OK, I think I've got the food part pretty well figured out.

A regular fitness routine has been elusive for me my entire life. As a teen I was into martial arts, long-distance walking, backcountry hiking and other ways to stay in shape. As I grew older (and rounder) these practices fell by the wayside. I've tried a number of times to adopt a regular fitness routine, and I've always managed to find one reason or another not to continue after about eight weeks or so. Last summer I kept it up for three months before dropping it.

I still maintain my Y membership, and now that I'm feeling like I have the WOE under control I plan to begin to work my way back to a weekly routine that will keep me fit, and develop a new lifelong pattern to match the healthy food I'm eating.

My plan is to alternate cardio (mostly walking) with strength/resistance training. I know there are folks here who are serious about weight training and fitness regimes, but I have to say at the outset that I need to find my own path; I've had trainers before and all they've done in the end is chase me off.

My goal is to begin with walking, up to an hour at a time, then move back into a gym routine at the Y. By next week I want to re-orient myself with the weights and design a new program that focuses on my abs and arm strength. So this week I want to walk at least five miles at a brisk pace, and make my re-orientation appointment at the Y for early next week.