do you think walking 40, 80 or 90 minutes a day will be beneficial to help lose weight?

trulyhealy
trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
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?

Replies

  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    Movement is good for sure, but a healthy diet is also needed to see the full benefits of any exercise.
  • annw6
    annw6 Posts: 6 Member
    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.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Why would it be a waste of time?
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    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.
  • GretelGSD
    GretelGSD Posts: 11 Member
    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.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    walking is fabulous exercise - kudos to you.
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    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.
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    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.
  • TrishSeren
    TrishSeren Posts: 587 Member
    I love walking, I'd walk everywhere if I could. Also download some podcasts to listen to when you walk maybe!
  • twatson4936
    twatson4936 Posts: 121 Member
    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.
  • twatson4936
    twatson4936 Posts: 121 Member
    Walking outside and breathing in fresh air can make you sleepy especially after a long day.
  • trulyhealy
    trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
    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
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,330 Member
    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.

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    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.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    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)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    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.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,085 Member
    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.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    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.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    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.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    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.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    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.
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