What exercise should I be doing?

[doistayordoigo]

Looking for some advice...I'll be 50 next year and need to sort myself out before then! Partly because I don't want to start my 50s feeling like I do now, and partly because we've got a trip to Jordan booked and I want to be able to do the climb to the viewpoint at Petra, preferably without killing myself!

I'm currently nearly 2 stone heavier than I'd like to be (5ft 4" and weigh 10st 8lb) and have a fitness level of just about zero. Menopausal, lots of aches and pains, a dodgy knee and a totally sedentary lifestyle.

What kind of exercise should I be looking at doing to improve my overall fitness, and specifically to make climbing and descending a steep incline easier? Currently, walking up even a few flights of stairs leaves me completely breathless, and I also have slightly high blood pressure.

[Ganymedemoon]

You need to find something that you enjoy.
Cycling? Swimming? Would you consider gym classes? They can be very good for motivating you to push yourself. Weights with your son sounds great! And really weights in your 40's and older are massively beneficial to fitness, weight loss, strengthening and reduce your risk of osteoporosis, so all good! I love doing weights!

Ultimately you need to find something active that you enjoy otherwise it really will be a boring chore that you will be unlikely to sustain.