Walking?
jmg9656
Posts: 18 Member
Here’s the thing: does a walking regime REALLY work for weight loss??
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Replies
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Yes... and no
Yes, walking a great accessible way to get more exercise and expend more calories. No, if you are still eating more calories than you burn, exercise alone isn't enough.
Note: Walking is my main form of exercise. I'm down 15 lbs. so far.17 -
You can do zero exercise and still lose weight if you stick to a calorie deficit. Walking just helps you increase your calorie deficit.6
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You will lose weight any time you are in a caloric deficit. Walking burns calories, so it can help, and it's one of the easiest forms of exercise.5
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If you eat exactly the same amount as you always have - and merely add in a lot of walking (500 cal burn worth is a lot unless trucking, and even then talking hours) - you can lose weight.
As you lose weight though - you'll have to walk even longer if you want to keep eating the same amount.
Burn less moving less weight around all day.
Generally though - if you were eating say 2500 daily - usually easier to find 500 in food to cut out.
But maybe with walking as new activity - you only need to cut out 250, so even easier.4 -
Just having come from a weight loss clinic I learned the answer and it should have been obvious to me before now: it depends. At the weight my sis and I are at we are not walking to lose calories, our goal is stronger heart and lungs; we simply cannot walk enough to lose any significant calories. She walks 5 minutes a day, I walk but also dance 5 minutes to a happy song. If you're under 300 lbs you're gonna have different goals and can expect different results than those walking and under 200 lbs. Walking will not burn off a candy bar but if you can maintain a brisk pace you can kick off some very nice brain chemicals. Plus it gets you out in the sun and fresh air and if you've over weight you're also fighting depression and it's worth it to walk outside just for the mood elevation. Walking is free, and can lead to free hiking or biking or surfing and next thing you know you're running a triathlon. So it's a part of the healthy changes you need to lose and maintain weight but you can't expect to see a great deal of calorie burn. That's just not the purpose of walking.7
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Most days I burn between 150 and 200 calories on my walk. I don't eat the calories back at all. I mostly do it because it feels good to get some exercise (and it's helping to tone my legs a bit). For me walking really boosts my spirits!7
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I'm on day 206, starting at 375 and currently at 261. I do a little lifting, but walking is my main calorie burn -- one hour a day, 5 days/wk, on a treadmill, reading a book. My pulse never gets above 120, and is usually 100-110 (or lower, lately). My resting heart rate is crazy low now, too -- in the 40's. So yeah, walking rocks.10
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I try to walk 3 miles a day, for me it's a way of decompressing the day. I prefer to walk at night. My goal is 10k steps. I sit behind a desk all day so walking at a moderate pace helps tone especially if you wear weights while doing so.3
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One of the million reasons I love having my dogs is that I HAVE to walk every day, usually twice a day and ideally, 2 miles each. I've been doing this long before I started a calorie deficit and working out, so I don't eat back those calories, I just look at it as part of my daily routine.
And yes to the boosting of spirits and the fighting off of depression. Its just a great way to start the day with my goofballs. Until we see a rabbit and I regret everything.3 -
I walk 2 hours a day, or try to. (If it's over 90, I call it 'good enough'; under 90, there's a glider in my basement.) I started with 25 minutes when I weighed 254 lbs. Now, I'm 148. And the bulk of the exercise I've been doing while losing weight? Comes from walking. But the weightloss comes from a calorie deficit comprised in part of diet and in part of exercise.5
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It worked for me but I also reduced my eating quite a bit. I lost 105 pounds and the only exercise I did and still do is walking. What I've found is that it seems to help reduce my appetite and elevates my mood. I generally walk a minimum of 8,000 steps per day. That's about an hour or less of walking.4
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I walk every day to the gym, work out and then walk back. It's about a mile and a half each way. My legs are toned from the walking and i burn lots of calories. I don't eat my calories back. So, in my opinion, walking is a great exercise AND it aids in weight loss and overall toning.3
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I use a treadmill, the more I increase the incline the more calories I burn.
My sister would walk her dog, she was thin. Her dog passed away, she gained weight because she was not out walking the dog twice a day. She has a new dog and lost the weight.
Yes walking will help you lose weight, you must walk a distance and you can't eat it back.5 -
Walking burns calories and can help you maintain a calorie deficit which will lead to weight loss.
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DoubleUbea wrote: »I use a treadmill, the more I increase the incline the more calories I burn.
My sister would walk her dog, she was thin. Her dog passed away, she gained weight because she was not out walking the dog twice a day. She has a new dog and lost the weight.
Yes walking will help you lose weight, you must walk a distance and you can't eat it back.
Of course you can eat it back, a calorie deficit is already accounted for in your calorie goal from MFP, as long as you're not counting that walking as part of your activity level (i.e. when you chose sedentary/light activity/etc) then you can eat the calories back and still lose weight.
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It sure beats sitting on the couch at the speed of zero.6
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Tinkerbell, do you have a link or a larger version of that graphic? Thank you,tinkerbellang83 wrote: »GRAPHIC REMOVED
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walking good. sitting all day bad.
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DoubleUbea wrote: »
Tinkerbell, do you have a link or a larger version of that graphic? Thank you,tinkerbellang83 wrote: »GRAPHIC REMOVED
@DoubleUbea not sure if you're on app or web version but if you're on the web version you should be able to click onto it which will make it zoom-able or download it as an image.0 -
Many thanks to you and Mildred.1
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Here’s the thing: does a walking regime REALLY work for weight loss??
Your diet is going to have a far greater impact on weight management than what exercise you're doing. Walking is a good, light exercise activity...any increase in activity is going to increase overall energy expenditure. From an aerobic/cardiovascular fitness standpoint, it has a pretty low ceiling. I do quite a bit of walking, but I also do quite a bit of other more vigorous cardio and lifting.2 -
My main form of exercise is walking,,lots of it,some strength training too,I love walking 1
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I joined 6 days ago during that time i have walked a total of 13.6 miles (I use "Mapmywalk" to measure the distances ) in a total of 8 hrs 55 mins and burned 2831 calories, and to date I have lost 3 pounds, jogging and running and heavy weights are a non-starter for me as diagnosed COPD.3
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For me walking does help in several ways. Like others have said it helps me lose weight in the standard calories in / calories out formula when used while eating at a calorie deficit.
It also helps me by relieving stress and I feel it works great as an appetite suppressant but that may be due to the stress relieving part.
My life has been extremely stressful for me for the last few years and I notice that when the stress goes up more , I have a tendency to want to eat. However with walking , the same amount of stress I was facing doesn't feel as bad. I also notice I'm not thinking about food as much and I don't feel the need for afternoon munchies. I'm even PMS and not needing to pig out on everything which is my standard issue.
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My Fitbit shows that I burn as many and sometimes more calories walking 30 mins. as Step Aerobics for 30 mins!1
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My Fitbit shows that I burn as many and sometimes more calories walking 30 mins. as Step Aerobics for 30 mins!
Sadly, that could be because of an inaccuracy issue.
Walking is a great exercise for using step-based calorie burn - if the resulting distance is decently correct anyway - because the formula's are most tested.
Of course it doesn't take into account up & down hills.
But if your HR just barely peaks into what Fitbit thinks is the aerobic zone - it'll use HR-based calorie burn.
(people have that issue with daily activities sometimes bouncing into that area and getting inflated calorie burn)
And that calculation down on the bottom of the aerobic range is going to be most inaccurate potential for that estimate, inflated.
Just as HR-based would be on the upper end of aerobic, moving into anaerobic area, inflated again.
So your walking is likely inflated, your aerobics better chance if HR device.
If step-based only device - the aerobics is likely under-estimated.0 -
Walking burns more calories than not walking, so...yes.6
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