Exercise woes

I'm getting older.  I'm getting fatter.  It's not as easy as it used to be to do things as it was when I was in my 20's.  My friend Lauren (see picture at left) has decided that we should exercise together which is wonderful!  It makes sense, she dances at the dance studio where my kids dance. We're in Bible study together.  We live in the same neighborhood.  Great, right?  Except for one thing.  She IS still in her 20's.  I'm in my 30's.  It hasn't been as easy as I'd hoped to get started.  She's in better shape than me because she's a ballerina.  She's got a goal in mind.  I've just got this vague idea that it would be nice to be thinner and I know I should exercise but my loathing for anything that might make me break a sweat is an obstacle that is hard to overcome. 

So yesterday we started with a quick upper body workout that left me feeling like I wanted to cut my arms off.  Life without arms at all might be a better option since I can't lift mine anymore anyway.  Today it was our Couch to 5K day.  We started off walking for 5 min then running for 1 and then walking again for 1 and 1/2.  I think we did that 8 times.  I lost track because all the blood rushed out of my head and I nearly passed out.  I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and there was no way to catch my breath.  My legs were like jello and I thought I might die.  All this extra work and I'm also trying to watch what I eat.  It's difficult to do when exercise makes me want to eat a small farm full of delectable barnyard animals.  Steers and pigs and chickens, OH MY!

What I need to do is find it within myself to change my attitude and just accept the inevitable.  People who want to be healthy and have a body that's reasonably free from rolls of extra flesh, exercise.  That's just what they do.  Many of them even like it.  I can't figure that out. . .but they do.  So the question is:  How do I bring myself from point A (hating that feeling of impending death when I exert myself) to point B (endorphin addiction?)