Confession

The last ten days or so have been an abject failure - no meaningful exercise (unless you count a saunter to the shops, and I don't), combined with really poor eating, have meant that I didn't even weigh in last week. Why? I have no idea, and I really need to work it out or this is going to happen again and again.
However, it's a new day and a new week, and I've climbed back on board, with a pre-breakfast work out, healthy meals thus far, a plan for dinner out tonight with friends (minestrone or fish, no wine or dessert, and only one piece of bruscetta), and a new challenge. Yes, it could be argued that I'd do better only changing one thing at a time, and I think that position has decided merit. But I've been inspired by Lynn, my cousin, and last night's Biggest Loser finale. So in addition to restarting the 12WBT exercise program, creating a diet regimen that has a realistic caloric intake* and documenting both of these on CalorieKing, I'm also starting the Couch to 5K.
C25K is a program designed to get inactive people up and running 5k or 30 consecutive minutes in around 9 weeks. Lynn did it last year, which I found very impressive, as she's not a born runner and I never really bought the concept before that. The emphasis is on a slow, sustainable pace - no more that thrice a week, no longer or further than the plan, and a strongly encouraged option of repeating weeks until each stage is comfortable before moving on to a more vigorous level.
I can walk for miles without a problem, and will be reincorporating this into my regular routine when I return to work next week, but I've never liked running. I was very compliant at school, except for the time I put my foot down in year twelve and refused to run cross-country around the school perimeter, and that was when I was unfit and a little chubby but (though I didn't realise it at the time) normal weight. And now, over twenty years later? Between the discomfort, the public spectacle, my lack of co-ordination, and some quite significant secondary sexual characteristics, the whole thing's frankly unattractive. It doesn't help that the last time I ran a managed to fracture a couple of hand bones.
But it's only twenty minutes, there's a park five minutes away, it's a gorgeous day, I have a sports bra, and I don't need to run for more than ninety seconds at a time. And as Lynn said, it's about the time, not the speed. So Week 1, Day 1 is about to begin... - Alex

* based on my height, weight, age and physical activity, various online calculators have estimated this at between 1,700 and 2,115 calories per day. I'll be aiming a little lower than that and, like Jillian Michaels suggests, varying the actual count each day