When I start resolved to lose weight, I switched my diet, running on weekend, and weight training twice a week. That was quite a drastic change, and I ended up with knee injury- that was bad idea. I was running on extra weight – and I traded my knees for that running impact.. I should have cut down my fat to certain degrees, strengthened my quad muscle to better ability absorbing those impact, before really incorporating running in my exercise regime.

Well, it's not necessary to make mistake as I did, but you can learn from other's mistake. Here is my suggestion if you are beginner to weight loss and new to exercise. First of all, invest in a good pair of running shoe – make sure it has a good cushioning. Then invest in a pair of dumbells – the adjustable one. If you have extra money, buy the chin up bar. Save your money on gym, start your workout at home.


Start with healthy diet plan by understanding your metabolism and caloric partitioning, you don't have to significantly cut down your your calories intake in first month, and make sure your you take moderately low glycemic index carb, high protein food, and good fats from dairy product. Try to avoid the fast food – if you have no other choice than fast food, then follow this guide > “Eat this, Not that” guide.

Then for the exercise, plan your weight training workout twice a week, eg: Monday & Thursday and instead of running, get out for a brisk walk on your weekend. Save your knees first, you will thank later. You can switch your brisk walking into cardio varying your intensity as you become more experienced.

As for the weight lifting exercise, do some total body workout - work your large amount of muscles, your back, chest, legs muscle first, to rev up your metabolism.

I have been tracking my result on how much fat I lose by doing various kind of exercise, and I had to say that circuit set works best in this area. Choose a total of 5-6 movements in a set, make sure each exercise works your legs, chest, upper back, lower back, shoulder and core, with almost no rest in between. You can also mix your circuit set with maximum effort cardio such as sprinting or cycling for 30secs for best result.

Be physically more active everyday, especially if you are on desk job. Double up your walking speed and distance to burn more calories, climb up the stairs instead of using elevator or do something active etc. I always take an elevator to 8th floor then take stairs to my office at 11th floor, and I seldom use the washroom at 11th but 10th or 9th floor by using the stairs. These are just an examples of mine, and you may think yours too.

The key is to be consistent in first month, I'm quite sure you will get the result, so you can plan your next month's weight loss plan.