starting out, walking -- any advice?

utuxia
utuxia Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm about 100 lbs over weight. I just started walking 30 minutes/day on a treadmill.
Anyone have any other advice for loosing weight?

I am shooting for 1lb/week to loose if I keep this up, and controlling my over eating.

I walk from about 3pm to 3:30, 5 days/week.

Replies

  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    First of all, great job in taking the plunge into improving your fitness. I'm a big fan of making a lot of short-term, easily obtainable goals. That way as you reach them, that self-motivation kicks in.

    One way to start would be to keep your treadmill sessions the same length of time, but gradually increase your average speed and incline. Maybe for the first week, keep it at 2.5 or 3.0 (whatever you're at now). The next week warm-up on 2.5 or 3.0, then bump it up to 3.2 for the remainder of the workout. And every other week, bump up the incline a level. Once you've reached a workout where you can walk for at a speed of 4.0 at an incline of 2.5 or 3.0, then consider adding in a little bit of light jogging stints (30-45 second intervals every couple of minutes) in the treadmill session.

    Also, I would consider adding at least 1 day of weight training. Weight training is a great way to burn bodyfat. There is a great resource of exercises on bodybuilding.com/exercises (videos/pictures). You can sort exercises by muscle group and equipment (including just bodyweight). 30-45 minutes of weight training 1-2 times a week will burn more body fat than several sessions of treadmill cardio (but I would still keep the above mentioned treadmill workout in your program).

    Good luck! Keep up the effort!
  • boosht
    boosht Posts: 12 Member
    I'm about 100 lbs over weight. I just started walking 30 minutes/day on a treadmill.
    Anyone have any other advice for loosing weight?

    I am shooting for 1lb/week to loose if I keep this up, and controlling my over eating.

    I walk from about 3pm to 3:30, 5 days/week.

    Congrats on your steps to change. i can only suggest that if you can walk for 30 minutes each day, then maybe join a rambling club and walk with a group, perform a search as to if there are any Health walks in your area.. you may find a support group there. i think you find initially the treadmill is great, then it becomes a chore and more difficult to carry on, so then you can look at walking with scenery (like walking on a path in the woods, or a local route you find from your home out and back. experiment with different directions for set ammount of times etc... lastly if you have any friends who live local or neighbours who may be interested.. the more people you can get interested the better chance you stand of keeping at it, group pressure in getting you out on those days where you really want to just stay in, and getting out in all weathers also helps as makes you feel going when you get back in on what you just done..

    good luck and hope you keep at it !
  • bobbi6440
    bobbi6440 Posts: 15 Member
    When I started I was 110 lbs over weight and the Doctor told me I could walk all I wanted to, but becareful not to hurt my knees with high impact stuff.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    For the most part, I agree with the post above (from ChrisLindsay9). Start at a pace that challenges you without causing pain. And keep increasing intesity of your workouts. When it's gets easy, add something. Incline, distance, HIIT, whatever, as long as it's challenging.

    And strength training is important. Weights are great for strength training, but it doesn't have to be weights if you don't enjoy lifting or don't have access to weights. You can do bodyweight exercises (lunges, squats, tricep dips, pushups, etc.) or use resistance bands. Anything that adds resistance to a workout is strength training.

    Good luck to you!

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