WALKING!: It's great excercise NOT wussy excercise!

saintspoon

Hello everybody,

I am looking for success stories based on walking as the main excercise! I am also looking for people who started off with walking and what kind of results you noticed & how you moved on from there & why. Even if you've just started out & you've noticed walking has helped you.... please share.
Basically... tell me all the awesomeness just simply walking has done for you!

My reason for this is: To show that When you're really overweight & you need motivation to get started but it all seems just so damn hard... just start walking! I walk many times a week for 30-60 minutes at a time & always burn 300-700 cals each journey! Sure you can spend a lot of money & go join a gym or spend time thinking of creative ways to work out at home & with these things the 4 million excuses that can easily come... but why not just go for a walk!?

Too embarassed to go to the gym? WALK!
Stuck at home with your new baby & need to get the weight off? put that little darling bugger in a stroller & WALK!
Pooped-up your knee/shoulder/non-pronoucable muslce group? WALK!

You're never too tough to walk.... help me out here people!.......

saintspoon

um... bump... nobody?

cmriverside

Agree. Walking is my primary means of exercise. I even bought a place because it is on the bike trail. I live in the hilly NW, so I walk a lot of hills. Gym membership wasn't for me.

meglynerogers

I LOVE walking. I'm kind of an exercise junkie in general, but I love coming home from work, hooking my dog's leash on his collar, and setting out for a walk. Walking is a great way to slowly burn calories, tone muscles, and soak up some Vitamin D on a sunny day. As a runner, I love a good long walk on my "rest" days: my body gets the recovery time it needs, but doesn't get a chance to stiffen up.

Keep walking and keep up the good work!

treetop57

Most of my exercise is walking. My feet, ankles, and knees don't like running. Neither does my brain. I am trying to add some resistance training to help with upper body muscle mass, but I haven't seen any need for anything else as of yet.

In my area, Kaiser Permanante plays this ad for greater physical activity in general and walking in particular:

http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/2011/091411thriveads.html

“Find Your Thing” is a television ad that expresses the different interests and passions that exist toward healthy activities. The woman in the ad is shown running, returning workout equipment and biking, none of which she enjoys. At the end of the 30-second spot, she is shown walking, with a smile on her face. The ad examines several types of activities and concludes that whatever your favorite healthy activity is, if you like doing it, chances are you will stick with it and take charge of improving your health.

Walking is a key theme in the “Find Your Thing” advertisement. Kaiser Permanente also promotes walking through its EveryBody Walk! campaign, a public awareness project aimed at starting a national conversation about the health benefits of walking. It’s designed to help Americans integrate walking into their daily routine by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week. For more information visit: www.everybodywalk.org.

“Physical activity is a cornerstone of good health and walking is an excellent form of exercise. It can help prevent and treat conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and heart disease,” said Bob Sallis, MD, a family physician in Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “I prescribe walking to my patients as a form of medicine because it’s an easy, cost-effective way to exercise and the health benefits are invaluable.”

This bears repeating: "whatever your favorite healthy activity is, if you like doing it, chances are you will stick with it and take charge of improving your health."

Serah87

I love walking, thats how I lost the first 28 pounds!!! :bigsmile:

ttate002

Hello everybody,

I am looking for success stories based on walking as the main excercise! I am also looking for people who started off with walking and what kind of results you noticed & how you moved on from there & why. Even if you've just started out & you've noticed walking has helped you.... please share.
Basically... tell me all the awesomeness just simply walking has done for you!

My reason for this is: To show that When you're really overweight & you need motivation to get started but it all seems just so damn hard... just start walking! I walk many times a week for 30-60 minutes at a time & always burn 300-700 cals each journey! Sure you can spend a lot of money & go join a gym or spend time thinking of creative ways to work out at home & with these things the 4 million excuses that can easily come... but why not just go for a walk!?

Too embarassed to go to the gym? WALK!
Stuck at home with your new baby & need to get the weight off? put that little darling bugger in a stroller & WALK!
Pooped-up your knee/shoulder/non-pronoucable muslce group? WALK!

You're never too tough to walk.... help me out here people!.......

Walking was the only thing I could do at 348 lbs. It was good for about the first 6 months, but I've moved on from there. I've incorporated weight training and high intensity workouts. Nothing wrong with a little sweating and a lot of heart pumping!

amyy902

my mumm. she wasnt big but lost weight. she had hypertension ( developed due to pregnancy) and takes drugs that mean she cant run or basicly will induce a heart attack. soooo basicly she just walked, shed walk and carry shopping etc. shes kept the weight off just through horse riding and walking. she eats like a teenage boy too!!! so yeah walking can be good. esp uphill. its a real burner. a big gradient can burn as many cals as running can if its done at a decent pace.

leap314

I am not a gym person. First off, I hate to pay money for it. Secondly, I have to drive 15 minutes to the closest one and gas is $4.15 a gallon right now. Third, I am the mother of three children and work full time, there is no time if the gym was next door to me. Now, I work at a school, so we go out and walk 1-2 miles around the track during lunch. I really like that. Then I do fun excercising, like play the wii with my kids, ect. I like to bike too. Gyms aren't for everyone and I am one of those people Walk on, girl!

DixiedoesMFP

I don't use walking as my main form of exercise for weight loss, but it is very good for my mental health

lorihalsted

Walking is the only form of exercise I have used so far. I started at 335 lbs (before MFP) and now have lost 90 pounds total simply by moving my feet. I walk outside, on my treadmill, or use Leslie Sansone videos. When I first started I was too heavy to do anything else and I found that I did have strong healthy legs and walking was good!!! I am starting some resistance training slowly but I still love to walk!!!!

kjohnson3294

I love to walk! I spent money fixing the treadmill to walk on, but I can't stand it. I would rather be outside. My main exercise is walking. After that it's the elliptical machine. When I first started last May, I could barely go half a mile without feeling like I was going to die. Now, I do a few miles and am not even tired.

k9runner1963

I love walking. The only equipment you need is a decent pair of shoes. You can go anywhere! I have a loop that I like to do, about 60 minutes, and a few out and back routes. I put the head phones on, crank up the music and off I go.

We also have several parks in our area that have nice trails and on the weekends we'll go to those.

liftandcycle

I just recently started walking... I do p90x and added walking to my daily routine.. the reason why I added walking is not really for excersise.. it is more to relax after a long day of stress... as a good side effect it helps me burn extra calories.

kristen6022

I love walking. And I'm only 2 pounds to goal. I've tried running but I find it jarring and not so fun. But speed walking is awesome. I've lost 6 pounds and 4 total inches of my waist and hips (haven't kept record of the others) in the past 15 days with walking 1-2 miles, at a 4.0mph pace, about 4-6 times a week (depending on schedule). I find it easy to fit in a walk either after work, during lunch, or after dinner on a nice day. No treadmill needed. No gym membership. I do also use the elliptical at my apartment's free gym 1-2 times a week on crappy cold days, but I really hate gyms. I have much more motivation to get outside and walk.

jsapninz

If it burns calories, it works.

Walking is great for people who are really out of shape or those with bad knees especially. I LOVE walking because I HATE running. I don't have a problem walking for an hour and a half, but tell me I have to run for 10 minutes and it makes me very upset; even if I would be burning less calories. :grumble:

Love my walking! Most of my exercise diet is walking and I have lost 7.5% of my total body weight so far. Try to do it at least twice a week for a good 30 mins. I have a HRM too so it beeps at me when I need to step up the pace.

AND I always try to find a friend to go with so it is A GREAT time to catch up and connect. Even if you go by yourself it is a good stress reliever.

BrawlerBella

Walking is the way to go. No sitter or time with kiddos activities to hit the gym. I wake up and start the day with LS Walk at Home. My confession of the day...I'm a WALKING JUNKIE!!!

Pollywog39

Walking and hiking are my primary exercises. I am NOT a gym person, and find that walking does the trick!

I went from walking 20 to 30 minutes in the beginning, to now walking and hiking for hours sometimes! I live in a very cool city that has MANY walking/hiking trails (Duluth MN), and have begun to explore some of the more challenging ones. I also got into snowshoing a little last year (but we had almost NO snow this winter, so that one didn't work out as well this past winter.)

I have also taken to walking up and down the stairs at work on days when the weather doesn't cooperate. Really burns a lot of calories!

elzettel

Walking is how I lost the bulk of my baby weight. It seemed effortless and helped me shed the lbs even without changing my diet (plus made my son happy). Once I got back to my pre-baby weight and started feeling better a friend recommended this site and running. I started with a run/walk combo and that along with watching what I was eating helped me to lose another 18lbs. Walking is NO JOKE! I will never forget watching that race walker blow by me in my first half-marathon I like to think I could take her now but...idk :happy:

Julie2402

Hi, I love walking, i walk the dog a couple of times a day for about 60mins+ and i also long rein my horse ( i am breaking him at the moment) and i walk behind him up and down hills for 3 miles about 3/4 days a week. My stamina has improved massively and i no longer need my inhaler when walking! It only costs a pair of walking shoes and i go out rain or shine!! It definitely isn't Wussy exercise!

JanetLM73

I don't go to a gym. I have a stationary bike and I walk. Now that the weather is nicer, I'll be walking more. I walk for 60 mins at a brisk pace. I've lost 18lbs since I joined here and 5 on my own before that.

marieautumn

maybe its just me but i dont think walking burns too many calories. but i agree everyone needs to start some where.

wisebadger53

I do workout at the gym 5 times a week, but still get out on my off days for a 30 minute walk at lunchtime. Some nights and weekends I also squeeze in either a walk or even a little 30 - 40 minute run whenever I can. I really feel that this has enabled me to maintain a fairly constant weight loss, even though I sit at a desk for 8 - 10 hours from Monday - Friday.

Walking is NOT a wussy exercise - especially if you push yourself to walk farther and/or faster as you get more used to it.

Keep up the good work!

charlotte66

i love walking!!! thats my main exercise atm as i dont have time for much else. i walk to school and back thats an hour of walking already done then i take the baby around the park a walk before picking my daughter up from nursery i love walking!!

devonette

Back on January 1, 2006 I weighed in at 190 lbs. (5'4", age 50). I was following the Biggest Loser Club diet (3 meals, 3 snacks,1200 to 1400 calories per day) and my only exercise was walking in my neighborhood at about 3 to 3.5 miles per hour, 2 miles, twice per day (total of 4 miles per day). By the middle of June 2006 I weighed 145, and I looked and felt wonderful! We went away for three weeks that summer, so I was a bad girl with food and exercise during that time, picked up a few of the pounds back, but then went back to the diet and exercise, and by mid November 2006 I weighed 137 lbs, and still looked good and felt great! So, that's a success story with using only walking as exercise!

However, once you make your weight, you need to make sure you keep up the walking and watch what you eat or it will all have been for nothing. Not long after I reached 137, we were hit with Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the good food that comes with it, and I developed a heel spur and lumps on the ball of one foot, and had to have a foot operation, and that kept me from walking for three months. Pair the two, no exercise and bad holiday foods through to Easter, and not getting back on track after that, and by the end of 2007 I was almost back where I started. It has taken me a couple of years, but I'm starting back on track again now, and hope to repeat the success. I'm doing the same walking schedule this time, but I'm throwing in a half hour of aerobics or strength training, depending on the day, because my arms have gotten way to fat and flabby.

Bottom line, if you are not looking for sculpted muscles if you can keep up the walking, even in bad weather, and keep watching what you're eating, and your goal is to lose weight, you should be fine.

shutterbug282

I can't afford a gym membership. (:
I do a lot of walking, especially at the weekends. I really like photography as a hobby so I often go out and walk a lot. I know loads of people say that walking doesn't make a difference, but I walk really fast and get my heart rate up. (:
I've tried jogging, but I don't enjoy that as much (:

TashaS

I walked off 47lbs before getting pregnant with my first baby - and then walked off all my baby weight plus an extra 5lbs after my first baby! Baby #2 is now 8 months old and the weather is turning warmer... time to walk off the baby weight again!

dcyr009

I've been walking an hour a day since Dec 2012, and lost 45 pounds. I also added in Leslie Samsone walk aerobic tapes at night. I've added her tapes to excercise parts of my body that walking doesn't always get to like my arms and back. She is a good motivator too. Walking keeps you lean and doesn't bulk you up.

choochoobell

Bump for later...after my walk!

MisterDubs303

See my ticker.
My primary exercise has been walking. For the first half of my loss, it was my ONLY exercise. Now, to be fair, I did a lot of walking on the treadmill at an incline. I set a goal to push myself by increasing the incline by 1/2 degree regularly until I was able to max out the treadmill. This way, I could keep it low impact, but still increase the difficulty or intensity. I was paranoid about messing up my knees at a high weight.

I also walked the dog several times per week starting this time last year. I'm a big time believer in walking, whether flat, hiking, or on the incline treadmill. Eventually, though, strength training really should become a big part of one's exercise.

Another cool benefit of all that walking (and treadmill walking): A resting heart rate of 44.

maybe its just me but i dont think walking burns too many calories. but i agree everyone needs to start some where.

Correct. The downside of flat walking is that it is not nearly as efficient as almost any other exercise. If you have the time, or can use the emotional benefit of just getting out (and who couldn't) it's great. And yes, doing anything is a start. I can run now. There is NO WAY I would have run a year ago.

Peppychristian

Walking has been pretty much my only form of exercise. With three young kids and my budget the gym is not an option but I am successful. I do use a walking video which helps add other movements and a little variety but it still boils down to walking.