Question about walking

Walking is great but just make sure your attention is focused on your diet first and foremost. Focusing on your diet and learning good habits (such as logging/weighing everything) are the best ways to get started.

Exercise burns a pretty paltry number of calories when it comes to fat loss - we're talking something like an hour of strenuous exercise 6 days a week just to lose 1 pound/week through exercise alone. There are lots of good reasons to exercise but it won't do you a lot of good when it comes to weight loss unless your diet is in check. So, take a walk when the weather is nice, but make sure you keep your attention focused on your diet.

I agree with park. Don't sabotage your weight loss by eating back too many calories just because you burned some. I believe MFP overstates calories burned for most activities. So, I try to eat back only 50 to 75% of my cardio burns.

Most weight loss comes from eating less. I think the statistics are 80% calorie deficit, 20% exercise. Walking is a great way to start, the price is right and you can do it anywhere.

Moving >>>not moving

Walking is fabulous. I've taken a long walk over my lunch hour since December. The key though is not to fall into the trap as I've done so many times before, and that is to waaay overeat because I think oh yes, I went for a walk, now I can eat a bigger lunch. Track your food, stick to your calorie goals AND walk, and you'll be good to go.

I agree with the others that diet has to be your first priority. Start with MFP's diary section. Log all your food. ALL of it. It might be hard to stay within your goal at first. That's okay. Start with logging. The process will quickly get easier and shouldn't take more than five or ten minutes a day. Along the way you'll start to understand some of the tradeoffs between different foods. You can still have pizza or ice cream, but you're going to pay for it in giving up other foods. You will eventually find a happy balance where you're meeting your goals without feeling hungry all the time.

You can start exercising anywhere along the line, and walking is excellent exercise. I try to get in an hour of strength training every morning, and if the weather would ever quit pretending to be winter, I'll be bicycling most evenings and weekends. During the day I walk. I walk whenever I can. I pretend like I'm taking smoke breaks but they're really walk breaks. (I quit smoking a little over a year ago but never told anyone at work.) I walk during my 30 minute lunch break and then eat lunch at my desk in the afternoon. I find excuses to walk to the other side of the big building I work in. I walk the dog when I get home. At the end of the day, I've usually put in 7 or 8 miles, which means I get to eat an extra 700 or so calories. (That's from walking alone. Strength training and cycling calories are extras.)

Note: I didn't walk much before getting my Fitbit. The first day I got it I saw that it was already deducting calories from what I get to eat because I was sitting in my recliner not doing anything. It got me up and going, and I've been going ever since.

I run or walk almost every single day on my lunch break. I'm also in Milwaukee and with the weather getting nicer it's SO refreshing to get outside halfway through the day and just chill out. I normally snack all day so my lunch food is a protein bar or drink or a lean cuisine or something I can easily eat at my desk.

I see so many people walking on their lunch break where I work. You won't burn a ton of calories but you can burn a couple hundred depending on pace, distance, etc. If you just started walking at lunch and made no changes to your diet, you would start to see small results.

I can't say that I would recommend overhauling your diet first. If you can cut one thing out or make one simple change to yoru diet and incorporate walking, it could be a good place to start. Everyone is different in this aspect though.

I lost over 100 lbs and kept it off. I know what works for me. Just like STrooper, I'm also now running marathons and half marathons. I started by walking...

I have lost all my weight by walking... I walk at least one break a day (40minutes) during work... but I also walk in the evenings for about two hours a day...

I normally don't walk during lunch because it is important to eat at least 3 times a day... even if it is a light meal... skipping meals will only hurt your diet..

-ms

I've steadily ratcheted up my walking from 6000 steps per day when I started, to a lot per day now. I found having a fitbit really helped me stay focused. I now do walk about 2km every lunch hour. I even have my boss doing it with me.

Last Monday I started walking 2 miles during my lunch hour. I love getting out of the office in the middle of the day while other co-workers are just sitting in the breakroom playing with their phones. I love that I'm burning an extra 200-300 calories instead of just sitting. The only negative is that I sometimes get super hungry during the afternoons, so I have to make sure I pack a good snack (apples w/ cheese or peanut butter) for afternoon eating.

ETA: since I started, I have burned an extra 1750 calories - that's 1/2 lb right there!!

I used to walk on my lunch hour. I figured out that once around the whole building and back parking lots are one mile. So sometimes I did it once and sometimes I did it twice. I came back from my walk and had my lunch. Worked well.

walking is not vigorous activity. it would have to be the briskiest of brisk walks to be considered "vigorous".