sugestions

hi, my suggestion to you is walking, its really good Ive tried walking on treadmills , which seems to be quite difficult. However i can burn 200 calories in 20 minutes with a medium pace around 3 mph.

I agree with gsager, Start with walking. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you move. You will gain strength and stamina to increase in time. Do what your body feels it can do. Only you know what that is. When done with your exercise you think, that wasn't too bad, try a little further or a little faster the next time. After awhile you do want to change it up to confuse the muscles.

I am a victim of back injuries myself. I have had surgery on the L4/L5 and am trying to not to have surgery on L4/L3 and C7/C6. It takes time but you can get there. I started with walking. I have joined a gym 2-3 days a week doing the treadmill and bikes. I am now going 5-6 nights aweek. 6 months ago I barely could do 30 minutes on the elliptical or run both because of my back. I have done 3 5K's since March (only 1 did I jog the whole way), and I am now doing 1.5 hours on the elliptical 3 days aweek. burning over a 1000 calories each day. Treadmill one day aweek, and I take classes like pump (core strenghtening and dumbells), Zumba and I am even able to do the step classes now. 2 days aweek. My back has gotten so much stronger. The key for me was to strengthen the core to support the back so I could strenthen the back as well.

In Feb I joined the biggest thriver. Our local gyms version of the biggest loser. Our coach, really push these rules, move every day no matter what it is, min 25 grams of fiber, max 25 grams of fat, and a min of 64 oz of water a day. when the weight came off we were not allowed to say we LOST it. We changed our vocab to we took off, shaved off, dropped, or what ever worked for us. When you lose something you usually find it. we don't want to find the weight we worked so hard to shave off.

I wish you well and the best of luck. If you would like to friend request me so we can encourage each other thru our journeys to better health that would be great.

Journalize everything you eat. "IF YOU NIBBLE IT SCRIBBLE IT"

I started out with the elliptical. I have issues with Sciatica (sp?) which have calmed down tremendously with the loss of nearly 40lbs but I found that was the easiest for me at first because it wasn't as much stress on my back. For me walking was hard because it actually aggravated the condition.

This. Ellipticals are great because there's very little to no impact. You might also want to consider swimming. Maybe try to do the Couch to 5K program using the elliptical to increase your endurance.

Sorry about your back problems. You're not alone. If you have trouble moving at all perhaps your doctor would prescribe some sessions with a physical therapist. He/she could teach you some exercises to increase core strength without hurting yourself.
If you are able to walk then walk every day. If you can walk 5 min, then that's where you start.
If you have access to a pool, and enjoy the water, you might try water aerobics which is less stress on all your joints. I like going to the pool at quiet times and moving in the water in any way I am able. Ani