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

cheermom11

I LOVE walking! Whether it's on the treadmill or outside where I get the added bonus of fresh air & vitamin D, it keeps my body in motion. I get compliments all the time on the looks of my legs and tell people that they're slim and solid just by doing something that's that simple. No gym needed...

Sweet_Potato

I can get everywhere I need to go just by walking. I walk to work, the library, the pool, the grocery store, the yoga studio, the place where I take language classes, the museums, etc. I also have dogs that I walk twice a day. Walking doesn't burn a ton of calories, but I like being outdoors and it really makes me appreciate my neighborhood. There's a lot you don't see when you're confined to a vehicle. I also like to do photowalks with my camera. Occasionally I do other exercise, but probably 90% of my exercise time is spent walking.

montana_girl

I lost my first 80 pounds with "just" walking. I increased my time, speed, and distance as the weight came off. And walking was a great leeway into my running. Once I mastered walking a 5K without feeling like I was going to die, then I started incorporating the running.

Even though I do a bunch of different exercise now, walking is still my favorite by far! :happy:

doyledozo

I am also a walker. I have a 1 year old and an injury prone knee. I've tried stepping it up to a jog but that darn knee had other ideas. I use the 5 mile walking/bike path by my house. According to my HRM I burn over 1000 calories when I walk it fairly quickly.

Qatsi

Walking has been my primary exercise since joining MFP. At first I was getting winded after 15 minutes, but I've gradually built up my stamina to where I am consistently doing 60-90 minutes every morning before work.

I wear a pedometer and have set a daily goal of at least 10,000 steps per day. Except for three days last month when I was sick, I haven't missed a day in six weeks.

I plan on adding strength training to my exercise routine fairly soon - want to be toned when I reach my goal in a few months - but the walking has been a major factor in my success so far.

UpEarly

Check out my ticker below! That was pretty much all from walking! Every now and then I do step aerobics or cardio drills and I do lift about twice a week, but most of my workouts are just plain old walking. I carry a pack for some extra weight, move at a fast pace (4.25 - 4.5 mph) and climb lots of steep hills. It's still challenging even though I consider myself to be very fit.

xxDenisexx

I always walk,i walk to take my son to school then from there i walk to work which is about 35 mins,then walk back another 35 mins then later walk to and from school picking up my son, so i find walking a great exercise to do.And i do that everyday apart from a sat

kokeefe97

I LOVE walking! My asthmatic lungs don't agree with running, so I walk quite a bit.

frugalmomsrock

I love walking. I have a double stroller with a LOT of miles on it! I stopped driving to the store that I frequent (unless I'm making a big trip). I usually make 3-5 small trips a week and just walk there instead (I still drive once a week or 10 days to get the frozen stuff). Gets us our daily dose of Vitamin D, fresh air, and exercise for me.

melb2003

I love walking. When I started working out, I was 292 lbs. I use to walk a lot in high school and I lost 35 lbs in like 8 weeks. I've been walking at least 3-4 times a week, and now I'm at the point where I don't focus on the time I'm walking, but I focus on the distance I travel. Last night, I walked 5 1/2 miles at like a 9 incline and burned over 1100 calories. I strongly suggest to those who walk on a regular basis, try to add a 2 incline to your walk. You burn about 250 more calories an hour and you'd be amazed how after a couple weeks, it'll feel so easy for you. When I started to walk I walked a 3.2 speed with a 4 incline which was about 525 calories an hour, 3 months later I'm at a 3.8 speed with a 9 incline and that is about 950 calories an hour.

Walking is awesome!!!

Kell_Smurthwaite

I walk everywhere. And I've just joined a gym so I'll be walking there too.

Kat5343

I have lost 63 pounds in less than a year and really the ONLY excercise I have done is walking. Last summer I religiously walked over 2 miles a night. That helped those pounds come off. Now that I am significantly smaller, I have started this walk to run program which you do bursts of running in the middle of your walking. This helps burn many more calories. I think walking is THE best form of exercise. You burn fat, build up endurance, and don't damage your knees in the process.

tasteoheavn

I walk everyday. Its my main form of exercise since I can no longer run (need knee and ankle surgery) but I can walk. I've lost 13 pounds and feel better everyday.

cookierinthia

LOL! I completely agree! I detest running! There isn't a negative adjective strong enough to describe how I feel about running. I'm going to start walking more.

jenseye

Walking is my main form of exercise. So easy to grab the sneakers and go, I also used LS DVD's when the weather or schedule wouldn't permit.
I used to dread walking up the hills in my neighborhood...now I can't wait to get to them and show them whose boss ; )
I am up to 5 miles when I have the time, usual day around 3 miles.
I have started some light weights and resistance bands to tone up the jiggly areas, but love my walks and would never give them up!

heddylyn

I had my first child in April 2007. I was 200 pounds when I got pregnant and 237 when I gave birth to him. He was my inspiration to take my life back and set a good example for my child. I was always active growing up and never had a weight problem. Then I got to college and slowly let myself go. I started college weighing 130 pounds and was 188 by the time I graduated. A few years after that I reached my peak of 220. I managed to "slim down" to 200 before I got pregnant with my first child. Anyway, after he was born I had a LONG way to go. The 37 pounds of pregnancy weight came off very easily in 3 months. That's when the real work began for me. I started tracking what I ate and walking. (I was so incredibly out of shape for being sedentary for so long that this was all I felt I could do at the time). Walking is the perfect exercise for someone that has just had a baby. Just pop the kiddo in a stroller and away you go! This is literally all I did for exercise and by my son's first birthday in April 2008 I was down to 138. After I reached my goal weight I slowly fell off the exercise wagon. I still watched what I ate but I got out of my walking routine. Fast forward a couple of years and I had put on about 8 pounds. I got pregnant with my second child weighing in at 146. I joined a gym because I wanted to get healthy again and not put on too much weight. I started out by walking on the treadmill, them moved onto the elliptical and some very light weights. I am glad I got back into exercising but I still managed to gain 47 pounds! My second child was born in August of 2010. The weight did not come off as easily the second time around. I told myself that I would get through the holidays and get really serious about losing the last of my pregnancy weight when the new year started. In January of 2011 I had 15 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose to get down to 146. I stumbled upon a "boot camp" at my local gym and figured that that should do the trick! I was hooked after the first class. It was the most physically challenging thing I had ever done and I loved the feeling! My boot camp instructor was talking about how walking is the most underrated exercise there is. He encouraged us to walk at least a mile every day in addition to our regular work-out. I have ended up losing 32 pounds since I started boot camp and I still live by his mantra of walking as much as you possibly can. This boot camp is the first thing I have found that I didn't burn out on after a month. So in short, yes walking is a great form of exercise and in my case was a great way to get me passionate about fitness and transform my life!

aclark6818

I've lost 60 lbs and my primary exercise is walking. I've gone down 3-4 pants sizes and lost almost 20 inches!!! It works. People are always telling me I need to change it up--sometimes I add weights or increase distance/times.
:flowerforyou:

sweets2001

I absolutely love walking and it's my main form of exercise! Back when I first started walking, way before joining MFP it was a slow go but then slowly worked on going longer distances. Since I know what I can do try to shave off time off the amount of miles I walk. I like to switch it up, some days walker longer and other days a bit less. In an average week I can easily log a marathon worth of walking if not more.

cmbarnes

BUMP

saragato

Back in 2010 I had a weekly routine of walking the mall 4-5 times a week, changing speeds depending on the music I listened to. According to the scale I was using, within 6-8 months I had lost 80lbs and I could see a difference because I had dropped a shirt size and my pants didn't feel as tight. Granted by the time I had lost this I was practically jogging around the mall twice in 20 minutes. Unfortunately I was also on a doctor-prescribed diet (aka a sheet my physician gave me saying what foods I couldn't have, foods I NEEDED to eat, but nothing about calories or anything else) and ended up borderline anemic from it and had to gain the weight back just to be okay again.

When I first joined here all I was doing was walking because I didn't have a gym membership, was (and still am) too big to get on the floor and do crunches and push ups and all that stuff and didn't have room in the house for moving with a workout video. I lost a little over 20lbs just on that, then joined the Y where I do a lot of the treadmill and then other things, but I still do a lot of walking for exercise because it's really the easiest thing you can do. You can power walk and talk with a friend, walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the day (I sometimes find coins left in the street, so it's a good way to fill my piggy bank!) or just stroll around wherever and not have to think about it.

Buttercupmcgee

Last year I lost 11 lbs in 2 months by simply walking 40 minutes a day 4x/week during my lunch break. I did not belong to a gym at the time.

Now, I walk 3x/week and do zumba once or twice, and the progress is the same so far, one month in.

I do zumba because it's fun, but the HUGE cal burn on MFP versus the moderate one for walking thus far has not made a difference in my progress. I love to walk!

AmeChops

I love walking too!! Did almost 9 miles on Saturday and probably another 5 or so on Sunday and, I think, 3 today...was a bit lazy :blushing:

JoolieW68

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

It depends on how must effort you're putting into it. If you're just going for a casual stroll for 30 minutes you won't burn as many calories as you would if you were power walking at 4.5+mph pumping your arms wearing 1lb wrist weights.

I burn more calories, according to my HRM, power walking than I do running at 6.5mph. It's all about where your heart rate falls.

Oh, and I started out doing only walking the first 8 months of getting back into shape and lost 63 pounds. Then I started gradually running and now run several times a week.

JoolieW68

I love walking too!! Did almost 9 miles on Saturday and probably another 5 or so on Sunday and, I think, 3 today...was a bit lazy :blushing:

Slacker :laugh:

williamsge

Bump :-)

marycmeadows

walking is great - but cardio only is not the best way towards long term weight loss and health. when you lose weight you also lose a ton of muscle mass which is why strength training is so important. I did START with just walking, or bike riding, but now I strength train, run, do stairclimber & elliptical/arc trainer, etc. To build muscle mass you need strength training. The other thing is, IF you're doing a lot of cardio, you need to change up pace/terrain/etc -- your body adjusts to what you do to it rather quickly, which means you don't burn calories as efficiently as you think you are.

hauer01

I LOVE to go for walks. I walk my dogs everyday. I started it about a year ago when my vet told me that both of my dogs needed to shed some pounds. I was not much for exercise back then, but made the decision that I would walk them everyday... For them. Back then, I was unable to do anything for myself, but for them I could do it.

Now, a year later, I have lost some serious weight (although I now do much more than just walk) and both of my dogs are fit! We walk about 2 1/2 miles everyday.

It has become my time to reflect on my day as we stroll the trails and streets in my neighborhood. It is also a great bonding time between my dogs and I.

I hope that I will always have the ability to walk, even in my elder years.

blynn2708

Walking has helped me lose 10 lbs, but my neighbor, who I walk with, only walks, and has lost 19 lbs!!! So proud of her:flowerforyou:

AEL79

Amen

JamesThiel

I walk 5-7 miles a day, plus bike 9, In November 2011 i was 262 lbs, now I am 240....success...I think so