal a little more and I knock some of this weight off. My knee is hurting and I think it's because of two things: weight and the jarring of walking/running. I've told my husband that I want an elliptical machine for Christmas. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I did end up walking yesterday - 45 minutes with all three of my kids. I thought walking was a stress reliever! Oh man. I will not be doing that for a long long long while! I also did my strength training. I skipped on my core focused training because my abs were sore from Tuesday. (I didnt know I had abs!)

I know I said that I wouldnt look at the scale - but on Tuesday I was 233 (105kg, 16.6 stone)...this morning I was 231. Talk about motivation! But it's not about weight. It's about fitness...but man, did that look good!

If anyone has any advice on what I can do to help me lose weight, I would really appreciate it. I walk and I use a Pilates 10min solutions DVD - LOVE IT! It's smooth, works on flexibility while toning and I'm sore as hell this morning! There are no gyms around here except for Curves, and that's not really an option for me. There are no tracks or playgrounds. It's a very small town that's at least 45minutes from the big cities. We do have a Walmart and I live in a nice quiet neighborhood (I feel so safe walking at 5am - there are other walkers as well). I do not know anyone that would exercise with me (mostly an older age group town). I'm not really into counting calories, though I'm sure that that would be the most effective way to shed some pounds. I eat fruit or veggies (mainly apples, bananas, celery and fruit) for snacks and eat pretty balanced meals. I'm trying to cut out all salt and butter, too.

Dont see me doing really well with my eating today, but I'll try to make the smarter choice. Everything just looks so good!

Anyway. Please leave me messages and let me know what I should do to help. Advice is always appreciated here

OKAY, IT'S THE DAY AFTER THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING AND I THINK I'M FINALLY BACK TO NORMAL. ALL DAY YESTERDAY I JUST SLEPT OFF ALL THE FOOD THAT I ATE DURING MY TWO THANKSGIVINGS ON THURSDAY. EVEN I DIDNT KNOW I COULD EAT SO MUCH. AFTER QUITTING SMOKING, EVERYTHING JUST TASTED SO ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. IT'S AMAZING. NEW DISCOVERIES EVERYDAY.
ANYWAY, I DIDNT GET THE ELLIPTICAL MACHINE THAT I WANTED, BUT I AM GETTING A GAZELLE...YEAH, WITH THAT VERY WEIRD TONY LITTLE. HE KIND OF SCARES ME, BUT IT'S A FREE MACHINE. CANT COMPLAIN TOO MUCH. MAYBE AFTER I FINISH SCHOOL AND GET AN OUTOFHOME JOB, I'LL BUY MYSELF SOMETHING REALLY NICE. ANOTHER INCENTIVE TO HURRY AND FINISH WITH GOOD GRADES!
I DIDNT EAT MUCH YESTERDAY, MAINLY PIECES OF TURKEY AND WATER. STILL TOO FULL TO EAT MUCH. SCALE WENT UP, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO STRESS OVER. GETS TOO STRESSFUL, I'LL GIVE UP. I'LL JUST HAVE TO WORK HARDER. DIDNT GO RUNNING THIS MORNING...OR YESTERDAY MORNING. HUBBY ISNT HOME (STAYING WITH HIS PARENTS TO GO HUNTING) AND I'M NOT LEAVING THE KIDS ALONE, EVEN IF THEY ARE ASLEEP.
OH WELL. ONE DAY AT A TIME.