Until I hit 30, I was never a sweater. But then it was like my body just caved and now just thinking about exercise makes me sweat. THAT SAID if I 'm going to make this whole "life style change" thing work, I need to get over my sweaty self :) I generally don't change before or after I exercise at the office, although my exercise is in the form of biking in, and walking during the day. On days I have important meetings I might wear a exercise shirt in, and change into a dress top once I've cooled off. I keep a "Chilly Pad" cooling towel at the office to help drop my body temp back down after I work out. It really works great and I just rinse it out in the bathroom sink every couple of days, and wa**** on weekends. I also keep a micro- towel on hand to dry myself as needed, and I got my hair cut and THINNED so it dries faster after I remove my bike helmet - but otherwise I just pretend that I'm not a sweaty mess!

I'm motivating myself in a few ways...

1. Workout Buddy- My sister-in-law and I both get up at 6am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and go to swim laps. We don't swim at the same pool, but we both get up and check in with each other at six or shortly thereafter to make sure we're DOING IT.
2. Green footprint - I'm not all that environmentally friendly, but I do know that as an American, I account for an awful lot of green house gases. I can bike to the office in the same time it takes me to drive in, so I work hard to remind myself that this is an environmentally smart choice to make. The city where I work has bike racks on all the buses - so I keep $2 bus fair on me and if weather or other issues come up I can always bike to the closest bus stop and catch a ride. Now I'm working on figuring out how to do this into the winter months... Same goes for walking to places that are within a 15 or 20 minute walk - I use Googlemaps "walking" or "biking" mapping option to get an estimate of the time it will take me to get places.
3. Setting Fitness Goals here on OH- I've been setting fitness related goals here on OH and trying to make sure I can check a few off each month! I set a goal to run a mile without stopping by my birthday (8/22) back in April, and breezed right by it in late June :) Then I set a goal to run a 5K without stopping and hit that one too! Now I'm working on running a 10K (distance wise, I haven't actually been in a real race).
4. Mental Health - [Edited to add words in caps] IN MY OPINION, BASED ON AVAILABLE READING AND STUDIES BOTH OF DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF LIFE, Regular cardio exercise is a better cure for depression and anxiety than prescription drugs. I can't use this to START my exercise process but OMG it works as a GREAT motivator to keep me on track. Once I feel the results of regular floods of happy endorphins and I use a mood tracker that really shows how much better I feel... I am motivated to go today so that I'll feel this good tomorrow.
5. Posting my Plan - I have been trying to post my weekly exercise plan just like I post my daily menus, here on OH. I include my exercise in my menu posts, and I include it on MyFitnessPal even allowing the deduction of calories. I don't necessarily EAT the exercise calories, but I like to see the increase I get from exercising as it shows the additional gap between my intake and what is getting burned. Just like I try to make sure I error on the over estimate of food calories, I try to assume only a fraction of the estimated calories are actually burned - but I find this whole process of posting and seeing my available calories increase very motivating.

3lb in a week is NOT realistic, even for someone who's had bariatric surgery.

Do you have any personal experience struggling with your weight?

You've posted a lot of bull**** to this forum, but this is the most egregious.

Do you have peer-reviewed scientific journal articles to back up your claims? Chewing gum does not burn calories and green tea does nothing for weight loss.

Losing x # of pounds a week is far from being a SMART goal. The OP should be setting attainable goals, not just choosing an arbitrary weight loss goal.

In addition, "you can't outrun a bad diet." Meaning that exercise goals and weight goals should be kept separate. Exercise is awesome for physical and cognitive function and health, but diet is where it's at for weight loss.

The OP would be well-served by setting SMART goals for exercise, but these should be things that actually relate to exercise. Like "walk 10000 steps a day" or "increase 1-rep max weight by x" or "flexibility training three days a week."

Adding in a workout partner just to have someone to compete against is also pretty crummy. The only person the OP should be competing against is herself. "Comparison is the thief of joy." Competing against someone else for health-based goals is an astoundingly flawed suggestion.

I prefer the way you guys do it - low key - about family and truly giving thanks, not deals on Black Friday that one needs to get up in the middle of the night for. We will be spending this Thanksgiving at a hotel here in PHilly with family - the hotel is along the parade route - so we will watch from the windows with my two daughters, my sister and her husband, my hubby, my niece and her 4 year old daughter -- the perfect age to watch big balloons go by.