Working out at home is a good way to start. The gym can be very intimidating if you're just starting out with a fitness plan, and since the key is consistency, if you think you'd be more consistent at home, then go for it. I went through several stages, and am currently at the gym almost every day now that I feel like I can hold my own there.
I'm not sure what your body looks like now, but I'll tell you what I did. First I figured I needed to lost fat probably more than I needed to build muscle. I did several things. I changed the way I ate. I've always been a big eater, so I changed what I ate to good, lean proteins, good carbs (steamed veggies), real oatmeal for breakfast (not instant oats like in the envelope). Hard boiled eggs, natural peanut butter (not the kind with sugar), apples, bananas. No alcohol, sugars, extra salts, cheeses, sauces, dressings. I downloaded from the internet some HIIT programs that can be done at home with no equipment. These included a lot of jump squats, ski jumps, burpies, body weight exercises, etc, and I also downloaded some kickboxing workouts. I bought inexpensive dumbbells. Here in NY, Modells sells them for $1 per pound. I started out with a couple of light pairs (15s and 20s), and then as I got stronger, would buy the next heavier pair so that I wasn't spending a ton of money at one time. I currently have pairs from 15s to 50s in 5 pound increments. I was doing seated and standing curls, squats, bent over rows using a chair, kickbacks, extensions, and all the dumbbell exercises I could research. I listened to my body. When I needed to move to the next level, I have a garage, so I bought a used old school weight bench on craigslist, as well as a barbell and some plates. This enabled me to do heavier bench presses, etc. I followed some basic protocols regarding grouping the muscle groups. For me, that meant chest and tris, legs and shoulders, back and bis. Compound lifts, squats with shoulder presses, dead lifts. I kept a workout journal to record weights, sets, reps by date. That also helped me to stay on track, since I hated to see to many skipped days in my journal. When you workout at home, you need to be your own cheerleader and drill sergeant. In about 9-10 months, I lost fat and added muscle, with a net weight loss of 40 pounds. This made me look like a totally different man. A few months ago, I felt I like needed to take it to the next level, and having seen the progress from working out at home, I felt comfortable joining an inexpensive gym, where I've made more accelerated progress. The guys who go to the gym have been a great resource for learning even better workout tips, combined with more equipment. A few key points that helped me: the workout journal, tracking what you eat, and the idea that a bad or less than perfect workout is better than no workout at all, were all things that made huge differences in my progress. I hope this summary has been helpful. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.
