[unwanted37lbs]

90% of weight loss/gain is food we eat!

[AngryShroom]

Not having read anything, but just in here with two examples of walking to lose weight.

Two years ago, I wanted to lose weight, but at a BMI of about 40, I didn't feel much for most excercises. Going to a gym? I felt like I'd be looked at. Swimming? Yeah, right, in a bathing suit with THAT body? Running? Never liked it, never will. Cycling, no matter how much I loved it, the seat hurt my behind too much so I'd probably go cycling once a week, then recover the next six days. So, walking it was, together with dieting.

I lost a whole lot of weight! (That I gained it again, albeit slowly but surely in the next two years, is a different story). But my plan was (and again is this time around), to first lose weight, up my fitness level and THEN go back to swimming/fitness once I feel better.

Let's say it like this. Someone who weights 250 pounds that walks 30 minutes has got a lot more excercise done than someone weighing 150 pounds who walks 30 minutes (same pace). Heck, the 150 pound person isn't carrying another 100 pound around! Obviously, as you lose weight, you'll need to intensify your excercise. No wonder you're hitting a ceiling: Every step you take, becomes easier, thus burns you less calories, increases your fitness level less and less. At 200 pounds, walking is still quite a thing to do, but as you lose more, you'll need to step up your game.

As I said, two examples. My dad used to be a construction worker, so he was used of working hard all year. As he got older, what he ate stuck more and more onto his body (before he was one of those zero-fat, all-muscle short guys). But every year we went on holiday, he would make long walks (minimum 10 km/day, which is over 6 miles/day). Lo' and behold, every year, those four weeks on holiday, he'd lose well over 30 pounds.

AGAIN, he was in HEAVY construction, lifting weight all day, working easily 10-12 hours a day! Barely any changes to his diet (well, in construction, he did eat about 5 filling meals, on holidays they became lighter, but there was more snacking, like a hotdog, fries, all kinds of other fat food, so in all, I guess his caloric intake was kept almost on par).

So, can you lose weight just by walking? Yes. But you need to be hauling more than just 5 extra pounds and you need to increase your excercise level as you lose weight.

[SunnySide99]

Walking at a continuous pace where you are slightly out of breath along with a calorie deficit is certainly enough to see results.

I lost 80 lbs mainly brisk walking and doing walking videos (along with lifting weights) while living a sedentary lifestyle.

I'm maintaining now, but walking is still my main form of exercise. I walk fast though around 4.5 mph in my fastest mile, but I am slowly transitioning to a light jog to keep my heart rate up and to burn more calories.

[Sassyinkpen]

Walking is most definitely enough - clearly it's working for you now.

However, I think some kind of strength training is an important component both for weight loss and for overall health. Building muscle can go a long way toward helping to lose weight. You could do just 20 minutes or so a couple of times a week, and it would be very good for you.

Primarily, I bring it up because you sound as though you're concerned about not getting enough exercise to lose weight. If you find yourself stalling out, and needing to kick it up a notch, I don't think you'd need to change your walking workouts much, but if you added some strength training it could help.

You should definitely NOT feel like you're not doing enough, or you're not doing it right. The most important and effective workouts are the ones you will DO, and if that's walking for you, that's excellent. (Even on my video fitness forum, there are tons of people to attribute the bulk of their weight loss to walking workouts).

[Zenia]

It can be enough for now. maybe try and do quicker intervals or increase your incline?? at some point you will have to up the intensity if you want to move to the next level. As others have mentioned diet will play a huge role but if you want to move to the next level and pass a plateau then upping your game as far as working out will be mandatory. there are many programs that you can do from home when you feel up to it. I have a whole bunch of dvds that i do from home because i hate the gym and i dont like being out in the sun working out. if you need any suggestions or advice let me know i can definitely help out with what has worked for me.