Walking to lose weight

amykilloran96 · May 2013

Hi, I have been doing little exercise and just cutting calories and I am near my goal weight but still have flabby bits that I want rid of.
Next week, If I walked everyday for 1 or 2? hours would this help, as soon as I get up because I heard that doing exercise on an empty stomach gets rid of fat more instead of just burning calories. I also am going to start doing crunches everyday, will this also help too. I just want rid of the fat bits on my stomach and on my inner thighs etc. What are anyone's thoughts on this? I Cant afford the gym at the minute and prefer walking.

Bekahmardis · May 2013

Walking is always a good thing. The timing on it related to how helpful it is has yet to be confirmed through any scientific means. From what I understand, the only way to get rid of flabby bits is by continuing the weight-loss journey - I don't think you can target certain areas of fat to drop off, but you can certainly target building your muscle there! I would look at some all-over full-body toning DVDs to start?

tomg33 · May 2013

Walking is great for the mind, body and soul.

Walk every day for an hour. Just take some music or an audiobook and enjoy yourself. Don't waste your life on a treadmill, do it out in the fresh air.

It doesn't matter if it's on an empty stomach, just get out and spend some time with yourself while doing a great thing for your health.

diannethegeek · May 2013

Walking is great exercise and will help you to lose fat. But if you're just looking to tone up the flabby bits you may need to look into more weight lifting/resistance training rather than just fat loss.

amykilloran96 · May 2013

Thanks to all!

HikeThatMountain · May 2013

Walking is always a good thing. The timing on it related to how helpful it is has yet to be confirmed through any scientific means. From what I understand, the only way to get rid of flabby bits is by continuing the weight-loss journey - I don't think you can target certain areas of fat to drop off, but you can certainly target building your muscle there! I would look at some all-over full-body toning DVDs to start?

What she said above

I did see a post on here where the gentleman lost around 100 lbs, with watching calories and just walking for his exercise! If I remember correctly, he said he walked 1 to 20 hours a day. And his pic was pretty buff! As said above, I don't think you can target any specific place on your body with exercise to lose the flabbies in that specific area, but it never hurts to tone whichever area up, so once the excess is gone, the muscles look awesome.

Good luck!..... I'm 56yo and my longterm goal is to have a girly six-pack

My main exercises are walking and running! When I get a little closer to my weight goal, plan to start with the rest of my body (which I should be doing now.....one step at a time...I'll get there)

Timshel_ · May 2013

If you can work your way up to a 4.0 pace (a 15 minute mile) you can burn upwards of 100 calories or more. If you do an hour of walking then, 4 miles, you are around 400 calories burned, which is nothing to scoff at! Try doing it as often as possible and see how it helps your fitness and health. I bet you'll love it.

BeautifulBrownButterfly · May 2013

Hi I walk everyday from work and that is about a 2 mile walk i take my earphones and just go, but i love the fresh and i get from walking and it allows me to clear my head. I have loss weight walking but i have loss a lot of inches too.

emilyahartmann · May 2013

Great info! Walk, walk, walk :happy:

cwolfman13 · May 2013

You don't have to do anything to lose weight except maintain a calorie deficit. If you're doing MFP then you're already eating a calorie deficit to lose weight.

That said, walking is awesome and great for overall heart health and great for the mind...I make sure I do at least 45 minutes per day...it's pretty much my primary cardio.

MinnieInMaine · May 2013

Walking is one of my favorite exercises! I would suggest also incorporating some strength training. You don't need a gym or even weights, just use your body. Do sit-ups, push-ups, plank, tricep dips, etc (google for more body weight exercises). My friend's nephew is in training for Cirque de Soleil and they do almost exclusive body weight and plyometric exercises and he's in fantastic shape! If you do want weights in order to do things like bicep curls, just fill up a couple gallon jugs - they weight about 8 pounds each when full.

mikeyrs · May 2013

Amy, if you have a smart phone download one of the free Yoga Apps to strengthen and tone your core. Yoga will not rid you of fat, but it will really tone and define the muscles underneath and adjacent to the fatty tissue so the areas of fatty tissue will be a lot less noticeable. At least that's how it went in my case. I do Yoga three or four times a week for about an hour each session. By the way, walking will also tone your lower core and legs, so it too is a wonderful form of exercise.