How much exercise could you do in the beginning?

I have a bad back and bad knees so I have to be really careful about how long I do things. I have been going on a walk around my block with friends for a couple of days (and we're going to continue this M-F every week) and then I have a Gazelle at home. I can only get around the block once right now (and I think it's a fairly small block). When I first started walking a couple months ago (we stopped for a while & I just started again this week) I could only walk 3-4 houses down the street and I was hurting. Now I can get half way around the block before I start to feel it in my hips so I know I am slowly getting better/faster.

I also have a Gazelle at home. When I started working out regularly on it (about a week ago) I could only do it (at a steady pace) for a minute and a half. Now I am able to do it for three minutes at a time. This doesn't seem like much, but for me its a great accomplishment

So, I think everyone starts out where they can't do much and the more they do it the more they can do (if that makes sense). Just take it slow, listen to your body and do what you can. Slowly build up, even if that is just a few minutes at a time. Instead of jumping on [insert machinery here] for 30 minutes right off the bat, start out by doing 1-5 minutes at a time but do it several times a day.

Hope this helps/encourages

4 months ago I couldn't last 15 minutes. Now I can run 10k without having to stop. The more you do it the stronger you become. It will get better and easier, trust me

Take baby steps. I started doing 30 minutes 3 times a week. I started with some Richard Simmons videos because they're fairly easy to do even if you're not in good shape. Then after a few months, I did Couch 2 5 K. Now I can easily handle an hour long Zumba class or an hour on the treadmill. If it hurts, stop. I had a bad experience with an Elliptical machine this week and didn't listen to my body. All day yesterday, I had to lay around with an ice pack on my knee.

One of the things that made me realize how much I needed to lose weight and how out of shape I really was was a field trip hiking 4 miles with my daughter.... it was a 4-ish hour day. That's like one mile an hour, I was exhausted and sore after that and KNEW I was "the fat mom"

I then pulled the clothing off my elliptical and discovered that I could barely do 10 minutes without feeling like I was going to die. That was the very beginning of my weight loss venture.

When I started I could only last 5 min on my bike. Now I can do 45. When I started I nearly passed out and hyperventilated walking 10 minutes to walk to my mom's house 2 blocks away ..now I can walk there and back ..without breaking a sweat. You will get there! Just build your strength up.