Is walking to burn calories worth it?
overeater1
Posts: 38 Member
Hi all, I’m just wondering if walking is worth it, calorie burning wise? I did 27,000 steps yesterday and MFP imported the data from my iPhone and it was only worth 300 calories. That 27,000 consisted of a 2 hour hill walk and 3 hours of mucking out stables to get that burn. Today I got 15,000 steps and burned 180 calories. I’m 5’ 8 and 149 lbs. Obviously fresh air and mental health wise, walking is great, but in the scheme of things I’m wondering if calorie wise, is it worth it? Am I just better off not eating my mini Kit Kat and saving the time for a relaxing bath, or a good film?
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Replies
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The calorie numbers you're mentioning are not what you burned while doing those steps. They are what you burned on top of the activity level you chose in MFP. Did you choose sedentary, or a higher activity level?
As for being 'worth it', I would hope that burning calories is not your objective, but also to improve health and fitness? 😉8 -
Thanks for the reply, it’s always great to hear another’s take on things. I know it’s terrible to admit, but health and fitness really are secondary to looking good in jeans and not despising my thighs and flabby stomach and hiding away in the summer. Such a vain and entitled attitude I know, but that’s the honest truth. I set my activity at sedentary so I assume that the calories burned are accurate enough.4
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Some people have trouble with the Apple/MFP integration being inaccurate. I'm not an Apple gal, but I've seen it recommended to synch Apple to the Pacer app, then Pacer to MFP, for better results.2
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Is walking worth it for me as a *weight loss* strategy?
No.
If I want to exercise to burn calories, I tend to go for something shorter duration and more intense. I don't like purposeful exercise.
Am I going to walk in daily life anyway and let those calories be factored into how much I eat (in my case via activity level)?
Yes.
That 200 or so calories a day is 1400 a week. That's almost a whole extra day of food.
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Walking is not going to give you a whole lot of extra calories, true, but... it will give some, and those can help a lot when people feel they are getting a too restrictive daily allowance.
Also, if you want to look good in jeans, don't underestimate the improvement that walking can give you, over a long period of time. I'm no model, by any standards, but my legs and my butt look way better now than they used to.
Walking has been one of my main exercises for the last two and a half years. I average about 10/11k steps a day, and I have not yet regretted any of those steps.7 -
I think your phone is underestimating your calorie burn. 27,000 steps is about 13 miles of walking. That's a lot more than 300 calories. Your 15,000 steps is about 7 miles, again, more than shown. Even if you assume 5000 steps around the house, that still leaves about 5 miles of deliberate exercise. That has an effect.
Walking is a good way of making fitness a regular part of your life, not just something you do to lose weight, but what you do to stay healthy for the rest of your life. It is a very good way of keeping the weight off once you lose it. There are quicker ways to burn calories, but none that are as safe and effective over the long term.6 -
doing 1 hour of body weight exercises everyday, or lifting 1 hour every day is more cost effective and time efficient, calorie and time-wise.
edit: my job involves a full day of walking and going up and down things, and i was overweight. i only saw results when i started body weight exercises then lifting. there will come a point that walking will neither effect or benefit you. it just becomes a huge time sink, making your weight loss inefficient.1 -
One of the issues with a step-based evaluation of your walk is that it assumes comfortable light clothing and a flat track. If you are doing any hill work, are walking on broken ground, and with additional weight such as backpacking, the step based estimate is going to rob you of your work (and reward KitKats) .
You may want to look into heart rate tracking. I use a Polar M400 and it is actually rather amazing how much more exertion you put out when going uphill, on broken ground, or carrying an extra 30 or so pounds. I've also never been any good and "perceived exertion" so its nice to actually be able to tell how hard I actually worked.
There are also considerable studies showing that zone2-based exercise (low exertion) is necessary for building up base running endurance- Turns out, according to these studies, that treating every day like raceday is detrimental to building efficiency and endurance. So yes, walking (with intention) will always have a place in weight loss as well as well as with distance running. A little off topic but wanted to add that as another plug for HR monitors.
That said, the debate will go on and on (elsewhere hopefully) about whether to eat back your calories, or half of your calories, or none, but as they say "there's no out-running a crappy diet."4 -
I used to think this way--that walking wasn't "real" exercise and therefore not worth it. However, I have learned how important it is just to be more active throughout the day--which may include purposeful exercise and/or walks. I've also learned how important it is for me to be outside for a number of reasons other than how many steps I get or calories I burn. I also do other forms of higher-intensity cardio, but when the weather is nice I try to get out for even a 30-minute walk, even if I've already done "formal" cardio.
I get wanting to look good-- I really do. For that, that's where I put my effort into strength training. When I started it was about looking better, but I now I have more so adapted the attitude of doing that to get stronger and seeing those numbers go UP--in terms of pounds lifted or reps performed. That has been more motivating to me--and healthier for me to focus on--than seeing the number on the scale go down. It's very empowering.7 -
10,000 steps is 5miles. How many miles did you walk? A lot of step counters are wildly inaccurate tbh. If you something like 17miles that's not feasible daily. I walk 5miles a day, do some lifting(nothing serious) and eat well... it's worth it and sustainable but walking more is not.1
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I walk a couple of times a week as part of a daily exercise routine. I agree with Mthwbrwn, I use my HRM to track calories, I burn way over those numbers you mention. On shorter walks (3 to 7 miles) I use a weight vest too to increase the burn. I only eat half my exercise calories back, but as Mthwbrwn says, you could debate that until the cows come home, everyone has a different opinion on that one, but the steps you mention I believe that you burned a lot more calories than those mfp gave you.1
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Since Lockdown in Italy (our gym, pool, fitness center was closed last October) I've been power walking in the park every morning for 45 min. Walking is a legitimate exercise, and the best thing is you can vary it as you please. You can go faster, or slower. You can do hills, or flat. You can add weights or a heavy pack. You can do 2 min reg walking, 2 min med, and then 2 min as fast as you can (or jog)--repeat, repeat, ..........
If you're looking for a sculpted body, weightlifting and strength training are the way to go, but for just overall fitness, walking can not be sneered at. MFP gives me 300 calories for 45 min of brisk walking. So far, that seems to be accurate for me--66, 5'11'', 180 lbs. Best of all if you can do a mixture of strength and cardio.4 -
I walked 3 hours a day during COVID lockdown from last March till we reopened (now only do 60 minutes since now I walk all over the gym again). But walking helped to keep me from going crazy. In the process, I ended dropping 40lbs overall (want to lose 15lbs more) but of course I ate less too. But walking is something that doesn't need much instruction and can be done just about anywhere at any time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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As for being 'worth it', I would hope that burning calories is not your objective, but also to improve health and fitness? 😉
Thisa. I go for a walk every day, in fact I'm just about to go now. I love how it clears my head, how it gives me Vitamin D and yes it gives me some calorie burn as well but I can genuinely say that's not what I go walking for.
If it's about calorie burn, I'd probably go for HIIT or spinning or something.
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@Speakeasy76 - How did you start out your strength training? Specifically, what did you do in the very beginning to get you going?0
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Weightlifting will help you achieve your appearance goals.2
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overeater1 wrote: »Hi all, I’m just wondering if walking is worth it, calorie burning wise? I did 27,000 steps yesterday and MFP imported the data from my iPhone and it was only worth 300 calories. That 27,000 consisted of a 2 hour hill walk and 3 hours of mucking out stables to get that burn. Today I got 15,000 steps and burned 180 calories. I’m 5’ 8 and 149 lbs. Obviously fresh air and mental health wise, walking is great, but in the scheme of things I’m wondering if calorie wise, is it worth it? Am I just better off not eating my mini Kit Kat and saving the time for a relaxing bath, or a good film?
A few things to unpack here. For starters, when you're looking at data, you can't just take everything at face value and as gospel...you have to do some critical thinking and determine if what you are looking at is reasonable...in this case, 300 additional calories for 27,000 steps doesn't really pass any kind of sniff test...it's low. Apple is known not to play well with MFP...frankly, Apple doesn't really play well with anything that isn't also Apple. But yeah...the data you're getting doesn't remotely pass the sniff test.
Secondly, if the only purpose of walking or doing any other kind of exercise or a workout is just to burn calories, you're likely going to be hugely disappointed. Unless you're training like an elite athlete and basically make your living by training, the calories you burn in a typical workout or bout of exercise is relatively nominal. What I mean by that is, for example, my BMR is around 1800 calories per day...those are the calories I burn just being alive and nothing else. A typical 45 minute or so cycling workout that I do burns around 200-300 calories depending on the type of intervals I'm doing for that particular workout...even a steady 60 minutes at temp is only going to give me around 400ish calories (maybe somewhere between 400-500 if I'm hitting more hills and such), even though it's fairly vigorous and my feelz are that I burned more...but my power meter doesn't lie. People simply don't burn the considerable amount of calories that they think they do with a workout or exercise. This is why it's said time and time again...your diet is going to have a much greater contribution to your weight loss than what exercise you're doing.
As walking goes, I enjoy it. I walk pretty much everyday anywhere from 2-3 miles and that along with just going about my day usually give me in the neighborhood of 12K steps. I do additional workouts on my bike and in the weight room on top of that, as well as just going out to play a lot (active recreation). The walking is important to me as I have a very sedentary job...so it's important to me to just be active and walking is an easy, low impact thing I can do to be more active for my overall health. IMO, doing three structured workouts on my bike and a couple sessions in the weight room just don't cut it in regards to counteracting sitting around at my desk most of the day. Walking is also my mental clarity and mental health time. I walk...I think...I drink my coffee, and it gets me ready for the day ahead. That said, for me, doing more walking than I already do quickly reaches a point of diminishing returns in regards to how efficiently I'm spending my time and what I'm getting out of it. Doing more walking would mean forgoing other training and workouts that have a greater impact on my overall level of fitness.
If your primary concern is aesthetics and body composition and looking a certain way, just doing stuff for calorie burn isn't great anyway...and frankly, walking isn't going to do much of anything to change overall body composition...your biggest and best bang for your buck there is going to be resistance training, either in the weight room or something else. Again, not something that is a particularly big calorie burn...but resistance training is how you change the composition and shape of your body.
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Well, I actually have been doing some form of strength/resistance training for most of my adult life, except for a few years when I had kids/they were small. I'm very much a person who likes a program to follow or at least a template, so I'd either do routines from Shape magazine, do resistance training DVD's with my dumbbells or bodyweight at home, or classes at the gym. A few years ago, however, I really wanted to get more into heavy lifting. I researched books on Amazon, and the first one I got was New Rules for Lifting for Life because I was older by then. I also got New Rules of Lifting for Women, Strong Curves and most recently Glute Lab. By now, I'm comfortable enough with it that I'm creating more of my own program following a template.
I'd also highly recommended looking into Nia Shanks "Lift Like a Girl" website. She has positive--yet realistic--messages for women in regards to how to view getting stronger.
Below are a couple of the posts that are stickied at the top of this forum to give you more information:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308750/so-you-want-to-start-lifting-great/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p12 -
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. I’ve found it really, really insightful and it has struck a chord. I’m going to continue with the walking but maybe less steps and for shorter periods and add in bits and bobs of resistance. Thanks so very much to everyone who contributed honestly. I feel so empowered: unbelievable what support networks like this can do through productive & helpful advice. Xxxx
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For me, yes. Other than at home strength training, all I do is power walk. I burn 1800-2000 calories a week. I walk 4 miles 6 times a week. I can't believe the difference in my body. Running bothers my feet, but I don't have any issues walking. I've found audiobooks and playlists have helped me tremendously. I've dropped 80lbs since January, 2020.6
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Beverly2Hansen wrote: »10,000 steps is 5miles. How many miles did you walk? A lot of step counters are wildly inaccurate tbh. If you something like 17miles that's not feasible daily. I walk 5miles a day, do some lifting(nothing serious) and eat well... it's worth it and sustainable but walking more is not.
I guess it depends what "feasible" means. If it means something people can do then of course it's feasible, people have been walking since the dawn of time. By coincidence, you need to walk about 18 miles every day for 5 months to do the PCT and that's just one trail. For sure it's sustainable to walk more than five miles a day ... keep in mind people are different and have different situations and limits.
People who think they can do something and people who think they can't do something are both probably right.8 -
I love to walk. It cost me nothing, can be done nearly anywhere and it's good at any level of fitness, but especially for beginners. It is absolutely worth it.7
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As others have pointed out, 27k steps burns more than 300 calories. Having said that, walking is one of the most inefficient calorie burning exercises when you measure it in calories per hour.
A one hour walk for me burns 271 calories. A one hour run burns 722 calories. A one hour strength training session with low rest periods burns 574 calories.
When I first started back working out I had to generate most of my calorie burn with walking while I built my fitness. Now that I'm fit, I tend to only walk for relaxation and generate my calorie burn from more intense exercises like running and lifting. BUT, these are workouts I enjoy -- they aren't required to lose weight.
Most of use don't have enough free time to walk 2+ hours per day -- but even the 1 hour walk is still good for 271 calories (for a person my size). While not as efficient as other forms of exercise, a 271 calories per day deficit is good for .5 lb per week weight loss -- so there is nothing wrong with that.1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Beverly2Hansen wrote: »10,000 steps is 5miles. How many miles did you walk? A lot of step counters are wildly inaccurate tbh. If you something like 17miles that's not feasible daily. I walk 5miles a day, do some lifting(nothing serious) and eat well... it's worth it and sustainable but walking more is not.
I guess it depends what "feasible" means. If it means something people can do then of course it's feasible, people have been walking since the dawn of time. By coincidence, you need to walk about 18 miles every day for 5 months to do the PCT and that's just one trail. For sure it's sustainable to walk more than five miles a day ... keep in mind people are different and have different situations and limits.
People who think they can do something and people who think they can't do something are both probably right.
@NorthCascades Walking 17 miles a day consistently isn't feasible for people that have jobs -- I think that's what feasible means in this context.
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overeater1 wrote: »Hi all, I’m just wondering if walking is worth it, calorie burning wise? I did 27,000 steps yesterday and MFP imported the data from my iPhone and it was only worth 300 calories. That 27,000 consisted of a 2 hour hill walk and 3 hours of mucking out stables to get that burn. Today I got 15,000 steps and burned 180 calories. I’m 5’ 8 and 149 lbs. Obviously fresh air and mental health wise, walking is great, but in the scheme of things I’m wondering if calorie wise, is it worth it? Am I just better off not eating my mini Kit Kat and saving the time for a relaxing bath, or a good film?
As others have said, something is wrong somewhere. Could be your activity level was set to Very Active when it should have been much lower, could be iphone and MFP are not talking to each other properly.
I lost my fitbit and went back to logging manually with a pedometer and a watch. If there's no entry for mucking out stables (which I have done) use something with a calorie burn like "Gardening, general."
I've created my own custom entry for lighter gardening and just use "Gardening, general" when I am digging or doing something similarly intense.2 -
When I walk 7,000 steps, I’ve burned about 250 cals.
Walking IS worth it. Its great for mental health, it’s relaxing and it’s easy to do. I walk everyday for 1 hour and it’s my time to destress.
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If that calorie burn comes from having MFP and Apple health linked - then yes that is a bogus number.
Apple sends to MFP a Total Daily Burn figure that is expected to be exactly that - total calories burned, with time stamp.
Apple only sends their Sedentary burn figure, which happens to be very close to MFP.
You don't actually get any credit for the daily activity above their sedentary figure.
They do send workouts, which to avoid double-counting gets subtracted from the daily burn figure it would normally be a part of already.
So no credit for workouts.
So that 300 was either a workout you logged, or you don't have accounts linked, but rather just selected to use Apple as a step source.
Which then relies on MFP to attempt rough estimates of calories from steps (instead of more accurate distance), and if there are any workouts logged or synced in, those are taken off those step calories because MFP has no idea if the steps were part of the workout or not.
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FitAgainBy55 wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Beverly2Hansen wrote: »10,000 steps is 5miles. How many miles did you walk? A lot of step counters are wildly inaccurate tbh. If you something like 17miles that's not feasible daily. I walk 5miles a day, do some lifting(nothing serious) and eat well... it's worth it and sustainable but walking more is not.
I guess it depends what "feasible" means. If it means something people can do then of course it's feasible, people have been walking since the dawn of time. By coincidence, you need to walk about 18 miles every day for 5 months to do the PCT and that's just one trail. For sure it's sustainable to walk more than five miles a day ... keep in mind people are different and have different situations and limits.
People who think they can do something and people who think they can't do something are both probably right.
@NorthCascades Walking 17 miles a day consistently isn't feasible for people that have jobs -- I think that's what feasible means in this context.
Except maybe mail carriers. 🙂 I don't know the OP's situation and I don't want to discourage them, or give anybody the impression they can't walk more than I do. I'm here to say yes this is within the realm of human capability because it was implied otherwise, and the OP can decide how to balance everything in their life.
(I'm saving my pennies and considering taking next year off to walk from Mexico to Canada.)4 -
Some people have trouble with the Apple/MFP integration being inaccurate. I'm not an Apple gal, but I've seen it recommended to synch Apple to the Pacer app, then Pacer to MFP, for better results.
I think this is the issue I’m having. I got some reply from MFP that I really don’t understand. I’m going to see if I can figure out your suggestion.
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