Do you think walking your steps daily helps you with weight loss?

[Peonytimeguys]

Post meno, mid fifties woman here - I go to the gym 3/4 times a week, mostly for heaving lifting. I watch what I eat. I walk the dog 3 times a week. I'm active...but I also have an ass on chair job and I work long hours.

I know I need to walk more - actively build it into my day. But there never seems the time.

I'd like to lose half a stone that just won't budge. I'm being even more careful with food (post meno, a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips). But would doing 7 or 8K steps a day help with this?

I would love to hear thoughts - but also older women, in particular, only because I think the meno journey changes things a lot

I lost 15kg of post baby weight by just walking loads and breastfeeding. I didn’t have time to exercise any other way and I ate like a horse. So for me it worked well. I put on weight if Inhave periods where I can’t walk as much.

My sister lost a lot of weight by changing her diet drastically but also walking 5k a day everyday. She’s maintaining the loss and now walks 5k but uphill…

8000 or so steps a day is the sweet spot. You get cardiovascular benefits from walking that much, after than it’s diminishing returns. Of course no one should discourage one from exercising more. But really it’s what you put in your mouth that counts.

This doesn’t even sound that bad. I exercise for 3 hours a week. So that means in 2 and a bit weeks I would lose a pound! I know exercise alone doesn’t make you lose weight, but if you do enough and it contributes to your deficit, then it does

It worked for me. I’ve lost several stones over the years by walking 10k steps consistently each day but eating all the same crap I used to eat which put the weight on in the first place.

@Peonytimeguys , it is nigh on impossible to mitigate a bad diet with exercise. That’s absolutely not to say exercise isn’t good for you. Resistance training in particular is very beneficial but cardio especially HITT is great for your health. Ultimately though it’s what you put in your mouth that makes the difference.

Even when I hardly eat anything I don't seem to lose anything ☹️

This.

I made a point of walking at least 3km every day for about 6 weeks.

Didn't lose a single pound.

Has not worked for a friend of mine who is OBSESSED with 'getting the steps in'. I roll my eyes at this point because we cannot just go for a coffee on the beach shes always 'counting the steps'. She is not losing a single pound while hitting many targets (loudly) each day.

I lost two stone eating smaller portions and not counting a single step last year in contrast.

I think it can support weight loss but you have to be eating in a calorie deficit too.

The main difference it makes to me is shape, I have always been a walker then had 18 months or so of barely walking when dd1 was ill and my shape completely changed-most noticeably around the waist. As soon as I started walking again I got my waist back, despite not losing any weight.

I walking a lot during lockdown and I lost weight.

In saying that, walking a lot won’t do any harm to weight loss 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do it cos it’s good for your heart - but they say weight loss is 80% food and 20% exercise!

I do between 10 and 12k daily and it makes zero difference IMHO

Unfortunately!!

Walking after a meal can help keep blood sugar levels stable and prevent insensitivity to insulin. In that respect, it helps your metabolism. There's quite a lot of research about it. Timing is more important than distance or effort as it shouldn't be vigorous.

Thanks everyone. Yes, I do like to move to stay healthy. And I totally get that weight loss is primarily about food. I was just curious about any success walking stories!

I'm a dog walker and regularly do 18k steps a day. It helps keep me fit but has zero impact on my weight.

The only time I saw walking help with weight loss was doing 30k+ a day.

Yes, of course, it’s not going to hurt, is it? But I think 7-8k is quite low especially if you have a dog to walk. I easily do 10k just walking around my house and garden every day, no dog walks.

I do lots of walking. I don’t diet and I don’t formally exercise (like don’t go to the gym, just walking and some swimming). I’ve lost probably about 12kg in the past couple years without trying.

Do you drink? I stopped drinking alcohol and that made a huge difference. I lost about 7kg just not drinking.

It will help nudge your calorie deficit the right way provided you’re not eating more to compensate obviously.

Lots of weight loss coaches actively insist on the steps because those few hundred calories that you burn can make a difference when added to an existing deficit.

If for example you’re only trying to lose 1/2lb to 1lb per week (which is a sensible loss) then the calories burned from the steps will be a good part of the deficit required to do that mean less restriction on food.

i think half the problem is people aren’t satisfied with losing that amount of weight per week so just discount this type of thing as being helpful.

Walking helps me feel good and so much less likely to binge eat lots of rubbish as a ‘treat’.

Low carb, lots leafy green vegetables with enough fat and protein to make them palatable (olive oil vinaigrette etc) is the only thing that actually lets the extra weight slowly disappear from me. I’m way post menopause but haven’t really noticed any difference

I’ve been like this since puberty

I walk 8k+ steps a day. It doesn't affect my weight. I'm not overweight, nothing changed at menopause for me but the one thing that makes weight drop off is eating less. I'm currently having stomach issues and I can't eat my usual diet and weight is going down steadily (which I don't actually want).
Equally if I go on holiday and eat more my weight goes up.
It's about the quantity of food.

I have lost a good bit of weight and to be honest it is down to calorie counting and being mindful of what I eat.

I walk over 10,000 steps a day quite quickly and while it does not help with weight loss I do think it helps with toning.

Thanks!

It worked for me when I was younger and lived in London - a series of tube strikes made me realise I could walk the four miles home from Aldgate to Holloway Road in about an hour if I had trainers and music. I ended up doing it every morning and about three nights in the way home, so about 32 miles a week. That started in the April and by the end of September I’d lost four stones.

However, I was 36. Now I’m 54, have PCOS, live up north with all the weather (so less opportunities to walk), have had a battering from meno and put the four stones back on plus more. I’m eating the healthiest I’ve ever eaten, I’m cycling to work twice a week, swimming 2.5km twice a week, and running or long 10 mile fell walks at the weekend and I am stubbornly stuck at 15st5. It’s so frustrating.

It helps mine. I lost 4 stone a few years ago and walking really helped.