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Walking As A Method To Lose Weight

June 9, 2010 by dietsan5  
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Lose weight walkingBy burning more calories than you take in, you can lose weight. This can be accomplished by exercising – even walking.  One fantastic way to get a calorie deficit is to walk for exercise.  Walking increases your oxygen flow, heart rate,  and blood circulation, as well as boosts your metabolism.  At the same time, muscles throughout your body are activated, promoting the burning of fat and calories.

Establishing good walking habits is critical for weight loss.  Be sure to make time in your schedule for walking – ideally, two 15-30 minute walking sessions a day.  A great way to start the day is with a walk, before breakfast. This enables your body to burn through its stored fat reserves.  Aim to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.
Walking and weight loss

For optimal burning of stored body fat and increased metabolism, try to walk each time for at least 30 minutes (ideally one hour).  Your goal should be to walk a 13 minute (or less) mile.  Does this seem fast? You might have to almost racewalk!  Wearing a pair of high quality walking shoes is critical.  Also remember that before weight loss can be achieved, you must concentrate on a perfect balance of calories.  That means the total number of calories you take in daily versus the total amount burnt up walking.  Hence, the latter must be greater than the former.

As well, you need to trick your body into burning through your fat reserves, rather than just burning sugars.  This will help increase your basal metabolism and build muscle.  An increased metabolism will help you burn more calories through the day.  It all starts with stretching before setting out on your walk.   Stretching helps wake up your muscles and prepare them for a workout. When you begin your walk, go slowly for 5-10 minutes.  Then move into a more brisk pace.

Challenge yourself on your walks

After you’ve been walking steadily for a few weeks you’ll want to gradually make your walking session more progressive.  This means slowly increasing the intensity of your workouts.   You should gradually increase your exercise workload, so that your body can continue to adapt to more a challenging pace.

To accelerate weight loss, you may want to consider making your walks more physically intensive.  You can do this in a variety of ways. You can walk uphill at times, or even climb stairs.  Try wearing fitness walking shoes, like MBT Shoes.  Running for short jaunts, like for 30 second or one minute periods or carrying a backpack with some weight in it will make your exercises more physically demanding and increase the number of calories you burn.  Weight vests are also available for more balanced and consistent weight distribution.  Never add more than 10 pounds to your weight.  Too much weight can bog you down and lead to injury.


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