Can someone give me some suggestions of exercises I can do that are easier on my knees that lunges or squats? I love that those exercises work the upper parts of my legs, are easy to do, and can be done anywhere and with no equipment. Unfortunately, they kill my knees, even with proper form. If anyone knows of any exercises like that that would be easier on my knees, I would very much appreciate the info. Thanks in advance!

Have you tried pilates?

Have you tried very low stepdowns and 1 legged squats? My personal trainer loves these guys and the range of motion is so small that you look at him demo it and go WHAT - that's NOTHING! And then you try them.

They really work not only the big muscles but more importantly for you, all the little tiny stabilizers. You wont build muscles like in big squats and lunges, but I bet they will help your knees and help you get ready for them.

1 legged squat:
To start you should use a 4-6 inch step. If you dont have an aerobics step take a thick book and place it at the base of your stairs. It should NOT need to bear your weight. Stand on the stair facing sideways so the right foot is planted on the step and the right foot hangs off the step. Slowly lower yourself by bending your left knee until your right heel lightly touches and then straighten back up. Focus on keeping smooth steady motion and keeping your hips level (dont reach for the ground by dropping your hip). If you have any pain in your knee make the step smaller with a second book. You can progress either by increasing step height or by adding hand weights depending on how it affects your knees. Do X on that side then turn around and do the other side.

Step downs.

Now face the bottom of the stairs and standing on the left bring the right foot forward and squat on the left to slowly and smoothly touch the right heel to the book and come up. Do X times on the left then switch to the right. As in the side squats, focus on slow smooth motion and good form. Level hips. Body upright. Dont lean forward with the body.

I did a DVD called Strong Knees for awhile -- various leg lifts as I recall, plus a really soothing stretching routine.
http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-...ong-knees-5706
It has a lot of helpful educational stuff which is great the first time. After that, I used a special feature that let me set up a workout that skipped the talking and got right to the exercise.
It shows a lunge on the cover, but I don't recall that it actually has you do any.

Now that my weight is lower and my legs are stronger, I'm doing lunges and squats without knee pain. I have to be very careful with squats to keep the weight back on my heels. I know someone who was finally able to do squats without pain by putting a book under her toes to force the weight back on the heels.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out and see what works for me!