Walking

[et_ftw]

Hello,

Well I have had numerous attempts at weight loss but have always tried it my own way as opposed to seeking advice from other people, I have had some information about dieting which I have found very usefull but I am still seeking advice on exercising.

I have heard that walkin is a very good way to get the exercise needed to lose weight, can anyone confirm this?

The exercise side of things is a really awkward one for me as I dont want to attend a gym.

If walking could help me lose weight however that would be no problem as I enjoy turning my iPod on and walking around the city and checking out the scenery.

Another thing I was curious about is whether the time of day matters when you exercise?

Ideally I would like to do my exercise in the morning as opposed to afternoon / night, would this prevent as much weight being lost?

Thanks ahead for any replies

 

[Russiandoll]

Walking is a great way of getting fit and helping to lose weight but it needs to be brisk walking and not just a stroll along the road. Exercising in the morning is just fine.

A good half hour power walk will burn cals and get the blood pumping so making you feel better all round so get your ipod on and go for it!

Having said that, walking alone won't make you lose weight - you need to adjust your diet accordingly so that there is a calorie deficit. It would be no good going for a brisk walk, using up 500 cals then having a 600 cal blow out when you got back.

If you want to work out how many cals you need to cut back on in order to lose weight then you first need to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) ... here's a link to a calculator

BMR Calculator

To lose 1lb of fat, you need to create a deficit of 3500 cals either by eating less or doing more. So if your BMR is 2500 and you create a deficit of 500 cals per day, you'll lose 1lb a week. So it figures that if you cut your cals by just 500 cals per day AND do some exercise to the tune of 500 cals, you'll lose 2lb per week.

Hope this helps

 

[Barb]

S'cuse me dropping in but I was just thinking about you Debbie and you appeared! Very neat trick!
Evan looks even more gorgeous - don't they change fast in those first few weeks!

Love

 

[KD]

Oh, I love walking. Easily do my 10,000+ steps a day. For me, the trick has been to make it part of my day rather than making it part of my exercise routine.

There is contraversy over whether power walking or just normal walking is better at fat burning, so I reckon you just do what you want. I find if I don't put pressure on myself, but just walk as I want to walk, I'm more likely to keep it up IYKWIM).

So, walking instead of getting into the car. Sometimes it's even quicker to walk. The time I've spent looking around for place to park etc

Also taking the car half way and walking the rest. Great in the morning when the air is fresh.

Walking at different times of day is good too. You see new things.

DH, kids and I have done some of the walks for softies. They've been fun

Home: walks4softies

But yes, you do really need to do some kind of calorie counting plan to make it effective, but as for power walking really helping...ummm....fine if that's what you like to do, but as I say, the jury is out as to whether it's really better than a gentle, normal walk

 

[Russiandoll]

To clarify ... when I said power walking, I actually meant 'brisk' walking as opposed to a stroll. Whilst I think strolling is fab for mental well-being, I don't think it would make any meaningful contribution to weight loss or fitness as guidelines say that, to increase our fitness, we should be doing exercise that makes our heart rate increase and make us breath a bit harder.

 

[et_ftw]

Having said that, walking alone won't make you lose weight - you need to adjust your diet accordingly so that there is a calorie deficit. It would be no good going for a brisk walk, using up 500 cals then having a 600 cal blow out when you got back.

If you want to work out how many cals you need to cut back on in order to lose weight then you first need to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) ... here's a link to a calculator

BMR Calculator

To lose 1lb of fat, you need to create a deficit of 3500 cals either by eating less or doing more. So if your BMR is 2500 and you create a deficit of 500 cals per day, you'll lose 1lb a week. So it figures that if you cut your cals by just 500 cals per day AND do some exercise to the tune of 500 cals, you'll lose 2lb per week.

Hope this helps

I am a bit confused on the whole BMR thing, I used the link you posted and I have a BMR of2070.07 but I am not sure how I use this information now?

But yes, you do really need to do some kind of calorie counting plan to make it effective, but as for power walking really helping...ummm....fine if that's what you like to do, but as I say, the jury is out as to whether it's really better than a gentle, normal walk

I tend to walk very powerfully anyway, I have always subconciously started walking as fast as I can possibly go, so power walking wouldn't feel as if I am putting in more effort.

 

[KD]

To clarify ... when I said power walking, I actually meant 'brisk' walking as opposed to a stroll. Whilst I think strolling is fab for mental well-being, I don't think it would make any meaningful contribution to weight loss or fitness as guidelines say that, to increase our fitness, we should be doing exercise that makes our heart rate increase and make us breath a bit harder.

Yes, but the BBC was doing something, somewhere showing that normal walking burnt more fat per minute than jogging. I know it goes against everything we have learnt , but it was interesting. I dunno, latest research or something.

And yes, I know you weren't talking about jogging or proper power walking.

Anyway, it was an interesting programme....just wish I could remember more of the details

 

[Russiandoll]

Interesting KD. When I went to the gym up North, I noticed I used as many cals walking on the treadmill as I did in the same time on the rower ... hail to the power of walking! lol

et ... your BMR is about 2070 cals at rest - that means just by getting out of bed and walking about you'll be using more than that. But let's work on the 2070 cals ...

If you want to lose 2lb per week (a good steady half a stone + per month) then you need to create a deficit of 7000 cals per week (1lb of fat = 3500 cals)

You can do this by eating 1000 cals less per day but a better way for a young guy like you is to create that deficit by a combination of eating less and burning some up in exercise.

If you eat 500 cals less a day then you will lose 1lb a week ... so aim for around 1600 cals per day.
Then any exercise you do will use up more cals and make that deficit bigger ... so more weight will be lost.

Sounds like a lot of maths and science but really, that's all weight loss is. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[JoggerGirl]

I'm not sure about you ladies...but once you start "brisk" walking, it rubs off into you normal walking...it's funny, when I am at the mall with friends, I look behind me and they are like 6 ft behind me asking me to SLOW DOWN!