Just walking

I have just done my first walk, pushed myself as much as I could did 5k in 53 minutes. My aim is to start jogging but at my size at the moment I think I would be putting too much pressure on my body, so power walking for a while

I just walk, I have three dogs and we do about 2 hours a day. I've lost a lot of weight so it definitely works.

What a beautiful place to walk!

Lovely post! Walking is wonderful exercise and should never be considering less than anything else. Love the photos! Keep up the good work, everyone!

mrsw2801 wrote: »

I have just done my first walk, pushed myself as much as I could did 5k in 53 minutes. My aim is to start jogging but at my size at the moment I think I would be putting too much pressure on my body, so power walking for a while

Just a note on this! If you would really like to run, start out gradually using a program like Couch to 5K, or even just short intervals of your own making – try, say, 30 seconds or 1 minute of running alternating with 4 minutes of walking. I started running at around 320 pounds some years ago, and last year at around 300 at 5'8" tall. I am one of those so-called "back of the packers", meaning I go relatively slow (about a 15 minute mile), but I have become part of an amazing running community in my city and get so much support for what I do. I love it! (I weigh 270 now, by the way.)

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326634/february-2016-walking-challenge/p1

I walk every day and participate here.

I lost quite a bit in a year walking. Probably somewhere in the tune of 65-70 lbs. I started at a mile a day, after 30 days I went up to 2 miles a day, then all the way up to 4 miles a day at the fastest pace I could muster which was about 3.5mph. Before my back went out I was able to burn 1000 calories a day doing just walking at a very fast pace. Then I managed to burst/bulge 2-3 discs in my lower back. Doc says it was probably the repeated impact from walking so much and that I should A) get better shoes, and cut it down to 30 minutes a day. For me that's 1 mile and it isn't nearly enough of a burn for what I wanted to accomplish. Took me almost six weeks to recover from those injuries (I managed to do it twice to myself, 2nd time was much worse). Anyway, all I'm saying is if you have lower back problems be wary of the impact that walking does have, get really good shoes with impact absorption, and limit how much you do each day.

Now I spend 30 minutes a day on an elliptical/Bowflex M5 which is 0 impact for about a 500 calorie burn, then about 15 minutes body weight training for up to 150 calories of a burn, then 15-30 minutes walking for another 350ish calorie burn. Seems to keep me from injuring myself.

One thing I found about walking, it's good for losing weight because it's good cardio. It's good for toning your lower muscles in your legs, but it won't (unless you climb steep inclines a lot) strengthen the larger muscles in your upper legs much. For that you need to incorporate stairs or a steep incline, or a stair stepper or elliptical. YMMV.

Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »

Full incline on a treadmill for 30 minutes (or longer) 5 days out the week. You will have legs of steel.
Some people say it's better to lift weights to, which lifting weights is good to add. But just walking is just as good for in general health. You can walk 30-60 minutes a day, even broken up throughout the day.
But walking is one of the most easiest and steps relieving exercise there is. Not to mention it's free.

Agreed. It takes a decent incline. Some people, like me at first, start walking at a level pace either on a treadmill or outside and stay at that because it's easy. Challenge yourself with inclines. If you're walking around your neighborhood find inclines or hills and modify your route to include them. It got to the point when I saw a steep hill somewhere I would find ways to modify my daily path to include it, even if I had to drive somewhere to begin my walk.

I love walking, and walking with a four-legged pal... even better. They just listen and agree with what you say!

I walk every day with my dog, Mickey, too.
I live in Minnesota, but try to get in a walk in our woods even in the snow and cold. We have 10 acres, of which most is rolling, steep, wooded hills. We have quite a bit of snow now, but my husband keeps the trails in the woods groomed so we can walk on them. I have a fit bit and an hour walk yields me about 30 staircases as well as about 5500 steps on my fit bit. I also go to the gym everyday and mostly use the elliptical. My fit bit goal is 18,000 to 20,000 steps per day and I have been reaching that everyday since 1/1/14. Have been on MFP for 4 years, at maintenance for over 2 years and had a fit bit for 3 years.

I love all the pictures posted on here. I jog, walk and spin. I really enjoy longer walks of 60+ minutes as they relax me. Walking unfortunately has not helped the scale budge but I still enjoy it.

some times I do 2 to 3 hours a day outside.

I love walking to the shops in my neighborhood. There are two Publixes about an equal walk away from my home and I like going there to use the higi machine to check my BP and rack up points to give to charity. Near one of them is a Meat and Fish store and a Walmart, near the other is a Target, a Party City, a Presidente Supermarket, a Babies R Us, a Ross and a bunch of other places. I met a weird guy at Walmart, while having my packed lunch at the Subway inside there, who made me feel uncomfortable so I'm avoiding that area for a couple of months, hoping he'll give up on finding and associating with me, so I've been strolling down this nice, quiet street just off, but alongside, of the main road to go to the Publix near Target. I eat lunch at Publix or Target, now.