For the past month I have been walking 3 miles a day killing myself. My legs would hurt and cramp. When I would come home my legs would be soar and I felt like laying down because I just couldn't stand the soarness. Four days ago I went for my daily walk and my legs didn't hurt. I thought to myself, well this must be a fluke. Then day 2 came once again I went for my walk and came back with no pain. Two more days past and now I am overjoyed. I walked once today had no pain again, so I decided, let me see if this is actually working and I went for a night walk. I walked the same distance and what do you know my legs are still feeling fine after a 6 mile day. So don't give up, keep going and your body will adjust. I used to live in the moment, I would wanna quit the second it became painfull but today really modivated me. Now I can increase my distance and increase my calorie output. Tommorow im going to try for 4 miles. My first major goal is to start running. I already lost 20 pounds but now im at a standstill because my muscles are beginning to grow. I don't mind at all, im feeling stronger, lighter and more energetic.
I actually have a habbit of looking at the ground now when I walk so I can focus on my stride instead of the distance ahead of me. Its like looking at a mountain, it seems tall and impossible but if you focus on the path in front of you and pace yourself you will be on top of the mountain before you realize it. So pace yourself, don't give up and patience will reward you.

I was gonna say Good Luck everyone but we all know that luck has nothing to do with it.

p.s. If you need modivation or a boost during your workout an mp3 player is your best friend. Just plug in your music forget about your troubles and go!

Did you start out with walking three miles a day? Or did you work your way up to that?

My first day of walking was when I left my security job. I was mortified, I got up to 355-360 pounds. I basically sat across from 2 vending machines for 8 hours. Forget about 16 hour doubles, I would buy 3-4 coffes and like 4 sodas just to keep awake. So I had to start college that fall and I thought to myself how am I gonna make it there. I put on sneakers and sports pants and started doing circles around my block, my first day I got bloody blisters, after like 5-6 circles around the block. After that I started walking to my grandmother home which was 1.5 miles away, I would come there and rest for a bit then I would walk back after my rest. College started and I had a 30 minute walk each way which was about the same distance 1.5 miles there and back. Today I skip the rest and make it a full 3 miles. I actually noticed that without the rest at the 1.5 mark I am making more progress then when I sit and rest. Up to the time I went to college it was about 3 months. I went to college for a year and a half. But then I stopped walking even thought my base weight did drop to 340. About 2 years have passed and I became serious about it again. I started the 1.5 and rest routine, now I just do the full 3 miles. Gonna increase to 4 miles tommorow and see what happens. I do use actual online mapping sites like yahoo maps and google to track my distances. Currently im 318-320pounds.

Wow. Sounds like you are doing awesome! Keep up the good work! And thank you for the info =)

NoPainNoLoss - The cramping may be from dehydration. Try really upping your water intake and you may see a difference in the cramping.

Congrats on not giving up and seeing your reward!

Wow, this actually kinda motivates me too, only I've been running. I've walked a lot before and I've never been keeping track because I would only go walk to listen to music. I've only been keeping track of how far I run. I think I need to ramp up how long I'm doing it for, I haven't been keeping track of that either.
But anyway, good job on walking so far! I agree about the music thing, makes everything better!

Thank You. I keep track because I want to increase my progress and im also in the city so I have to plan my route ahead of time if I want to extend it because I want to avoid clogged roads that have stand still traffic and lots of exhaust fumes.