Anyone fancy starting couch to 5k on 26/8?

Sorry not to update earlier - day one done!
I managed 3 of the runs, and some of the walk was uphill, so pretty hard work anyway.

Does 11 years count as post-pregnancy, jammie?

I know someone who lost over 7 stones doing the Dukan diet and C25K. She now maintains her weight with something called Paleo diet, basically low carb healthy eating. She has a blog so I'll ask her if I can link if anyone needs inspiration. She says if she can do it anyone can!

I'll join you. I used to run a lot, not since the DC's were born. Been meaning to for a while and not got round to it, I bought some new primark running stuff yesterday so lets get on it!

Should probably have said I was using a treadmill as it's 43 degrees outside and I didn't want sunstroke. Obviously I'm not in the UK!

Great timing! I did my first run today on the NHS C25K programme. I surprised myself by actually enjoying it and then going on to do a 5k cycle in 15 minutes. I don't need to lose weight but at 44 my thighs and bum are sliding towards my ankles and I just want to feel a bit fitter and more toned. So I'll make the effort to check in for support and cheer everyone else on too.

Good luck everyone! I'm going to pop back every now & again to cheer you all on .

Can I join please. I was 36 yesterday and my youngest started school last week so I have plenty of time on my hands. I have well controlled M.E so it will be more of a brisk walk / slow walk for me. I think I will do Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

I'd like to join if that's ok. I am horribly unfit and can barely run 50m - also have chesty breathing problems. I very much doubt I will make 5km but I'd like to start off doing the walking. I work full time and if I don't get the bus from the station to the office, it is a 2km walk so I'd like to try and do that 4 out of 5 days with one longer walk on the weekend. I love walking just never get the time or motivation to do it especially as the children are now too old to want to walk with me!

First run completed today. Anyone else doing this post pregnancy? For various reasons had to spend the last few months of pregnancy resting, so really found this tough, but the comments from all the graduates has boosted my confidence a little. Not trying to lose weight as such, but eager to get up and about with my son as soon as he starts toddling. Shifting the extra three stone I'm carrying will help with that I'm sure!
Good luck everyone!

Thank you for the encouragement, graduates. I've done C25k before, several years ago now and it did feel great. But I feel like I'm back to square one now.

I'm going to go out and do day 1 right now. My main problem is that I'm recovering from a sprained ankle which seems to be taking forever to heal. Well that, and pushing 15 stone . But I'm not going to achieve anything sitting on my arse MNing and eating toast.

I'm another graduate, it really does work- but don't use weight to measure your progress. I weigh exactly the same as I did when I started (I actually gained a couple of pounds at one point) but I'm a dress size smaller. Muscle weighs more than fat and you build up muscle running so you might not lose much weight.

A better way to track your progress would be to measure your waist, hips etc or use a pair of jeans and see how loose they get.

Good luck everyone, see you on the Parkrunner thread in a few weeks

Yes, I'm going to keep running & try to improve my speed. I have got the running bug now!

Thanks Drama. That sounds great - you should be feeling very proud of yourself for achieving so much. What's your plan from here, will you keep running?

My boobs aren't anything to write home about now, so hopefully they won't shrink too much!!

Hi Iwish - I actually don't know exactly how much I've lost because I honestly can't bear to get on the scales . I'm 49, I'm 5'10" and I would like to be about 10 and a half stone (my weight pre-children). I would guess I'm about 13 stone, but it could be more... I am charting my weight loss by what I can see in the mirror and how my clothes fit, and will brave the scales when they get much looser!

But I've lost enough on my bum, tum & thighs to have to get a smaller pair of running tights, and I can now feel firm muscle under the flab on my thighs and my tummy. My bum feels like it's had a butt-lift! My face and chin have slimmed down a lot. The only downside is that my boobs have shrunk . I started noticing real changes in my shape at around Week 6, when the runs got longer.

The NHS choices podcast is really easy to put on an iPod, by the way. I managed it, so it must be easy!

Drama, do you mind me asking how much weight you have lost and which areas you've noticed the biggest change?

I'm 5 foot 6 and weigh 11 stone.

I would love to lose some weight from my tummy and thighs.

Do it, do it, do it!!

I hope you don't mind me popping over from another C25K thread, but I just wanted to say that C25K really works and I can't recommend it highly enough. I speak as someone who has just finished C25K - in fact I graduated this evening!

I started it on 11th June and I always left two days between runs so it took me longer than nine weeks. I used the NHS podcasts & while the music isn't great, the encouragement from Laura kept me going and pushed me along.

When I started I was overweight, I was very unfit, I had high blood pressure, sore knees and was losing a battle with depression. Two and a half months later I have lost quite a bit of weight, my blood pressure is almost normal, my knees are fine and I am no longer depressed.

I've gone from struggling to run for a minute to running 30 minutes comfortably. I'm not fast and I am nowhere near running 5K, but it's the time you run that counts, not the speed at this stage.

Cheering you all on and wishing you all the best of luck in your C25K journeys!

Which couch 2 5 k programme will you all be using?

I was thinking of trying the NHS choices one - it's free!

Pace*

Yes, it's the length of time, not pave that counts.

I'm in, but maybe just walking. The big thing for me will be to achieve the discipline of getting out there and moving for half an hour or so, 3 or 4 days a week. That in itself would be a massive improvement from where I am now.

Count me in. Assuming I'm not too knackered.