Walking To Lose Weight

Walking is a great way to lose weight for most people. It is enjoyable, easy on the joints and is one of the safest form of exercise. If you follow a strict walking regime you could lose about 0.45kg (1 pound) a week.

The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. Because 3,500 calories equals about 0.45 kilogram of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 0.45kg of fatty tissue. So if you burn 500 calories each day, you would lose about 0.45kg (1 pound) a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

If you find you are not burning enough calories walking at your current level try increasing your daily step count and also reducing your calorie intake through diet.

The number of calories you burn walking is determined by your body weight and walking pace. For instance a 90kg person walking at a brisk pace for 75mins would have walked about 10,000 steps and burnt about 500 calories. This of course varies per person. The best way of determining the calories you burn walking is by getting a pedometer which not only counts your steps but also indicates the number of calories burnt. Increasing your walk pace increases the amount of calories burnt.

The American Council on Exercise estimates that the average person can burn up to 3,500 calories per week by walking 10,000 steps every day.

Walking alone will definitely help you lose weight, the result may not be immediate but take some time to manifest. For the first few weeks you might not lose weight in fact there might be a slight increase but after a while you should notice a steady weekly reduction. You can increase the number of steps beyond the recommended 10,000 for better result.

Adding resistance exercise to your walk routine will help keep you tight and toned during your weight loss. Try walking with arm or ankle weights on some days.

 Source: Culled from Internet fitness sites