I'm not saying it's easy and you have young kids which dictate a lot of what you can do I guess but to change your body then you need to change your lifestyle to some degree. simple as that.

 

Good stuff, sounds like you have a plan there

As for cardio based exercise, depends what you have access to really. If you are using a gym, then high incline, decent speed walking is pretty high impact, as is inclined eliptical trainers with good resistance.
As well as the 2 hours + of daily dog walks, I do between 40 and 80 mins at the gym doing cardio 5 times a week.
Had an amazing impact on how I feel physically.

 

don't dismiss weights as part of a routine to lose fat.... you may not lose weight due to muscle gain but it's about how you look and feel not a figure on some scales.

 

Not read all the thread but for a lower impact fat burner use an elliptical trainer on a medium resistance and do interval training. Something like 30 secs gentle pace, 30 secs (close to) flat out and repeat. Other cardio to consider would be rowing on a Concept II or similar. You could try exercise bikes; 'normal' and recumbent.
As StiwS says, don't dismiss weights.

 

Buy a push bike...or maybe 2.

Best thing I ever did.

 

i will succeed at exercising if it doesn't screw with my day. none of this drive to the gym, or local swimming pool, or go for cycle. i just won't do it.

it has to be a machine in my front room (we'll lounge in the rear room) so it's always set up.

i like those concept II thingies - g/f will use that too i think

 

work, gym, home.... never go home first or exercise at home IMO. Far too easy to put it off till tomorrow. Get a training partner at the gym as well so it's not just you that you let down but a mate. also helps with motivation and makes it more fun as you have some banter. 45min decent work out so an hour or so 3 times a week is nothing to sacrifice for your health. think how much time people waste on here or in front of the tv.

 

In which case, get some comfy shoes and get your *** out there and do some walking. Decent pace, try and include some hills in the walking.
Home machines are a lovely idea, but usually end up broken or under used, if not unused.

I try and mix the dog walks up a bit to include as many hills as I can these days.

 

If rowing is a maybe then look at Water Rower. Not cheap but available from Amazon

 

I'd sooner be out on my bike than on an exersice bike in the lounge. That really is a last resort. I'll bet you stop using it pretty quickly as you will find other barriers to stop you using it.

In fact I'll be going out soon around some lovely country roads in the Autumn sun.

 

The problem with body fat monitors is that they do not take into account muscle mass and so are not all that accurate imho. I am into my 2nd month of physio after undergoing cruciate ligament reconstruction; consequently there is a lot of work with the weights on the leg press and the squat machine and I have since put on an extra 5lb of muscle in the legs, but the body fat monitor is reporting that as an increase in body fat not muscle.