Walking to lose weight

My neighbor, she walk almost everyday. With the exception of Sundays and rainy or extreme cold. She has lost about 40 or 50 lbs. I don't have her exact numbers.. But she would be a great success story!

I go walking everyday, building up from 30mins to an hour. If I can't get out walking, I found a great walking workout to do on Youtube, but nothing beats walking outdoors listening to some great music.

I've lost 40lbs through watching what I eat and walking.

Am now getting into cycling and running

I'm only in my first month, and I'm almost 40 so I don't lose as quickly as I used to, but I've been walking and hiking 5-6 days a week, and I've lost 4 pounds so far. Also, even though the scale hasn't moved a ton, my pants have gone from being so tight I was embarrassed to be seen in them to actually being a little loose. I work full time, have a home and a 2000-square foot vegetable garden that I maintain, and a three-year-old daughter who is a mommy's girl, and a two-hour daily commute, so finding time to exercise is a big challenge. I go out every day on my lunch break and either walk on roads or hike on trails. Today I hiked down the mountain my office is on, across town and up the mountain on the other side (and then climbed the seven flights of steps to the top of the fire tower on top of the other mountain) and then came back, in about an hour-and-a-half. I think it's about 4 miles but incorporating the two mountains really ups the intensity. I do that twice a week and the other three work days are more laid back road walking. I try to get in at minimum 45 minutes a day, every weekday. Weekends are harder to find structured time to exercise, but I try to fit in either a 4-mile walk at home (and everything is hilly in Vermont so at least there is a lot of elevation gain and loss) or a shorter mountain hike somewhere local (can't be too long because my daughter can only hike so far at 3, and many times I end up carrying her for part of the way). In any case I've lost a lot of weight before by walking 3-5 miles a day, always incorporating a lot of hill climbing or mountains, so I know it can be done as long as you eat healthy and walk consistently 5-6 days a week.

I think the really important thing is to start with what you can do, but do it regularly, push your body beyond what feels comfortable, and work up to wherever you want to be at. After a month of walking which has really just been cardio-conditioning, I now try to sometimes incorporate jogging on the downhill sections or I push really hard to go faster whenever the terrain gets steeper. Those kinds of little bursts do add up.

Hope that helps, and best of luck to you.

I have used walking as one of my main forms of exercise to lose 200+ pounds. I lost the first 100 pounds by just walking and swimming. I have since added strength training but I still love walking. I did some running but I much prefer walking. I had problems with an ingrown toenail but I got the nail permanently removed. I still try to walk at least an hour a day and often more. I listen to music and audiobooks on my mp3 player while walking. Try to find nice walking paths in your town.

Yes, walking is working for me along with cutting down on calories. I think walking is one of the best exercises because you are less likely to get injured and it's likely to help with hunger cravings and evening out your blood sugar. Really, you just need to do something regularly and stick to logging food and educating yourself about how to have a healthy lifestyle and you'll be successful.

I love walking. I need to do it more. Watching my calories has mostly done it, but exercise helps too.

Are there any walkers out there that are succeeding at losing weight? I use to run all of the time, but gaining 100 pounds has made that very hard to do anymore. I've been walking my dog, about two miles a day; and sometimes I double up my walks and walk on lunch too. Has anyone just used walking as their cardio and seen results?

Thanks,

Brittany

Me. Walking is my main exercise. I've lost 33 pounds since April 1, 2013 by walking to work and other errands instead of taking the car, walking my dog, and going on long weekend walks (hikes) in the nearby national park. In the past week I've added some arm workouts and other exercise for my upper body, but that's for toning, not weight loss. You can totally lose weight walking.

I lost 18 lbs since June and the only thing I have been doing is walking, well eating better too! I found walking to be a good stress reliever! I was like you and used to run but all the extra weight just won't let me without being in to much pain. We well get there again some day

Walking is fantastic exercise. One summer I took the bus everywhere for transportation, and used to just walk around in the afternoons before work. It wasn't even particularly intense walking, but I was probably doing about 2 hours a day. By the end of the summer I had lost 15 lbs without noticing or trying. (I also worked on my feet and did quite a lot of walking at work.)

Also, when I was a kid every morning on my way to school I would see a man walking. He started out quite large, and by the end of the school year he was a very slender person. It was very cool to see.

I love walking on a steep incline, it does wonders for the *kitten*. :laugh:

I have lost just under 25 total lbs (some prior to finding MFP). I started on April 1, 2013 and decided it was time for a change. I have done it all from calorie counting using MFP and walking only, for my exercise. I also try to do outdoor yard work like mowing the lawn by push mower 2 times a week instead of riding the tractor to mow. I am out working in the garden more then in the past. I also try to keep moving, walking around the yard or in the house whenever I just feel like some quiet time and not on my normal walks.

Hope this helps!
Dan

i love long walks. sometimes i will just walk 3 miles on the treadmill instead of running or going crazy having a huge burn and take it slow and i find the days where i have a slower burn are the ones where i am lightest the next day, perhaps because i dont feel like a hungry animal after a long walk

I am 55 and have arthritic knees so I am pretty concerned about running aggravating that condition, therefore I have been walking as my lone exercise so far. I started here in May and have lost 20 lbs so far. I have found myself in a plateau weight wise for the last few weeks but I think part of that was relaxing from finally getting to onderland. I am still under 200 but it has been going back and forth from 196 - 199. I started a beginners dumbbell routine but my elbow swelled up so I am holding off a bit on that. I also have a painful arthritic right wrist that makes pushups and the like difficult and painful. I am trying to step up my walking in intensity and time and will see how that works out. I don't currently weigh food and I imagine that some of my estimates are low which are a contributing factor to my plateau. I have seen a number of people successful on here with just walking and hopefully after you get closer to your goal you will be able to add other exercise to your routine. Whatever you choose, just keep moving more and eating less and you will get there! Good luck on your journey to a healthier you!