Cliches that are correct: Looks Can Be Deceiving (Duh)

This is kind of one of those "I don't know who needs to hear this but..." type of posts. It's going to be kind of long and all over the place but stick with me, i swear it'll be worth it at the end. In my last post I talked about how I signed up for a fun run. Well today i decided its time to start training for it. Its only 4 miles and most people wouldn't need to train for that, but i haven't worked out in close to a year, so....yea. 
A little background information before i continue. I am about 5'9, 130 lbs. If you saw me walking on the street you'd probly think i was decently healthy and "in shape". I probably look thin to "average" to most people. Today i got on the elliptical and it took me over 16 minutes to do a mile. One mile. And that one mile was really tough. I am in the worst shape i have ever been in. I'm not even old yet, so I can't even use that excuse. There is no excuse. I have just been really fucking lazy for a long time. Stress and fatigue issues have really kicked my butt for the last year or so and I let them. 
So here are the reasons I am telling this story. Number one, looks can be deceiving. We see healthy and "in shape" people and then feel bad about ourselves because we are not as healthy and in shape as them. But just because they look it doesn't mean they are. I am so far from healthy or "in shape" right now but you wouldn't know it just looking at me. I am so guilty of doing this all. the. time. It is one of the reasons i stopped going to the gym and just bought an elliptical for my house instead. I would get so depressed comparing myself to everyone else there. That girl can lift more than me. That girl can run for longer on the treadmill than me. All these people are in better shape than me. So I am just telling you, if you do this, first, you're not the only one and second, stop it. Because that girl at the store that you think is so much healthier and in shape than you, might not be. She could be me, sitting on the couch eating cheeseburgers all day, and that trip to the store is the most exercise she gets. She might be tossing spinach and kale in her cart right now, but in a few minutes she'll be in the potato chip aisle tossing 3 kinds of Doritos in her cart. 
Number two reason for all this is accountability and progress. Today my fitness sucks. Now lets see how much i can improve it over the next three months before my run. Today: sucks. Race day: ?.