Average walk........

I used to walk about an hour a day, not counting the "work related" waking. I lost weight and felt great. After that the rainy season began, and I gained weight again. I computed that I need to walk one and a half hours to achieve the 10,000 steps many say is needed to be healthy. I think that that amounts to 3 miles. But if your steps are bigger maybe you need less steps. :D

I dont know if it is how far you walk... I think it is more about how fast / slow you walk and for how many minutes you do it for... although I am not expert on it! I would love to get back into walking - I love it and my kids enjoy the ride in the pram :) I think I remeber something about walking for at least 30 mins can help with loosing weight :) Hope this helps you a bit.

I walked about 3-4 days a week for a couple of years. I had to start slowly because I have fibromyalgia (chronic pain), but I worked myself up to 4 miles in one hour. I have lost a total of 38 pounds so far and hope to lose about five more. I have also restricted my food and sugar intake but still can't help snacking at night. I think it's because I haven't been walking much lately and still snacking at night that I gained 2 pounds back. I think no matter what speed you walk, one hour is exercise. I read an article recently that said that if you sit immobile (in a desk chair) all day and exercise for an hour a day, you would get more exercise, muscle strength, calories burned if you were to keep moving all day. They suggest standing up while talking on the phone or even working at your desk because you are strengthening your leg muscles and tend to pace when talking on the phone. Just keep moving.

I know walking helped me lose weight. I worked at some university football games as a supervisor for gate ticket takers and ushers in the stands. I wore a pedometer because I was curious as to how much walking I did, just in the stadium. During some of the bigger games (i.e., packed stadiums), I was walking over nine miles! My legs were aching after each of the first few games, but I got used to it, and as I lost weight, the walking became easier. So my advice, for what it's worth, is to get a pedometer to see how far you walk in a normal day. Then push yourself to add a little more. If you don't walk at lunch time, then start walking for maybe fifteen minutes, and see how far you go on average. Then the next week, either extend it to thirty minutes, or see if you can walk a little farther in just the fifteen minutes (you'll have to go faster, which ups your heart rate, which burns more calories). Good luck!!