I'm very much in agreement with cjohnson, but that happens a lot. For me to make the changes I needed to live healthier, I had to make those changes one or two at a time. There wasn't really a day where I woke up and said "today is the first day of my new healthy lifestyle forever - Amen", although I've had those days in the past, it never worked long term for me. Basically what I did was to write everything down, study myself and then look for ways to improve my life one habit at a time.

The first thing I did to get started was to write down what I ate, when I ate, where I ate and what I was thinking while I ate it. I didn't actually diet I just tracked my eating habits. I know that sounds extreme, but it really helped me pinpoint problem calorie areas. As it turns out I was eating breakfast like 3-4 times every morning. None of it bad, but like 1,500 calories BEFORE lunch. So definitely an area for improvement.

Another area for improvement was my amount of workout time. Before I got serious about my healthy lifestyle, I got myself to the gym 1-2 times a week for an hour, and took a 1 hour line dancing class every week, so 1-3 days of workout and 4-6 days off. Now I workout almost every day for an hour and even on my "off" days I take a long walk up to the grocery store to pick up the paper, so I've reversed it 5-6 days of workout and 1-2 days off. It also occurred to me that I was DRIVING 1.55 miles in each direction to the gym so that I could walk 5K on the treadmill. How stupid is that? So now I run/walk up to the gym and lift weights for an hour and run/walk home.

So I say making changes one at a time is a good approach, but if you want to jump in with both feet and go hog wild and that works for you, I say go for it.

Almeeker, your comment about having breakfast three or four times reminded me of an episode of The Simpsons. Someone asked Homer the secret to his success, and he proudly stated, "I discovered a meal between breakfast and brunch!" :D

THanks for the advice and encouragement everyone. I went to the gym last night and did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was basically on the easiest setting but, whatever, I went! It actually felt good. I don't know why overcoming the inertia to go for the first time was so hard. I am going to listen to everyone's advice, go slow, and keep it up.

Way to go!
 

Pat your self on the back and then make your plans for tommorrow. (Which given that I am on the west coast and you may be on the east coast you may have already done.)

The key to exercising, as all these wise folks will tell you, is finding something you enjoy. The gym can be a fun social environment for many of us, or it can be the place where we can really focus on our progress. If it doesn't work for you there are lots of other options like walking, team sports etc.

Keep it up!

Great job! I'm very proud for you. Keep up the great work :D

Consistency is key. As the saying goes, if you fail, try, try, try again.