Walking For Weight Loss

Does walking actually help in bringing down the weight of an individual? Can someone tell me more on how walking will help me to lose weight?
(November 1, 2010)

Walking For Fitness And Weight Loss

In order to lose or even gain weight, you need to strike a balance between the number of calories consumed and burned each day. Since it takes 3,500 calories to make one pound, a person can easily lose one pound a week, by burning 500 calories more than what is consumed each day. Hence, the best approach to weight loss is a twofold approach of dieting and exercising. It is first important for you to assess the number of calories you burn each day while performing different activities. Hence if you burn around 1,200 calories each day without exercising, it means that your body requires a minimum of that many calories every day, in order to function properly.


Then, if you need to lose one pound in a week, 500 calories should be reduced from the caloric count that you are supposed to consume each day. While reducing 500 calories only by exercising or just by following a diet, may be difficult for the body. Hence what a fitness expert may recommend is cutting 250 calories from your diet and burning off 250 calories by exercising. It is not difficult to burn 250 calories each day; several people manage to burn off much more, by engaging in a physical activity for barely an hour. However, it is best to choose the form of physical exercise that you are most comfortable with and which is a good calorie burner at the same time. Studies indicate that most people prefer walking for fitness and weight loss purposes. Since there are different styles and forms of walking, it is best to find out about the calories burned walking in each style.

Calories burned walking

There is no definite way to calculate the exact number of calories burned walking, since there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration, like your weight, speed, metabolism, age and gender to some extent. Moreover, the amount of calories burned walking is highly influenced by the track you choose to walk on as well as the walking duration. For example, a person weighing 120 pounds can burn around 68 calories, by walking a mile, at the speed of 2.0 mph. As the speed increases, the person will burn more calories, walking the same distance. The same will burn 87 calories walking for a mile at the speed of 5.0 mph. There are several online calorie calculators that can tell you how many calories you burned walking, once you feed in the required information. However, it is important to remember that the information given on the number of calories burned walking is only a rough estimate.

People who are used to working out at the gym have been known to prefer treadmill walking for weight loss, since there are several weight loss programs that can be selected on the treadmill. Programs that include walking on an incline tend to burn a higher number of calories as compared to walking on a flat surface. Another advantage of walking on the treadmill is that once you enter details of your body weight, it will calculate, your weight, the speed you walked at, the time take, the distance and other such details and give you an estimate of the calories burned walking for that particular session.

Running and jogging for weight loss are excellent too, but these forms of exercise require a higher stamina and more strength than walking does. It is also important to undergo a physical exam before taking up either jogging or running. However, most people can take up walking for fitness and weight loss regardless of their age and levels of fitness. However, people who suffer from arthritis or other serious medical conditions should consult a doctor before adding walking to their regular workout routines.