Elliptical

For about three months. I have a glider, not an elliptical, but they're similar. I started off with walking and that. And the weight was coming off. Then I started hanging out in the forums and realized I'd need strength training, too, to help maintain muscle, so I've since added fitness tubes and am slowly converting my basement into a budget gym (mat, stability ball, fitness bands, 2 dumbbells so far and a plan to add more), plus a book on strength training for women and a soccer ball (they recommend using a ball for some warm up exercises). To be clear, I didn't hit a plateau or feel I needed more exercise for weight loss. I just got convinced that I needed to add strength training for overall health.

For weight-loss purposes, the calorie deficit is all that matters. Exercise builds a bigger deficit/gives you more calories to play with and is great for overall health. But it's the calories that really matter.

ETA: I eat back roughly half my exercise calories, but I log everything including 10 minutes of warmup and cooldown stretches, 15-minute walks to the grocery store, etc.

Calories in vs. calories out. You can do as much or as little as you want in terms of exercise, as long as you're in a calorie deficit you're going to lose weight. The elliptical is great if it's something you feel fits into your lifestyle and is something you want to do.

Yes! Elliptical and walking used to be my only aerobic workouts. You can really crank on an elliptical, and it doesn't make you sore (much!). I used to burn 600kcals in 45 minutes on a Precor with handles, sometimes every day of the week. Alternating with walking (treadmill or outdoors) is a great idea to work a good variety of muscles. Add a little weight training and BAM you're a gym goddess.

The calorie estimates from most ellipticals is pretty accurate, so you can be confident in eating most of them back. For walking, treadmills give an accurate calorie number and there are many apps on your phone that give good calorie numbers for outdoor walks. Weight workouts are great for you, but they don't burn many calories.

I've moved on to running, riding, and swimming, but I would go back on the elliptical if I felt like it. It's the best of the low-impact exercise machines, in my opinion.

Go for it!