I guarantee that you, living in NYC, walk more than the average suburbanite in any given day. I'm not counting recreational/gym time, I am referring more to getting from here to there and back. Many days, my longest walk is from my car in the parking lot to the door of my office, and that's maybe 50 feet.

I think walking 3-4 miles a day is great. I aspire to do that myself. I don't think you can walk too much, unless you are injured.

I often walk a mile home, but I also work at the top of a hill, so I avoid walking up it whenever I can. You'd think that between five years of working here and another year or so walking up it as a student might make a difference, but noooooo.

I have to mention here that the route between home and office is literally uphill both ways. No joke.

Now that we've moved I get a great daily walk - 1.6 miles each way to the train and back, so that's 3.2/day. There's usually a bit more walking on top of that, since when I get home we usually walk out somewhere a few times a week, like to the community garden and back (1.1 mi) or my gym (.6) just around downtown, admittedly not very far. There's often a recreational walk on weekends, too.

It seems like a lot of walking, but I'm frustrated that I don't seem to be losing weight from it. It just doesn't get the heart rate up very high, even though it's good for so many other reasons.

But yeah, totally do-able, don't shy away from it. Where you live is made for walking. Make sure your shoes are comfy. I have gotten better and better at the walking commute and can now estimate weather and needed clothing better. I keep an umbrella at both ends of the commute in case the weather changes midday. I haven't become one of those people who wears sneakers and carries their dress shoes, but I'm thinking about it.

p.s. I don't think there's really a "too much" category. I was reading something recenty about hwo much more our ancestors of recent centuries walked - reading Colonial and nineteenth-century history, you find all kinds of accounts of 'rambles' of fourteen to twenty miles in a day, and people walked between towns that were miles distant with regularity.

I used to hike, so I'm used to long, long walks (and i have some half-remembered thing that it's jogging/running that really injures you - you'd have to walk much much more to really damage yourself) but I haven't hiked in a long, long time and hoping not to get too ambitious, fail, and then give up.

That being said 6 miles every other day doesn't seem undoable? right?

I walk 1.3 miles each way to and from work nearly every day (and sometimes walk home for lunch). The biggest issue will be shoes. Those good-looking loafers that are fine for everyday wear won't cut it for long walks. I wear black leather walking shoes, then change at the office (sometimes--I'm in IT, so can get away with black leather walking shoes most of the time). I also have to pay a lot of attention to the socks I wear.

Have you considered bicycling?

My Car Fear pretty much prevents me from cycling on all but the emptiest country roads (I once accidently got on the highway on a bike and had a panic attack and walked the damn thing back the 3 miles)

I walk the 1.4 miles each way to work most days, or bike. Hike a lot.

I never walked as much as when I have visited NYC. You don't see too many obese people there, at least where I have been. Even with the good subways and buses, you gotta walk to 'em, and walk up and down a lot of stairs, and ramps.

I've taken to walking about 9kms a day of late. I walk to work, then home for lunch, and then home at the end of the day. At a good clip, it takes about 15 minutes per leg, and has some small, but steep hills to get my heart rate up a bit. It's been great, and I'm sure, been a big help in dropping weight.

I can't imagine walking too much, unless you mean overdoing it all at once. Walking 15 kms in a single day, without working up to it, might make you regret your decision.

i do a ton of walking, but have never done the math on it . let's see......

i go to the pool 2-3 times a week. its a 1 1/2 miles each way . if its not raining i'll take a 2 1/2 mile walk on the seawall on the way home

i go to the gym twice a week . its 2 miles each way , but if its a nice day , i'll take the seawall back and that adds another 3 miles

every couple of weeks i'll go down tho the Stanley Park Seawall . its 5 1/2 miles around and about 5 miles if i decide to walk back over the bridge

sometimes, if the weather is nice, i'll walk back from downtown and that's about 7 miles

basically i look for any chance to go for a good walk. its a nice way to relax. it gives me plenty of time to think about stuff as well as being good for my health . its good for dropping some weight too

i just had a quick look at a map of Manhattan and it looks like a 100 block walk is about 5 miles, so i say go for it .

I try to walk as much as I can but recently I've got into the habit of driving to the station instead of walking. It's a mile each way, but now the weather's picked up, unless I have a ton of files to carry to or from the office, I'll walk it.

At lunchtimes I try to get out for a walk round the dock, which is a 2-mile circuit. So, on a good day, 4 miles. On a bad day, probably about a mile.

When I'm in NYC I probably walk at least 5 miles a day.

I walk to work every day but it's only a little over a mile each way. I try to walk as much as possible but due to the wonders of urban renewal, my inner city neighborhood has few services that I can walk to.

On weekdays I try to walk to work. It's about a mile and three quarters each way, takes a little over half an hour. It's pretty easy. I listen to audiobooks or audio lectures on the way though.

It's funny, but I don't find walking by myself to be enjoyable at all. I love walking with other people, but by myself, well, sometimes it's just plain boring. Or sometimes I'm either nervous because I see somebody potentially scary or I feel like I *might* see somebody potentially scary. Or, even if I'm feeling perfectly safe, my mind starts thinking about things that are wrong in my life, never anything positive.

I use a treadmill at home, mostly hard walking with a little running, but the only way I can get myself to do that is to have the treadmill pointed at the tv, with dvds and roku player at the ready.

For a long stretch of my life I walked at least 5-6 miles every workday: two and a half miles to work each way, plus at least another mile for social life, errands, and everything else.

It wasn't so great in really crappy weather or when I felt sick, but most of the time it was absolutely fine. I took a huge, comfortable backpack everywhere and got really good at optimizing routes around town.

I used to live a mile from school, my main destination at that time. There was a bus that went right to school, but depending on how I timed it, walking could be faster. Plus, the bus didn't operate that late. Most days, I'd walk 2-4 miles, not counting getting around the campus. One day I walked at least 8 miles, and that was the only time I was got tired after all that walking, though I could have been OK if I just slowed my pace.

Walking is great. I've lost 18 pounds in a year, from 160 to 142. Granted, I have combined other exercise and better eating, but still, the results speak for themselves. I walk four miles a day at least six days a week. If the weather is bad, I walk indoors at the mall or somewhere appropriate. But mostly, I walk around the neighborhood which has some great hills to get my legs and lungs in good shape for my primary passion, hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Admittedly, walking seemed like a chore when I first started. At some point, though, you cross a line where it becomes enjoyable, something you want to do rather than a chore. Take an iPod or MP3 player and listen to music or books. I've gotten to know a few people who are also regular walkers along my route. Some of us are going to Great Smoky Mountains National Park hiking this summer. These are people I'd never met before walking.

Put me squarely on the side recommending you go for it. I feel healthier, look healthier, and feel good about myself. Give it three months. Then review.

About 3.5 miles per day is considered "exercise" by the website that my company has contracted with to keep us healthy. They offered us all free pedometers and we are encouraged to upload to a website. They have contests and stuff.

(I did 20,000 steps Saturday, which included riding a bike 35 miles and walking 5.)

Whatever happened with the gym?