Is walking a good exercise for weight lose?

Question

i need to lose some weight and get healthy. I have cut back on my bad eating habits and im watching what i eat and making sure i eat a well balanced diet, but i obviously need to team this up with some form of exercise to lose weight... what i want to know is wether 'walking' is a good form of exercise and ideal for weight lose? how much walking would i have to do before i noticed 'weight lose'? my boyfriend seems to think that i wont lose any weight by walking daily for an hour or so and that i should jog instead, but i find jogging really hard and cant keep it up.... is walking any good to lose weight??

Answer 1

Yes but good brisk walking! If you really want to lose weight and tone up, get fit! Then you should try the kind of walk i have with my dog daily. We walk across the wood (Uneven soil) and on deserted lane, up and down the hills and as i have to keep up with him, means i have to practically run (Walking extra fast) for 2 and 1/2 miles! By the time we get back to the car ... i'm knackered but i started 3 weeks ago and O joy! i feel a lot better and my thighs are beginning to slim down, so's my bum! And they're a lot firmer too. having said that ... i'm also drinking 3 litres of water a day (Instead of Coke) and i've cut down on bread as well so this mornng weighing scales announced i've lost 7 lb! I used to walk for miles but nice relaxing walks! Didn't work so really ... This kind of walk does it for me.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I'm not an expert, but I have done a lot of reading on the art of healthy living. I'm also very involved with a healthy life, so my advice is from personal experience. Walking is very low impact. I've also read that, in many cases, it's better for you than running (better on your joints, less chance of injury) In terms of living healthy, eathing healthy is the first step. It will help you feel better and give you more energy to want to work out. Then the exercise...You want to bring your heartrate above normal for at least 45min per day. I think walking is great, no matter how slow, but you really should set some goals for yourself, like: for a month you walk, the next month you turn the walk into a faster walk, then a slow jog, then mix a faster jog... you get the point. You don't need to be sprinting, or killing yourself through a painful jog, just keep things simple (But be consistent). Also, if you have a gym nearby, lifting weights will also help you lose weight. Nothing heavy and crazy, just light lifting (low weight, high repetitions) In fact, most gyms have lots of professionals willing to help you out. I hope this helps. And remember, the toughest part is being consistent.... no matter if your walking or jogging, you just need to keep doing it. GOOD LUCK... I know you can do it!!

Answer 3

You'll burn the same amount of calories with a brisk walk as you would jogging AND it's not as hard on your joints as jogging. So walking is much better for you. You can start with 30 min. 3 x a week and work up from there. Walking briskly for an hour will get you about 4 miles per hour, that's a 15 minute mile and a good goal to shoot for. I did this (with a proper diet) a while back and lost 85 lbs. in less than 6 months. Good choice of exercise.

Answer 4

It is a very good question and i understand your concern.

walking is an excellent way to help you loose weight it's a cardiovascular activity and it helps prevent heart disease and diabetes, that alone should encourage you to walk. being true that jogging might help you a bit more, it is not apt for everybody.

The time frame in which you will see results depend mostly on your diet, how constantly do you walk and on your own metabolism, remember that 70% of what you eat every day (on average) is consumed just maintaining your body alive, so the most important part is to trim down on food and get exercise to HELP you along, it can't be the only basis.

Before starting any exercise regimen i would consider going to the Doctor, but if you don't have any chronic disease and if you're young and relatively healthy then go right on ahead and do it.

Answer 5

Walking can be a good form of exercise, what you could do is walk at a quick pace and go on various walks. Intergrate hills into where you go, as long as your heart rate is increased you will lose weight. Don't expect the lose to be quick but the best way to lose weight is slowly. Keep up with it and you should feel the difference aswell as seeing the difference. I have joined a gym with my boyfriend and in the last 10 months I have lost 9kg doing cardio work and a few weights. good luck what ever you decide.

Answer 6

Walking is a fantastic way to lose weight, you need to get your self into the optimum training zone. This means you heart rate must but at 70 - 90% of your maximum heart rate. Working this out is simple. Everyone is born with a maximum heart rate of 220, all you need to do is minus your age and that will give you your mhr (maximum heart rate)

Example

you are 24 years old. so 220 minus 24 leaves you with a mhr of 196.

70% of 196 = 137

90% of 196 = 176

Try to stick in between these rates for at least 15 minutes and you will also find your fitness will increase.

if you go over 90% you will be training anaerobically, this means that not enough oxygen will get to your muscles and you will risk injury.

A really good book to buy is 90 Day fitness plan by Matt Roberts, (isbn 0-7513-1398-x) it takes you through everything from detox, fitness test and fitness programs. Make sure you go to the docs first and tell him/her what you are about to do. Good Luck.

Answer 7

Since you have already cut back on some bad eating habits, you're off to a great start. I've done the same thing and I tip it off with a moderately fast paced walk every day that I can. It lasts only 40 minutes and does involve a fairly steep hill, so I get my heart rate up and start to sweat a little. I've lost nearly 40 pounds since I've started doing this and I still eat things that I enjoy. As long as you get your heart rate up and start to sweat a little, you'll really start to burn the calories and lose the weight. If walking still seems not to help then pick up the pace a little or find an area with more hills to climb. You'll lose the weight!

Answer 8

I find walking to be a great way to lose weight along with maintaining a healthy diet. Anything that causes your muscles to work will burn calories and if you burn more than you consume, your body will got to its stores (fat) and burn it to get the energy that it requires causing you to lose weigth.
Where cardiovascular activities such as walking, running, cycling, stair stepping, etc are all great, weight training is better. I'm not talking about benching 300 lbs and trying to get as muscular as possible. 10 - 12 reps where you struggle on the last two or three reps in a circuit type of training is best. In the ABS Diet, they took a man and had him do cardio and measured how long his body continued to burn calories and an accelerated rate. Then they had him lift weights for a bit and did the same tests. The results showed that he continued to burn calories at an accelerated rate for 48 hours after lifting (just in time for his next workout) as compared to a few hours after the cardio.
Remember that muscle requires calories to exist. A pound of muscle requires and extra 50 calories per day just to maintain itself. More muscle = more calories burns = less fat.

Answer 9

Walking is good for you, and excellent for maintaining the tone of your body when healthy. It also aids in efficient digestion. But good as it is, walking is NOT a good way to lose weight -- it is not intensive enough. Consider that it would take forty minutes of walking to burn the caloric intake from a buttered piece of white toast. You are more likely to want to snack after a walk, "undoing" all the effort expended.
Swimming is a much better way , per time involved, to help you in a weight loss program.

Answer 10

Walking is a great form of exercise. Ermm, jogging would be better perhaps, but you can start jogging once you can walk at a comfotable pace.
I would say that an hour walking is ideal, but 20 minutes a day is sufficient. try varying it as well: day 1, slow walking day 2, slightly faster and on day 3. brisk walking.
Oh yeah before i forget, invest in a pedometre/step measuring device- its the best think you can invest in.

Answer 11

Walking is a fantastic exercise (ignore the boyfriend!)
If you walk (briskly) for 30 mins a day you should see and feel results within a couple of weeks, especially on the legs and bum. Try and include 10mins of stretching a day as well.

Well done on what you have achieved so far and keep up the good work!