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.

I spoke to a consultant recently and he said that if you consume less than your daily calorific limit every day, so less than 2000 calories, 2500 for men, you will lose weight no matter what you do, your body burns calories all the time, so walking, indeed any activity will help..

Yes!

I walked about 20k steps for 2 years alongside a calorie reduction (no cutting out foods or calorie counting, just eating less) and lost 5 stone.

I've been incredibly sedentary for the last 4 months, walking less than 10k and I've gained a stone back! Need to move more again.

Physical activity burns calories. High-intensity exercise (eg running, rowing) burns more calories than low-intensity exercise, eg walking. But walking does burn some calories and the further & faster you walk, the more calories you burn. Basic physics.

Therefore walking can contribute to losing weight if it is part of maintaining a calorie deficit over time, along with eating less & eating healthier. I lost 35kg and walking briskly for 6-7 km per day was the main form of exercise which contributed to this. But if I hadn’t reduced my calorie intake, I wouldn’t have lost so much.

yes. I would go further and say it has little or nothing to do with exercise. I can’t exercise any more due to chronic illness and yet I have lost 6 stone over the last 2 years by switching to a Mediterranean diet and ensuring I am in calorie deficit.

So that's broadly true but also a bit too simplistic in terms of the calorie amounts.

You have your basal metabolic rate, which is the amount you'd burn in a coma basically, and that will vary very much depending on height, weight and muscle mass. Then you have your TDEE, which is how much you burn in total, and that number will vary depending on how physically active you are.

So to lose say 1/2kg a week, you need to eat 500 calories below your TDEE daily, or 1/2lb a week you'd be eating about 200 calories below.

Walking and other exercise is obviously good for you, but you lose weight by cutting down on calories. You might find that exercise means that you have bigger muscles, and they weigh more than fat, so although you should have lost weight from cutting down on calories, you might actually weigh the same. You just need to keep going! But do make sure that you're eating a good diet, no snacks and try to wean yourself off all sugar.

I'm adamant I only started putting weight on when I got a car. And living in a poorly serviced area for public transport! Pregnancy just compounded it all
When I say I used to walk, I mean 60 minutes each day to and from work, power walking.
Plus 60mins 3times a week of body pump. I would walk the 30minutes to and from class as well, on top of the work commute.
That was easy enough pre-children, but it changes a bit after they come along!
It was noticeable that I had to start watch what I ate as soon as I started driving

As other posters have said - the key to losing weight is being in calorie deficit. How that deficit is achieved will vary from person to person. Smart watches are a good way of monitoring calorie burn but they’re obviously not 100% accurate. Think of them as a guide, not gospel. There’s some really good literature on the NHS about healthy calorie deficit which is a good starting point. As for walking as a way to lose weight, I have found it very effective but not in isolation. It must be combined with calorie deficit. If you’re walking more but don’t change your diet your overall fitness may improve but weight will stay the same.

I did a pilates class and the instructor was trying to loose weight (not a lot just a few pounds). She tried doing more/different exercises and there was no significant difference until she cut her calorie intake!

Yes. I lost 2st just by walking for 1-2 hours a day.

Some years ago I lost a stone by walking, but I was doing 20,000 steps a day. I run now as its more efficient.

Take a look at Red Russ Bus, an american who came to live in the UK and without trying lost a lot of weight. He puts it down to better food in the UK and all the walking he happened to do due to the UK's walking culture. Only some of his videos refer to this but you will find them there including a before and after photo.

During lockdowns I walked briskly every single day for about 45 minutes and lost the best part of a stone.

It will of course help generally but it’s been shown to have no real excess benefit over 7000 steps per day.

If you are able to, high intensity interval workouts are more effective and time efficient for weight loss (80% still diet versus exercise though).

I find weight loss more consistent when I walk 10000 ish steps a day.

We’ve reached the age bracket of reading about maintaining good health, strength, balance and movement and walking is highly recommended for all of the above.

my DM was confined to a wheelchair in her later years and I can tell you she didn’t enjoy it at all, esp being lifted up and out of the chair because she no longer had the strength in her legs to carry herself.

she didn’t suffer any accident, just let herself go…

Sorry OP, no it’s not going to happen. BUT although it won’t really help with weight loss the benefits of walking are huge when you think about what it will contribute to overall wellbeing. I could only get to my desired weight with Mounjaro - having tried everything else. But I now enjoy my dog walking much more because I don’t have the aches and pains associated with being overweight and lumbering around like a tub of lard!!

School run & dog walk are leisurely walks .
If you want to lose weight , a brisk 40 minute walk 5 days a week, & obviously eating correctly, you genuinely won’t know yourself in 3 months .

This is exactly the argument I would make to argue the opposite! I always found it far harder to cut the equivalent of a whole meal from my day, than to run for an hour.

If you eat loads of crap, then maybe it is easy to cut 500 calories. But if you eat pretty well, but are overweight because you sit at a desk 9 hours per day, and have gained a few pounds per year over a decade or two - much easier to up the exercise, in my opinion.

Walking helped me lose 10 kgs over 2 years. I walked 2.5km in 30 mins in the morning and afternoon 6 days a week. I have now cut down to 1 walk a day just to maintain my weight. My diet remained the same (I love desserts) but I did give up soft drinks.

Yes walks 7 days a week (fit bit watch proof) as there are those who want to say we don’t exercise when suits them but for the majority of the year I’ve do over 7 days a week exercise.

I found out it very much depends on the walking! You should walk at a pace where you can almost not talk and definitely try to get your HR over 100. Ideally between 100-125.

Apparently me walking with a HR of 85-90 won't do much.

Walking is good for you overall. If you add in a hill here and there you are building more muscle in your thighs and strengthening your calves - a major blood pump - and also your heart muscle. Muscle burns more calories...

People used to recommend increasing incidental exercise, dance in the house, hoover vigourously, and so on - but now the mantra of diet over exercise, and since some study or other came out the exercise doesn't help you lose weight belief is so strong it is all pooh-poohed. It always helped me.

I unfortunately had cataracts due to treatment for cancer. While waiting for a hospital date to get new cataracts, l could no longer drive, my eye sight was so bad. Therefore l had to walk to school to drop of my children. Walking four times a day, just under two miles for three months l dropped nearly three stone. People thought l was unwell again. So l would say yes, walking does help with weight loss. Good luck

Lots of my older relatives have never done anything else but walk & it has kept them fit & trim.