I recently got quite into walking, i've found myself walking everywhere, town, the supermarket, etc. Partly its cheaper and i like it cos it clears my head and i find it strangely relaxing.

How good is walking for weightloss and how much do you have to do to make a difference?

I need incentives for walking when i go home over Christmas. Here i always have somewhere to go, but at home i live in the middle of nowhere so there is really no where worth going, within walking distance. I know for a fact i will be sent out to deliver chritsmas cards with my dad. But i need more reasons to walk cos i know me and i know if i don't have a reason to walk i won't bother.

I agree, I prefer to walk to somewhere. I was recently in a large city (Toronto) for a week, and I walked just about everywhere unless I was escorting my aged mother, she needed a taxi.
I was able to break a barrier, going under 180 for the first time in a few years. But out here in the country, it is much harder. I don't feel safe on the road, and when the snow is deep, its hard to go into the woods. Even my cross country skis have been sinking too deep at times, and I can't take the dog.
I just end up walking up and down the hill. Then it gets too icy.
I do have a treadmill, but I hate using it, but often do, while watching the news in the morning.
Its more of a challenge out in the country, but still possible. But definitely takes more of a commitment.
I'm doing stairs at home too, and yoga shows/dvds.
I still have to make it a priority in my life, on an everyday basis.
have fun over the holidays, and keep walking, its fab exercise.

IMO - Walking is the absolute BEST exercise for you. You work every muscle in your body. I lost a lot of weight when I was walking, and look forward to getting back into it once the better weather arrives. I actually miss it!

I live in Center City (Philadelphia) and this is what sparked my change of lifestyle. I noticed I lost weight just by walking. I slowly lost some pounds, so with the added dieting, I've lost almost 30 since late September!

walking is my favorite exercise because it gets me where i need to go!

walking is terrific... it doesn't cost a cent and it's low impact, so it isn't as hard on your joints say to running. Plus, you DO lose weight this way! Keep going!

The general rule of thumb for calorie burn is 1 mile = 100 calories (for 150 lb person). So if you walk 5 miles (most people can do it in 1.5 hours or less), that's roughly 500 calories. If you do NOTHING else (and are keeping your diet the same), that would translate into 1 extra pound per week lost .... 4 - 5 pounds per month .... 50 pounds in a year.

Does that help with the motivation? It may not seem like a lot burned each day, but it really does add up!!

Walking is awesome exercise! I do a lot of walking, either around the neighborhood or on the treadmill. Keep it up!

Plus it's something you can do indoors, too, especially if you have the space. When I first started seriously in 2007, I would put on my mp3 and do a sort of combo walk/jog/dance around the rooms. It worked great for my weight loss, especially because I was out of shape and had a difficult time then exercising in more than 15 minute spurts. But then I got to just moving around my house for like 60-90 minutes. For me, the music helped. I was listening to that and not paying attention so much to the time, so that 90 minutes went by pretty fast. I had also made modifications to what I was eating as well.

Yeah, walking gets ya where you wanna go but it's still good if you're not going anywhere in particular. Or you can tell yourself you're going down, if that helps.

I love walking. It was what I started with when I realized I couldn't run to save my life at the beginning of my journey. I would walk my son outside or do a Walk Away the Pounds dvd. I find it calming as well, especially if I do it outside!

Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds dvds are the BEST! When I can't get the kids out of the apt or just can't do anything at all I just put in a dvd and feel so much better.

Walking is great. I use a pedometer, the simplest around. (I only track steps, not distance or calories burned or anything else.)

My goal is 10,000 steps a day, sadly I rarely make it during the week. 2009 resolution is more time on the treadmill to achieve that goal.

Walking has been pretty much the only exercise I've done. I've just started jogging some too. Do you have walking trails where you are? We have beautiful trails here that I never really knew existed, let alone how beautiful they are. It's a whole new form of recreation for me and the family.

Most people I know hate the treadmill and I am no different. Recently I saw a CNN report on "walkstations" so it gave me this idea:



I can spend hours on the internet. Currently I am reading/posting to the boards and losing weight. Doesn't get much easier than that.

cruisecat, that is the best set-up I have ever seen in my entire life!!! So jealous here. What a great idea and so funny that you took a picture. I love it.