and the way I've been getting out of breath going up a flight or two of stairs...

It's always the little things that are eventually convincing, for me at least. After 3 years of the ob/gyn telling me that I was getting "obese" (I hate the BMI) and that I should do something to stop gaining weight, it was actually not being able to walk all the way up the hill to work without having to stop and catch my breath that did it.

Good luck with the exercising!