Will just walking at 3.0 mph do anything?

As others have said, you cannot spot reduce. You lose weight by eating at a deficit and eventually that weight will come off.

Walking is fine for exercise and will burn calories which will help you be in a deficit. Remember that moving mass over a distance expends energy...it doesnt matter if it is slow or fast...you burn calories over distance. As your effort goes up (increasing speed), you will get a slight increase in calories burned over that distance but in the end, running at 6.0mph for 3 miles, or walking at 3.0mph for 3 miles will burn close to the same amount of calories....one event will just get you done in 30 minutes versus the other event getting you done in 60 minutes.

This. Its all physics. Walking will help you burn calories, which will help you lose weight. Good luck.

just wondering if ya don't have a fit bit or something, is there an easy way to tell how fast you are walking?

when i am wALKIING SLOW i log it as 2.0. any advice on this guys?

have a smartphone? try runkeeper. It'll tell you how fast you're moving.

Yes!!! Keep walking and up the intensity as you lose weight. When you can, add resistance training.

Walking will help you:
**lose weight
**lower your blood pressure (mine went down to low normal walking 20 minutes a day)
** help your mood
** help you sleep

There are so many benefits to walking. If this is all you can do for now, do it!!!

Exactly this.
I lost 40 lbs on a deficit with walking 40 min. a day. As I got more aerobically fit I upped the incline and added some resistance training. As i lost weight, my beer belly shrank. It was great to watch TV in bed and not have my gut in the way. :laugh:

At first, if you haven't been doing any other exercise in a very long time, it will help you drop. However, once your cardio health begins to improve, just walking 3 mph will not have the same effect as it did in the beginning. I started exercising this same way... I started walking my dog around the block, then a mile, then before I knew it I was out walking my poor pup. My HRM showed me that after several months, it took more for me to burn the same number of calories then in the beginning. I joined a gym and started strength training and walking the treadmill at 3.5 with an incline of 10. I burn about 450 calories in 30 minutes this way...

This isn't due to your cardiovascular shape but rather due to you losing weight. If you are moving less weight over a certain distance then you will burn less calories. Being in better shape is obviously beneficial and will help you do more, but the calorie burn comes from moving mass over distance...as you lose weight, your mass decreases and therefore you burn less calories over the same distance.

Doctor is wrong!!!!!

Thats exactly what I asked my doctor. He said IN HIS OPINION, that unless you are actually working out, running, swimming, weights ect walking will not do much good.

Not trying to be rude here but I'd consider looking for a new doctor. Any kind of exercise is better than nothing and in fact it will do a lot of good. ie. develop a healthy habit of moving, regular routine, aid sleep etc.

As a child I took the school bus and frankly had lousy exercise habits. At 17 I was in a car accident that required that I learn to walk again and gave me the perfect excuse not to walk for exercise. I have battled with my scale for quite some time and finally I'm winning!

At 45 I started to walk with a friend for 60 minutes each morning as a stress reliever....30 lbs fell off me in the last 4 years (granted, I changed the way I was eating too)...walking most certainly is benefical

I think you should change your doctor. Walking is very good for you. I lost 2 stone this summer just walking. Yes, walking doesn't tone, but you can do something about that if you have space at home.

In reality, weight loss is 80% diet and only 20% exercise. You can successfully lose weight without excercising at all. Obviously, the more you move, the more calories you burn. Walking is great exercise. It's free, it's easy, and easily accessible to just about everyone on the planet. You can do it before, during, after work and not have to worry about taking a shower before your next meeting. If you're outside you get fresh air and sunshine. You can take a friend and socialize. You will get a cardio benefit, so it does strengthen your heart. Most doctors will tell you it's the best possible exercise so I'm surprised your doctor said something different. Lot's of benefits.

Actually 3.0 mph is a pretty speedy dog. Mine would take me 2.5 miles in about 35-40 minutes, and it kept my heart rate in fat burning range.

I finally bought a bike for the dog, he wanted to RUN and I am not interested in ruining my joints through running or jogging, bad knees run in the family, mine are fine now and I'd like to keep them that way.

So now the dog gets a run in about 20 minutes, I bike at about a 10 - 11 mph pace and have several routes depending on how much time I have. I use endomondo with the gps on my phone to track myself, it works for walking too.

Oh, a lot of this walking pace estimate depends on the length of your legs!

If you are just starting out and 3.0 is brisk for you, then it will probably be more beneficial than if it's "easy" for you. If it's easy, find ways to make it more difficult. Add in spurts of jogging or head for some hills, those can get your heart rate up better than walking on a flat surface will. Over time, try to get faster and faster in your walks. If you are putting some effort in to it, then I think you are going to get some results.

As for losing in the lower belly area, that's really going to depend on your body type/tendancies. I think if you work out harder/get your heartrate higher, you will probably see more results than if you are just taking it easy.