Has anyone lost weight with walking as their only exercise?

theseaismyhome

I have 20lbs+ to lose. I used to be pretty fit, did a lot of cycling, swimming, running, mixed up with the odd visit to the gym. About a year ago I developed a few health issues which meant I could do none of the above. Well those health issues are well on the way to being fixed, thank goodness, but I still need to take it easy. I'm itching to just get out and start running again, but I think the best bet for now is to start off by walking. I've no idea how long it'll be until I can exercise properly again, but I thought I'd try and build up the walking (speed/distance) as much as possible.

I'm going to start up some yoga again too, just to help tone and stretch a bit.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated!!

NoelFigart1

Back a couple of years ago, I lost 30 lbs with walking as my only exercise, but I was walking like an hour most days, and eating about 1600 calories a day.

jgnatca

Ditto. I lost my first thirty pounds walking. You might also look in to Aquasize, which is easier on the joints.

theseaismyhome

Ooh, how long did it take you? I work shifts, which means I have quite a good chunk of each morning free, so I was hoping to get to the point where I could walk out to my mum's house, which would be about an hour away, and have a cup of tea and a chat with her, then she could give me a lift back home

NoelFigart1

I think it took like four months for me at the time.

Just as some background, I'm short, middle-aged and a yo-yo dieter, but I do have significant muscle mass from a lifetime of sports, manual labor and weight training.

AmZam05

Weight loss is primarily controlled by diet, so any exercise you do will be effective in aiding your calorie deficit. This past summer I lost a good bit of weight with walking as my primary exercise but my diet was on point. Now I just do mostly weight lifting. When the weather turns I'll go back to walking between lifting days. It's a really great low impact exercise and sounds like it's perfect for your situation to get some movement in without risking injury.

Best of luck to you on resolving your health issues!

theseaismyhome

That sounds good! I'm going out for my first walk tomorrow. Going my old running route- last time I went that way, it was over a year ago and I ended up staggering home in pain, realising that I should probably go see a doctor wish me luck!

jgnatca

Lessee, from August to nearly June, ten months to lose my first thirty pounds.

theseaismyhome

That's brilliant jg

theseaismyhome

Thanks amzam its good to know that it is an OK alternative- its so frustrating not being able to do the exercise I am used to!

keelz2010

The only exercise I do is walk to work and back 5 times a week (80 mins a day). I dropped from a size 16 to a 10 but I ate better too.

ahoier

i don't know if you can consider an elliptical 'walking' but it helped me immensely.....lol. it gets most of the credit for my weight loss when i first joined. just realize, you gotta eat right.....i'd consider taking a probiotic over the counter to aide your digestion too....eventually you will plateau from walking alone.....as i did with the elliptical, then i took a couple weeks off, and moved to the stepper....then started losing again.

eep223

I lost about 30 pounds walking too! I walked about an hour 5 days a week as quickly as I could. I also cut back on snacks and booze. At the time, I wasn't even trying to lose weight (although I needed to). Walking was part of my daily commute. I'm not sure how long it took because I did not have a scale, but at the time I moved/ ended the commute/ was at my lowest weight it had been a year. You can totally do it.

aliciamunday7

I have lost almost 60 pounds since March just with the Leslie Sansone walking videos

tomatoey

theseaismyhome wrote: »

Ooh, how long did it take you? I work shifts, which means I have quite a good chunk of each morning free, so I was hoping to get to the point where I could walk out to my mum's house, which would be about an hour away, and have a cup of tea and a chat with her, then she could give me a lift back home

Aw, that sounds really nice

Good luck!

picklesroofus

I lost my 1st 25 lbs with walking only - I have added yoga stretching and occasional dancing now - I walked 30 - 40 min 4-5x a week @ 3 mph

djscavone

Like the others said - yes. I walked morning noon and then night starting January 2013 and lost 30 lbs by end of May. By summer I was over 20k steps daily. The weight loss though I feel was more from my doing portion control, no evening snacks, and cutting out the wine and beer. I didn't start the jogging until summer when I wanted cardio but had less time. The walks were taking too long for my work schedule.

ambersgilmore

I lost 20 pounds in 3 months doing about the same as everyone else here says, but my problem is it was so easy for me to gain the weight back, as if walking wasn't adequate exercise to keep my muscles in shape while on a caloric deficit. As soon as I went back to regular eating (even healthy), just the added calories made me gain all my weight back with in about 6 months. So I'm now doing TurboFire, which I enjoy & I have the FitBit ChargeHR to monitor my daily caloric burn, I'm losing about 1.5 pounds a week without feeling fatigued or moody. I feel great, hopefully the weight will stay off this time. No more dieting, it's a lifestyle change.

Vinjol03

Hello all
I started walking as my main excercise last month. I currently weigh 90kg and 5.2 in height. I need to reduce to 60kg. I can only manage 2.6 speed at moment but compensate by walking 5 miles. T do tae bo for 10 minutes on my rest days.
Any suggestions on how I can increase my speed?

SKME2013

Vinjol03 wrote: »

Hello all
I started walking as my main excercise last month. I currently weigh 90kg and 5.2 in height. I need to reduce to 60kg. I can only manage 2.6 speed at moment but compensate by walking 5 miles. T do tae bo for 10 minutes on my rest days.
Any suggestions on how I can increase my speed?

Vary your speed. You can set yourself little goals, by walking as fast as you can for a minute and then walk normally for the next. Try to increase the amount of time you walk as fast as you can. After a couple of weeks you can try running half a minute and then walk. Eventually you can download the free app C25K to your phone and get into running.

I started with C25K in May last year and now I am training for a full marathon, having run a couple of half marathons. It is unbelievable what you can achieve with taking small steps, as long as you stick with it.

Best of luck
Stef.

rianoel

A pound or so a week. I now walk an average of 3-5 miles a day 5 or 6 days a week. Speed has made no difference for me---but getting lighter has meant I have to watch my diet more closely and walk a little farther to get rid of the same amount of calories.

Foamroller

I've slowly recomped last 3 months with hilly, brisk, LONG walks as main exercise. I'd guesstimate the average "incline" of my uphill walk as somewhere around 7%. It's done wonders for both my stamina and strength in other forms of exercise.

OP: Start slowly and add on time and pace as you progress. I started with 20 minutes downhill, 1x a week.

OldHobo

I joined mfp last year and lost 15 lbs in a month with walking as only exercise. I stopped logging onto mfp because listing the foods took so long and then, without the motivation you get here, I stopped walking. Gained 15 plus 15 more. Now I'm starting over. Just ordered a treadmill from Amazon.

smilehard123

Hey guys if i walk 7miles aday will i lose something...like arould 2 pounds aweek...

christosv

smilehard123 wrote: »

Hey guys if i walk 7miles aday will i lose something...like arould 2 pounds aweek...

Possibly more than that but you would have to adjust your calories accordingly. The reason is that the more weight you lose the less calories you will need to maintain. On the other hand you can walk a million miles a day but if you eat more calories than you burn then you will put weight on. Remember it is calories in vs calories out.

Stay healthy, stay focused and best of luck with your goals.

maisie981

Walking and stretching and toning is all I can do too.
Just started out on this app it's very motivating x

LovelyIvy466

I used to walk a lot as part of my daily commute and I lost a ton of weight. I of course regained all of it when my lifestyle changed and I stopped walking without changing the way I ate. This has happened to me multiple times. Sigh. Why do we need to relearn the same lessons again and again?

carly_pear

All I have done is walking, 30-60 minutes, 5 days a week, and healthy eating. 89lbs lost. It's a slow process, but it's what worked for me.

iredale7

I about an hour every other day to help lose weight. To help burn extra calories and help tone my legs most of the time if walking outside I will make a point of walking up hills or if I am at the gym walking on the treadmill on a steep incline. Hope this tip helps.

Kidominos

Yup, I lost almost 60 lbs last year by walking. Walking about 95% and swimming etc the other 5% during the summer months. I own a Fitbit One and wear it almost 24/7.

lisele03

SKME2013 wrote: »

Vinjol03 wrote: »

Hello all
I started walking as my main excercise last month. I currently weigh 90kg and 5.2 in height. I need to reduce to 60kg. I can only manage 2.6 speed at moment but compensate by walking 5 miles. T do tae bo for 10 minutes on my rest days.
Any suggestions on how I can increase my speed?

Vary your speed. You can set yourself little goals, by walking as fast as you can for a minute and then walk normally for the next. ...

^This. I vary my speed by walking to the beat of music. I made 3 playlists: warmup (slow), medium (~3.2mph) and fast (~3.5+). I can switch to fast for songs I like and I can stay motivated to just get to the end of the song! Good luck!