I think that diet is most important in losing weight. But exercising will speed up your weight loss and tone your muscles. So they're both important, it's just a matter of personal preference on how you want to start. I started out by getting my diet in check. I exercised a LITTLE bit here and there...going for walks mostly, but just by changing my diet I lost between 15-20lbs. Then about 2 months into it I started a more consistent and more intense workout routine. This way worked for me. I found it way easier to stick to a healthy eating plan starting out. It had been years since I had exercised on a regular basis, so it was better for me to ease into it rather than to jump right in and (most likely) give up. But if you can jump into an exercise routine along with your diet right from the start, then definitely do it!!! The sooner you start, the sooner you'll start seeing results :)

I think it really depends on what you struggle with most. If you're the kind of person who views exercise as more of a challenge than diet, I'd begin with diet. If you're the kind of person who views diet as more of a challenge than exercise, I'd start with exercise.

If you start to see success with one, it will motivate you even more to try the other. I have a friend who hates "dieting", so she began by exercising. She found herself unconsciously making better eating choices after workouts. She once said, "I got out of my chair to go to the vending machine for a pop and a bag of chips, but found myself coming back to my desk with a bottle of water and a protein bar." I think your body just starts encouraging you to do both because you don't want to sabotage diet with lack of exercise and vice versa.

The majority of my weight loss has been from diet. I go to the gym occasionally and do some exercise video games, but it's definitely the healthier food and reduced portion sizes that have allowed me to lose. That said, it's the exercise that has allowed me to increase my strength and tone some areas. Whichever you choose, or if you choose both, best of luck in finding something that works for you and brings you closer to your goals!

I started with exercise right after my son was born. It worked to get off about 70% of the baby weight, get back to close to what my body was used to, but then I just stalled out. I didn't start losing again until I started watching my diet. I have been eating healthier and the weight started to fall off again, but still slowly. I just started counting calories, so hopefully that will speed it up a little.

For me, exercise makes me want to eat better.

So that's where I start.

I think it all depends on the person but I personally focused more on dieting and still do. My situation is a bit unique due to injuries I have that restrict me from doing some strenuous workout routines but even so, I think if I incorporated more exercising rather than dieting, I would end up confusing the matter more for myself and probably end up eating more (because I would think I "earned" extra calories). Also another issue faced with focusing more on exercising than dieting in the beginning is water retention from working out. Water retention can sometimes add 2-3 pounds and that in itself is discouraging, especially to someone that is just starting their weight loss journey. I suggest just mastering both aspects separately such as knowing how much calories you can eat to lose and what workout routine is best for you. Once you master one, you can start incorporating the other more until you have 1:1 dieting to exercising ratio.

Thank you all for your responses, I have been eating healthy for about 2 weeks now and I really cleaned up my diet, and I wondered when I should start the exercise...this thread really helped!

Diet! I'm only working out 3 days a week for 20 mins. I've found in all my weight loss attempts I always started hard core exercising and usually hurt myself which then I felt like whatever Ill eat anything now. But this time Im focusing on what I am eating and it's working! Good luck!!

i've always had to start out with diet. I could never do enough hours in the gym to negate the unhealthy, calorie-heavy diet I ate previously.

Diet first, I'm a believer of gradual changes and after like a month then I started to do some exercises.

Definitely diet. If you clean up your diet it will help you feel better and then you'll have more energy to work out.

Think of it this way: 80% of the way you look is because of your nutrition. Exercise makes up another 10% and genetics rounds out score with another 10%.
You diet is so important and once you get toxins like preservatives & additives out of your body, in no time you'll start feeling better and have more confidence to workout longer. I would suggest doing a bit of light exercise, walking, someone mentioned parking further away to get more walking in, etc. There's tons of stuff you can start to do now that will ease you into an exercise routine.

I did exercise for so long. But, I had difficulty sticking to eating well...so I wasn't losing. Now, I'm working at eating better and getting more into exercise soon! :)