Enough workout to make a difference??

My gym is halfway between work and home.  About 12 miles from my house.  This is the closest gym.   So of course if it's not convenient......you know the rest.   But I would like to start back.   What is everyone's opinion on how often is enough to work out that it will help in the weight loss process?  How many days a week?  For how long of a period each time?

I am not an expert, but it seems to me that a calorie burned is a calorie burned.  Every little bit helps.  I try to do 45 mins to an hour 5-6 days a week.

I would say at least 30 minutes 4-5 times a week. You could invest in a couple good exercise DVDs if you didn't want to have to go to the gym every weekday.

Maybe you should just try running around your neighborhood at first to get back into it and then maybe you won't need to pay for the far away gym.

Mostly I say this because a lot of people just do the treadmill/elliptical at the gym and I don't exactly see the point of a gym unless you're doing weights.

I bought a treadmill on sale and free weights for home. If that is an option it works great for me. I am lucky that I have a gym in the office I work in so I can use it after work. But on the weekends I workout at home.

I've started going for a walk everyday. It's a lot nicer for me than walking on a treadmill, but that's good too, for when you don't want to go out.

Mostly I've found and been told that it's getting your ass out that's the hardest part, as well as wondering about the distance. Just walk and think about other things - that's why I'm crap at treadmills, standing in one place my thoughts turn to minutes and calories burned and that's not very enjoyable. Music and videos help a lot!

ANYWAY TANGENTIAL YES.

Weights are great. Watching something, listening to something, waiting for something, just doing some light weight training is like... fidgeting hardcore, I suppose.

Doing crunches or pushups or basic strength training is really nice - it's relaxing so immediate gratification if you manage to do whatever number it takes for you to start feeling yourself really work.

Also those... simple exercises everybody knows but they seem kinda funny. leg lifts, ski jumps, stepping from side to side etc.

I've been incoporating these into my day and it feels great.

I would be apt to say it depends on a variety of factors how long you should work out. Age, body type/weight, exhaustion level are all things that can affect your ability to exercise, and how much of it you should do.

Let's say on an average day (7 hours of sleep, Normal calorie intake for your body type) I would exercise anywhere from 15-30 minutes of a strenuous cardio workout (Running, Biking, Elliptical, Swimming, anything that gets your heart pumping) or 45 minutes to an hour of a light workout (walking, slow biking etc.)

That would be a good start, and if you can do that at least 4 times a week that is a terrific start. If you can do more, fantastic, if you need to start out doing less, that's fine too, as long as you start somewhere and work-up to 4 times a week, hopefully you can work in more. I myself try and get to the gym everyday, but 12 miles is a long distance. I might try one of the other suggestions of buying some cheap, used workout equipment if you have the money (which in the end would probably save a few hundred a year on the gym membership).

Hope that helps!