Walking
kelliclark805
Posts: 15 Member
Hi. I’ve been walking almost 4x a week for over 4 months as consistent as I can. I hear all these stories how people walk off weight. In 4 months I have lost only 5lbs!!!! I’m angry, frustrated, pissed off & motivation all in one. I don’t understand how this works for other but not me. I ready to just say 🤬 & quit, however that won’t help anything. Please somebody give me some advice or guidance. I know there is no quick fix though I thought I would have lost more. I can’t seem to get anyone to help me. This is one reason I quit on here before.
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Replies
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What about your diet? If you don't keep your portions and calories under control, the walking will not help you much. How many calories did MFP give you per day, are you weighting and logging your food, what are your stats and goal?17
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Whilst walking is a very healthy thing to do it won’t magically make you lose weight. You’ve not mentioned how far you’re walking so there’s not a lot I can say further than that on the walking issue.
There is really only one way to lose weight and that is to make sure you’re burning more calories than you are taking in by eating over a time period. It’s a basic energy in vs energy out equation.
By all means carry on walking if you enjoy it, it certainly won’t do you any harm but you do need to work out how many calories you burn through generally going about your day and then set your intake calories from food to less than this figure.
Lots and lots of good posts in the stickies on this forum which will explain in detail how to go about deriving those numbers and tracking your calories. Logging accurately and being realistic will get you there!
Giving up will never get you there, that’s for sure!
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unless you have food scale and weight your food, walking can be not enough. Ya need to be accurate with counting. In term of weight loss food scale is best investment.4
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I lost my weight (60+ pounds) basically by walking/hiking. First, are you weighing your food with a scale? If not, DO invest in one and start weighing everything that goes into your mouth! Second... make sure you have comfy fitting shoes made for walking, to prevent blisters, heel spurs, arch problems, etc. Then just walk! I started off walking every day, and I still do. I invested in first a cheap pedometer, finally got myself a FitBit Zip (no longer made, it's not a wrist band kind) and I have been using that and a walking app for the past 7 years. I started off walking 1/2 mile a day and increased that as I was able. Within about a month I was walking 1.5 miles, within 6 months I was getting in a good 4-5 miles a day, 7 days a week. I also concentrated on my speed... a leisurely stroll is just that, a stroll, and it isn't doing my heart any good. So I pushed my walks, from day one, and walked at the fastest speed I could manage. I went from 2.5 miles per hour to 4+. (Though right now, with all the heat, I'm slowing it down and taking shorter walks/hikes)
Right now, I'm "training" my hubby. He just retired in April, and has been basically sitting for the past 10 years or so. We started off walking/hiking (I count actual hikes over rough terrain as walks in my app because they just give you way too many calories if you count them as hikes) 2-2.5 miles per day, 7 days a week. He can now do 5 miles, though the heat is just too much for us right now.
BUT... walking is for our hearts and bodies. calorie counting is for weight loss!!! I can't stress that enough. You can lose weight and never get off your *kitten* if you simply restrict calories below what you burn per day. Hence my first suggestion, GET A FOOD SCALE AND USE IT!!!10 -
The only people who talk about losing weight while walking are those who have been successful at it. We have no idea how many people it didn't work for.
Follow the advice given above and you'll see results. Good luck!9 -
How many calories are you consuming each day?
For weight loss, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn.5 -
Most people find the best results for weight loss by focusing on diet first and introducing exercise later. It appears you have chosen these steps in a different order. I would encourage you to continue walking and start focusing on your diet in an effort to reduce calorie intake. You don’t mention your current stats. So I am unable to tell if 5 lbs lost over 4 months is appropriate for you. If you’d be willing to share more about yourself I’m sure than many would be able to help you tweak your current plan to meet your goals. What is your current height, weight and age? How much do you want to lose? Are there any other steps you’ve taken besides walking?7
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My goal is to lose 30-35lbs by May next year for a vacation trip. I have started with food, reduced my sweet intake since that is the hardest for me to do. My current calorie intake on here is 2010. I walked anywhere from 1-1.50 miles. I have arthritis in both knees, there are days I can increase my speed & others I have to back off. My husband cooks for me and know all the portion sizes. I don’t go for seconds.7
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knowing portion sizes is not enough it must be weighted by food scale and logged. Its easy to go over calorie limit when not weighting. Size is not enough. 3x in 250g for meals(just an example), versus 3 x 325g is clear 225 gram difference. which can be a lot in term of calories goal.3
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If you are currently tracking your calories in MyFitnessPal consistently you might want to consider opening your diary. Logging errors would be the most likely reason you aren’t losing weight at your expected pace. There are several people here who are good at finding ways for your food log to be more accurate.
If you aren’t consistently logging everything you eat, I recommend starting with improving your logging. Log everything as accurately as you can even if over calories.
I don’t know if your current calorie goal is appropriate for you since you haven’t mentioned your current height and weight.6 -
@ kelliclark805
What are your stats for MFP to give you 2010 daily calories, and what kind of daily activity level did you enter (without counting exercise)?
How do you know how many calories are you eating if you don't weigh your food? Walking less than 2 miles per day is not an strenuous exercise that will help you shed lbs fast unless you control your diet. Can you add swimming and/or stationary bike to your walking regiment?
On the other hand, if you don't want to weight and measure your food, and you just intuitively restrict calories and macros, you may shed weight at a very slooow pace. So in this case, patience is needed. Good luck, and congratulations on the weight that you already lost. Don't quit or give up!7 -
Did simple math: 5lb is 17500 calories, 200(calories deficit daily i calculated your calorie burn daily at 2200 calories)*30(days)*4(months) is 24000 calories. 24000-17500= 6500 calories inacurracy. So you did not do as that bad as you paint it.5
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I love to walk for relaxation and enjoyment. However, for ME ( 5'4" 64 y/o female, 140 lbs) - it is NOT a weight loss solution. Unless I am walking briskly - about 3.5 MPH for several miles, walking burns surprisingly VERY few calories. In my experience, I need to RUN about 3 miles to see any significant calorie burn...really get my heart rate up and sweat a s**t-load....and therefore see any contribution to my weight loss. This is my experience...may be different for others....6
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@ kelliclark805
What are your stats for MFP to give you 2010 daily calories, and what kind of daily activity level did you enter (without counting exercise)?
How do you know how many calories are you eating if you don't weigh your food? Walking less than 2 miles per day is not an strenuous exercise that will help you shed lbs fast unless you control your diet. Can you add swimming and/or stationary bike to your walking regiment?
On the other hand, if you don't want to weight and measure your food, and you just intuitively restrict calories and macros, you may shed weight at a very slooow pace. So in this case, patience is needed. Good luck, and congratulations on the weight that you already lost. Don't quit or give up!
Indeed, these are useful pieces of information. How tall are you and how much do you currently weigh? What did you select as your activity level and did you consider your walks when you chose that level?
For me, I have to eat closer to 1600 calories per day to lose 0.5lbs per week unless I exercise and walking 1 mile would burn very little. It could be that your calorie goal is too high, combined with inaccurate calculations of how much you are eating.7 -
Some math:
5 lbs lost in 4 months = .0416 pounds lost per day, or 146 calories lost per day. Since you have been eating 2010 calories, this implies that your "break even" (inclusive of all your walking activity, i.e. your TDEE) = 2010 + 146 = 2156 calories.
Based on how much weight you want to lose, you should adjust your daily calories in (food consumed) accordingly.
For instance, if you want to lose 1 pound per week, well, that'd entail eating 1656 calories per day while continuing your walking regimen, because 2156 - 1656 = 500, and a daily deficit of 500 will yield a pound lost per week.
In a nutshell, your 2010 calories is too high if you are unhappy with your rate of weight loss. Right now you're eating very close to your maintenance level, and losing 1/4 lb per week as a result.
This is all assuming that you are correctly measuring the food you're eating. As others have pointed out, until you get that food on a scale which measures in grams, there's a lot of guesswork involved.11 -
kelliclark805 wrote: »My goal is to lose 30-35lbs by May next year for a vacation trip. I have started with food, reduced my sweet intake since that is the hardest for me to do. My current calorie intake on here is 2010. I walked anywhere from 1-1.50 miles. I have arthritis in both knees, there are days I can increase my speed & others I have to back off. My husband cooks for me and know all the portion sizes. I don’t go for seconds.
Exercise, walking included, is great for fitness. There’s a saying, “You can’t out exercise a bad diet (too many calories).” That may apply to you in this case, unfortunately.
Do whatever you can to help improve your fitness levels given any physical or life limitations. Do you have access to a gym or pool? Elliptical machines or swimming will likely be gentler on your knees.
That being said, 1-1.5 miles of walking isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things. Maybe 2000-3500 steps and 100 or so calories burned.
What factors like rate of loss and activity level did you enter when you set up your MFP profile? What are your current stats (height, weight)?
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My weight is currently at 214 I’m 5’ 4” and maybe my intake isn’t burning enough. My activity level is lightly active. Maybe I need other exercises, like the elliptical. I’ve heard how it’s easier on the knees, but I’m not sure. I am thinking of going to the gym soon and get some help.5
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I wouldn’t push yourself to exercise more if you have arthritis issues, to be perfectly honest. That energy would be better spent getting to grips with your food intake from what you’ve said.
At 5’4” something over 2000 cals per day sounds like maintenance level. You’ve not mentioned if you’ve already put your stats and goals into MFP to see what level it’s suggesting you eat at. Lots of good advice has been given above about this.
I do believe that if you can get your head around the fact that you need to change your food habits rather than increase your exercise you’ll start to see the results you’re looking for.
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@kelliclark805 I know that in this day of extreme sports where people leap from helicopters onto snowboards and carve their way down Mt. Everest, everyone and their cousin is doing a marathon in every state and two on Sundays that somehow a person who goes for a walk or takes a hike feels the need to put the word 'just' in front of our accomplishment as in ' I just walked down the road for an hour and I wasn't even walking fast.' But let me tell you, sister, you got dressed and walked for an hour at some speed above completely still.
Keep going and tooling along at your speed. Maybe you've already found the exercise you enjoy. Do everything on your own terms. If you don't enjoy it now you won't like it a year or two down the road. Don't throw the towel in because three months from now you will thank yourself.12 -
If you're trying to lose weight, you need to eat less. Exercise is good for you, and you should do it, but it won't help much in losing weight.
As someone with terrible knees (I'm bone on bone) and arthritis just about everywhere, I really recommend seeing a doctor, then physical therapist for proper exercises over a trainer at the gym. I always knew my knees were bad, and I needed to lose weight and thought the gym would fix it. I put a lot of money into personal trainers and they ultimately did me little good (not necessarily their fault, they couldn't see my bone structure without x-rays, old injuries, etc.). Heavily loaded deadlifts were not a good idea for me!
I walk on the treadmill five or six days a week, usually 2-3 miles at 3-3.5 mph. This is my sweet spot--more distance and more speed leave me in a lot of pain. The elliptical can be ok for me, but I generally stick to the treadmill and PT-approved exercises.9 -
I average 13,000 or so steps a day (always try for the minimum 10,000). Some is on treadmill, some outside. Some is only at 2 mph, other times 3. Really depends on my mood and how I am feeling. That has helped me in this journey, but what it mainly does is help tone up my muscles and has a positive impact on my blood pressure. I do get exercise calories from it, but I sync fitbit with MFP and take whatever it figures, I don't add it in as separate exercise. I eat them back when I feel like it, but I always try to make sure net is 1200. The kitchen scale is tremendous help--when I weigh, I can lose. When I went back to trusting myself to eyeball portions, I gain. Log everything, set a reasonable calorie goal.3
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I walked 20km a day five days a week on 1200 kcal a day (5’4” 30 yo female) and dropped weight every day. 2010kcal a day for someone with arthritis and limited activity seems a bit high to me. Do you weigh your food? Eyeballing is incredibly erroneous.5
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I have seen my primary & a physical therapist who said to go walking, use the elliptical & too start changing my eating habits. If walking wasn’t going to help lose weight, why was I told that with changing my eating & adding exercise would? Like I mentioned I cut down on sweets as to not binge later on them. I’m not the best eater, never have been. I don’t know what is meant by what level I’m eating at?? I have changed my goals in MFP and now my intake is 1740.
I appreciate all the advice.
Thank you.9 -
It’s great that you’re cutting down on sweets etc but you can still go over calories without these things. That’s why getting a good digital scale and weighing everything you eat and logging is importantkelliclark805 wrote: »I have seen my primary & a physical therapist who said to go walking, use the elliptical & too start changing my eating habits. If walking wasn’t going to help lose weight, why was I told that with changing my eating & adding exercise would? Like I mentioned I cut down on sweets as to not binge later on them. I’m not the best eater, never have been. I don’t know what is meant by what level I’m eating at?? I have changed my goals in MFP and now my intake is 1740.
I appreciate all the advice.
Thank you.
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kelliclark805 wrote: »I have seen my primary & a physical therapist who said to go walking, use the elliptical & too start changing my eating habits. If walking wasn’t going to help lose weight, why was I told that with changing my eating & adding exercise would? Like I mentioned I cut down on sweets as to not binge later on them. I’m not the best eater, never have been. I don’t know what is meant by what level I’m eating at?? I have changed my goals in MFP and now my intake is 1740.
I appreciate all the advice.
Thank you.
Calories determine weight loss. Based on your numbers and your experience over the last few weeks, your body is burning @ 2100 cals per day. So you need to eat less than that, which is what your MFP calorie goal is telling you.
You were told to walk most likely because it can burn a few more calories, it's good for your cardiovascular health, and it's a great starter exercise to keep your joints and muscles limber.
Get a food scale. Log your food accurately and consistently, hitting your new calorie goal. Keep walking. Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum, lots of great info there. Good luck!11 -
@kelliclark805
Please click this link and scroll/read some of the threads. They will be very helpful.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest4 -
kelliclark805 wrote: »My weight is currently at 214 I’m 5’ 4” and maybe my intake isn’t burning enough. My activity level is lightly active. Maybe I need other exercises, like the elliptical. I’ve heard how it’s easier on the knees, but I’m not sure. I am thinking of going to the gym soon and get some help.
If you haven’t already, consider talking to your doctor about your desire to begin exercising a little more. They are familiar with your body and arthritis and might be able to refer you to a physical therapist to help you increase activity safely.
I have back issues and need low impact activities myself.
ETA: Are you active in your daily life outside of the 1-1.5 miles? If not, 1-1.5 miles a day might not be enough to put you in “lightly active.” Consider enabling Negative Calorie Adjustments so MFP will remove some of your daily calories available if you don’t move enough that day to meet your activity level.3 -
Consider lower resistance activities like swimming as well1
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kelliclark805 wrote: »My goal is to lose 30-35lbs by May next year for a vacation trip. I have started with food, reduced my sweet intake since that is the hardest for me to do. My current calorie intake on here is 2010. I walked anywhere from 1-1.50 miles. I have arthritis in both knees, there are days I can increase my speed & others I have to back off. My husband cooks for me and know all the portion sizes. I don’t go for seconds.
Sorry but ... 1 to 1.5 miles won't burn off many calories. At 3 mph, if you walk for an hour, you might get 200 calories. So half that (or less) burns 100 calories or less.
I don't know how tall you are, but I gain weight eating anything over 2000 calories a day. Ah, I've just seen that you're 5'4". I'm 5'6" and I need to eat less than 1500 calories/day to lose.
The fact that you've lost 5 lbs is amazing!
You may need to either increase your walking so that you're walking for 1-2 hours a day or cut back on your calories. Or both.11 -
Speaking of exercise machines, you may want to look into a recumbent bike. Yeah, it doesn't get much respect, but for the right person it can be a game-changer. I have back issues, and tore my Achilles tendon stupidly overdoing it on a treadmill a few years ago; it partially healed but is very, very weak. As a result there's little I can do cardio-wise, so I got a recumbent. Very easy, very low to no impact on the joints, prop up a tablet and watch Netflix. With varying intensity levels on the machine I can coast along or go to 70-80 % of maximum HR for a real workout with sweat and everything. It's well suited for people with arthritic issues. Plus, did I mention you can watch Netflix while you work out? LOL You wouldn't believe how fast time goes by on a recumbent while watching TV. Least boring exercise I've ever done. This month I'm re-watching Tudors, 35 minutes at a time.11
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