Does walking help?

saundts

Hello all, I am male, 5'9" 246lb age 43, I want to take this to this forum and ask if walking on flat surface road/sidewalk and/or walking on the treadmill 3.5MPH for 45 min a day help lose weight? is one better than the other?

JaydedMiss

if the walking helps support/create a calorie deficit, Yes. Its all i did as exercise when i was losing.

AnvilHead

It depends on your calorie intake. You lose weight by consuming less calories than you expend, by whatever means you choose to accomplish that. If you're not in a calorie deficit, all the walking in the world isn't going to make any difference.

WCMedows

Personal experience: YES.

I purchased a fitbit about two years ago. About 18 months back, began to do the 10,000 steps. This was 10,000 steps of active walking, not the passive counts for shuffling around my house.

I lost about 20 pounds just because of the walking, but only by making sure I kept my calorie counts consistent during the exercise period.
I have tried to go to the gym and lose weight by working out or biking, and those work too, but the key is that when I build a lot of muscle, the weight loss doesn't happen as fast.

Walking alone, but briskly, I was able to not be more hungry, thereby increasing my food consumption. Because of that, the weight kept coming off, and I lost 45 pounds total so far.



I am now trying to push it to the next level by upping from 10,000 steps to cycling, which gets my heart rate up over 140 consistently for the entire ride. Doing this wile keeping the calorie count the same is my big goal. It isn't easy, because with the more intense workout, I find myself hungry.

My plan there is to add more fat to my diet by balancing my goals differently. The fat will hopefully satiate my hunger while not increasing calories if I do it right. This should help to take off what I hope is another 40 pounds. (I am now at the same mark, 243, down from 285.) My target goal is 200.

Hope this helps!

kimny72

saundts wrote: »

Hello all, I am male, 5'9" 246lb age 43, I want to take this to this forum and ask if walking on flat surface road/sidewalk and/or walking on the treadmill 3.5MPH for 45 min a day help lose weight? is one better than the other?

Yes, if you are logging accurately and consistently at a deficit, absolutely! Walking can buy you a few calories and just generally make you feel better, loosen everything up, clear your head, etc. I find I make better eating decisions on days I get my walks in. Just make sure you are logging all your food and sticking to your deficit because that's where the real progress is made. Good luck :drinker:

1BlueAurora

Walking definitely helps! As far as outdoors vs. treadmill, it really depends on your preferences. I like being outside. I like listening to the birds, saying hello to other walkers, hearing the wind in the trees and seeing the sun dappling the ground, and of course those mountain views. My husband, on the other hand, just loves going to the gym so he can do the treadmill, then the elliptical, then the stair climber. I've tried the treadmill and I am bored because there's nothing to do but listen to music or watch TV, but to each his own, right?

The cool thing for my husband was that he started walking on the treadmill, and eventually added those other machines. He was able to measure his progress that way. I was able to measure my progress outside by discovering that I could walk further and further.

Maxematics

I am a HUGE advocate of walking and I think walking often gets sold short. I workout for an hour or so each day, but due to my additional walking my TDEE is much larger than others with my stats. So many people try to lose weight and think they have to go crazy in the gym to get it done. Exercising is great no matter what people choose to do and resistance training is best for body composition, but small changes are best in order to make long term ones. Walking can be done by most people and truly is great exercise. For all the different exercising I do, taking a lovely, scenic walk in the park is still in my top three favorites. As long as you're in a deficit while doing so, you should have positive results.

nowine4me

Yes!! Plus you can’t graze in the pantry if you’re out for a walk.

peggym4640

Personally, I walk outside. But you do you and if walking on the treadmill works, do it.

emmamcgarity

In good weather I enjoy walking outdoors. But right now the heat makes that unbearable for me. My finances don’t allow me access to a treadmill. So I walk indoors. I either walk laps around the kitchen and living room while listening to podcasts, or I do a walk aerobic DVD workout. Walking is great exercise and accessible to almost everyone. It’s a great way to burn some extra calories and is good for fitness.

PokeyBug

However you want to do it, just walk. We all differ on what works best for us. When I started losing weight the first time (I've fallen off the wagon before), my children were too young for me to take them with me outside, so I invested in a treadmill. Now that I've walked on it so long, it's what I prefer. I can walk at a known rate and incline, no matter what the weather outside is. But some people really prefer being outside in the fresh air, looking at scenery, etc., and I totally understand that. I'd do it, too, if I could only find an extension cord long enough to bring my big fan with me for a couple of miles.

PokeyBug

Maxematics wrote: »

I am a HUGE advocate of walking and I think walking often gets sold short. I workout for an hour or so each day, but due to my additional walking my TDEE is much larger than others with my stats.

IKR? I'm having 6 chocolate chip cookies tonight in exchange for 2 miles on the treadmill at a 15% incline.

Danp

100% yes!

In fact I'd say that making sure I walked enough over the course of my day had a significantly bigger impact that dedicated strenuous exercise.

In my experience the food and daily activity has made up about 90% of my weight loss with dedicated exercise (usually cycling) contributing a the final 10%.

Lounmoun

If the walking increases your activity level so you burn more calories than you take in then it will help you with weight loss. If you ignore your calorie intake side then it may not help with weight loss much to walk more.

motivatedmartha

I walk daily - sometimes on the coast path - trail type walking - sometimes on flat paths but I usually try and include a hill, sometimes on along country roads whatever I fancy and weather dictates. It helps because it provides a better deficit or gives me more calories to eat and because it is good for my mood! I only average an hour daily but it is so good for me and I get grumpy if weather too horrible outside to go. Personally I would find walking on a treadmill boring. Any activity that I can build into my otherwise very sedentary life has got to be a plus.

missysippy930

Any movement will help as long as you eat less calories than your body is burning.
Walking is great!

fitoverfortymom

I refused to do any exercise except walking for the first 6 months I was losing weight. It's superb.

psychod787

I think walking goes father than just calories burned. It helps keep the body fit. It can actually be a muscle building exercise. Try walking in soft sand! You legs will get massive! It can, I say can, in some people, help modulate appetite. It also what many of our ancestors would have done. It helps with bone density. Weight bearing exercise. It's also something most people can do cheaply.

hesn92

Yes. Walking is great. I wear a fitbit and on days where I get lots of steps, my calorie burn is significantly higher than days where I only walk a few thousand steps.

mazcor536

Everything counts, even shuffling around in your house! I use my Fitbit, averaging around 12000 steps per day, most of it is pacing/stepping in time to the music I have playing, and school runs. I’ve noticed the scale definitely drops faster when I clock in a decent amount of steps compared to when I don’t.

CharleyRose1236

I walk everywhere and found that it took a little while to notice the difference but you will start to notice it.

Personally I find walking outside nicer than on a treadmill but it depends on what you find works for you