I've read the newbie guide here and had a few questions for those people that are more knowledgeable about fitness (I looked up the zone diet as well as Tabata intervals)

I've been lazy and sedentary most of my life. I'm quite overweight and I'm just now learning to take a more disciplined approach as opposed to a motivated approach (as silly as it sounds I've never thought of it as a difference until reading here on TRP)

Sorry a bit of a preamble. My questions are these.

Do you have any book recommendations for different types of workouts? Or things I should be doing. What is a good way to ease yourself into cardio for the purpose of losing weight.

I have heard that losing fat also burns muscle so I'm assuming I should increase protein and lift while I'm doing it. I've never lifted before. What are some good training regimens to start with? I've seen some people on here talk about keeping it simple and do the main lifts but I need more info. How many intervals do I do when I am lifting? How many reps per interval? How many days a week should I lift? Is lifting and doing a cardio workout on the same day ok? Do I need to isolate workouts (ie leg day,arm day)?

As far as diet I'm going to go with zone. Is a legit non fad diet that has a lot of support tools online. I'm basically planning to buy my groceries every week and have three meals already planned each day. This way instead of worrying about what to eat every day (and possibly wavering to something crappy) I can just focus on what I already have bought and planned as a no brainer.

Lastly but not least I am a smoker. This is a terrible habit I want to break so bad. Any tips from guys here who have quit ?

Any help towards setting up a fitness regimen for myself would be super appreciated.