Walk to lose weigh

kellyshell

Hi all

First time posting in this section. I need to lose weight but hurt my back. Doc said walking will help ease it out but I'm wondering will the walking also help to lose weight??

Diet is good just like a drink or three

Thanks

Alf Veedersane

It's better than not walking.

The key to losing weight is diet though.

kellyshell

Thanks Alf

Diet would be pretty good 80% of the time. I gained the weight after I hurt my back so wondering if it will help the weight come of as i am limited to what exercise can be done.

Thanks again

Alf Veedersane

kellyshell wrote: »

Thanks Alf

Diet would be pretty good 80% of the time. I gained the weight after I hurt my back so wondering if it will help the weight come of as i am limited to what exercise can be done.

Thanks again

It won't burn a huge amount of calories or anything but any walking is a damn sight better than doing nothing.

afatbollix

Thought about swimming? Wouldn't be so tough on your back.

syklops

Last year I replaced my lunch of a sandwich for a chicken salad, and walked home from work every day(~25 mins), and the weight fell off.

I don't recommend swimming if you hurt your back as bad form could exacerbate it.

MrStuffins

Walking is great for losing weight if you wanna take it slow and steady.

If you're breaking even on calories every day and do about 90 mins walking each day, you could drop approx 1 lb per week (depending on your BMR etc)

Walking helped me lose a lot of weight. I still walk to and from work every day, approx 10 miles a day.

twisted.trax

I used to walk everyday last Summer to try lose weight. Used to walk about 4 miles in an hour and to be honest I did not notice a huge amount of weight loss but my fitness improved hugely and now this year i started training again but ran instead of walking since my fitness had improved and the weight started falling off me. For me I thought of walking as a stepping stone to jogging and then from jogging to running. But if you had back problems I would take it really really slow as back problems can be very tricky.

That is just my 2 cents

kellyshell

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Have joined the gym for thread mill and Pilates now just need to stop being embarrassed to go!

Lisha

I found Pilates amazing to help me manage a back injury yrs ago. Be sure instructor knows your medical history and listen to your body. Walking will help back in long run .

As others have said diet is main key to weight loss. Minimise carbs and go for brown versions as much as you can.
Portion control is the way to go.

When I'm walking I'm less likely to snack poorly (make poor food choices)as I see it as squandering the good I've done by exercising. So for me walking has a psychological impact on weight loss.

Best of luck with it

ford2600

kellyshell wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Have joined the gym for thread mill and Pilates now just need to stop being embarrassed to go!

Embarrased for what? For improving your health, well being and how you feel about yourself?

Just do it. Set goals reach them, reward yourself a little, repeat.

Tune out the negative vibes from people who are most likely challenged by you doing something for yourself.

You'll probably get best results from a mix of cardio and weights(depending on your back of course). Get a handle on diet is critical, get good sleep, drink plenty water and reduce stress as much as possible.

Best of luck

kellyshell

So glad to hear Pilates has helped somebody else!! Was a little nervous it would do damage because my back is very bad.

Iv almost cut all carbs out but if I'm honest I love beer and wine:) (a girl has to live!).

Am aiming to hit the treadmill in the morning and I know once I get there I will be fine.

All advice truly appreciated

ShadowHearth

Walking helps a lot, I am walking 5+ miles each day right now. According to runkeeper app I burn 500++ calories.
And as annoying as it might sound, you will still have to implement healthy diet for it to work properly.

First Up

You will burn the same amount of calories walking as running. What counts is the distance covered, not the speed.
So walking 5 miles is as effective as running 5 miles. It's just that walking it takes longer.

Chancer3001

Really? I dunno about that....

Anyways, you should read david Mitchell's book (the comedian)

It's about how walking helped him lose weight!

First Up

Chancer3001 wrote: »

Really? I dunno about that....

Anyways, you should read david Mitchell's book (the comedian)

It's about how walking helped him lose weight!

Well you do now.

Alf Veedersane

First Up wrote: »

You will burn the same amount of calories walking as running. What counts is the distance covered, not the speed.
So walking 5 miles is as effective as running 5 miles. It's just that walking it takes longer.

I read a study conducted in 2012 which compared the energy expenditure of 15 men and 15 women (aged ~ 18-24). They walked 1600m at 86m/min one day and ran at 160m/min another day. They sat quietly and rested for 30 mins after each.

Energy expenditure was 463.34 ± 80.38 kilojoules for the walk and 664.00 ± 149.66 kilojoules for the run. Postexercise energy expenditure returned to resting values 10 minutes after the walk and 15 minutes after the run.

That said, it's a moot point as any exercise will benefit the OP and the OP isn't in a position to run.

First Up

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I read a study conducted in 2012 which compared the energy expenditure of 15 men and 15 women (aged ~ 18-24). They walked 1600m at 86m/min one day and ran at 160m/min another day. They sat quietly and rested for 30 mins after each.

Energy expenditure was 463.34 ± 80.38 kilojoules for the walk and 664.00 ± 149.66 kilojoules for the run. Postexercise energy expenditure returned to resting values 10 minutes after the walk and 15 minutes after the run.

That said, it's a moot point as any exercise will benefit the OP and the OP isn't in a position to run.

That one study is quoted in hundreds of papers and articles but it seems to have been the only such study. Of course running brings additional benefits (heart rate, muscle building and post exercise metabolism). I've run competitively at distances from 400m to 5,000m so I'm well aware of the affects. I've run a few marathons too.

However for simple calorie consumption there is little or no difference between walking and running over the same ground.

kellyshell

Running is not an option at the moment I'm hoping back is strong enough in the next 6 wks to start a fast jog.

Opinions have been a great help and I am delighted I managed 25 mins on thread mill this morning (fast walking)

Alf Veedersane

kellyshell wrote: »

Running is not an option at the moment I'm hoping back is strong enough in the next 6 wks to start a fast jog.

Opinions have been a great help and I am delighted I managed 25 mins on thread mill this morning (fast walking)

Good stuff. Play around with the incline as well to make it harder on yourself.

kellyshell

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Good stuff. Play around with the incline as well to make it harder on yourself.

Will try that tomorrow morning!

Thanks

Alf Veedersane

kellyshell wrote: »

Will try that tomorrow morning!

Thanks

It will definitely help when yoou find the walking getting easier and easier if you're not in a position to increase to a jog.

First Up

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It will definitely help when yoou find the walking getting easier and easier if you're not in a position to increase to a jog.

A 2% incline is usually suggested to make running on a treadmill the equivalent of running outside so much the same for walking. However a 5% incline would really add to a walk.

Alf Veedersane

First Up wrote: »

A 2% incline is usually suggested to make running on a treadmill the equivalent of running outside so much the same for walking. However a 5% incline would really add to a walk.

I'd thought it was 1%...but 5% really ups the effort of a walk.

traprunner

Walking will help you lose weight. From experience a 45 min walk at approx 75% of your max heart rate first thing in the morning is best (before breakfast). Combine that with some weights and it'll make a huge difference. Diet is a huge part and lowering carb intake is important.

jinxremoving

Try pilates as well. Between yoga and pilates i strengthened muscles in my knee,ankle and lower back. All of which were prone to injury before. A good instructor who knows your history is important. Best of luck

First Up

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'd thought it was 1%...but 5% really ups the effort of a walk.

Opinions differ on that too but after experimentation and swapping experience, I think 1% under-compensates. I've seen estimates of 19 seconds a mile per % (at around 7-7.5 pace) but I think that's too much. 5% when running would be very hard but could be done walking.

Mellor

First Up wrote: »

You will burn the same amount of calories walking as running. What counts is the distance covered, not the speed.
So walking 5 miles is as effective as running 5 miles. It's just that walking it takes longer.

If we were talking jogging verses running, I'd agree with you. It's the distance that matters. A rule of thumb I use is "1 calories per kg (bodyweight) per KM".
So an 80kg man burns 400 cals for a 5km run, not matter if he runs at 9km/h or 13km/h.

However, walking appears to be more efficient at covering distance. For a single session it might not be much though. I'd still recommend progressing to jogging when possible, simply because you'll cover a greater distance per session.

rubadub

I cycle or walk everywhere I can. I would never "go for a walk" as in walking solely for exercise. I cycle to work, walk to the shops etc, always a purpose. It all ads up, cycling is a faster way to get to many places these days, I also go to nearby towns I would never bother driving to due to difficulty of parking.

First Up

Mellor wrote: »

If we were talking jogging verses running, I'd agree with you. It's the distance that matters. A rule of thumb I use is "1 calories per kg (bodyweight) per KM".
So an 80kg man burns 400 cals for a 5km run, not matter if he runs at 9km/h or 13km/h.

However, walking appears to be more efficient at covering distance. For a single session it might not be much though. I'd still recommend progressing to jogging when possible, simply because you'll cover a greater distance per session.

Assuming you are devoting the same amount of time to the session - yes. Speed does make a difference but not all that much. Running (or jogging) a ten minute mile burns the same calories as a six minute mile and a fast walk (13-15 minute mile) is almost the same.

There's a few things to consider in weighing up walking versus running (jogging is just slow running). The most important is total miles covered so the time available is important. However someone who is not used to running may need more recovery time (as well as have exposure to injury) so a consistent regime of getting in a manageable 4 miles walk every day would be better than attempting 4 mile runs but only managing them three times a week or missing a spell through injury.

When training for long distance (e.g. marathons) the length of the longest run is also important but for someone just trying to lose weight, a consistent 4 miler every day will do fine.

There is also the stuff about walking burning more fat than running (as running burns more carbs than fat) but that is getting into unnecessary detail. The bottom line is still to think in terms of distance rather than duration.

thejaguar

My 2 cents:

Pilates is excellent - but make sure the instructor is aware of your back problem.
It might be worth looking into Reformer Pilates - it's especially good for back problems.

As for the walking, as mentioned above any exercise will help you to shift the weight. I use MyFitnessPal to track my diet and my exercise, so I can clearly see whether I'm eating too much or too little (very rare).

Best of luck.