Haven't Exercised for Years, Please Advise?!

One may want to consider eating a bit more sometimes eating too little will cause a plateau. Everything everyone is saying is go for strong lifting over cardio. Me I'm adding in cardio first but I'm not cleared to lift either. Get a trainer who knows the correct forms etc. if you go with lifting as that can cause some serious damage very easily.

Start out by doing something you love (that's exercise but you wouldn't necessarily look at it that way). For example, I've always loved to dance but am NOT a fan of working out and/or the gym whatsoever. So what I've done is made it a habit to dance for at least an hour everyday. Another thing you could try is riding a bike or going up some flight of stairs (in your own home!) several times and/or making it a habit to do 25 squats in the shower. Lol I know the last one sounds weird but no worries, you shouldn't fall or get hurt and the exercise will actually make you want to decrease the water temperature (and of course cold showers are better for you internally as well as externally

Start out by doing something you love (that's exercise but you wouldn't necessarily look at it that way). For example, I've always loved to dance but am NOT a fan of working out and/or the gym whatsoever. So what I've done is made it a habit to dance for at least an hour everyday. Another thing you could try is riding a bike or going up some flight of stairs (in your own home!) several times and/or making it a habit to do 25 squats in the shower. Lol I know the last one sounds weird but no worries, you shouldn't fall or get hurt and the exercise will actually make you want to decrease the water temperature (and of course cold showers are better for you internally as well as externally

Yes! When i started I did semi planks off my kitchen counter, and sitting leg lifts. Stairs r awesome. Anything that makes u sweat!

If you don't have money for a trainer and a gym and don't like exercising outdoors (hiking season is on right now, and walking in the country can be an awesome experience), you can always just follow along with some basic cardio routine videos on YouTube or elsewhere! I really like this collection, and they're always coming out with more stuff:

http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/full-length-workouts/

Just start at your own pace and find something that works for you! I do the kickboxing videos they put out, but they have a lot of options to choose from. The point is to burn calories if you're going down in weight (weight loss happens when your calorie intake is less than your calories spent), so cardio is going to be your friend there (running, kickboxing, heart-pumping activities). But for all-over health, doing some strength training is a great option. There are also many videos for this, but I would just suggest starting out on something attainable that you can start doing every day. Start with squats (search YouTube for proper form), push ups (knees are okay, I won't judge!), dips (you can use a chair for this), and bicycle crunches or similar for abs.

If you just start forming a habit of doing some basic strength training every day, it will be easier to start learning more about what different exercises do for different parts of your body! If you're getting in to strength training and cardio, you can keep your diet at a place that feels good to you but still results in a calorie deficit. You might feel super hungry after a hard workout day, and it's fine to eat a little more (your body needs fuel to keep doing body stuff), just make sure you are making healthy decisions and not overeating to the point of ruining your calorie goal for the day. My Fitness Pal's Exercise diary is pretty accurate when it comes to calorie burning, so you can always enter your exercises in for the day to see what you can eat.

If you get more into strength training and want to start seeing some definition, make sure you are eating plenty of protein. You can continue working at a caloric deficit, but you need to make sure you are getting proper protein (eggs, fish, rice and beans, whatever) in order to keep your muscles going. I would also recommend eating lots of leafy greens, like, spinach and kale, which are crazy good for you.

Anyway, I'll end my novel here. If you've got the funds, joining a gym and grabbing a trainer can sometimes make the difference when it comes to motivation, but it's not the only option out there. There is a great online community for getting started in exercising! I have been on http://www.reddit.com/r/loseit and they're super supportive.

Good luck!

I have read on this site of Leslie Sansone and her Walk Away The Pounds for Beginners videos. There are some free ones on you tube or you can buy them at Wal-mart or online.

If you want to do strength training but hate lifting weights, the Bar Method is good. They have DVDs you can buy and an online deal to stream classes (I haven't done it as I'm lucky to be near a studio, so I don't know how good the online streaming thing is.) Anyway, I HATE anything to do with weight lifting and I'm not a big yoga fan, so this works for me.