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.

During the two months we didn't have dogs (we had to have our third greyhound girl put to sleep in May 2019 but adopted again in the July), I noticed a big difference so yes, I would say brisk walking is hugely beneficial - both for fitness and mental health 👍

@TheInternetIsNotAnalogue

It was noticeable that I had to start watch what I ate as soon as I started driving

Yes, same here but for me it was getting a job that I needed to drive to, i.e. in the next town over, whereas although I could drive, I could walk/cycle to my first job so barely ever drove to work. Weight piled on when I drove on my daily commute instead of walking/cycling. Decades later, I've got an office close to home, so I walk/cycle again and barely use the car - weight has been steadily coming off ever since. During all that time, my "poor" diet hasn't changed - I still eat crap food and binge, but it's walking to/from work that keeps the weight off and in fact has caused a steady fall in weight over the years.

Yup, my mother in case is a case in point. She never learned to drive and always lived close enough to shops to walk for daily shopping trips (bread, milk, fruit/veg etc) and by bus for weekly trips to the town centre shops/library, etc., where she'd often walk one way and also worked close enough to walk. Daily walking kept her fit and healthy, and she had very "shapely" legs and arms due to muscles etc. Not an inch of "flab" on her, no bingo wings nor even wrinkles. Even at 80, she looked better than some people half her age. Sadly, it was dementia that got her in the end - her body never let her down in any way. I suppose healthy eating also paid a part as she was of the generation of properly balanced meals, healthy options, lots of fresh fruit/veg/meats/fish etc and even shunned "convenience" foods in her old age - never ate from tins/packets!

When one of my relatives began to struggle with issues that increasingly interrupted her daily walk to the village, everything began to decline quite rapidly. The decline of her physical strength, but also the loss of the daily social interractions and things like not buying the newspaper, reading it and doing the puzzles were part of a rapid cognitive decline in her last few years. She was going to decline due to a specific condition deteriorating anyway, but there was an abrupt gear change at that point.

Another relative had a "good" old age, despite having been overweight, a smoker, a drinker and a traditional diet that included a lot of foods reputed to cause cardiovascular disease. Getting out on foot daily to the shops and pub kept him moving until his final week.

Walking has been a common feature of of the people I know that have lived well into their 80s until other conditions took control. More so than diet.

@BogRollBOGOFmy relatives who lived into their 90s had padding but they all walked daily.

Agreed, being short and middle-aged, I don't want to spend decades picking at what everyone else considers a calorie restricted diet in order to not put on weight. And the reality is there will be times like Christmas, holidays and special occasions that go over, and push having to lose weight again. 1000-1500 (BMR 1400) calories per day permanently? No thank you!

Much more fun to exercise and increase my dietary allowence by a few hundred a day by being active, walking around and doing other exercise. Plus all the other health benefits.

Walking is great functional exercise. Ideally for optimal health, not the only one, but it's beginner friendly, free, doesn't need more than a decent pair of shoes/ trainers. It's an easy way to burn a bit more energy and get the body working well while fitting it into life. It can often tip the balance from gaining weight to maintaining, or maintaining to losing.

Absolutely. Walking is great for weight loss.
You can do it at any time.
You don't need equipment.
You don't need gym membership.
Its free!
Get out there and good luck with your weight loss.
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