Hi, everyone! I've already introduced myself a couple of times here, so I won't go through the trouble. I had lost about 20 pounds a couple of years ago, was doing very well, was very happy and feeling energetic. But, because of many things (including my family's lack of support and the stress of my final year in college), I fell back to my old habits, and I've been at the bottom of the well for awhile now. Gained it all back and a little more, back to doing no exercise and eating tons of junk. While I remember some of the research I did, I really don't want to go back to counting calories and I honestly don't have the time for it anymore. I just want to confirm some things before going on with people who are doing their research much more actively than I.

So a few questions:
1) I can't go to the gym anymore (moving too soon), so what kind of exercise or exercise plan would be good for someone just starting up again? Would walking/jogging for 30 minutes be a good start, or should I go for an hour already or...?
2) Since I'm moving in a month or so - I've found different kinds of activities, including Pure Barre (http://www.purebarre.com). It's apparently low impact/high intensity. Do I also need a high impact sort of exercise or would that be enough?
3) If I were to do Pure Barre, how many days a week should I try it out at first and how many days a week should I build up towards? Should I alternate with running or something?

Sorry if these sound stupid, it just really feels like knowing what to eat is much easier than knowing how to exercise and what types of activities are good for you (at least it's easier for me).

Counting calories is not necessary for losing weight (but it may be helpful for some people). Focus on eating healthy foods, and don't eat when you're not hungry.

I think 30-45 minutes of cardio a day should be good enough, but in addition to cardio, I'd recommend doing some type of high intensity exercise about 3 times a week, like weightlifting or HIIT. Weightlifting will help you build muscle, which will cause you to burn fat faster. I don't know much about Pure Barre, but if it's high intensity then it might be a good choice.

If you do weightlifting, and want to spend your time efficiently, focus mainly on compound exercises that work large muscle groups (e.g. squat, deadlift, bench press, pullups, bent over row, overhead press), because they burn the most calories in the least time. If you're looking for exercises that you can do at home with no equipment, you can start with squats and pushups (and you can buy dumbbells later if you want).

Jogging is a high-impact exercise, so if you're jogging then I don't think you need another high-impact exercise in addition to that.

Sounds like you've got a great start! I'm pretty new to exercise and this whole "physical activity" thing myself, but this is what I've learned from my research and personal experience.

1) I'd personally say that starting with 30 minutes walking/jogging is a great start. As you get fitter and your body gets used to the exercise, you can slowly ramp up how long you're staying out. Take it from me. When I got started, I went all-in, thinking I was being lazy if I didn't do everything at once. I ended up with pre-stress fractures in my second or third week, and they took another two or three weeks to heal before I was able to quit doing the modified exercises the doctor gave me and go back to regular (and smarter) exercise. So, moral of the story is, slowly work yourself up to long, intense workouts... and wear good shoes doing it.

2) I don't know what Pure Barre involves either, but what I've always been told is that good weight loss exercise generally involves both cardio and strength. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, which is why the strength portion. I also like to throw in ab exercises. If you happen to be looking for workout videos or some such you can do at home, Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred is a good twenty-minute workout that uses all three of those areas.

3) I personally started exercising Monday through Saturday, with Sunday as a rest day. I did that right from the beginning, and frequent exercise like that is great, but again, I also got injured right away. Nowadays, I try to exercise 6 days a week, but I don't stress it too much if I have a busy/sick day. The way I figure, shoot for as many exercise days in a week that you can manage.

Hi Wendy!

My opinion is to make this a long term solution it just needs to become your lifestyle. That means finding new habits, new ways of coping with stress and knowing you are doing this for yourself and nobody else.

1) When you look ahead a year or two, or five. How can you see yourself maintaining your weight? It can't be what works now, and then forget it once you hit goal. So that being said, find what you like doing. Absolutely starting with a half hour walk is wonderful. You want to not get injured so just start going 30 minutes at a moderate pace. When you feel like you can, work yourself up to an hour.
2) I have not done pure barre, but I hear it's awesome. But I wouldn't rely on only 1 exercise. I do spinning, but I only do it 2 or 3 days a week.
3) If you like to run, yes alternate pure barre with walking or running.

Everything I read now about losing and maintaining weight, and anyone I have ever heard of who needs to work at it to maintain their weight loss says an hour of exercise 5 days a week - 300 minutes a week. I don't think there is consensus on exactly the right combo, but what I do is alternate a lot of different things. I spin two days a week, I do an hour and 45 minute hike in our local woods once a week, I do weights 2 days a week, I walk on the treadmill for an hour doing hills one day a week, then I golf once or twice a week. But I started just walking outside and on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I also just started the weight training so I'm still pretty low on the weights as I build up some strength.

Ahh wow thank you guys so much for a quick response! I guess exercise is always a bit more confusing to me because articles will sometimes try to cover a more specific group, and so some things are a bit too light for me at my age but wouldn't be for my mother, or some are too intense and time consuming for me but wouldn't be for an athlete, etc. This is really helping me figure out a good system for myself. Thank you guys so much for your patience!

There is no accurate way to prescribe an exercise plan for someone other than yourself. It all depends on what your physical lifestyle is like. Movement is very important, so yea it's great if you get an hour of exercise a day but if you're sedentary the rest of the day then it still might not be enough. Some people don't exercise at all but have a very active lifestyle otherwise. A physically healthy person will do everything they can to include movement in all parts of their day. That means taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away from the front door rather than looking for the closest spot, taking a walk a few times a day, biking vs. driving, etc. Also, studies show that alternating exercises has the most benefit rather than sticking to one type of exercise. My routine includes weight lifting 3x a week, zumba once a week, yoga once a week, biking once a week, and walking everyday.