Is walking enough?

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pbandz
pbandz Posts: 128 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello.
I'm curious to know if walking alone is a good enough exercise to stay in shape. I'm 114-115lb and 5'1" so I'm currently a healthy weight, trying to get to 110. I used to be a runner but I've since lost motivation, however, I now walk on average 8 miles a day. I don't walk super fast but occasionally I hope on the treadmill and speed walk. I'm just curious to know if all this walking is benefiting me or not.

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    it is benefiting you. Just eat in a calorie deficit for the last 5 pound. You probably wont need that much walking to stay in maintenance (maybe 3-4 miles). However, some at home body weight exercises will generally help as well.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Yes.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,933 Member
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    Walking is great for your legs, but what are you doing for your upper body? One of the reasons I lift weights is to make my arm strength more in balance with my legs for yoga and swimming.
  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
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    http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/stationary-bicycle-vs-walking-exercise-9889.html

    “Harvard Men’s Health Watch” reported in 2009 that 11 years of moderate exercise, “typically walking or riding a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes three times a week,” reduced 8,946 patients’ risk of death by 20 percent and risk of death via heart disease by 26 percent in 48 studies. Ornish reported that people who walk 30 minutes daily for eight years have a premature death rate that is about 60 percent lower than sedentary people’s death rate. "
  • pbandz
    pbandz Posts: 128 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.
  • pbandz
    pbandz Posts: 128 Member
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    64crayons wrote: »
    http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/stationary-bicycle-vs-walking-exercise-9889.html

    “Harvard Men’s Health Watch” reported in 2009 that 11 years of moderate exercise, “typically walking or riding a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes three times a week,” reduced 8,946 patients’ risk of death by 20 percent and risk of death via heart disease by 26 percent in 48 studies. Ornish reported that people who walk 30 minutes daily for eight years have a premature death rate that is about 60 percent lower than sedentary people’s death rate. "


    Good to know thank you :)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    Sure. You might want to add some resistance training, but it's a decent amount of walking. I live in the city and it's way more than I do.
  • sdash07
    sdash07 Posts: 15 Member
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    Hi- I started out walking and liked it a lot. Moved to running and then more stuff but if doing it challenges then, yes. Probably need to do about 40-60mins a day for a bit of burn at a moderate rate.
  • debtay123
    debtay123 Posts: 1,327 Member
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    Hi I am 5'2 and I want to be able to eat about 1500 calories to maintenance- right now MFP has me on 1350 to lose.5 a week- then sometimes i overdo it - but I am doing better and better at logging and tracking my foods- good luck on your journey
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    More resistance training would be beneficial too!
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    Sure. You might want to add some resistance training, but it's a decent amount of walking. I live in the city and it's way more than I do.

    Do you live close to where you work? I lived in NY for years and often I go back for work and I can easily walk that in a day with all the walking and subway trips.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    20yearsyounger wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    Sure. You might want to add some resistance training, but it's a decent amount of walking. I live in the city and it's way more than I do.

    Do you live close to where you work? I lived in NY for years and often I go back for work and I can easily walk that in a day with all the walking and subway trips.

    I live close to the subway in my hood, and work close to the one in the other hood. When I was a waitress I walked a lot more because I could walk to work.
  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    20yearsyounger wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    Sure. You might want to add some resistance training, but it's a decent amount of walking. I live in the city and it's way more than I do.

    Do you live close to where you work? I lived in NY for years and often I go back for work and I can easily walk that in a day with all the walking and subway trips.

    I live close to the subway in my hood, and work close to the one in the other hood. When I was a waitress I walked a lot more because I could walk to work.

    You can always walk to a stop further from home and get off further from work (and vice versa).
  • shifterbrainz
    shifterbrainz Posts: 245 Member
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    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    You can do some quick and simple math to know. BMR for your goal weight is should be just under 1,200 calories so if you eat 1,500 calories every day, you need to exercise away around 300 of those calories to not gain weight. If you want to make it more complicated than that, you certainly can. And no doubt you'll get tons of advice on how to.

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    pbandz wrote: »
    Hello.
    I'm curious to know if walking alone is a good enough exercise to stay in shape. I'm 114-115lb and 5'1" so I'm currently a healthy weight, trying to get to 110. I used to be a runner but I've since lost motivation, however, I now walk on average 8 miles a day. I don't walk super fast but occasionally I hope on the treadmill and speed walk. I'm just curious to know if all this walking is benefiting me or not.

    If you are low on motivation right now, and lifting isn't going to happen, try adding in something like the Nerdfitness body weight programme; you can do it at home, no equipment required. It will give your upper body a bit more strength and complement your walking.

    Cheers, h.
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    64crayons wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    20yearsyounger wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    pbandz wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Enough for what? Only you can be the judge on that. 8 miles per day seems like quite a bit. Do you feel like it's enough to allow you to eat comfortably?

    Enough to stay fit and healthy, and I'm able to eat about 1500 or so calories and day and not gain weight.

    Sure. You might want to add some resistance training, but it's a decent amount of walking. I live in the city and it's way more than I do.

    Do you live close to where you work? I lived in NY for years and often I go back for work and I can easily walk that in a day with all the walking and subway trips.

    I live close to the subway in my hood, and work close to the one in the other hood. When I was a waitress I walked a lot more because I could walk to work.

    You can always walk to a stop further from home and get off further from work (and vice versa).

    She said hood, not neighborhood :) j/k

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