Does Walking For Weight Loss Work?

Doctors and other health professionals often recommend walking for weight loss. It can be a great way to become a little more active, especially if your fitness levels are low due to a weight problem or a period of sickness. You can take it at your own pace and gradually become more active.

Walking can be as gentle or as strenuous as you like. Very slow, gentle walking hardly burns any calories at all. Walking like a racer, on the other hand, can be faster than some people would run.

If you use a treadmill or other home gym equipment, you can alter your settings to give you higher activity levels as you become fitter. This could include increasing the speed or increasing the incline. However, do not push yourself too fast too soon. Small changes are best so that you hardly feel the difference.

If you go out walking in the ‘real world’ you will need to make a conscious effort to walk faster. Choose a longer route too, so that even with your increased speed you are walking for just as much time. Depending on the area that you live in, you may be able to include more uphill walking in your route.

If you want to track your progress, a pedometer can be a big motivator. This is a small gadget that counts how many steps you walked. Why not take an extra 10 steps each day? Or adjust the figure so that you are walking a little more each day in the same amount of time.

Another way to increase the resistance or the calorie burning effect of your activity is to wear a special vest that is padded with weights. This means your body has to work harder to move.

A weight vest also helps to keep you from losing bone density as you lose weight, although any form of weight bearing exercise such as walking or running is helpful for this, whether or not you carry extra weights.

People who have been overweight for many years usually have big, strong bones that have developed to carry the extra weight. As they lose weight, they may also lose bone strength. Walking and other forms of weight bearing exercise can help to maintain bone density.

If walking is your only activity and you have not altered your diet or lifestyle in other ways, you will need to walk for around an hour a day for 4-6 days per week to have much effect on your weight.

However, most people do not have to do so much because they combine their exercise with being at least a little more careful about what they eat. You will find that this comes naturally. Being more active will put you more in tune with your body and what it needs, so it will be relatively easy to change your eating habits in small but effective ways.

After your walk you may be hungry. If it has been a long time since you’ve eaten, you may even feel a little faint or shaky from low blood sugar. It is important not to reach for a high fat or refined sugar snack at this time. Choose fruit instead.

Walking can be a great fitness tool and excellent for your overall health. You should talk with your doctor before beginning any fitness or weight control program, but in most cases doctors will be very supportive of your plan to begin walking for weight loss.