I can do this. Nothing is impossible. Am I not already more than half way towards my weight target?

Where I come from a girl is only ever expected to be submissive, obedient, gentle and the most strenuous form of exercise is probably child-birth in her whole lifetime. Housework is the encouraged form of exercise. In fact I believed I was VERY fit 'cos whenever Mum and I went shopping I would suddenly look back and see Mum trailing about half a mile behind me (bless her! ... she's wonderful but exercise is not her strong point) thus giving me plenty of time to window-gaze until she caught up !

Yes you guessed right. I never put exercise on my agenda until well into my late 20s!! We had PE (Physical Education) classes at school which I often managed to get out of.

A desk job (sitting at the typewriter and later computer) all day ensured this sedantry lifestyle continued. Asthma, Thyroid, Depression, SAD, Hayfever contributed in their various ways.

In my late 30s I did seriously think about exercising but my attempts were very short-lived and motivation minimal ... especially after the first session when the whole body was in MAJOR PROTEST mode. I tried swimming. I never did quite master breathing in water and tended to hold my breath. A serious asthma attack less than 12 hours after swimming put an end to that.

A health crisis in my 40s finally opened my eyes and gave the motivation a bit of a kick.

I guess I really started some time in May this year. My goal then was to start VERY slowly 5 minutes every morning. In fact I could only manage 3 minutes before collapsing and needing a good hour to recover!! And I am NOT exaggerating.. I am quite proud as I look back on those days just five months ago. I have persevered, kept at it and have come a LONNNNNNNNG way forward.

I don't exercise ... that word is taboo ... it brings up all forms of resistance and deflates motivation etc. etc. I dance 'cos I discovered I LOVVVVVVVVE dancing. I can keep that going for a good two hours on my better days now.

Fern's thread on AM Cardio got me thinking. When I started Atkins I was getting up and doing my (then) 3 minutes exercise first on an empty stomach. Weight loss was steady and pretty good. I realised I am getting complacent. I need to take it to the next level.

Mulled over it this week, resisted but today finally decided instead of doing 2 hours dance at 7pm let's try something different - preferably first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Not exercise ... not dance : my favourite radio presenter is only on at 7pm Sat and Sunday ... just something different. Didn't have a clue what that something was going to be.

Right that is my introduction and background.