Great thread Todd!
I've been wanting to get healthier lately too and figure out a way to help motivate my wife to do the same.
First step was purchasing a set of pedometers for us to see how active we are (both work desk jobs and she sometimes works from home so even less active). My wife's work from home days she could average less than 1,500 steps in a day! I averaged 3-3.5k. We set the common goal of 10K steps a day. My pedometer records total steps as well as aerobic steps when I walk for at least 10 minutes at a minimum pace of 60 steps per minute. During the month of June (first month using the pedometer) I averaged almost 11K steps per day and had 22 days over 10k+ steps and 8 days where I missed the goal. I also averaged about 50 minutes a day of cardio walking.
During this time I lost zero weight and got motivated to improve the diet as well so about 3 weeks ago I started using myfitnesspal on my iphone. This app is awesome! SI got sick over 4th of July and am still recovering so I am just getting back into things but since using myfitnesspal I've lost over 8 lbs.
My user name of myfitnesspal is The_Dude if anyone wants to add me. Myfitnesspal claims you are 3x more likely to reach your goal if you have friends on there lol
PS if you guys want ripped abs then try the P90X work out and follow the diet to the letter. Assuming you are in average shape and average body fat% before hand then after 90 days you will have abs.