Let me preface my advice by saying I am 24 and know pretty much zip about babies and conceiving and all that stuff. I have personal experience in weight training and do a lot of exercising myself to keep fit so here is my advice on that:
If your goal is to shed pounds, you will want to do high intensity aerobic activity. It is not enough to walk on a treadmill on speed #1. You have got to push yourself – “no pain no gain” is a good mantra. It is hard to make specific recommendations without knowing what kind of shape you’re in. Sprinting up steep stairs, then jogging down, then repeating this several times is a good workout for me. You could do the Stairmaster in the gym to get the same effect. If you have been sedentary for a long time, start by taking a timed power walk. Try to keep a constant speed over a length of time you think you can handle, say 30 min. Slowly increase this to an hour. Then increase the walk to a jog. Hiking and trail running are other options, as is swimming.
When you get on the treadmill, you will notice that if you increase the incline, you burn more calories in a given time period. It would seem that you burn more calories speedwalking on a steep incline than sprinting a flat.
You should mix in some strength training as well. Aside from osteoporosis prevention, building muscle will help prevent injury as well as help burn cals.
Joining a class or team (swim team, for example) is a great way to keep motivated. It is a lot easier to weather grueling exercise when you have others nearby suffering with you. It can also be a great way to meet new people and make new friends.
You want to maintain a balanced diet. Just because you are trying to lose weight doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat. Cut out junk food. If you get intense cravings, you can make healthy replacements. For example, you can replace chips with kale or munch on carrots, celery sticks w/ peanut butter, etc. Cut out soda – drink water instead. Soda has a LOT of sugar. If you get caffeine withdrawals or crave carbonation, opt for seltzer or mineral water or similar or go for a lightly sweetened soda like this. Cut back on desserts, and try to work more veggies and less butter/cream into your cooking. I just used these two recipes and they were very tasty and pretty healthy: garlic baked butternut squash , moroccan couscous. Other things to keep in mind include not eating a huge amount right before you sleep, and opting for small healthy snacks and small meals throughout the day rather than a few large, distinct meals – this will help your body metabolize more efficiently.