Walking to lose weight success stories

shelleysykeskeene
shelleysykeskeene Posts: 110 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone, is it possible to lose weight just by walking? (and being in calorie deficit of course?)
I am 161cm tall
CW 90.8kg
GW 69
Calories 1200
I do walking workouts by Leslie Sansone (45min or boosted 30min walk - 5 miles in 30min) as well as treadmill walking (55min, speed 4.8, incline 2 - 4 kilometers in that time) I alternate and do these about 5 times a week.

I lost a kilogram in 2 weeks and then suddenly this week I'm back to my starting weight. I've been measuring too and my measurements are the same (the same as they were at my 1kg loss). I eat back less than half my exercise calories.

I have no idea what's going on here. I feel like giving up. I have hashimoto's thyroiditis which is characterized by underactive thyroid and inflammation. I'm on medication for it so shouldn't I be able to lose?

In my 20s I went on weight watchers and used to swim or walk and managed to lose a kilogram a week (consistently!) and reached my goal in 12 weeks. I'm now 38 year old and have 24 kilos to lose and I always give up because I lose, then gain it back just as I did now.

Yes, I log accurately, I log everything, weigh and measure everything (sauces, dressings, drinks etc).

Just so sad that I'm doing "all the right things" and not getting anywhere!

Replies

  • sammidelvecchio
    sammidelvecchio Posts: 791 Member
    Most folks on here will say you don't need any exercise to lose weight, but it will increase your deficit which is what always helped me.

    I started in February, and since then the only workouts I do consistently are walks and I have lost 35-ish lbs (i'm up a few lately, but around there). Leslie Sansone is great because she adds in aerobics to the walks so it gets your heart rate up more and moves some other muscles and engages the core, so definitely keep going on those. With the treadmill, I like to switch speeds and incline to make it tougher. My favorite cycle to do is:

    5 minute warm-up on speed 3
    5 minutes on speed 3.5
    20 minutes on speed 3, increasing the incline by 1 every minute for 10 minutes, and then decreasing incline by 1 for 10 minutes until you're back to zero
    5 minutes on speed 3.5
    5 minute cool down on speed 3

    As for how long it will take to see results on the scale - that depends. I didn't see consistent weight loss for 5 weeks. It is super easy to get discouraged but there are so many things that affect the number on the scale, so just remember why you're doing this, and know that it's a lifestyle change, not something you'll do for a month and go back to old habits. When you stop putting a timeline on it, that's when great things happen and you also might stop being so hard on yourself. That is what happened for me, anyways.

    Good luck, and stay patient :)
  • TheMrWobbly
    TheMrWobbly Posts: 2,520 Member
    edited November 2019
    Absolutely you can. When I started I couldn't run or do much in the exercise department so I choice a calorie deficit and walking. I did 411,642 steps in my first month, lost nearly a stone, then started C25K.

    Doing this I found it important that the walking was making me slightly short on breath and that it felt like exercise not just casual strolling. Also as the weight drops the physical effort needs to increase to keep the same calorie burn.

    In terms of what has happened I can only say stick it out. The body is a wonderful and stupid thing and stores / burns fat in anyway it feels rather than a lovely linear progress and I have had odd weeks where I gained weight for no good reason. If you have no change in a few weeks try changing something such as upping your calories, just something to change how your body is working.

    Don't look at it as a temporary weight loss programme needing week on week losses, look at it as a lifestyle change to make the rest of your life better :smile:
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    Hang in there.

    I know next to nothing about Hashimoto's, but I have come across it on several sites and the take home for me seems to be that it can mess with your ability to lose weight.

    That said, any weight loss that you are likely to be able to stick with means being in it for the long haul.

    Absolutely you can lose weight by having only walking as your exercise. The calorie deficit is the all-important thing.

    You just have to suck up the weird weight spikes for no good reason. All manner of things are at play. One thing I have noticed is that for me just such a spike in weight is usually a precursor to a loss. I exercise quite hard and my understanding is that the muscles grab onto extra water to perform their repairs before letting go of what they don't need, giving me the weight drop. Just because you are "only" walking does not mean you are not working your muscles to some extent.

    The worst thing you can do is to give up when faced with an unexpected spike. If you are sure you are doing everything right then my advice would be to stick it out for a good 6-8 weeks. If results are still not coming then something may be off and you could consider making adjustments.

    Good luck.
  • shelleysykeskeene
    shelleysykeskeene Posts: 110 Member
    Thank you everyone, this really helps! I appreciate all the advice, I really do!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited November 2019
    It sounds like you are doing everything right, I think all that's needed is adjusting your expectations because weight loss will have ups and downs along the way - our weight fluctuates for a host of reasons
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1
    The science is if we consistently take in less calories than we burn we will lose. As women our weight fluctuates a bit more because of hormones so take the scale reading lightly, and give it time.
    Yes the walking will help with weight loss because you'll be burning more calories and not only that you will be improving your heart health/body physically - plus walking really shapes up the legs / tush and if you control your abs (i.e hold in those tummy muscles) whilst walking it even strengthens the core :smile:

    All the best.
    ~Ruth

Categories