Can walking alone at a moderate pace prove effective for weight loss?
 

Hello,

For now I have been doing both strength training + walking exercises for weight loss. But honestly I find strength training workouts hard to do. So I am thinking of reducing it to just 3x a week and do walking the rest of the days... since I have osteoarthritis of my left knee, I cannot run or walk on an incline. So I have decided to walk 3.5 miles for 1 hr 3x a week.

I am wondering if anyone lost significant weight on walking like me, that is, at a moderate pace... anyone?

To be honest, I did not. But plenty of other people here have.

I used to walk 2 miles a day at my heaviest weight (281lbs) and it got me nowhere.

I started seeing results when I addressed my diet.

And then I really started seeing results when I started running and weight training.

Hi Ian,

Sadly my knee condition wouldn't allow me to run. I joined Planet Fitness recently and I feel too shy to use the weights there as I see only men mostly in that area! Maybe I can weight train with dumbbells at home.

Long time ago I watched Rachael Ray show (also Ellen Degeneres show) in which they were interviewing people who lost weight walking at a slow pace on the treadmill but for 2 - 3 hrs each day! They burnt close to 700 - 1000 Calories each day. So my inspiration comes from that.

I did make dietary changes though... am eating just 1300 - 1400 Calories a day.

If my strategy doesn't work after evaluating for a month on this, I might have to look for alternative ways to lose weight!

Thanks for the reply.

When I first started working out, all I did was walk. I couldn't afford a gym membership and to be honest, I was intimidated to go to the gym. So, probably the first 6 months all I did for exercise was walk. I walked a lot! like 2 hours a day. I'd walk after I got off work, just around the neighborhood. I also was watching my calories. and, yes I did lose weight. As I lost more weight and just got more confident I was able to do more exercise and joined a gym and now I do everything (I have PF too). Walking works, it just gets so boring! at least for me, after a few months I just couldn't keep doing it. Hope that helps, good luck! Congrats on the weight you've lost so far!

All I did was walk too to lose over 100lbs my first time around. Anything you can do to move your body through space will benefit you. No need to run, no need to speed walk. Just move. :)

I did a lot of Leslie Sansone walking videos too when I had to exercise indoors. They are a little cheesy but I really liked them. They were harder than just walking outside.

You are doing awesome. I can't wait to get back into one-derland!

I lost my first 50 lbs walking for exercise. Exercise is like 20% of weight loss and diet is like 80%. For me, the mental health benefits of walking are as important as calories burned.

You sound like you have a great plan. You're watching your intake and looking to do exercise that that you can stick with. I have no doubt that you'll be successful. Good luck!

Walking works great for me. It can be done almost anywhere with no special equipment needed. I calculate that I walk 1.5 miles (1/2 an hour) 2-3 times per day, burning up to 200 calories at a time. However I also calculate my calories in (consumed) as accurately as possible. Walking works for me for weight loss and maintenance. When I had an injury and couldn't walk (no weight on my right leg at all) for 4 months, I had to drastically adjust my calorie intake down (while trying to get plenty of nutrients to heal) and gained 9 pounds -- walking is wonderful!

My left knee has almost no cartilage and is bone on bone so I have dealt with walking limitations. My doctor recommended that I use an elliptical or exercise bike or swim. I do already own a treadmill so I do walk on the treadmill (which he says is better than walking on a hard surface outside). I do walk outside some, but am careful.

I do use an exercise bike at home and I joined the Y to use the elliptical there. Elliptical is not at much impact as walking.

I wear a heart rate monitor while walking to better estimate calorie burn.

When you said "walking alone" I thought you meant without diet changes, and would have said, "probably not. Diet changes tend to be more effective than any exercise, because any exercise often results in hunger that can compensate for any calories burned.

But as long as you're eating fewer calories, you can definitely lose weight with walking as your only exercise.

You can even lose without exercise, but exercise (even only walking) will help.

Thanks, everyone. I feel very motivated now! :) Also thanks for the success stories with walking!

I did Leslie's walking after about 2 months coming off of intense exercise like Insanity Alysum. I used 1-2lb hand weigts to up the intensity and I was able to successfully lose more weight through walking and good eating.

Bignomore,

I honestly have not walked long enough fitness wise to notice a difference. BUT, I do know that when I incorporated a lot of walking in my every day lifestyle, I was lighter and kept weight off a lot more. For example, when I was a student at UW, I had to walk a lot EVERY single day and because of that I didn't gain much weight.

Now that I'm a working professional and sit around for 8 hours a day in a cubicle, I noticed that it's A LOT easier to gain weight.

-Daniela

Any exercise, that you can do and do on a regular basis is good for you. :carrot:

Exercise has lots of other benefits, besides helping with weight loss.

Lower resting heart rate, helps lower blood pressure, helps with blood glucose and diabetes, lifting promotes bone growth and helps stave of osteoporosis. Exercise also is a great stress reliever, helps you sleep better! And lots of other stuff!:D

My first exercise was walking almost everyday. After about a month my left knee started killing me and not just when walking. At night in bed it often felt like hot lava running through my knee. After a Dr visit and tests I was also diagnosed with Osteoarthritis. After that I stopped walking because it was just hurting to bad. After another Dr visit she gave me a shot in the knee and within days I didn't feel any of the pain anymore. By then the weather had turned to winter and it was to bitter cold to walk outside so I still don't know if I can walk outside anymore. I got a used DVD off Amazon of Leslie Sansone's 1 & 2 mile walks to keep up exercise inside in winter and although on bad fibro and ra days it's really hard to get through them, most days I have no knee pain at the end. I call it a plus. :) I'm really eager to start walking again in spring and hope the shot holds through my walks. And yes, I noticed when I stopped walking my weight loss slowed a bit. :(

I started off with a lot of walking/running and lost about 25 and then a knee injury side-lined me. I didn't lose any more of that weight until I changed up my diet and I changed up my routine. I found that even though I was still overweight, my body had adjusted to it (so I had to mix it up!).