Exercise is great for a lot of things. Building strength, endurance, muscle, heart health, heck it's even a great way to fight depression. However as a weight loss strategy it sucks. It sucks hard.
To have exercise work the way people thinks it works you have to work out for hours on end. The average 30 minute to an hour workout burns 300 to 400 calories if you work your arse off. Most people can't keep up with that. And assuming you don't eat extra after that workout you're not even loosing a pound over the course of a week. Never mind you'll likely be on a deficit so you'll lack the energy needed to maintain the pace. Plus it's pretty easy for your body to adjust and the amount of calories you burn per workout to go down.
If you just want to loose weight and fat all you have to do is eat at a deficit. Last year I lost 60 pounds and the only "exercise" I did was walking for a job I had. I ate pizza, ice cream, starbucks ice drinks with extra whip, fries, steak, basically every bad food on a regular basis. The Starbucks, ice cream, and fries were a daily thing for at least a month or two. However because I watched my calorie intake the weight came off. And I haven't had a great metabolism since I hit puberty.
Now if you're going for the 'beach body' then you'll need exercise. My advice on that is just focus on lifting weights and dieting. If you want to add cardio use kettle-bells and wind sprints (quicker workouts, same benefits). Drink water, eat plenty of protein, and above all else track your calories. Also remember to track your calories. Did I mention track your calories? You also might want to look into calorie cycling so you don't stay in a deficit for too long. If counting calories is a pain you could try Weight Watchers Online like I did but that can get costly.
Just remember you can't outrun a bad diet.
Here was my progress throughout the last year. I'll probably go back later and try to get to 159 but right now theres no rush. You'll notice though it's pretty easy to loose at the start but with patience you'll get there. Remember this was without lifting a single weight nor stepping foot on a treadmill.
