I can lose weight by just walking, right?

ClareWantsProgress

I believe I've read many places that exercising boosts your metabolism and keeps it burning even when you finish exercising (especially weight-bearing exercise, just as walking or lifting weights). Therefore I would think it would give you a slight edge, plus the advantage of working your muscles.

I think eating very little and no exercising would lead to the dreaded "skinny fat" result. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I believe the OP would like to be fit and have some endurance, not just be thinner.

bstamps12

The exercise from walking will boost your metabolism more than just the right nutrition alone. That said, watch your nutrition closely because about 80% of losing weight is nutrition with the other 20% being exercise. In comparison to zumba or a stationary bike, for the most part, walking will burn a calorie the same. That said, some other things like home exercise DVDs or other gym classes may build strength on top of burning calories. I would suggest that you walk as much as you can for now and just stick to walking. It makes you happy and you have plenty of opportunity with no excuse not to do it. If you hit a weight loss plateau along the way, maybe go back and try a class or DVD then to shake up your metabolism.

Gallen67

Man seriously, if you can't do more then walking is an awesome way to start. Yeah you lose weight.

Jynus

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

1) You did not burn that much. about 70% of that tops. To put it into perspective, running at 70% VO2max with 188BPM heartrate for average guys produced a calorieburn of about 520 calories/hour as measured in a metabolic chamber, which is deadly accurate. I'm assuming you're nowhere near that level of exertion...

2) did you by chance in addition to this walking pay closer attention to your diet?

brendaschmitt1

Walking is good for you. I started off walking after I hurt my neck. It is not so bad on your knees and joints as some cardio exercises.

EpiGaiaRepens

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

Hahahahaha. Ummm. No. Using your body is better than not eating, even of the net cals at the end of the day are the same.

SoViLicious

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

I lost 32lbs walking and watching what eat. sooooooo?

desertdutchman

Yes, walking is good for you. In fact, slow or moderate walking will burn more fat than "cardio" fast walking or running. I've adopted the Primal Blueprint method for fitness and it is perfect for me. For reference, see this post at Mark's Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-moderate-exercise/#axzz1zK7IAf11

CharisSunny

<----walked for 32 mins today, burned 390 cals. Walking is quite effective.


Edited for spelling error

Canbfit4life

any movement is great hun so keep it moving & do what you enjoy

ClareWantsProgress

My legs are far more toned from walking than they would be if I just ate fewer calories, so I'm not sure if I agree completely with the few above poster.

I lost 22 pounds from walking and watching my diet. I love it, and I sympathize with you since I hate classes and gyms and all of that. I do free weights at home and skip all the other stuff you mentioned because I, too, find it tedious and unmotivating.

congrats. you just discovered how you lost 22lbs.

Wow. Are you always this much of a downer? At no point did the OP say she wasn't watching her diet. She was asking about walking for exercise as opposed to doing classes at a gym, etc.

And for the record, I actually ate MORE when I was walking very regularly.

Vercell

Walking is great, you are moving that is all that matters.

bluefox9er

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

huh???

Im not clear what you are trying to say. Eating a calorie deficit coupled with cardio leads to weight loss in my limited experience, more effectivley so than diet OR exercise alone

incorrect. In every study i've seen on the subject, cardio + diet when compared to diet alone get similar weight loss results. there is no benefit fat loss weight to cardio exercise.

other than being considerably fitter, which probably isn't a benefit in your eyes.

sources, please?

Jynus

I believe I've read many places that exercising boosts your metabolism and keeps it burning even when you finish exercising (especially weight-bearing exercise, just as walking or lifting weights). Therefore I would think it would give you a slight edge, plus the advantage of working your muscles.

I think eating very little and no exercising would lead to the dreaded "skinny fat" result. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I believe the OP would like to be fit and have some endurance, not just be thinner.

This is TRUE. but ONLY if you're in the upper intensity of cardio exertion. Meaning walking, or low impact cardio will NOT give you an afterburn. Once you're well into the cardio zone heartrate and high into anaerobic levels of intensity, then there is an afterburn. And a significant one at that. I mentioned it before in this thread about a metabolic chamber measurement of calories burned. at 70% VO2MAX there was a 20% afterburn effect measured over 24 hours before normal metabolic function resumed. However, a similar study done on 60% of HRM BPM found no afterburn.

this is why strength athletes need such a stupid high amount of calories to maintain. a few hours of cardio burns hundreds of calories. a few hours of advanced level+ strength training burns thousands.

CharisSunny

My legs are far more toned from walking than they would be if I just ate fewer calories, so I'm not sure if I agree completely with the few above poster.

I lost 22 pounds from walking and watching my diet. I love it, and I sympathize with you since I hate classes and gyms and all of that. I do free weights at home and skip all the other stuff you mentioned because I, too, find it tedious and unmotivating.

congrats. you just discovered how you lost 22lbs.

Wow. Are you always this much of a downer? At no point did the OP say she wasn't watching her diet. She was asking about walking for exercise as opposed to doing classes at a gym, etc.

And for the record, I actually ate MORE when I was walking very regularly.

I ate more as well,never lost so much in 2 weeks...ever

D446

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

Nonsense.

great. can you explain to me how doing 200 calories burned worth of walking will give improved fat loss compared to not doing walking and eating 200 calories less?

Okay, we'll going by your logic no one should ever do any cardio, as it's a waste! Who says you only burn 200 cals after a walk? An hour walk at a fast pace will burn more then that, AND you will keep muscle tone in your legs, opposed to if you sat on your butt all day!

CharisSunny

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

Nonsense.

great. can you explain to me how doing 200 calories burned worth of walking will give improved fat loss compared to not doing walking and eating 200 calories less?

Okay, we'll going by your logic no one should ever do any cardio, as it's a waste! Who says you only burn 200 cals after a walk? An hour walk at a fast pace will burn more then that, AND you will keep muscle tone in your legs, opposed to if you sat on your butt all day!

...and ate carrot sticks :grumble:

Jynus

My legs are far more toned from walking than they would be if I just ate fewer calories, so I'm not sure if I agree completely with the few above poster.

I lost 22 pounds from walking and watching my diet. I love it, and I sympathize with you since I hate classes and gyms and all of that. I do free weights at home and skip all the other stuff you mentioned because I, too, find it tedious and unmotivating.

congrats. you just discovered how you lost 22lbs.

Wow. Are you always this much of a downer? At no point did the OP say she wasn't watching her diet. She was asking about walking for exercise as opposed to doing classes at a gym, etc.

And for the record, I actually ate MORE when I was walking very regularly.

the thread title is will i lose weight from walking... The answer is no. this is NOT being a downer, this is REALITY. you can choose to either accept it, or not, thats not my problem..

walking burns CALORIES. and NOT fat. When your daily intake of calories is less than what your body expends, you lose fat. You can walk to create this deficit. Or you can eat less. In the end your results would be the SAME. Thats all I'm trying to say. But trying to say that walking is cause of your weight loss is utterly false. The cause is from diet at it's core.

Jynus

<----walked for 32 mins today, burned 390 cals. Walking is quite effective.


Edited for spelling error

No, you did not. Unless you were going at over 190BPM heartrate.

supplemama

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

1) You did not burn that much. about 70% of that tops. To put it into perspective, running at 70% VO2max with 188BPM heartrate for average guys produced a calorieburn of about 520 calories/hour as measured in a metabolic chamber, which is deadly accurate. I'm assuming you're nowhere near that level of exertion...

2) did you by chance in addition to this walking pay closer attention to your diet?

According to my HRM I did. *shrug*
Of course I watch my diet. However, just watching my diet alone in prior months (Jan-Beginning of June) resulted in a weight loss of only 24 pounds in six months. Walking plus diet has resulted in a weight loss of 11 pounds in June alone, in less than one month.

joslin2005

Yep. Any movement burns calories. If you want to burn extra calories, set your incline higher on the treadmill or walk uphill.

Jynus

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

1) You did not burn that much. about 70% of that tops. To put it into perspective, running at 70% VO2max with 188BPM heartrate for average guys produced a calorieburn of about 520 calories/hour as measured in a metabolic chamber, which is deadly accurate. I'm assuming you're nowhere near that level of exertion...

2) did you by chance in addition to this walking pay closer attention to your diet?

According to my HRM I did. *shrug*
Of course I watch my diet. However, just watching my diet alone in prior months (Jan-Beginning of June) resulted in a weight loss of only 24 pounds in six months. Walking plus diet has resulted in a weight loss of 11 pounds in June alone, in less than one month.

I'm going to assume your HRM includes your BMR then. Which is about 120 calories an hour. Which subtract that from your total you gave would put the calories from walking at about the right level.

wgn4166

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

how do u find time to walk this long? I do good to find 20 mins.

MeMyCatsandI

no more so than by not walking and eating less. walking and cardio does nothing more than if you were to just eat less.

Please explain. I'd love to hear.

you can go for an hour walk every day and burn 120 calories extra daily. Or you can take your daily intake of calories and subtract 120 from that daily.

either way, in regards to weight loss, walking does nothing more than just eating less would do. diet is kind, without that in check, you're hooped, walking or not.

that said, in regards to health, walking is better than not walking. but that wasn't the question. the question was about losing weight.

Just FYI: the calorie burn is completely dependent on the person. Perhaps YOU only burn 120 calories per hour. Today, I walked 90 minutes and per my HRM, I burned 961 calories. I'd say that was well worth it and goes a long way toward my weight loss.

supplemama

768-120= 648 which is still a great calorie burn!

supplemama

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

how do u find time to walk this long? I do good to find 20 mins.

I decided that I was just going to do it. My daily exercise schedule:

Morning Walk: 2 miles, 24 minutes (620am-644am)
Afternoon Walk: 1 mile, 12 minutes (530-542pm) this one is optional; I don't always do this one
Evening Walk: 5 miles, 60 minutes (830-9:30pm)

I also hula hoop every day for 30 minutes, sometimes before my evening walk, sometimes after. And I do strength training at the gym for 30 minutes 3 times a week. I am married with a very helpful husband (he tends to cook/grill in the summers so that's one less thing I have to do) and my kids are older (my sons are 17 and 14) so I have way more free time than a mom with younger children. For work I teach, so even though I have scads of free time now that it's summer, I set up my walking schedule so I could still do it once the school year resumes (I teach 930-4).

Sharonks

Walking is good for you. Sure, other forms of cardio may burn more cals in 30 minutes but if you aren't going to do them, who cares. If you enjoy walking and will consistently do it then that is a good thing. I used to walk a couple miles every day at lunch time. That was my only real exercise, everything else was just the normal yard work, house work, playing, walking to errands (I lived in a small town then and could walk to the post office and store). I ate whatever I wanted and maintained my weight for years. While I didn't lose weight I didn't gain and I wasn't trying to lose. Note, I said I ate whatever I wanted so that included cookies, ice cream, wine, onion rings, whatever happened to be around. For the most part I ate lots of veggies but never turned down junk food. And, I had a sedentary job.

meshashesha2012

yeah you can. one of my aunties lost a little over 80 pounds by making some simple changes to her diet (baked or roasted instead of fried, no soda, less salt) and walking. she's kept it off for about 2 years now.

i think she goes for an hour walk in the AM and then another after dinner. i'm trying to get her to do some 5k's since she never knew about them

mrk34

Walking will be good for your physical health and overall wellbeing. You will feel great after each walk, but walking will have a very small effect on your weight loss. If it is the only element of your weight loss strategy it is not going to be effective. When it comes to losing weight, it is what we eat and what we don’t eat that counts most.

wgn4166

Yes you can lose weight by walking! I currently walk 7-8 miles a day at 5mph. I burn A LOT of calories, particularly during my 5 mile evening walk (768 calories). I have lost 11 pounds this month alone, and I feel great.

how do u find time to walk this long? I do good to find 20 mins.

I decided that I was just going to do it. My daily exercise schedule:

Morning Walk: 2 miles, 24 minutes (620am-644am)
Afternoon Walk: 1 mile, 12 minutes (530-542pm) this one is optional; I don't always do this one
Evening Walk: 5 miles, 60 minutes (830-9:30pm)

I also hula hoop every day for 30 minutes, sometimes before my evening walk, sometimes after. And I do strength training at the gym for 30 minutes 3 times a week. I am married with a very helpful husband (he tends to cook/grill in the summers so that's one less thing I have to do) and my kids are older (my sons are 17 and 14) so I have way more free time than a mom with younger children. For work I teach, so even though I have scads of free time now that it's summer, I set up my walking schedule so I could still do it once the school year resumes (I teach 930-4).

I think you are doing an awesome job!! This really motivates me to walk more!