Losing Weight by Walking?

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  • Strikingly_Jackie
    Strikingly_Jackie Posts: 21 Member
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    Walking is a great exercise. I walk most days around an hour or so and i have lost 84 lbs in 8 months. Happy walking :)
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    It is great for people who cannot take the high impact of other sorts of exercise and it requires no special equipment. It is also good for "older" women whose hormones have begun to change because sustained higher cardio activities raises cortisol levels and that isn't conducive to fat burning.
  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
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    Walking (either treadmill, or outside if I'm travelling) has made up roughly 95% of my exercise "routine" this year. I enjoy it actually. It gives me time for uninterrupted thought and I can go as easy or as hard as I like. 30 minutes is usually minimum. Mostly 45 minutes though. It's also easy on those parts of me that are suffering from age and years of hard living... :-)
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
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    What walking has done for me is to enable me to gently have fun from day one and to start increasing my strength and endurance, while enjoying the exercise and fresh air. I took the long-term way and decided to be happy and satisfied with personal gains instead of empirical gains that more fit people would consider a day at the beach. A very lazy day at the beach. Like, not even swimming, LOL.

    So, I started with 30 minutes on a flat surface with my music at a comfortable time of day for me and enjoyed my thoughts and time to myself. Little by little I picked up the pace, not by design but just because it was getting easier and it just happened that I started walking a little faster. After about 3 weeks I realized there's another trail very close to my first one with some steeper hills. Now, the first 6 or 7 times on THAT trail had me huffing and puffing and struggling even going very slowly on the inclines, but it also has plenty of declines so I could get my breath back. And in between doing that hike, I'd do the really easy one next to it and around the playground for a few loops. After about two weeks or 6-7 walks, the inclines just had me a little winded, but it wasn't hard. So instead of doing the hard loop just once or twice per hour, I was doing it three times. Now, two months later, I usually do four.

    Yesterday I took a walk on the country road up to my parents' house which is also a little hilly, but I took a plastic bag and put on some gloves and I picked up the trash on the side of the road. Every time I picked up trash I squatted instead of bending over. Today my legs burn in a good way, it's a nice feeling.

    So, what walking has done for me over the past two months is to make me stronger. I'm not as weak, I don't need to take breaks and rest as often in day-to-day things, my muscles can do more. My next steps (ha, ha) will be to pick up the pace on my walks over the next month so I'm walking faster and maybe even sometimes doing a light jog for a few minutes every now and then when I feel like it and a particularly good song is on the IPod. And for Christmas, I'll be asking for a gym membership so I can take some Zumba and some Step classes and I know it will be a challenge to keep up, but it won't kill me and I will be able to do it.

    From my perspective, starting out walking and focusing on having fun and enjoying the alone time to think and listen to music and then just increasing the intensity as you feel like it is a wonderful way to start feeling strong again.

    This! I did almost the same "method".
    Setting up for success and feeling of accomplishment: Babysteps, duration first, then intensity later. At some point I wanted to be able to do more. Keep pushing yourself gradually.

    Setting up for failure: Having too ambitious goals that your body simply can't take, makes it easier to give up. Straining the body too hard too soon is also risking unnecessary injuries.

    So, yeah, walking is an excellent starting point to teach your body that physical activity is GOOD, not bad.

    Oh, I forgot. Yeah, you burn less in ordinary walking than an all out session at the gym, but that's the beauty of it in my mind. I use walking on my gym-off days or when just need to rest body a bit. Still earning kcal, but both resting and working on stamina:)

    Edited: added a couple of sentences for float and formatting.
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
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    my mom has health issues and cannot do anything strenuous. she used walking as her exercise and lost about 60 lbs. (along with cutting calories) i am not sure how long it took. walking is great! :smile:
  • Fatbuster205
    Fatbuster205 Posts: 333 Member
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    Invest in a Fitbit! You can pick them up on Amazon. For me it is a really good tool. I cannot run due to damaged knees and I find the gymn just isn't my thing! Walking is a great way to relax, deal with stress, get fresh air and unless there is ice I go out every day. I am to do 4-6 miles a day which takes about 50mins. It may not burn a s many calories as more intense exercise but it is sustainable and along with calorie controlled diet it works for me. I have lost 2 stone walking!
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    I love walking! I power walk every single day either outside or I use walking dvd's (Leslie Sansone or Jessica Smith). When travelling I will use the hotel's treadmill.

    I average between 2 - 6 miles daily depending on my other workouts (sometimes I would walk a mile or two as a warm up to another workout) and how I'm feeling. I usually average 3.5 - 5 miles daily.

    When I walk outside at my fastest pace it's consistent, brisk pace and I go fast while pumping my arms. I enjoy going in intervals. I warm up by walking at a normal pace, then I would pick up the pace, speed up, slow down a little, lightly jog (sometimes) and repeat. I use Accupedo to keep track of my miles.

    When I first started I just walked normally for short distances and was able to increase as I kept going on my stamina and endurance increased.

    With a mild calorie deficit and portion control I've lost 80 lbs (in around 15 months) and have kept it off. Walking is effective, easy on my joints, helps to clear my head from a busy day and has help to give me nice, strong lower body.

    Try not to go too hard too fast and listen to your body.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    You lose weight by caloric deficit. You get healthier by walking and it increases your caloric deficit.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
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    Long walks are good for you on so many levels. True if your not in a caloric deficit they wont help you lose weight. but ...

    1. I get my best ideas walking
    2. It is absolutely phenomenal at reducing stress. I have been fuming and sulking sometimes when I left the house. I am always ok when i get back.
    3, It burns a surprising amount of calories.
    4. It helps keep your nervous system in order. It's kind of like a spinal massage.
    5. It is low intensity so overweight people can do it quite easily and it is highly unlikely to eat into lean tissue. As the calorie drain is slow.
  • JoseCastaneda
    JoseCastaneda Posts: 245 Member
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    I walk every day. I think that's still my main exercise. After losing some pounds, I started riding my bicycle, then some running, bodyweight exercises, etc. But I still walk at least 2 miles a day.

    That, combined with the food tracking, has been the key to get healthier.

    Go out and walk! enjoy!
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
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    I love to walk. Walking has been my salvation throughout this entire process. It's free to do, it gets me moving, and it's sort of my "me time" where I can just relax, go as slow or as fast as I choose, decompress from the stress of the day, take in the sights around me (or not)... I love it. I started out very slowly and couldn't go far at first - I am currently up to about 4 miles a day or so and am planning to increase it to 5 in increments. I also walk 5ks whenever possible.

    I will walk as long as my health permits, which is hopefully for decades!
  • SunflowerCutie
    SunflowerCutie Posts: 61 Member
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    I like to walk too. It's really good too and it helps.
  • SuperKnight1
    SuperKnight1 Posts: 3 Member
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    My starting weight was 282 on Jan 1st this year and is now 226, down 56lbs. All was done with calorie reduction logging everything I eat and drink everyday with MyFitnessPal and walking and running. I started walking my dogs in February and could only walk 1/2 mile at a time at first. I slowly worked up to 1 mile, then 2, 3 and eventually 5 miles. I started walking to help with health and to be able to eat more. Each mile you walk (or run) allows you approx. 125 more calories you can consume. Really helped me put some things into perspective such as eating 1 OZ. of my beloved Lays Potato Chips would take walking over a mile to overcome those calories and even then I would get no nutrition form them. So I started counting calories and foods in miles to walk ( walk a mile for an Ultra Beer) and it became allot easier to stay away from snacks that mess up the diet. I decided to do a 5K (3.1 miles) race at the end of March and walked 90 % of it. I have lost all of my 56 lbs. through only walking, some running, and cutting calories. No other training or gym work. I had been on Metformin for diabetes Type 2 for 8 years and felt it would not be long before I had to start taking insulin shots if I did not change something. 3 months ago my doctor ran tests on me and took me off all diabetic medicine and said there is no signs of diabetes at all. Now I have so much more energy everyday and I don't call this a diet but a permanent lifestyle change. YES, I strongly believe in losing weight by walking and plan to continue from now on. A free APP to use getting started that tracks your walking is Mapmyrun. GOOD LUCK!
  • runner_girl83
    runner_girl83 Posts: 553 Member
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    I just invested in a fitbit flex. A few years ago I lost 7kg through walking and some interval training, though I found that when I got to my goal weight I stumbled into the "Now that I've reached my goal weight, I can just relax, stop walking so much and eat what I want" frame of mind. Two years on and I gained the 7kg plus some more back and although I'm not classed as overweight, I have a small frame and I carry any and all weight at the front of me.. So, I started walking two months ago (again) and lost 2kg, though the last 2-3 weeks my loss has stalled. I'm still messing around with my fitbit settings and aiming to eat at a bit more of a deficit to see if I can start moving things again. I love walking - I always injure myself when I run, either through my ankles or shins.. So I've decided to give up on the interval training and use walking as my main exercise. I find that the fitbit gives me anywhere between 300-500 calories to eat back each day and I usually leave 100-200 of these (mainly because I am not hungry)... So I'll have to mess with the fitbit settings and see if I can change deficit settings... If anyone has any advice with these settings I'm happy to hear it lol
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I've just started walking everyday. According to my fitbit, 22,007 steps or 15.5 km (roughly 9 miles) burns approx 946 calories. So it's a yes from me, walking definitely helps you lose weight :+1:
  • sfkn123
    sfkn123 Posts: 17 Member
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    The only work out I did was cardio. I started with an hour per day, increasing it to two hours. Went from 205 lbs to 148 in just a few months. I have not done any running in a few months due to having a busy schedule, but looking to get into weight training next.
  • cheethnico
    cheethnico Posts: 57 Member
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    I walked off 3 stone after my 2nd child with very little dieting and since January I've walked off 31lb counting calories but walking is my only exercise
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    You lose weight by a caloric deficit. Why the resurrection of an old post?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    You lose weight by a caloric deficit. Why the resurrection of an old post?

    True. And I didn't even notice the date. Oops
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    I saw the date but figured it is a slow news day.

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