Walking for weight loss?

[vafoodie]

Anyone have a program that works? I’m 60 and need to shed a mid section that’s really getting me down.

 

[brewer12345]

Walk until you cannot walk any more. That is basically what I end up doing every fall when hunting season starts and I shed a bunch of pounds accumulated over the summer.

I am struggling with getting enough exercise right now so I am looking into buying a treadmill. My joints won't tolerate jogging, but I have found that if I bump up the incline i can get as hard a workout at a brisk walk. Its just that treadmills are boring.

 

[RAE]

Daily walking (and all exercise) is good for a lot of health reasons, but unfortunately, weight loss is not one of them. You really have to modify your diet to shed unwanted weight. Many of us here have been able to lose weight successfully by eating a LCHF diet (low carb, high-fat). Or, another way to approach it is to basically just eat "real food", staying away from junk food, most of which is loaded with processed carbs and sugar. It takes some discipline, but if you stick to eating things like meat, fish, eggs, veggies (all kinds), nuts, and healthy fats, you will lose weight and get healthier. I had to first clear all the junk food out of our cupboards when I started eating this way - get rid of all chips, crackers, cookies, candy, donuts, etc, so you won't be tempted to eat any of that stuff (anything that comes in a box or bag with a long list of ingredients on the side should probably go). And try to minimize your bread consumption also (including things like bagels, anything made with flour), as those are all processed carbs as well.

Best of luck to you, I hope you are successful.

 

[brewer12345]

Daily walking (and all exercise) is good for a lot of health reasons, but unfortunately, weight loss is not one of them. You really have to modify your diet to shed unwanted weight. Many of us here have been able to lose weight successfully by eating a LCHF diet (low carb, high-fat). Or, another way to approach it is to basically just eat "real food", staying away from junk food, most of which is loaded with processed carbs and sugar. It takes some discipline, but if you stick to eating things like meat, fish, eggs, veggies (all kinds), nuts, and healthy fats, you will lose weight and get healthier. I had to first clear all the junk food out of our cupboards when I started eating this way - get rid of all chips, crackers, cookies, candy, donuts, etc, so you won't be tempted to eat any of that stuff (anything that comes in a box or bag with a long list of ingredients on the side should probably go). And try to minimize your bread consumption also (including things like bagels, anything made with flour), as those are all processed carbs as well.

Best of luck to you, I hope you are successful.

I think this is very good advice. My one quibble is the bread thing. I don't find whole grain bread to be a problem. Then again, it isn't highly processed food.

 

[2soon2tell]

I've been a walker for years ever since I had to quit jogging. I think you will find that walking at a brisk pace 4-5 times a week is helpful to lose inches rather than pounds. Start slowly and build up to an hour of walking if you can.

My advice would be to go to a good running shoe store and get fitted with the right kind of shoe for your foot.

 

[braumeister]

Some years ago we lived on a street that was a big loop. One of our neighbors was a woman who was somewhat overweight, and I used to watch her walk around and around every morning. Gradually, over the course of about two years, the weight melted away and she became quite slim. She said the daily walking for one to two hours was the only change to her lifestyle, and it worked amazingly well.

 

[aja8888]

When I was a competitive long distance runner for the 15 year period 1977 - 1992, my weight never got above 155 pounds. I am 5'11" inches tall. After 1992, due to injuries and being about 50, I switched to long distance walking, and slowly over the next dozen or so years, my weight crep up to 210 pounds,where I am at today.

Two hip implants didn't help much either (one in 2008, the other 7 months ago) , but the new hips are just fine. Fortunately, both knees are still good. I am now just walking about 10,000 steps per day on average. But my weight is not moving down and I attribute that to a slower metabolism and not enough calories burned from the walking.

My next purchase is going to be a rowing machine which will be easier on the legs and, hopefully, burn more calories per unit time. While i am not on a low carb diet of sorts, I do watch the carb intake and eat about 2,000 calories per day, on average.

 

[COcheesehead]

Try intermittent fasting. I increased my exercise considerably and only lost a few pounds.
This past January I started IF and I have lost a total of 14 lbs or almost 10% of my body weight. I kept them off too.
There is a whole thread on IF on here. I found it to be the easiest way I have ever encountered to lose weight.

 

[aja8888]

Try intermittent fasting. I increased my exercise considerably and only lost a few pounds.
This past January I started IF and I have lost a total of 14 lbs or almost 10% of my body weight. I kept them off too.
There is a whole thread on IF on here. I found it to be the easiest way I have ever encountered to lose weight.

Thanks, I have peeked at that thread occasionally. I'll have to look at it again. If I could lose 20 pounds or so, I would be thrilled.

 

[Nemo2]

Stairs.

 

[COcheesehead]

Thanks, I have peeked at that thread occasionally. I'll have to look at it again. If I could lose 20 pounds or so, I would be thrilled.

I literally just skip breakfast and then don’t eat until about noon, after having dinner at about 6-7pm the night before. I watch sugars and carbs too, but that is about it. I still have wine or a beer at night. I just had my annual physical and all my numbers were great. I dropped my glucose and triglycerides a bunch. Doc told me to just keep on doing what I am doing.

 

[Ronstar]

I started walking 10000 steps plus per day Jan 1. I lost 10-15 lbs and now I’m high school weight. Walking works for weight loss if it’s done consistently.

 

[aja8888]

I literally just skip breakfast and then don’t eat until about noon, after having dinner at about 6-7pm the night before. I watch sugars and carbs too, but that is about it. I still have wine or a beer at night. I just had my annual physical and all my numbers were great. I dropped my glucose and triglycerides a bunch. Doc told me to just keep on doing what I am doing.

At 76 years old, all my numbers are great as of my physical exam in early June. I'm on no medication and feel pretty good. It just seems everything in me has slowed down over the last 10 years or so. I think the added pounds are not doing me any favors.

Nemo mentioned "stairs" but there are no hills here (LOL, flat Texas) and going inside buildings now is sketchy at best.

 

[Mark1]

Daily walking (and all exercise) is good for a lot of health reasons, but unfortunately, weight loss is not one of them. You really have to modify your diet to shed unwanted weight. Many of us here have been able to lose weight successfully by eating a LCHF diet (low carb, high-fat). Or, another way to approach it is to basically just eat "real food", staying away from junk food, most of which is loaded with processed carbs and sugar. It takes some discipline, but if you stick to eating things like meat, fish, eggs, veggies (all kinds), nuts, and healthy fats, you will lose weight and get healthier. I had to first clear all the junk food out of our cupboards when I started eating this way - get rid of all chips, crackers, cookies, candy, donuts, etc, so you won't be tempted to eat any of that stuff (anything that comes in a box or bag with a long list of ingredients on the side should probably go). And try to minimize your bread consumption also (including things like bagels, anything made with flour), as those are all processed carbs as well.

Best of luck to you, I hope you are successful.

+1. Agree with almost all of this, except I would emphasis the elimination of added sugar and not necessarily carbs. IMO, it is all the added sugar that is the problem, as it makes you even hungrier and as a result you eat much more. Of course, once you eliminate "added sugar" and processed food from your diet, you discover that you are eating more fats, which is fine.

IMO, you can eat all the carbs you want, provided they come natural, unprocessed, and with no added sugar. Of course, there are not many unprocessed carbs once you get out of the Produce section of the grocery store (e.g. barley, wild rice, etc).

 

[PatrickA5]

Walking (by itself) probably won't make you lose a ton of weight, but is good for overall conditioning.

I've lost 80lbs over the last 2 years by keeping track of calories using MyFitnessPal. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want - just not as MUCH as I want (Ha!). According to my spreadsheet, I've consumed 1,474,675 calories over the last 716 days for an average of 2,059 calories per day.

These days I've got to be in the 1,800 per day range to move the scale at all. Still have 20lbs to go and it's really slow now....

 

[Freedom56]

Anyone have a program that works? I’m 60 and need to shed a mid section that’s really getting me down.

Bike outdoors or get a spin bike for indoors or both. Start slowly and work your way up to 2 hour rides with a break in the middle. Your weight will come down as you increase your metabolism.

 

[brewer12345]

IMO, you can eat all the carbs you want, provided they come natural, unprocessed, and with no added sugar. Of course, there are not many unprocessed carbs once you get out of the Produce section of the grocery store (e.g. barley, wild rice, etc).

I have taken to buying whole grain and grinding my own flour. Not hard to do and you get 100% whole grain flour (I do wheat and rye) with no question of what went into it.

 

[braumeister]

Stairs.

If you get heavy enough, everyone will stare at you.

 

[MRG]

I've posted this before in 2015 I was 230 and had tachycardia. PCP said it would go away if I lost weight. So lose it. This is what worked for me and DW.

I dropped 70 pounds using a free app Myfitnesspal. It's a calorie counter and you can integrate other exercise applications to it. During a twenty pound loss my exercise counted for 4 pounds!

Food is the issue not exercise. Sure exercise is great for you and it makes me feel better too. If you want to feel good exercise, to lose weight become educated about diet.

 

[aja8888]

I've posted this before in 2015 I was 230 and had tachycardia. PCP said it would go away if I lost weight. So lose it. This is what worked for me and DW.

I dropped 70 pounds using a free app Myfitnesspal. It's a calorie counter and you can integrate other exercise applications to it. During a twenty pound loss my exercise counted for 4 pounds!

Food is the issue not exercise. Sure exercise is great for you and it makes me feel better too. If you want to feel good exercise, to lose weight become educated about diet.

True, you need to do both concurrently. It's much easier that way, unless you are 30 and running 10 miles a day @6.5 min/mile like I was back at 150 pounds.

However, we are all over the peak, so to say, and moderate exercise without diet control is not going to get you too far.

 

[mystang52]

20 or so years ago I took off 45 pounds and kept it off. I started with daily walking which evolved into running. Running remains my "addiction." But as others pointed out, exercise alone is not enough to lose weight. You also have to change your diet. I just cut back calories, and to this day maintain my weight via portion control. I won't say yay or nay as to a specific type of diet, but regardless caloric intake drives weight loss.

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo mentioned "stairs" but there are no hills here (LOL, flat Texas) and going inside buildings now is sketchy at best.

We have, (although I haven't used them in a while now), nearby an outdoor wooden staircase with 59 risers. Currently I'm using the elliptical, but I sure miss the stairs.

 

[CRLLS]

I am not one to exercise. I find it boring and a waste of heartbeats. A few years back I lost ~25 lbs simply by changing my eating schedule. I didn't change what I ate or how much I ate. What I did was to have breakfast when I get up, then eat lunch when I was hungry. Sometimes it was noon, sometimes 1PM and sometimes it was 3PM. Then I eat dinner if and when I felt hungry. Somedays nothing, somedays a snack, and somedays a real meal. This regiment is easier to follow now that I don't work for money. Getting away from eating by the clock seemed to make a big difference. I am now 28lbs off my peak weight and holding.

 

[friar1610]

I have taken to buying whole grain and grinding my own flour. Not hard to do and you get 100% whole grain flour (I do wheat and rye) with no question of what went into it.

My wife bakes all our bread using whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I've seen a white slice on our table.

 

[Nemo2]

My wife bakes all our bread using whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I've seen a white slice on our table.

DW, now an ardent 'sourdougher', uses organic stone ground flour straight from the mill, (starter 1/2 rye), and sometimes Spelt....yummy.