Has anyone genuinely lost weight from doing 10000 steps per day?

[EsmeraldaFudge]

I'm trying desperately to improve my health and well-being but have recently had some gallbladder surgery.
Has anyone had any results from consistently covering 10k steps a day?

@delilahbucket

I lost a few pounds last year through exercise alone and no diet changes, but I was running 5-8km three times a week plus a one hour fast, hilly walk on the other four days. And that was about a six pound loss over two and a half months, so very slow. 10k steps at a snails pace on a flat is very different to 10k fast and with hills, so it isn't a good measure of exercise.

That's impressive and depressing at the same time. It's a significant daily exercise routine for a few pounds🤦🏻‍♀️. Need to up my game

there is 10k steps and 10k steps

if you don't get out of breath and sweaty for some of your exercise the calories used will be minimal.

as pp say, calorie in - calorie out is what counts.
it would be beneficial to add core strength training as well.

walking is great, definitely keep it up!
but walking alone will not do much unfortunately.

@sofato5miles I already ran 2-3 times a week prior to that, I just made an effort to do something every day. It wasn't for weight loss, but for fitness. Previously I have only lost weight by simply eating less.

People can and do lose HUGE amounts of weight by walking 10k steps a day, when combined with a healthy low-calorie diet. I lost 5 stone in a year doing it - for the latter couple of months I ran 1k a couple of times a week as well, but predominantly it was just the 10k walking. As I got slimmer and fitter I could do longer and harder walks.

I was coming from years of chronic illness and a very sedentary lifestyle, so it was more than enough to lose weight at a significant weight.

It worries me that threads like this sometimes get spoiled by super-fit slim people who don't struggle with their weight and can make others feel terrible with faux-innocent "Gosh, doesn't everyone do 10k steps just pottering about?! You'll need to do better than that, lol" comments.

Nope. Everyone starts from somewhere, and ANY exercise you can do which is more than you have previously been doing is going to help you lose weight and get healthier.

Yes and no.

Not on its own, but my Fitbit definitely encouraged me to be active. When I first got it, it would get to say midday and I realised I had done maybe 500 steps so I’d go out for a walk.

I know some people will say that’s stupid, that I must know I hadn’t been very active, but it definitely gave me something to aim for. It might get to 7 in the evening and I’d realise I was on (say) 8000 steps and go for a short walk to get to 10!

When I was on maternity leave I did absolutely loads, am now back at work and struggle a lot more, so it keeps me focused.

It makes a big difference to me when combined with sensible eating. During the lockdowns I ate the same as before but didn't do my usual 10,000 steps and I put on over half a stone. As soon as I started doing 10,000 steps again the weight fell off - I hadn't changed what I was eating. I. Was just eating sensibly throughout.

Just doing 10000 steps a day won't create much of a calorie deficit so you'll be unlikely to lose weight doing it. It's more a baseline of minimum activity levels for health.

@CloseYourEyesAndSee

Just doing 10000 steps a day won't create much of a calorie deficit so you'll be unlikely to lose weight doing it. It's more a baseline of minimum activity levels for health.

Not sure I agree - apparently you burn about 500 calories doing 10,000 steps which would be a weight loss of 1lb per week to 10 days (IF you're eating sensibly!). My fitness app tells me how many calories I've burnt over the entire year from walking. I worked out I would be a stone heavier if I hadn't been walking.

I think I worked out that 10,000 steps is about 7.5 kilometres and I agree with pp, it will depend on the intensity of how you reach those steps. I used to run but can't any more so now I walk 5k most mornings as a very brisk walk, incorporating hills, heart rate up to 120. It takes me about 40 mins and although I'm not trying to loose weight, the walking has kept me very fit.
I think it's pretty difficult to hit 10,000 steps just 'pottering about'

I have worked out that just pottering is around 3k steps. So 7k on top is min 300 cals a day more. 7000cals per kg weight loss. So should lose a kg every 3 weeks at a minimum but clearly aiming for more - around twice that

[quote delilahbucket]@sofato5miles I already ran 2-3 times a week prior to that, I just made an effort to do something every day. It wasn't for weight loss, but for fitness. Previously I have only lost weight by simply eating less.[/quote]
I have started running over the past 3 weeks, but you have inspired me!

10,000 steps will burn around 400 calories.
www.omnicalculator.com/sports/walking-calorie
If you would otherwise be in a steady state, introducing a 400-calorie deficit will be a good sustainable weight-loss strategy.

(If you reward yourself with a couple of doughnuts, probably not )

People can and do lose HUGE amounts of weight by walking 10k steps a day, when combined with a healthy low-calorie diet.

I think it's the diet in these cases.

10,000 steps a day is good for you, but as PP say, it's arbitrary and it's the minimum.

Walking will absolutely help you lose weight if you eat at maintenance and don’t add the calories you have burnt from the walking.

For me 10k steps a day would burn about 300cals, that’s 3lbs a month which is great sustainable weight loss. Add a calorie deficit of 200 cals a day and you’ll be losing about 5lbs a month. Which is still sustainable and not too miserable.

I had a job where I walked about 27k steps a day, I wasn’t trying to lose weight and weight just fell off.

You can absolutely lose weight through exercise alone. I burn about 350cals with my workouts classes and workout about 5 or 6 times a week, again about 3lbs a month, so I get to eat the extra calories if I’m not trying to lose weight!

I really rate resistance training and a bit of cardio, but don’t feel you have to do it all. Movement that you enjoy and healthy meals that you enjoy over time give great results and can improve health significantly. It doesn’t have to be hard.

Grow with jo on YouTube is great for low impact walking workouts for when the weather is gross.

I’ve lost about 10lbs in under two months from a moderate 350cal deficit and lots of walking. I do do extra strength training and climbing, but I eat more calories to make up for that as I want my weight loss to be sustainable.

It worries me that threads like this sometimes get spoiled by super-fit slim people who don't struggle with their weight and can make others feel terrible with faux-innocent "Gosh, doesn't everyone do 10k steps just pottering about?!

I think that was a response to me
And you've misunderstood me, completely. The truth is, I was very overweight for years and years and was also very sedentary. At that point I would have thought 10k steps was a lot.

But it was the lifestyle shift that made the difference for me. Once it clicked that actually 10k steps should be normal and a minimum to aim for in everyday life, that was a key part of my long term, sustainable, weight loss - along with healthy eating, starting running, starting weight training, giving up alcohol etc. Yes that means walking to the shop and carrying bags home, walking the school run, walking basically anywhere I would've driven before, wherever feasibly possible. But by thinking of 10k steps as a minimum and a "norm" rather than some weird unattainable goal for fit people, it helped reset my idea of what a healthy lifestyle should be.

No but it was a start at re motivating myself back into exercise. I was really struggling with going to the gym ( which I previously absolutely lived) I started off making an effort to do a circular walk from my house which was roughly 10k steps and that spurred me on.