Walking to Lose Weight

Walking to Lose Weight – Does it Work?

This is a really good question, and one that some people might be confused about when they’re thinking about walking to lose weight.  Now you don’t have to walk a volcano like I am doing here in this pic, but if you like hiking then by all means use that as your walking focus!

A Little Story About the Power of Walking and Weight Loss

So I have a  story that will give you a really good example of whether you can lose weight just from walking alone, even if you have not changed much else about what you are doing.

My daughter moved to Guatemala a couple of years ago, and she lived in a little town for three years where she had no car, and she literally had to walk somewhere every day, be it to grab coffee, go to work, go get lunch, go grocery shopping, etc.  These are things that nearly ALL of us do with our cars every day, but she had no choice.

Each time she came home for a visit, she was thinner and thinner, until about two years into her stay there, she had lost nearly 20 pounds.  I would always tell her how great she looked, and how fit and healthy she looked and say, “What are you doing?!!!….Are you just working out like crazy???  “Are you even eating in Guatemala?!!”

And she would tell me that nothing much about her diet had changed, but of course she did have to walk places every day for her daily routine and errands.

I’m not even talking about a slow jog, just literally hoofing it from place to place, over the course of two years, made a completely dramatic change in her physique.

Now, I’m no math genius, but I ran a few numbers, and uncovered the truth about whether walking can help you lose weight over the long term…

How The Calorie Burn Stacks Up

A 150-pound person adding 20 minutes of walking per day (that’s about one mile) increases calorie expenditure of close to 80 calories per day.  That is about 560 calories per week, 2,240 calories per month, or 29,120 calories per year, about 8.5 pounds per year!  So over two years, she had lost 17 pounds!

How To Get Started Walking to Lose Weight

This is a great article on walking to lose weight, and how to get started!

Have a hefty weight loss goal? Consider walking, not running, toward your best new body. A recent British study found people who regularly walked for fitness—albeit at a fast pace—weighed less than those devoted to other types of physical activity, including running, swimming, and cycling. (Burn calories and build muscle—all while boosting your mood—with our 21-Day Walk a Little, Lose a Lot Challenge!) How To Start Walking For Weight Loss | Prevention

The beauty of walking to lose weight is that you do not need much to do it!  You just need a some good comfy sneakers!  You don’t have to schlep to a gym or set aside hours and hours to get it done.   Just start small, plan on walking 20 minutes a day.  And you will see what happens OVER TIME!

Listen… time is going by anyway, right.  Before you know it two years will have passed by, and if you started this today, you could literally be 20 or 30 pounds thinner having changed not much else except for adding brisk walking into your day.

7 Tips to Help you Get Started Walking to Lose Weight

1. Get some comfy sneakers.
2. Take your sneakers to work with you and walk on your break.
3. Listen to an audio book on your phone.
4. Grab a friend and use it as a chat session.
5. Take the dog for a walk!
6. Keep a daily diary of your walks, it helps to write it down!
7. Walk after dinner, it’s one of the best times to walk, and you can take your S/O with you!

More: Workouts That Target Belly Fat

To your best Health!
Laura.