Working out 4 days a week

I gradually eased back into an exercise routine too, so slowly building up the amount of times per week, AND the amount/intensity of the exercise itself is the best way, IMO. Get a good mix of cardio and strength workouts. I do 20-30 minutes cardio (elliptical/rower/bike etc - I mix it up to avoid boredom), and 20-30 minutes of weights each time I go to the gym (currently about 4 times per week). In addition to this, I do an hour of pilates per week - for core strength and flexibility.

Actually, as I hadn't exercised in years, the weekly pilates class has proved to be the thing that has made the most difference to me. I now have the core strength to do all the additional exercising I've added, especially being able to add free weights to my routine - before, my bad back prevented me from doing so much. I'm basically pain-free for the first time in so very long, and getting stronger all the time! I'd really recommend anyone doing pilates/yoga if they're new to exercise, along with the usual gym stuff.

One thing I'm now making sure I do right now is a proper cardio class - 60 minutes of sustained workout. My cardio in the gym is fine, but classes like BodyAttack, spinning etc push my cardio endurance far more than 20 or 30 minutes on the elliptical and bike! Proper sweat-dripping, gasping for breath stuff! 3 months ago, there's no way I could have done this, the gradual increase of gym work-outs is the thing that enabled me to work up to 60 minutes of hard core cardio.

BTW, genuinely, don't focus on how many calories you're burning with exercise. Count calories in, calories out are bonus IMO. For me, the gym is for health, not weight loss. I'm totally fine with it being one more thing that helps me lose weight, and it makes a world of difference to inches lost, but I don't count exercise calories with the same attention to what I put in my body.

I agree with the post above - Take it easy if you're starting out with exercise after a long break :]
Your body needs to get used to the rise in activity and you don't want to do yourself an injury.

It's fantastic you're so motivated though, well done and good luck.

When just starting OP, baby steps just start with baby steps. I remember ì could run 2 minutes then back to walking and then lasted 20 minutes. I always hated running.

It took along time for me to get to running more then walking and then to running most of the time. I remember running 1 minute then walking 10. Before i knew it ì was running 10 and walking 1 now i run 60 at 6 miles an hour with cool down so i usually do 5.5 to 6 miles a day 4 days run 1 day off then 4 on 1 off.

Just hang in there and be determined, regardless of some opinions i burnt way more calories running then i did walking.

do the workouts you enjoy! sounds like youre doing well, though.

i workout 5-6 times a week, with friday morning always being my zumba class. this week, i will not workout saturday (gong to a friends to plan a halloween party!) but probably will sunday. usually i workout saturday and not sunday. and depending on what my weekend looks like, sometimes not at all on the weekends LOL

so... be flexible