Q: mike how does a man 36 295lbs,pretty active,lose weight and fat after plateauing from being 385lbs 2.5 yrs ago.been doing adkins for 2 yrs now off and gaining weight again pls help if possible. no cardio stamina. looking for solid safe advice

A: First, consult your doctor and tell him or her that you're considering starting a weight training program and get their feedback. Assuming they approve, the best way to lose all the extra fat is a solid fat-burning diet plus heavy whole-body weighttraining with some cardio. 'Heavy' here means picking such weight for any given exercise that you can only physically lift it 12 times or so before needing a rest. This weight is going to be different for different exercises and you'll need to be doing a lot of different exercises to hit all the muscle groups in your body. A gym membership would be good, but you certainly can make good progress at home (at least for awhile, until your strength picks up) with minimal or no equipment. The key is to do all the different exercises for different muscle groups and do them with high resistance levels (again, so you can only perform the exercise 12 times or so).

What I want you to do is read my fat-loss article carefully, including both the nutrition and weight training articles it references. Read them a couple of times if needed. Try to really understand and remember what it's saying. Then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal and specifying the weight as your ideal weight + 30 pounds (instead of your present weight). The guide will give you a complete diet and exercise prescription. Read both carefully, especially the diet -- you'll need to change it around to fit your life and schedule, but try to keep as close to the suggestion as possible.

If you don't have a gym membership, substitute either the No-Equipment exercise program or the Dumbbell exercise program and do it at home. You won't be able to do many exercise for as many reps as I specify -- that's OK. Do the best you can, your strength will build up. Aim for a gradual weight loss, about 2 pounds per week is a good pace. Much faster than that is going to kill your metabolism and your weight loss will stop far short of your ultimate goal. So take it slow and be patient.
Good luck!