Am I on the right path?

Question
I joined a weight loss program on 8/24/07...I am 39, 5'6" and on the above date, weighed 213 lbs.  I now weigh 198.4 and am on a 1200 a day calorie menu.  I had all my bloodwork done prior to doing this program and have great cholesterol levels, good blood pressure and so forth.  I started walking on the treadmill and have built up to walking on it for 55 minutes to 1 hour or 3 miles per day w/ one day off per week.  I am on my second week of that.  Is it too much?  I don't want to push myself but don't want to slack off either.  I bought a strength training DVDon a ball that I would also like to incorporate.  Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Answer
Congratulations on your decision to lose weight and your progress so far! You are close to the optimum weightloss rate of 1.5 lbs per week. Your calorie intake is a little lower than I like to see -- 1500 minimum. You could add a few hundred calories more, especially if you add more exercise, which is never a bad idea.

Also, you did build to 18 miles per week rather fast. Be cautious about hurting yourself by doing too much, too soon. Your muscles increase their capacity quicker than your tendons and ligaments, and that is where injuries tend to happen. Even though you seem to be tolerating the mileage, I would back off to two miles per day for a couple of weeks then gradually build up to about 4 miles per day.

In summary, you are on the right track, and with a couple of the mentioned changes, you should be highly successfully in taking weight off gradually, which is the only way to shed weight and keep it off.