Ok basically i havent been exercising for awhile as i have been ill however the illness is mental not physical so in away i suppose i was using it as an exscuse to be lazy and not feel so bad about it anyway after having another binge last night i relised i have to start walking so today i went out and did a 6 mile walk ...which pleasently surprised me, however i am curious how much walking do you need to do a day to lose weight or how many miles as i can manage walking but i don't want to take up any social activities.

Well, the amount of walking you have to do in order to lose weight depends on the person. Basically, the number of calories you burn while exercising must be greater than the number of calories you are consuming. But I would think that a brisk walk 5-6x/week for 45 min. would be a good start, when you pair that with a healthy diet (fruits, veggies, whole grains, good fats, etc.).

Just to add- you don't actually need to burn more calories through exercise than you take in. Cutting calories a reasonable amount will lose you weight alone. Exercise is just a bonus, so don't go walking 20 miles a day. Or do. But you don't have to to lose weight.

Walking is a pretty fantastic exercise because you can keep going for so long and burn a lot of calories without feeling like you're killing yourself. Still, walking is good, but running is even better, and can actually be a lot of fun if and when you feel up to giving it a shot. Good for burning lots of calories when you're short on time, and also improves just general endurance-type things. You can absolutely lose weight walking, though, especially if you're walking 6 miles a day.

I guess you don't have to exercise but the benefits of exercise on your heart health, weight loss, self esteem, etc, are so numerous that they outweight the reason for not getting out ther to exercise. Also if your "illness is mental not physical" all the more reason to get out there and exercise in the fresh air, the benefits have been proven on people with mental health problems.

The new recommendation guidelines are to exercise your heart (walking) 60-90 minutes/day, but you must start gradually whatever you can do. Exercise your muscles (weight training) 3-4x/week for 30 minutes. After each workout, cardio and WT, you should also stretch.

Another exercise you should take up and it can be done in the privacy of your home is to get some Yoga or Pilates tapes. I love Yoga it really is good for you mental health, gets you in touch with yourself more than any exercise I know. Meditation is also great!

Hope this helps, keep us posted on your progress...