Weight Loss Through Walking..Should I even bother?

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,012 Member
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    It takes me less than five minutes a day to log my food into the Food Diary here. I use a food scale for things that I feel I need to use it for - it's really the only thing that works for me long-term. I've lost and kept off 65+ pounds for nine years and walking/hiking is my major source of exercise.

    It does take some effort - if it didn't, everyone would be at a healthy weight. Anything worth having is worth the effort, and being at a healthy weight is in the top three things of importance to me.
  • krichard08
    krichard08 Posts: 62 Member
    edited June 2016
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    I asked the question whether walking is worth it or not because it is really the only thing that I can manage right now. I have 2 small children and an elderly parent that I take care of 24 hours a day so sneaking in time to exercise is tough and this was manageable because I am at work anyway and have the time to do it. If it's not going to do anything for me to help achieve my goals, then I would be wasting my time. I realize that I am not going to lose weight quickly. I have been maintaining for 2 years NOT taken 2 years off. I agree that I need to start counting calories and tracking them more closely. This was really a question about walking being an effective enough weight loss tool to go along with that rather than the workout DVDs that I have or the weight training that I used to do before Mom was moved in with me. I appreciate the feedback.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,992 Member
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    I agree with most of the other post. You really do need to tighten up your logging and that will mean weighing on a food scale. When you started out with a lot to lose it is easier to eyeball your portions and still create a deficit. When you don't have as much to lose your deficit is smaller and it is more important to log accurately. That said, I think if you enjoy the walking you should definitely keep it up. I walk almost everyday for about 3 miles. I usually earn about 300 calories from that. I started out with walking as my only exercise. I have added in some yoga about 3 times a week, but walking is really my main form of exercise. And it will give you a little cushion as far as your deficit goes, but the most important thing will be to accurately log what you are eating. You've come this far and done a great job. Don't give up!
  • Jeyradan
    Jeyradan Posts: 164 Member
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    krichard08 wrote: »
    I asked the question whether walking is worth it or not because it is really the only thing that I can manage right now.

    I do other things as well as walking (like using the Sworkit app, which lets you exercise in five-minute increments), but I wanted to let you know that I incorporate at least one long walk (2-6 hours) per week into my exercise regimen. It does help! It won't do a lot, especially on its own, but every calorie you burn while walking is a calorie you won't burn if you don't. Plus, the side benefits like fresh air and healthy bones are awesome. Don't stop! It will help!

    (But as the others have said, it won't help if you eat more calories than you walk off, so you may want to get a general idea of calories and portion sizes by weighing or checking labels if you don't already, even if it's just for a few days so that you can see what different amounts look like.)
  • krichard08
    krichard08 Posts: 62 Member
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    Thank you so much for all of the feedback. :)
  • krichard08
    krichard08 Posts: 62 Member
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    akf2000 wrote: »
    The thing I always tell myself is at least when you're walking you're not stuffing your face with cheese strings*



    *technically you still can

    LOL...this is true!
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    krichard08 wrote: »
    I asked the question whether walking is worth it or not because it is really the only thing that I can manage right now. I have 2 small children and an elderly parent that I take care of 24 hours a day so sneaking in time to exercise is tough and this was manageable because I am at work anyway and have the time to do it. If it's not going to do anything for me to help achieve my goals, then I would be wasting my time. I realize that I am not going to lose weight quickly. I have been maintaining for 2 years NOT taken 2 years off. I agree that I need to start counting calories and tracking them more closely. This was really a question about walking being an effective enough weight loss tool to go along with that rather than the workout DVDs that I have or the weight training that I used to do before Mom was moved in with me. I appreciate the feedback.

    If your main question was "will walking help you reach your goal," the answer is yes, BUT not if your diet isn't in line. You should exercise regardless if you're able. If walking is all you can do, do it. Do the hell out of it (but don't get burned out on it).
  • seekingdaintiness
    seekingdaintiness Posts: 137 Member
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    Regardless of your weight, walking is good for your heart. People have made a terrible error in thinking exercise is for weight loss. It isn't. Exercise is for cardiovascular health. Your diet is the determining factor of your weight to an 80% margin. Lower your calorie intake by 10% or 100 calories a day and DO be strict about logging daily. You WILL see a difference in your weight.
  • Sweets1954
    Sweets1954 Posts: 506 Member
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    The key is finding something you can stick with. Walking will help but it will go "faster" if you are also eating at a deficit. Find a plan and keep going, it is slow but slow is better than fast as you will be able to maintain your loss for a low time if it is slow.
  • seekingdaintiness
    seekingdaintiness Posts: 137 Member
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    Ws2016 wrote: »
    Sorry, but you do have to weigh everything. And make sure you are accurately as best as possuble counting your walking burn. Fast walk, 4 mph, = about .53 x your weight. You might try recalculating your weight loss goal based on your lower weight, too. Once I dropped 30 pounds I had to recalibrate and eat even less.


    This is correct. You don't need to weigh everything. You just need to keep track of it - even the "just one bite" of something.
    I have lost 127 pounds now without weighing one single bite of food. Not a bite.
  • cwang125
    cwang125 Posts: 76 Member
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    Is walking good? Yes! If you're able to walk 4-5 days a week that is great. Any amount of additional physical activity you can put into your day is beneficial.

    There is no magic though. Eat at a caloric deficit and you will lose weight. If you haven't lost weight then it is because your logging is inaccurate. You're overestimating your expenditure and underestimating your intake.

    I personally don't like to include the calories you "earn" back from exercising. If you base your calculations based on your intake you will have the most conservative estimates.

    If you calculate accurately what your intake is every day and you eat at a deficit every day you will lose weight.

    Also you mentioned you had previously dropped from 215 to 185. Thats great. But you need to understand that a 30lb drop means your maintenance is also lower. It also means you need to eat less than you were before or you need to increase your energy expenditure just to maintain. This is why most people plateau. As you lose more and more weight you need to eat less as your daily maintenance also decreases.
  • seekingdaintiness
    seekingdaintiness Posts: 137 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    seekingdaintiness wrote: »
    Regardless of your weight, walking is good for your heart. People have made a terrible error in thinking exercise is for weight loss. It isn't. Exercise is for cardiovascular health. Your diet is the determining factor of your weight to an 80% margin. Lower your calorie intake by 10% or 100 calories a day and DO be strict about logging daily. You WILL see a difference in your weight.

    this is completely true. Although i really hate that 80/20 thing people always talk about.

    Calorie intake determines weight.
    Macronutrient intake determines body composition.
    micronutrient intake determines nutrition.
    (which are all equally important)

    And exercise determines physical fitness, strength, agility, speed, balance, and more. As i said in my post above and just like you said a certain amount of exercise is needed just for general cardiovascular health (without any of the other aspects).

    IMO- We should look at diet being 100% important and exercise being 100% important as an outlook on our overall quality of life. But that's just my 2 cents ;)

    Yeah exactly. Stopping walking would be bad and she would gain back some weight slowly without changing her diet. But also walking, regardless of weight, is an awesome form of exercise for the heart, lungs, and general well-being like mental and otherwise. It's kind of a good maintenance weight-control thing. But largely to control the weight or bring it down food needs to be addressed.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    edited June 2016
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    @krichard08
    I took the liberty to do a bit of <snipping> . ;) Keeping the positives in your post may help you move forward instead of staying stuck and unhappy.
    krichard08 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. :) I had been thinking I have to pull out the food scale. You are right..


    krichard08 wrote: »
    Hi All,

    I have been on this weight loss journey for quite some time now. I started at 215 lbs. a few years ago and managed to go down to 185 counting every single calorie and to try and use a common sense approach.

    I started brisk walking on my lunch breaks at work because I knew it was a routine that I could easily keep. I have an hour lunch break and I typically eat within the first 15 minutes and walk for the remaining 45 minutes. In that time I am averaging 3 miles. I do this every day M-F that it doesn't rain, and when it does rain, I take it to the treadmill that evening instead. :+1:

    my calories I am tracking them and log it in my diary.

    I need to go back to counting out every single thing that I put in my mouth

    I Should keep up with the walking...

    What a great post, way to keep it positive! Working to keep a positive mind set makes all the difference in the world. Even if someways we don't wake up positive we have the power to change that. We can wake up and start out our day in which ever way we choose! Yes, we have that power, it's ours to use to help or to hinder our path in life!

    I find weighing (dry foods) and measuring (liquids) rather fun & quite empowering as it helps me reach my goals and I know if something goes array it's not my food intake. Unless of course I'm not in a deficit, perhaps thinking of it that way will put a positive spin on this whole experience as you start fresh! :happy:

    You shared things haven't worked in the past, oh but they have! You've lost weight and kept it off that is HUGE, many don't keep it off and come back and restart and have to start from the beginning. Which is great that they know to come here because we all know it works.

    Give yourself a HUGE Pat on the back for keeping the weight off and checking back in.


    Edit:

    Some will share they don't track their food, I prefer tracking mine as do others on here for accuracy. Different stroke for different folks I guess. The thing about tracking is if one remains at the same weight and is working out and feels they are stuck they can look over the calorie intake in their food diary and spot the problem right away.

    Instead of wondering why they aren't losing and wondering if they have to starve themselves. They think the problem is within when it's not. It's the food intake and find they are often taking far more food in than they had thought.

    You come here in frustration and looking for help, we'd love to help! From what you've shared the only thing left to suggest is monitor your food by looking closely at your intake. What works is weighing and measuring and if you don't want to do that long term that's of course your choice.
    But when a person is stuck it's the best place to start looking!
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    OP, you don't need to weigh everything that goes into your mouth if you find it tedious. You will fail if you are forcing yourself.

    Instead, you can put your effort into rationalizing, realizing that you DON'T HAVE to eat when you are feeling fine. Feeling a bit of empty, craving is fine. You literally cannot run into any health issue (assuming you're healthy in the first place), let alone starve, if your bathroom scale shows an average loss of 2 lbs / week.

    You can undereat or overeat by a few hundred calories in a day but the overall in a week should be under which isn't difficult to "count". The whole challenge in dieting is finding the willpower (or specifically in my case finding strategies) to eat less. Get in touch with the people in this place who could manage to eat less (eg 300 in the AM) and function all day until dinner. Learn their strategies.
  • Kelly_2013
    Kelly_2013 Posts: 117 Member
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    This isn't even my post and I have found everyone's advice very helpful! It's smart to think of weight loss coming from what you eat and exercise for health and strength.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    Kelly_2013 wrote: »
    This isn't even my post and I have found everyone's advice very helpful! It's smart to think of weight loss coming from what you eat and exercise for health and strength.
    <3

    I know, right? It's reintegrating the power of keeping the focus on it for me too! That's what's so great about this Community. You can be reading or responding to someone and realizing how important the basics really are, more so than you already did. I think telling someone else really puts in even more perspective within ourselves. :)

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