do you think walking 40, 80 or 90 minutes a day will be beneficial to help lose weight?
trulyhealy
Posts: 242 Member
recently i’ve been walking home from where i study which is a 40 min walk and then upped it from walking back do u think it’s beneficial or just a waste of time? i plan to walk there and back 5 days a week along side that i do the 30 day shred (i’m currently on level 2). the walking is making me sleepy especially the 90 minute walk but idk if that’s a sign it’s working or not or because i’m not used to it
so what do u think of this?
so what do u think of this?
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Replies
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I personally don't think any movement is a waste of time. Moving is good for our overall health and well being. As weight loss goes, any movement is going to increase energy expenditure...but really, your diet is going to have a far bigger impact than anything else.
One reason I don't exercise for the sole purpose of burning calories is that for myself and most people, the energy expenditure from exercise is rather nominal relative to the energy expenditure from just being alive and going about my day to day.
For example...I burn around 1800 calories just being alive...without exercise I burn around 2500 calories per day in total. If I go out for a 30-40 minute 8-10 mile ride which is typically what I have time for on a weekday, I'll burn somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-400 calories tops...relatively small compared to the 2500 calories I otherwise burn being alive and going about my day to day.
I do it because it's good for my health and overall well being and I like keeping fit.12 -
Movement is good for sure, but a healthy diet is also needed to see the full benefits of any exercise.2
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It’s exercise and a good form of exercise. As long as it fits in with your lifestyle I can’t see any downside (fitting in means it’s more more likely that you’ll keep it up) unless pollution is/becomes a problem.0
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Why would it be a waste of time?4
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Of course it's "working" in the sense of using more calories than you would burn not walking. Is it working in the sense of making you lose weight? You can't lose weight without consuming fewer calories than you take in, which means you also need to regulate your diet or no exercise in the world will make you lose weight. Many people unconsciously eat more when they exercise, cancelling out any benefits.
Log your food, log your exercise, and that will give you the best idea of how your exercise is benefitting you in terms of weight loss.1 -
Any exercise is fantastic but to lose weight, your calorie deficit is the deciding factor. Weigh all foods and log your calories and fit in some exercise but keep in mind that you often don't burn as many calories as you think exercising and it's easy to eat them back without realising. Don't do too much that you get tired of exercise, balance is key and enjoy the other benefits that exercise brings, healthier heart, toned body, greater endurance, better mood etc.1
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walking is fabulous exercise - kudos to you.3
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Not a waste of time. Moving is good for health.
That said, it’s not really going to make you lose weight faster. Weight loss is 90% about diet. But not everything is about weight loss. You should exercise for health and fitness.3 -
I would expect it to be beneficial, but I'm a bit concerned about your sleepiness. Are you feeling fatigued in general?
I would also worry whether spending that much time walking was coming at the expense of time spent of other things, e.g. study time, time spent relaxing and so on.4 -
Walking rather than driving or riding a bus is a great way to add activity which adds to total daily burn. Over time it does make a difference particularly in maintaining a weight loss over time. I also find that outdoor walking good for my overall mood - probably a combination of fresh air and letting my mind wander where it will.6
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I love walking, I'd walk everywhere if I could. Also download some podcasts to listen to when you walk maybe!2
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I weigh 177 and I walk about 3 mph and I burn 250-300 calories for 1 hour of walking. If you can fit in the time anything that burns more calories will help.1
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Walking outside and breathing in fresh air can make you sleepy especially after a long day.1
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A two-hour walk gives me (short woman, roughly 145lbs) about 500 calories extra to eat. Which helps me adhere to my calorie deficit. Which is definitely beneficial.5
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estherdragonbat wrote: »A two-hour walk gives me (short woman, roughly 145lbs) about 500 calories extra to eat. Which helps me adhere to my calorie deficit. Which is definitely beneficial.
are u supposed to eat back exercise calories? idk0 -
trulyhealy wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »A two-hour walk gives me (short woman, roughly 145lbs) about 500 calories extra to eat. Which helps me adhere to my calorie deficit. Which is definitely beneficial.
are u supposed to eat back exercise calories? idk
Why do you think MFP would give you additional calories to consume after you log exercise if you weren't supposed to? Why would MFP be trying to trick you?
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p16 -
Been on 5 miles a day (total not necessarily in one trek) walk since late Nov. It helped me loose few lbs along with calories counting. It's never a bad thing to walk.
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trulyhealy wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »A two-hour walk gives me (short woman, roughly 145lbs) about 500 calories extra to eat. Which helps me adhere to my calorie deficit. Which is definitely beneficial.
are u supposed to eat back exercise calories? idk
Yes. I do half in general and keep the other half as a cushion against logging errors.4 -
when i do a fat loss cycle/cut - my workouts decrease and i focus on getting my LISS in (low intensity steady state) - of which walking is a prime component - it helps me to focus as well as gives me some energy (i get up and walk 10 min every hour at work)1
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Losing weight is about creating a calorie deficit. Weight is governed by an energy balance commonly known as Calories In, Calories Out, or CICO.
If you want to lose weight, you need your calories in to be less than your calories out or CI < CO
If you want to maintain weight, you need your calories in to be equal to your calories out or CI = CO
When you gain weight, it is because your calories in are greater than your calories out, or CI > CO
Exercise of any form, walking included, contributes to the CO side of those equations.
So yes, walking can be beneficial for losing weight.
That said, logging accurately to ensure that your CI puts you in a calorie deficit based on the amount of calories you burn, is probably the most impactful thing you can do when it comes to weight loss.
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trulyhealy wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »A two-hour walk gives me (short woman, roughly 145lbs) about 500 calories extra to eat. Which helps me adhere to my calorie deficit. Which is definitely beneficial.
are u supposed to eat back exercise calories? idk
Not eating back your exercise calories would explain why the 90 minutes of walking makes you tired - you are under-fueling.10 -
I have a desk job, and live in a tiny "apartment." Outside of planned activities, my normal daily step count is extremely low. Therefore, I've added purposeful walking during my commute rather than the other transit alternatives.
It hasn't done much to increase my weight loss persay, but it has definitely improved my overall energy levels, my cardio (there's a serious hill on my walk home - of course it's downhill on my way to work, but it is a darn good climb the other direction), and has more than tripled my daily "steps."
I don't consider a waste of time at all! Does it have a serious impact on my food intake? Not particularly, but it's far from a "waste" IMO. Even a couple hundred calories more can have a nice little impact on my daily choices.
If you're tired, may need to examine the types of foods and where you are getting your calories, as eating the right things can certainly make a difference in your energy.1 -
trulyhealy wrote: »recently i’ve been walking home from where i study which is a 40 min walk and then upped it from walking back do u think it’s beneficial or just a waste of time? i plan to walk there and back 5 days a week along side that i do the 30 day shred (i’m currently on level 2). the walking is making me sleepy especially the 90 minute walk but idk if that’s a sign it’s working or not or because i’m not used to it
so what do u think of this?
Yes it's beneficial. In the right context. If you are using for the purpose of losing weight, I'm afraid, given that you say the walking is making you sleepy, that you might be overdoing things a little....maybe trying to accelerate the process. 30 day shred is no joke. If you are doing that, walking (and "not being used to it") and having it make you sleepy, it tells me you might be under-eating.
I also note that several of the threads you've started indicate worry about the process. Don't make this too complicated. The walking and 30-day shred are great for fitness.
But no matter what you do, 90% or your change in weight/body comp will be due to your eating habits. Work on those, but don't obsess. Just do the process. Eat enough to fuel your activity. Most recommend at least 50% of what MFP gives you. If you don't fuel your activity well enough you'll get fatigued easier and be more prone to binge.
This is for life, not a race for how fast you can do it. Take your time. You'll have to trust me (and many others) that taking your time is worth it. You'll be glad you did.4 -
No movement is a waste of time. As for whether it will help with weight loss, if you are consistently taking in less calories than you burn in general then yes you will lose.1
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trulyhealy wrote: »recently i’ve been walking home from where i study which is a 40 min walk and then upped it from walking back do u think it’s beneficial or just a waste of time? i plan to walk there and back 5 days a week along side that i do the 30 day shred (i’m currently on level 2). the walking is making me sleepy especially the 90 minute walk but idk if that’s a sign it’s working or not or because i’m not used to it
so what do u think of this?
A calorie deficit is what is needed for weight loss. Any form of exercise is good for overall health and as long as you eat less calories than your body burns, you will lose weight.
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I tend to walk home from the work once a week if the weather is nice. Takes a little over an hour but I get to walk through the city centre and it's lovely. But if I did it every day because I felt like I 'had' to or as a punishment, then that wouldn't be a healthy thing. If you like the walk and you have the time, go for it! If it's getting obsessive, maybe reassess.3
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