exercise question?

Question
Hi, I have been exercising since the beginning of this month and  I usually go to the gym and start on the a tred mill going up hill as far as I can for about 30 minute. I am usually drenched after I am done. However, I just read an article saying that if you hold on to the rails, its pointless and your cheating. I am now disappointed because I really felt like i was doing something good for my family. Also following that I get on the bike for thirty minutes going on hill intervals and then I get on the ski slider or whatever for thirty minutes going up hill. Then I do some arm weight training followed by lifting weights on my legs. So my question is: am i doing the wrong exercises? I just want to loose about 15 lbs. I am 5"8 and I weight 148 lbs. I want to loose fat in my thighs and my butt area, and also I want to loose some weight on my sides because my sides are starting to look like love handles. So please help? Let me know your opinion. I also eat two times a day. I eat kellogs cereal with low fat milk every morning and I eat dinner before six which is usually a grilled type of meat and salad or some sort of vegetables. I have completely thrown bread, pasta, juices, soda, and fast food out of my diet. SO sorry for all the info I just wanted you to understand my diet more clearly lol let me know what you think
thanks our the best

Answer
It's true that you burn a few less calories by holding on to the rails, but that does not make the exercise useless! The fact that you were sweating means you were getting a pretty good workout.

In fact, when you are just starting an exercise program, you should be cautious not to do too much, too soon. If you are doing 30 minutes on each of three different exercises plus weight training, it sounds like too much to me. You would be better served by concentrating on the walking, and it doesn't have to be all uphill. Adding a little weight lifting should not hurt anything. But give your body time to adapt to the stress of exercise before gradually increasing the exercise load.

Your dietary approach may also be too strict. It sounds like good food choices, but make sure you get at least 1500 calories a day to support your exercise. Then you should target losing no more than 1.5 pounds per week. Losing faster than that invites a quick weight re-gain if you fall off your health program.