hello

There are several things you can do. To tone and build muscle, just use weights or stuff around your house, get a book, DVD or an On Demand show to show you how to do it right. This builds muscle but is not considered cardio.

Cardio workouts get your heart rate up to the point where your body is burning fat. That helps your weight loss go faster than just with diet alone. There are tons of On Demand programs if you have that in your tv package, or a video - or even just dancing around the room! It is suggested you start at 30 mins 3x per week. Most people say walking but you REALLY have to walk fast to get your heart rate up there, that's hard if you're walking around your block. It doesn't matter so much WHAT you do when you're doing cardio - shoveling snow counts! - if you just want your body to burn fat. Just check your heart rate and make sure you're in the fat burning range. (if your resting heart beat is 60 beats per minute, you want your heart rate at 107 or above, according to my trainer).

I joined a gym, started on the treadmill at 2.0, now 5 weeks later I am at 3.2 (which is fast for someone with short legs) and I'm having trouble getting my heart rate up there. I can't jog so it's probably time to move to the elliptical.

Welcome, and walk walk walk and drink lots of water. Also measure yourself to see your progress.