Walking for weight loss

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I lost 50 lbs during COVID by eating about 1,000 calories a day in 5 small meals or snacks. I tried to eat balanced meals and not cut out fat or carbs, as this causes me to start craving them. I also walked about 8,000 steps a day, which initially helped with weight loss. However, I found my body adjusted to the calories burned during walking and now I need to continue walking 4 miles a day to keep the weight off. The first week of the diet was hard, but after that it became a routine.

[gooddog]

Diet is 80% of weight loss, the other 20% being exercise. That said, walking a few miles a day is a great idea. Make sure you have very good shoes before taking that up. Light weights a few times a week also helps with numerous issues - bone loss, muscle density, blood pressure, glucose level, and so on. Exercise bands are very good also, and easy to transport.

[meleana]

I can't seem to diet but I exercise- walking, OR indoor cycle, glider, isometric exercises with hand weights- at least an hour a day. I don't lose weight and I've given up.

[Choosehappy]

I also use intermittent fasting and a low carb/processed sugar diet. Reducing sugars takes weight off the middle, reduces bloating. Getting off sugar takes a good 3 weeks. �� I also count calories because no diet will work without restricting calories. I follow Dr. Becky Fitness guidelines for weight loss. She’s got some great free tips and a terrific book on intermittent fasting. https://drbeckyfitness.com/dr-beckys-0123-strategy/

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vafoodie If anyone has lost weight by walking and diet, can you please share your strategy?

What strategy are you looking for? Magic perhaps? There isn't any!

I stroll in nature (some would call it 'forest bathing') 2-4 hours a day - EVERYDAY (weather permitting), have decreased TV and computer time significantly, eat homemade meals, rarely dine out. I am down over 100# in the last two years and have been holding steady for months.

Yeah, it's easier said than done.

[CatinKS]

If you use a treadmill when it is unfavorable weather, I found setting the incline to 9 -12 degrees and walking at a slower pace burns as much calories as someone running on level ground at a much faster speed. Also, the incline cured a knee ligament issue I had for several years, as no knee brace required anymore.

[Retch The Grate]

Yeah I like incline work on our treadmill. I tend to do a mix of walking/jogging and running. I find the cardio really helps with weight loss BUT I have to be careful about consuming my way out of the calorie deficit as it makes me crave carb filled drinks (I like chocolate milk too much).

[chassis]

The operative word "diet" means to me the list of food items, and quantities thereof, consumed.

It's a way of life. Each person on the planet has a "diet" each day of their lives.

Diet is not a program, a plan, or a system. It's not temporary. It's a permanent way of living that should be one of the leading elements of a healthy lifestyle.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meleana I can't seem to diet but I exercise- walking, OR indoor cycle, glider, isometric exercises with hand weights- at least an hour a day. I don't lose weight and I've given up.

Meleana, no question, it's not easy to lose weight. I have done that a few times. When I was a long distance runner in my 30's, and I ran 5 to 7 miles per day and much longer on weekends, I could eat anything in any quantity and still be 5'11", 150 pounds. But, boy did I burn off the calories.

But now at 78 years old, I weigh about 200 pounds and if I don't walk 8,000 steps per day (no more running - two hip implants (thank you, running)), I start gaining weight.

It's really about eating the right things and exercising to your ability. Like said above, for normal folks, losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

[Bunker]

I enjoyed reading this thread's consistent, sensible comments. Seems we've turned a corner away from the crazy, unsustainable fad diets of the 80s into the 90s, and running miles while wearing a trash bag sweat suit before quitting..... and gaining all the weight back.


Changing one's dietary habits in a sustainable way, will achieve weight loss all on its own. Adding exercise is a bonus, and also brings its own set of benefits. In my early 50s, I shifted to calorie deficit to cut 25 lbs, and then hold in a calorie "maintenance" mode - somebody else mentioned that term, reference to "MyFitnessPal" website. That's what I use too.



Still enjoy doing a lot of cardio, running, and mild weight lifting (for tone/strength not body building), but walking, at a minimum, is a solid enhancement to the baseline strategy of a dietary life change. Don't forget the stretching, which is good to warm those muscles before a walk, and also brings mobility and flexibility benefits.


My Mom's a perfect example of the typical adult who never embraced fitness activity, so she has all sorts of aches & pains, couldn't touch her toes if her life depended on it. Chokes down a handful of pills every morning to mask the various symptoms of an in-active lifestyle.



My Dad, on the other hand, always a heavy, 250lb guy when I was growing up, transformed his dietary intake in his mid-60s with a guide program called "Fit for Life", along with modest exercise (walking, bike riding) and stretching/mobility. Results in 6-months, and within a year, his Doctor began weaning him off the litany of pills he'd been taking for decades. Mid to late 70s now, fit, active, looks great in a suit.



No fad diets and crazy stuff. Keep it simple, and consistent. It works.

[Tuirc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vafoodie If anyone has lost weight by walking and diet, can you please share your strategy?

1. You can't outrun (or walk) your fork

2. Exercise is for toning or strengthening your body

3. There are lots of messages that you can apply exercise to a bad diet and it will all work out. That's a lie.

Find a way of eating that is healthy for you and something you can live with for the rest of your life. Eat lots of vegetables cooked in a tasty, non-fattening way (in other words, don't fry all your vegetables and expect to lose weight). Eat less protein than you are used to and stop making protein the center of your meals. That was the biggest mind shift for us. It's been about a year now so I can talk about it.

I was always a guy that needed a steak to be at least 16 oz, or it wasn't worth bothering with. Same with other meals, the more meat the better. Now, I eat 2-4 oz of protein in my meals and I'm happy about it. How? We switch to bowl based meals at home. We usually start with a whole grain like barley (whole not pearl) or wheat bulger or sometimes rice (lately ancient grains like amaranth or farro). We put a small amount of that in the bowl, some sautéed vegetables, some fresh vegetables, a small amount of fermented vegetables, a bit of homemade sauce or maybe a squirt of lemon to taste, then 2-4 oz of protein. (Chicken, fish, shellfish, bison, duck, whatever). You aren't going to get fat eating vegetables. And you won't get fat eating that small amount of protein.

At restaurants we continue the idea best we can. We like to share two apps or small plates or an app and a salad. Then we split an entree between us. That generally keeps the portion size right and we can come close to a restaurant meal looking like our home meals. You do have to start with the right restaurant to begin with though. I'm not sure you can do it with diner food.

Lastly, walking. My wife's chosen method of getting exercise. She does about 4 miles/day. If she's eating as above and walking, she's been successful in dropping weight at a pretty good clip. ~25 lbs in 3-4 months. Less walking or no appreciable walking equals no weight loss, but no weight gain either.

[bobbyr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunker My Dad, on the other hand, always a heavy, 250lb guy when I was growing up, transformed his dietary intake in his mid-60s with a guide program called "Fit for Life", along with modest exercise (walking, bike riding) and stretching/mobility. Results in 6-months, and within a year, his Doctor began weaning him off the litany of pills he'd been taking for decades. Mid to late 70s now, fit, active, looks great in a suit.

I had great success with Fit for Life about 35 years ago (I think about when the book came out).

My current program is eat what I want (mostly protein and fats, no alchohol) and not eat after 3 pm...except fruit, usually an apple or two. Seems to be working well.

[Tuirc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Choosehappy I also use intermittent fasting and a low carb/processed sugar diet. Reducing sugars takes weight off the middle, reduces bloating. Getting off sugar takes a good 3 weeks. �� I also count calories because no diet will work without restricting calories. I follow Dr. Becky Fitness guidelines for weight loss. She’s got some great free tips and a terrific book on intermittent fasting. https://drbeckyfitness.com/dr-beckys-0123-strategy/

Good point and I did forget the intermittent fasting in my post above. We limit caloric intake to 8 hours per day. That is, we don't consume any appreciable calories before ~12 pm nor after 8 pm. (Generally, it's after 12 and before 7pm). We also don't have much sugar. I won't say no sugar. (No sugary drinks or foods generally, no packaged/processed foods/snacks, but we do drink alcohol and there's sugar in there and hidden sugar in lots of places).

[ddoorn]

Keep flour / sugar and all the foods that contain them to the lowest tolerable minimum levels.

Fasting, either intermittently or full fasting are wonderful ways to reset your body and torch suspicious, inflammatory cells through the magic of autophagy.

Physical activity will tone our bodies, enhance our strength and helps us to lose INCHES, but do very little for losing weight.

The key is consistency and finding physical activity we enjoy. Nobody sticks with the treadmill if they look at it as though it’s the DREADmill!

[Nougat]

I walk 45 - 60 minutes per day with heartbeat in 80-90 range. This is good for burning fat and keeping appetite low for sweets and snacks.

I have treadmill to use when weather does not allow to go out for walk.

[chassis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunker I enjoyed reading this thread's consistent, sensible comments. Seems we've turned a corner away from the crazy, unsustainable fad diets of the 80s into the 90s, and running miles while wearing a trash bag sweat suit before quitting..... and gaining all the weight back. Changing one's dietary habits in a sustainable way, will achieve weight loss all on its own. Adding exercise is a bonus, and also brings its own set of benefits. In my early 50s, I shifted to calorie deficit to cut 25 lbs, and then hold in a calorie "maintenance" mode - somebody else mentioned that term, reference to "MyFitnessPal" website. That's what I use too. Still enjoy doing a lot of cardio, running, and mild weight lifting (for tone/strength not body building), but walking, at a minimum, is a solid enhancement to the baseline strategy of a dietary life change. Don't forget the stretching, which is good to warm those muscles before a walk, and also brings mobility and flexibility benefits. My Mom's a perfect example of the typical adult who never embraced fitness activity, so she has all sorts of aches & pains, couldn't touch her toes if her life depended on it. Chokes down a handful of pills every morning to mask the various symptoms of an in-active lifestyle. My Dad, on the other hand, always a heavy, 250lb guy when I was growing up, transformed his dietary intake in his mid-60s with a guide program called "Fit for Life", along with modest exercise (walking, bike riding) and stretching/mobility. Results in 6-months, and within a year, his Doctor began weaning him off the litany of pills he'd been taking for decades. Mid to late 70s now, fit, active, looks great in a suit. No fad diets and crazy stuff. Keep it simple, and consistent. It works.

Great post.

[GoGolfing]

I started walking 5 - 6 miles 4 or 5 times a week (playing golf). Finding something active that you love to do is the best solution.
Keep it simple:
Weigh yourself at the same time every day.
Calories expended must exceed calories consumed.
Get a Fitbit to keep track of calories expended.
Use the Fitbit app to input calories consumed.
Make sure there is a significant gap (500 or more calories) between calories expended and consumed every day. Fitbit has charts for this in its app. The faster you want to lose weight the bigger that gap needs to be.
I lost 40 lbs in 2021. As the weight came off it became harder to create large gaps between calories consumed/expended. I'm hoping to lose 20 more lbs in 2022, but realize it will be much slower because my smaller body doesn't expend as many calories for maintenance. I'm also not willing to eat less than 1500 calories per day - it just feels too depriving. So I'm planning on expending 2000 - 2500 calories per day and eating ~1500 calories per day. Should be able to shed the last 20 pounds over the course of the year by following this.

[qwerty3656]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddoorn Keep flour / sugar and all the foods that contain them to the lowest tolerable minimum levels. Fasting, either intermittently or full fasting are wonderful ways to reset your body and torch suspicious, inflammatory cells through the magic of autophagy. Physical activity will tone our bodies, enhance our strength and helps us to lose INCHES, but do very little for losing weight. The key is consistency and finding physical activity we enjoy. Nobody sticks with the treadmill if they look at it as though it’s the DREADmill!

Can confirm - with fasting and [periodically] doing low carb, I've lost a bunch of weight and gotten much healthier.

[PaPa-T]

I did a low carb diet and walking 10000 steps each day. Swing your elbows back as far as possible. The most weight was lost when I was most hydrated. Drink all the water you can. There is a scale that will help you track your hydration level... really cool it reads it and muscle mass and hydration levels from you bare ft. Change your protein every day and allway build in a cheat day once a week. Good luck!

[Choosehappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaPa-T I did a low carb diet and walking 10000 steps each day. Swing your elbows back as far as possible. The most weight was lost when I was most hydrated. Drink all the water you can. There is a scale that will help you track your hydration level... really cool it reads it and muscle mass and hydration levels from you bare ft. Change your protein every day and allway build in a cheat day once a week. Good luck!

I definitely agree with the cheat day, especially if you do daily intermittent fasting. I’ve found with fasting that I hit a plateau occasionally which requires you take a break to shake things up. Also, for you coffee drinkers, you CAN have a tablespoon of whipping cream in your coffee and it won’t break your fast (no sugar and less than 50 calories).