Walking for weight loss

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embree1978
embree1978 Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
Will walking just 30 minutes a day every day help with my weight loss?

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  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Try to use the MFP calculation - they do everything for you. I started walking with 170 kg (375 pounds) the best I could: more for relaxation, to get fresh air, enjoy nature. I do record walking / exercise on MFP to keep a record.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
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    It will burn a few extra calories, how much will depend on your current weight etc. I walk daily and they burn around 100 calories. That's not really going to have a big impact on my weight, but it's good for my overall health which is why I do it.
  • Libby81
    Libby81 Posts: 734 Member
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    If the walking helps to increase / create a calorie deficit then yes absolutely walking will help with weight loss.
    Walking is a very underrated exercise in my opinion. Its easily accessible, free, you can do it anywhere, its good for cardio, you can mix it up with increasing tempo and adding bodyweight movements or short jogs. Oh and its great to just get outside into the fresh air and enjoy it :)
  • JohnBarth
    JohnBarth Posts: 672 Member
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    Walking can be tremendously helpful in achieving health and fitness goals, but most success on the scale will be related to the kitchen.
  • lydiamagdalene
    lydiamagdalene Posts: 2 Member
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    Well hi 5 just installed this app yesterday.... Anything i need to know 😁
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
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    JohnBarth wrote: »
    Walking can be tremendously helpful in achieving health and fitness goals, but most success on the scale will be related to the kitchen.

    I second this. The walking will help with your fitness and has a ton of health benefits. But for straight up weight loss diet is a bigger factor than exercise.

    If it helps remember this: Diet changes the number on the scale. Exercise changes what that number looks like on you.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
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    As others have said, walking is great for mind, body and spirit but may or may not be enough to promote weight loss. I say this from experience. At my heaviest (225lbs), I walked an average of 20,000-30,000 steps a day. Everyday.

    My primary job is a career education teacher for disabled kids and I take the students to work on the daily via walking and/or public transportation. At their jobs, I work along side them. My second job is at a humane shelter where I am a dog trainer for dogs at risk of euthanasia for behavior. I did that job for 4-5 hours a day; 7 days a week.

    I quit the intense schedule when I injured my knee breaking up a dog fight. The knee injury turned out to be permanent, so I can no longer put in those miles everyday. I've built back up to about 7000 steps/day.

    Long story short, I walked a lot but it alone wasn't enough to lower my weight.
  • cmsavells
    cmsavells Posts: 257 Member
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    embree1978 wrote: »
    Will walking just 30 minutes a day every day help with my weight loss?

    Walking is incredibly healthy and a cheap way to be active. You will find benefits from 30 minutes, but find ways to change it up a bit. Change the pace while you walk. So if I'm walking 30 minutes, every 8 minutes I will pick up the pace a bit for two or three minute, then return to my original pace. Hills count too! After some time at 30 minutes, see if you can add another 5 minutes. There are some great websites for training for a 5K. They have suggestions for runners and walkers. With healthy eating changes and walking 30-45 minutes a day, I have lost 16 pounds in the past 6 weeks. I had lost 15 pounds previously. I'm down about 31 pounds since October.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Walking can certainly be a benefit to weight loss. A 30 minute walk likely burns between 100-150 calories depending on pace and your body stats. That adds up. Over the course of a year, that is 10 to 15 pounds more of deficit than not walking.

    However walking should be done in conjunction with diet in order to be able to see benefits. That will be the most important part. If you don't control the diet side of things, then a 30 minute walk will not get you to where you need to go. But it is still beneficial no matter what.
  • christinefensky
    christinefensky Posts: 5 Member
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    I just started this program on March 11th! I have been so lax for the past couple of years, I simply cannot go into a full and crazy cardiac routine now, so I walk at lunch. I do about 20 minutes at a moderate pace and it feels good to me. Once I feel like I can take on more, I will. I also found some good stretch bands and straps for stretching that help me too. To answer your question, no movement is bad. Anything, in my opinion, helps and beats just sitting around. Good Luck!
  • kbmnurse1
    kbmnurse1 Posts: 316 Member
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    Hello, try the Leslie Sansone walking DVD's or they are on You Tube. I use 3 lb weights when I do them. What a workout.
  • rsj7799
    rsj7799 Posts: 74 Member
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    Yes it will absolutely help. It also has significant health benefits. As others have mentioned you still need to accurately log your food and stay at your calorie goals. Getting more calories to work with makes this easier.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Activity is incredibly important to health and wellness. Even moderate amounts of activity like walking 30 minutes per day has been shown to have major health benefits.

    That said: you have to reduce food intake in some way to lose weight. If you just walk 30 minutes a day, but you change nothing about your eating, you're not going to lose weight.
  • tylerwalsh330
    tylerwalsh330 Posts: 3 Member
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    That’s good to know
  • ginnytez
    ginnytez Posts: 1,337 Member
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    Several years ago my husband and I were walking regularly but not reducing calories. While the walking was still good for us, there was no weight loss. Since I have had both hips replaced, I am not going to be much of a runner but walking and reducing food works together nicely.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Walking is great and every little bit of movement helps but you need to be realistic about the impact on weight loss.

    Lets make a couple of assumptions.....
    You weigh 150lbs and you walk briskly at 4mph so cover two miles in your 30 minute walk.

    150 (bodyweight) X 2 (miles walked) X 0.3 (efficiency ratio) = 90 net calories burned.

    A pound of fat has c. 3,500 calories so you need to walk 38.8 miles to burn that off, almost three weeks. Definitely a help. A big positive is if you have been slowly gaining weight over a number of years then just a small change can tip the calorie balance in your favour.

    Yes walking is great for health, yes it all adds up, but walking away from the kitchen is the most effective way to walk for weight loss if you have a lot to lose.

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