Is walking actually beneficial for weight loss?

[ygrittesnow5]

I hate exercising and rarely have time for the gym (although I could weight train at home I suppose). But I am and have been making a conscious effort to walk more for the last few months. With the school run, a lunchtime walk and an evening dog walk along with general pottering throughout the day, I am averaging at least 10,000 steps a day more usually more.

But will this actually do anything for weight loss? I know diet is the key factor by miles but I hope all this extra walking might help somewhere.

The more active you are, the more calories you burn.

That said, for weight loss, it's best if you do actually track your calories as it would be very easy to feel hungrier and eat back what you've burned.

It's very good for you and you should do it, but at the speed most walk it's not really an efficient cardiovascular exercise (doesn't raise your heart rate).

I run three times a week and have changed shape but not actually lost weight on the scales.

Yes of course it will, it’ll burn more calories than not moving. Anything is better than nothing.

My weight loss logic was based on ‘eat less, move more’. Walking is a good form of exercise especially if you increase the speed, like power - walking…….gets the heart pumping which is great for the circulation.
Good luck OP, the gym isn’t for everyone and you seem focussed on losing weight.

You need a calorie deficit of around 500 a day to lose 1lb a week (on average, it depends how big you are etc). Running a mile burns around 100 calories, argument has it that walking and running burn the same calories for the same distance (I'm never convinced, my watch is always higher for running), but even if you run or walk 5 miles a day you could still be eating too much to lose weight. I would say though, I have noticeably less body fat and am more toned when I regularly hit my daily step goal. To notice any impact I think I need to be averaging more like 15,000 a day, at 10,000 a day a lot of my steps can just be pottering around the house/office and not really raising my heart rate enough to burn any more calories than if i just sat on my arse.

Great for weightloss for me. Extra calorie burn and an hour where I am avoiding snacks. Also when I run I feel hungry after, doesnt happen with walking.

Get yourself some low calorie sweet things when you need something. I have rocket ice lollies or can of diet coke.

The average person isn’t eating 10,000kcals like these athletes do either…

If OPs calories were equal to that of her exercise then she would maintain her weight.

If an Olympic swimmer didn’t eat as many calories then they would lose fat and muscle mass - they’ve not always eaten 10,000kcals - this has increased alongside an increase in exercise.

So to say exercise doesn’t burn calories is inaccurate.

You should not rely on exercise to lose weight as you can’t outrun a bad diet but adding exercise such as walking will absolutely make you lose weight quicker than dieting alone.

Firstly, because you’re burning extra calories but also because of the effects it has on your muscle mass, mental health, sleep etc

It should as long as you are not consuming more calories than you need. I've lost weight well just by walking 10-12K steps per day but ONLY when I don't combine it with overeating!

I think walking is massively overlooked for weight loss. Yes it's kind of time consuming but that can also be an advantage. If you're out walking you're not hitting the fridge or the snack shelf back at home.

People would say things like 'I do HIIT and I burn 600 calories an hour'. But yeah so do I and after that session I am HUNGRY. It's very easy to overeat either accidentally or because 'you earned it'.

Yes I think HIIT etc are super things to do for your cv system and you get endorphins and mental health benefits - all that good stuff. But walking can be better than all of them, if you can just find the time.

I do Parkrun (you can walk it too) I lose about 1lb each Saturday - I weigh myself before and after. Slimming World will fix your diet too.

I find walking (and running when I was able to run) helped as it suppressed my appetite and increased my thirst!

It’s perfect but only if a person has their nutrition in check. For example, waking 3 miles burns roughly 300 calories but if someone then eats a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza then that’s 600 calories. The walk is completely undone and then some.

So I would view the walking as a nice compliment but nutrition has to be the foundation.

No but it is very good for your overall health. To lose weight you have to change your diet - reduce foods that give you a blood sugar high (sweet stuff and carbs) and ensure you are in calorie deficit.

The calories you burn with walking is fairly minimal and your body simply reduces the amount of other stuff instead like producing certain cells. This apparently lowers your cancer risk. (I read about this in Giulia Enders book ‘Organ Speak’ - highly recommended).

It definitely helps maintain, when I had an active job I could eat whatever I wanted & put weight on when I stopped.

It'll increase your NEAT and thus your TDEE so will help, yes. Plus, if you're walking briskly enough, might have your HR somewhere where it's counting as Cardiovascular exercise- I used to be able to manage that when I had DS in a back carrier as a toddler, but nowhere near these days since he's 9 and definitely not being carried

Walking, especially after meals, will improve your metabolic health which will help your body composition even if the scales don’t move. I find it really improves my mental health too. Do it!!
I dropped 3 dress sizes last year by walking daily and eating mainly whole foods.

I just came back from 2 weeks at Disney Orlando. I ate out at 10 different restaurants, ate icecream, drank loads of soda and sweets etc. I also walked on average 20,000 steps a day.
I lost 1lb! If you can maintain a good enough diet it will help.

A weighted vest can do the same (if you're wanting that).

I used to run distances and had to stop for a while due to an injury. When I was rehabbing, I started walking with a weighted vest. I liked it so much, I run less now and do more of that.

How fast do you walk

Walking is good for you, weight loss will be very dependent on why you eat your be honest though

Walking plus very healthy diet is brilliant for weight loss. But not changing diet won’t do anything apart from keep you moving.

Agree with pace and distance making the difference. My weight loss was slow on just diet and swimming, then I started power-walking and what a difference! It just seemed to drop off! I've done 12,000 steps today, about 7km, and burned 1,500 calories. I do this about twice a week to maintain the weight loss and so far it's stayed off. Would definitely recommend.

I didn't say exercise doesn't burn calories. But it burns a relatively small number overall unless someone is training as their main job.
Most of our expenditure is maintaining normal bodily functions, thermal effects of food and incidental daily movement. If you exercised every day of the week, you'll be lucky to raise your expenditure by 5% which is only about 100-150kcal for most people. Not even 1lb loss per week.

Depends how you walk. You've got to put in in.

one of the best forms of exercise there is. Well done on your steps. But weight loss is 80 to 90% diet. You’re only gonna exercise yourself thin if you’re a pro athlete.