how did you get yourself out of a sedentary life

I have been sedentary since elementry school and I just want to know of people with similar backround who are now active and advice or support on how to change. Im not superwoman or Oprah. I am an average person who want realistic advice.

just find something you enjoy.  Do you like music?  Find a Zumba or Cardio Groove / Hip hop class;  more towards being alone at first?  Get the "Just Dance" type games for Wii etc.

Have a dog? Take it for a walk, then start jogging between mailboxes / power poles etc

I love strength training - you can do it home with DVDs if you aren't ready for a gym (where 90% of the people are absorbed in themselves and the rest are proud of you for being there).

You can also try yoga in a class or DVD - awesome for lean toning.

Swim, bike, dance, run, clean house for time (see how fast you can do it) - you have to enjoy it or you won't stick with it. If you don't know what you might like, try a bit of all of it!

I had to evolve to where I am now and I know I will evolve to my future active self, too. 

In the hospital I walked 2.5 miles the first 14 or so hours post-op, half a mile at a time. 

Then I started walking my neighborhood right away (I came home the next day), rode my bike, did elliptical and yoga, then Pilates and mat roller classes, then C25K via Zen Labs and after running 40 something 5Ks last year (keep in mind, I started this all last May) then I graduated to training for a half marathon in May. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to run and have found my zen. 

In the beginning I had to literally FORCE myself to get up and go. I told myself I did not go through surgery to be a slug on the couch and just WENT. Now, I am bummed when I cannot work out. I only run every other day (it is a basic 'rule' of my program) and on my non-run days I do other workouts, but running is MY TIME! Running is just me and the road. I am alone with my thoughts. I am not telling myself to get up and do dishes or check on the dogs or run a load of laundry or look at paint choices or any number of the inane tasks that pull at me when I am home. The longer my runs become, the more complete my zen and bliss becomes on the road. When was the last time you spent an hour of your day that energized you and made you feel like Xena, Warrior Princess? I can tell you that I feel freaking AMAZING when I come back from a run. I might be tired, I am surely sweaty and a bit gross, but I feel so empowered and have such ownership for my health--physically and mentally--that it keeps me coming back. 

Realistic is what you make of it. One year ago I would have laughed and laughed and laughed while I thumbed through the yellow pages looking for the loony bin to come and take you away if you'd said I'd be training for a half marathon in 2014. But I spent 46 years on a couch and I surely wasn't going to spend the next 46 doing the same thing...if I even lived that long!  I would have been an epic failure if I had tried to do a half marathon the day I woke up from surgery...but I tried things, found where I was happy and fulfilled and getting regular exercise and built my stamina.  Don't think realistic for life based on what you have the ability to do TODAY. Think realistic based on what you can do more and more each day as you make better and better choices and become the new you. The new ACTIVE you. :)

I signed up for a race.  Then friends convinced me I could go farther so I kept signing up

I echo what others said - - you have to find what fires you up! I didn't see myself as particularly sedentary when I was obese, but I certainly loathed outdoors & structured physical activity! I liked to dance ok, and thought that maybe that would be something that I could continue doing post-op. But a funny thing happened in my journey.... It popped into my head that I wanted to run. I was pretty sure it was something I'd hate, but I'd see all these skinny girls running near my neighborhood and kinda longed to be like them. So in my first sentence to my surgeon - a letter to write why you want to have the surgery - I said I wanted to be a runner, not knowing if that would ever actually happen. After taking to walking in the first couple months post-op, on a lark, I tried jogging. And I'd only last a few feet. But I kept at it, pushing myself to build upon endurance/distance/time. I trained to do my first half-marathon by raising money for Crohn's & Colitis thru Team Challenge, once I was able to jog 3 miles at a time, and my world opened up to what I find crucial in this change: social support WHILE running! I'm a social creature and have made so many friends in my local running community and spending time with people while burning calories has become something I crave, something integral to this new version of myself - and it's a version I never knew existed but at the same time feels authentic to me.

Sorry if this is a long answer to your short question, but change - enduring and real change - is worthy of examining all the angles that will get you to where you want to go.

What a thoughtful post.  Thank you for sharing your experience - I am going to reflect more on it, but it speaks to me and echoes a bit my new journey with exercise.  Just wanted to say Thank You.

Reflect less, move more. You are so close to goal, you will be stoked/surprised at how much your body changes the last 20 pounds. Don't wait to figure it all out before just DOING it. 

I started walking on my treadmill at 6 weeks out for 15 minutes a day at a low speed. The point for me was to get in to a routine. Everyday I tortured myself. The days became weeks as I gradually increased time and speed. On Feb. 4th it will be 8 months since surgery. I walk 60 minutes every day, rarely take a day off because it breaks my momentum. Oh yeah, the 65 pounds lost is great too! Good luck!

Honestly, I started by walking 5 minutes. Then 10 etc. now I walk 30-40 and it keeps improving. Weights are fun and not intimidating if you start simple. 

it is best to do morning walk because it gives you healthy lifestyle with diligence. you can do aerobics and other excercise which is best for weight loss also.