Walking for weight loss

2

Replies

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited September 2019
    I lost 100 pounds just by a calorie deficit. Getting that weight off helped my knees a great deal, as you can imagine. Started walking more, and went on to lose 40 more pounds. A calorie deficit is what you need to lose weight. Exercise for health benefit.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,570 Member
    From the beginning of my journey walking has been the exercise I do consistently. I lost 100 lbs. However I also dropped my calories significantly. Now at goal weight 5 - 6 miles/day gives me an extra 200 or so calories. As you can see that's easy to wipe out. I do find it reduces appetite some and also helps lower stress. So yes, it can help but if you eat more because you are exercising you won't lose any weight just because you are walking. I believe it has helped my arthritis tremendously though and for that reason alone it is worth it. Start slow and work up.

    That's not exactly true. You're still expending energy and calories if you walk so if you're already in a deficit, you can eat some or all of the walking calories back and still lose weight.

    N=1 losing 125 lbs on weight watchers and mfp while walking for exercise and eating every last point/calorie owed because I likes me my food. :)

    Altho walking has caused me way more stress than other people around here. I've injured myself way more because of it and I'm convinced cars with tinted windows can't see out as well as not being able to see in.

    And drivers are *kitten*.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    Thanks for the input! I was doing crazy workouts/sweating/even felt the muscle aches from doing a combo of HIIT, weight training, cardio, but didn't change much of my eating habits. I often found that if I did have strenuous workouts, I would eat more, thus, eliminating the calorie deficits. Walking has helped me with movement and eat less because my body is doing more of a low impact exercise. I just have to stick to it. There are days when I want to go back to my tendency to comfort eat and I must stop that.

    For a lot of people (not everyone) one or more of the things in the bolded are things that can either noticeably increase appetite, or be so tiring (especially if you're a beginner) that they cause fatigue and sap calorie burn out of daily life activity (because we put off energetic chores, do less window-shopping, sleep/rest more, that sort of thing).

    I'd point out that there is some middle ground! Walking can be very health-improving, but as someone else observed, it takes quite a bit of time to do a lot of it, plus it has very limited strength-building potential. Over time, you might find it fun or useful (and more manageable than previously) to mix things up a little bit with other activities.

    A lot of beginners seem to choose to go straight from the couch to a very vigorous multi-modality every-day kind of program, when a more gradual ramp-up of activity mode/intensity/duration/frequency would be a better and more sustainable plan. If someone has been relatively inactive, but has reasonable mobility, regular walking is a wonderful starting point.

    If walking is what works for you, that's great: Go for it! :)
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    From the beginning of my journey walking has been the exercise I do consistently. I lost 100 lbs. However I also dropped my calories significantly. Now at goal weight 5 - 6 miles/day gives me an extra 200 or so calories. As you can see that's easy to wipe out. I do find it reduces appetite some and also helps lower stress. So yes, it can help but if you eat more because you are exercising you won't lose any weight just because you are walking. I believe it has helped my arthritis tremendously though and for that reason alone it is worth it. Start slow and work up.

    That's not exactly true. You're still expending energy and calories if you walk so if you're already in a deficit, you can eat some or all of the walking calories back and still lose weight.

    N=1 losing 125 lbs on weight watchers and mfp while walking for exercise and eating every last point/calorie owed because I likes me my food. :)

    Altho walking has caused me way more stress than other people around here. I've injured myself way more because of it and I'm convinced cars with tinted windows can't see out as well as not being able to see in.

    And drivers are *kitten*.

    What I meant was you won't lose weight just because you walk if you eat more because you walked thereby ending up at the same daily intake once the extra you ate offsets what you burned. In other words if I eat at maintenance then walk and earn 200 calories but eat an extra 200 calories because I walked I still end up at maintenance.

    Maintenance calories 1350
    Walking earned 200
    Intake 1550

    This leaves you at maintenance even though you walked today. You will improve fitness but won't lose weight. Alot of folks think that exercising will make them thinner but they don't measure intake. It is a common frustration among those who say they are working out but not losing because often they eat more since they are working out thinking they are burning alot more calories than they really are. That may or may not be the case with OP.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,570 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    From the beginning of my journey walking has been the exercise I do consistently. I lost 100 lbs. However I also dropped my calories significantly. Now at goal weight 5 - 6 miles/day gives me an extra 200 or so calories. As you can see that's easy to wipe out. I do find it reduces appetite some and also helps lower stress. So yes, it can help but if you eat more because you are exercising you won't lose any weight just because you are walking. I believe it has helped my arthritis tremendously though and for that reason alone it is worth it. Start slow and work up.

    That's not exactly true. You're still expending energy and calories if you walk so if you're already in a deficit, you can eat some or all of the walking calories back and still lose weight.

    N=1 losing 125 lbs on weight watchers and mfp while walking for exercise and eating every last point/calorie owed because I likes me my food. :)

    Altho walking has caused me way more stress than other people around here. I've injured myself way more because of it and I'm convinced cars with tinted windows can't see out as well as not being able to see in.

    And drivers are *kitten*.

    What I meant was you won't lose weight just because you walk if you eat more because you walked thereby ending up at the same daily intake once the extra you ate offsets what you burned. In other words if I eat at maintenance then walk and earn 200 calories but eat an extra 200 calories because I walked I still end up at maintenance.

    Maintenance calories 1350
    Walking earned 200
    Intake 1550

    This leaves you at maintenance even though you walked today. You will improve fitness but won't lose weight. Alot of folks think that exercising will make them thinner but they don't measure intake. It is a common frustration among those who say they are working out but not losing because often they eat more since they are working out thinking they are burning alot more calories than they really are. That may or may not be the case with OP.

    Phew because I knew you knew better!

    And definitely a good point.
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 909 Member
    continuous walking has not only helped me to lose weight, it's also added strength and flexibility to my legs. my cardio improved, too. of course, how long you walk for and intensity can make a huge difference. walking up a steep hill slowly will probably burn more calories than walking faster on a level.

    when i lost weight a few years ago, i used to go to stores i knew well to shop; first, i quickly walked through the store up and down every aisle without stopping. then i walked through the store a second time fast, grabbing my groceries without stopping. it was surprisingly helpful. when done right, i could add 30 minutes of rapid walking in a store - more if i walked around the store first.
  • jhanleybrown
    jhanleybrown Posts: 240 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    From the beginning of my journey walking has been the exercise I do consistently. I lost 100 lbs. However I also dropped my calories significantly. Now at goal weight 5 - 6 miles/day gives me an extra 200 or so calories. As you can see that's easy to wipe out. I do find it reduces appetite some and also helps lower stress. So yes, it can help but if you eat more because you are exercising you won't lose any weight just because you are walking. I believe it has helped my arthritis tremendously though and for that reason alone it is worth it. Start slow and work up.

    That's not exactly true. You're still expending energy and calories if you walk so if you're already in a deficit, you can eat some or all of the walking calories back and still lose weight.

    N=1 losing 125 lbs on weight watchers and mfp while walking for exercise and eating every last point/calorie owed because I likes me my food. :)

    Altho walking has caused me way more stress than other people around here. I've injured myself way more because of it and I'm convinced cars with tinted windows can't see out as well as not being able to see in.

    And drivers are *kitten*.

    What I meant was you won't lose weight just because you walk if you eat more because you walked thereby ending up at the same daily intake once the extra you ate offsets what you burned. In other words if I eat at maintenance then walk and earn 200 calories but eat an extra 200 calories because I walked I still end up at maintenance.

    Maintenance calories 1350
    Walking earned 200
    Intake 1550

    This leaves you at maintenance even though you walked today. You will improve fitness but won't lose weight. Alot of folks think that exercising will make them thinner but they don't measure intake. It is a common frustration among those who say they are working out but not losing because often they eat more since they are working out thinking they are burning alot more calories than they really are. That may or may not be the case with OP.

    I would also caution that the calorie estimates for walking in MFP are high. I researched this independently and the best estimate I found was body weight (lbs) x .30 = per mile net calorie burn. This is for mostly flat surface. At my walking pace MFP will credit me 55% more than that. So I manually adjust it down.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    Has anyone lost weight from doing a daily walking regimen? How has it worked for you?

    Walking is cardio-vascular exercise and cardio-vascular exercise done a few times a week helps make your heart, lungs, and blood system healthier.
  • charbabe7602
    charbabe7602 Posts: 28 Member
    Today was definitely a challenge in the sense that I will go on my walk.... actually what's great is that my fiancé is joining me on that walk :) which is encouraging.... I just have to go through the mindfulness of not eating so much especially the type of stress eating I tend to do. I almost went overboard with it but am trying to control it.
  • charbabe7602
    charbabe7602 Posts: 28 Member
    So, ultimately, I need to figure out how I can commit to that deficit... it's much harder than I thought, but I can't be so discouraged, because look at how much it has helped so many of you!
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,958 Member
    Weight loss is CI<CO, and nothing else. How you achieve that is up to individual...
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Yup. Lost 40+ pounds and part of my workout routine was walking. It has a lot of things going for it, including it isn't as hard or damaging on the joints as other exercise--and if you're heavy a lot of exercise like running is really hard on a heavy body. It can hurt or be uncomfortable in a way walking isn't. (And some of us are not 21 anymore). And it isn't usually too sweaty (at least at cooler temps) which means it is easier to fit into a busy schedule because you don't usually have to shower immediately...you can walk during a lunch break for example.

    Just as others have said, be sure you aren't over-estimating your calorie burn.

    But what I did learn was that if you eat according to the MFP plan guidelines, you don't have to go crazy doing Crossfit or Bootcamp or something to lose weight if you don't want to. You can lose weight with a nice pleasant walk on a nice day if that's your thing.
  • Hotcups
    Hotcups Posts: 4 Member
    I started walking 4 weeks ago. I walk/jog 6.08km every evening with an average pace of 9 min/km. That alongside tracking my calories on the app, I have lost 23lbs in 5 weeks (started a week before the walking).

    I disregard the calories I "earn" from walking and normally eat about 1500/1600 calories a day.

    It's a combination of smart eating, plenty of water and daily exercise!
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    The only exercise I do is daily walking with my dogs. In combination with eating at a deficit Ive lost 35 kg so far over 2.5 years so far and I'm still going (had a lot to lose!)
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    The only exercise I do is daily walking with my dogs. In combination with eating at a deficit Ive lost 35 kg so far over 2.5 years so far and I'm still going (had a lot to lose!)

    Congratulations on your loss so far. It looks like you found a a way to change your lifestyle and sustain it for the rest of your life. Dogs are great motivators, they NEED those walks.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    Today was definitely a challenge in the sense that I will go on my walk.... actually what's great is that my fiancé is joining me on that walk :) which is encouraging.... I just have to go through the mindfulness of not eating so much especially the type of stress eating I tend to do. I almost went overboard with it but am trying to control it.

    Regular exercise (including walking) has mostly eliminated my urge to stress eat :)

    During periods of increased stress, I increase exercise.