15 min of exercise… thought I was going to die. Advice?

I second Fitnessblender; so many options!

Also bellydance warmup moves.

Do something as close to every day that you can. Your stamina will increase, I promise. You definitely don't want to push yourself to the point of illness or injury.

Good for you, it does get easier. You will find that you will be able to go longer without tiring. When I started 15 min of anything seemed like to much but you will get better the important part is that you started and to keep going. It is based on your own progression and no one else's. There has been some other good advice on here. Keep it up

Do something which is sustainable and you can build into your routine. As other people here have said, you don't need to bust a gut to do something which is effective. Ensure you can recover from your sessions in time to start the next one, so you can avoid injury.

Start with something like 20 minutes of walking per day. Over time, increase the duration, increase the distance, take in some hills, try a little run between points along the way, etc.

Most importantly, make sure it's something you enjoy doing and you can look forward to.

Good luck!

I'm not surprised that you found it crazy difficult. I think your doctor recommended to start off light b/c heavy exercising at these weight levels(I'm right behind you with ~60lbs overweight) could hurt you if you do it too much or do it wrong, regardless of age. And toning exercises(like butt workouts...) are hard on your joints if your body isn't used to exercise. Do NOT start off with toning - try walking for 15 minutes four times the first week to get your heart used to the activity. If you haven't been walking at all, this is hard enough without toning. Then try going for 20 minutes every time - only when you hit the 30 minutes mark should you try toning again. Maybe try Pilates? I know it's super-gentle on my joints and it's really good.

I agree with the above.
I run marathons right now = 4 hours of rigorous exercise, I love it.
1.5 years ago I began by slowly walking for 20 min = I loved it. That's all I could do. I was heavy and anything more than that caused a huge headache. I built up, walked longer , began jogging etc.
whatever exercise you pick you must enjoy it. Start slow. Take a day off in between to recover.

The good news is you didn't die.

Don't stop. You'll improve more and more each time.

this

This, BUT while it doesn't hurt to do an all out "I think I'm going to die" type workout, you also probably won't be able to do that type of workout every day. Variety is the key to any good balanced workout program, that and progression. Aim to do 15 minutes every day to begin with but mix things up so some workouts make you feel like you're about to die and others are more like active recovery and the rest are somewhere in-between. Consistency is always trumps so find something you can stick to week in week out.

The other element that I have mentioned is progression. The human body is an amazing machine and actually adapts quite quickly to stress (exercise is form of stress) by becoming more efficient. Once a workout starts to feel easier you need to progress either through higher intensity efforts or through increased workout time.

Whatever you do, keep at it. It'll get easier from here on in. If it helps at all, I've been exercising nearly my whole life and still feel like I'm going to die after certain workouts. It doesn't get easier you just get better at it

Good luck!!!

Hang in there! I started walking my dog at 315 pounds and gradually increased time and distance. Next came treadmill not a fan but it made me walk faster did first 5k walk @280. Walk away the pounds I'm understanding has a free you tube video if not, available at local library. She does a low impact workout which can be modified according to fitness level. BTW I started at 59. Set a small goal walking 5 minutes Many here started where you are. Read success stories. You can do this!