How much 'easier' can I expect this to get?

I'm 25 years old, male, and i've been pretty much sitting on a computer for the last 7 years with absolutely no exercise. Over those 7 years I gained about 40 pounds.. putting me at 6'1 220 pounds (I was 180). This is bigger than i'd like to be and i'd like to lose those 40 pounds.

I figured since it took 7 years for me to gain only 40 pounds with no exercise and extremely bad eating habits, losing the weight should be easy if I put effort into it and change my diet.

I bought a elliptical last week and started using it about 20 minutes a day. (5 minute of restriction level 1, stretch, then 15 minutes of restriction level 4). By the end i'm sweating all over, can barely breath, and I feel like passing out. When I get off, my legs are so shaky I can barely walk. I end up burning about 150-200 calories (according to the machine) in those 20 minutes, and I do this every day. I read people on here burning 500-600 calories every day, and right now that is just impossible for me. I also started drinking only water, and most of the food I eat is salad with low fat dressing, oatmeal, etc.

In this last week i've gained 10 pounds by eating healthier and exercising. I decided to ignore it since many sites say it can be normal and that your still losing fat.

So I ask... how much can I expect this to improve? 20 minute exercises of 150-200 calories does not seem like much. Is it ever going to get to the point where I can burn 400+ calories in a session without sweating all over the place and being sore?

Thanks.
 
Do n`t give up. Thats great you are doing cardio for 20 min everyday. The reason possibly for the 10lb gain is that your body is hanging on to the fat. You have to make sure that you are eating enough calories so you`re not making your body feel like its starving. You can `t live on salads. You need lots of protein. If you are not doing any resistance training you should. That will definitely help you lose more fat and gain more muscle. You should start feeling a difference by week 4-6 and after that you will start to see the difference in the way your clothes are fitting. They should be getting looser around the middle.
 
Congrats on taking some steps to being healthier! I'm not sure why you would have gained 10 pounds.... Could you possibly write down a sample of what your daily diet looks like? I can tell you that the elliptical WILL get easier. I've had clients brand new to exercise tell me that they will NEVER get back on the elliptical, after only 3 mins... 3 months down the road they're on there for 30 - 45 mins and even sometimes doing interval training :)
 
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