Walking for Weight Loss

Walking might be able to help you lose weight, depending on the its duration and intensity and also what your diet’s like. But consuming fewer calories through dietary changes seems to aid weight loss more effectively than does exercise and physical activity. It’s not mean that physical activity such as walking not important for weight control. But for better result you should combine between diet and exercise.

Katherine Zeratsky from MayoClinic said that the key to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound of fatty tissue. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you’d lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories a day. At that rate, you’d lose about another 1/3 of a pound (0.15 kilogram) a week. The longer walk and the quicker your pace, the more calories you’ll burn. You’ll get the most benefit of physical activity in this case for weight loss, if you do it in moderately intense like walk at 3 to 4 miles per hour. You can gradually build up to that pace if necessary.

Once you’ve lost weight keep exercise to maintain the weight and stay healthy. Studies show that people who maintain their weight loss over the long term get regular physical activity. So keep walking and follow it with healthy diet.