You’ve probably asked yourself, "how much do I need to walk to lose weight?" Chances are you never got a worthy response. Overall, it’s not only how much should you walk, but how you should go about it. Let’s get down to the details.
10,000 Steps Per Day - Is that enough walking to lose weight?
At this point in your life, you must’ve heard the famous “10,000 steps a day” theory. That’s because every person and their cousin Margaret has been talking about it or doing it. Simply put, many businesses, groups of friends and family members have caught on that 10,000 steps a day equates to 5 miles.
They then proceed to use wearable devices to track their steps and achieve this daily goal in hopes they can slim down, improve their aerobic capacity and boost their health in general. It sounds like it makes sense.
However, nothing else is taken into consideration. For example, you can’t walk off a nachos supreme platter and chimichanga, washed down with a sixer of Modelo and lose a ton of weight.
You’d basically have to walk all day long to undo that damage. The bottom line is, it’s a good idea to walk 10,000 steps a day. But don’t neglect all the rest of your lifestyle choices. Especially those pertaining to your eating habits. More on that later.
Calories in vs Calories Out
Since we’re talking about common themes, let’s not forget about the calories in vs calories out concept. Now we’re getting more in the ballpark of walking distance for weight loss. To give you a quick context on this, you need to burn more calories on a daily basis then you consume. That is the calories in vs calories out part.
If you were to walk and boost your caloric expenditure, while eating less calories, you would lose weight. If you went the other direction with the nachos example, you would likely have one of two scenarios occur.
- You would cancel out the work you did and not lose weight.
- You would still consume more calories then you burned and GAIN weight.
Talk about two steps forward and three steps back! (No pun intended). All and all, if you want to use walking as your main form of exercise for weight loss, all the other factors in your life have to come together. Following a healthy diet with calorie restriction sits high on this list.
How Much to Walk to Lose a 1 lb or More - The Plan
OK, now let’s get into the meat and tomatoes. I am going to give you a complete action plan to follow here. Remember those factors I mentioned above? Well they also include getting a good night’s sleep, integrating some fasting into your life, walking on a regular basis and having the discipline to stick with your walking regimen. Let’s expand on each one of these.
First of all, if you deprive yourself of sleep, you’ll jack up your metabolism and ability to burn calories adequately. Aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night and maintain a regular sleep schedule. None of this sporadic nonsense of going to bed at weird hours all the time. You’re defeating yourself when you do that.
As for fasting, walk in fasted state first thing in the morning for the best results. Go to bed fasted and do not eat late at night! Aim for at least 2 hours of time between your last meal and your head hitting the pillow.
But optimally, wrap up your eating between 5 and 6 pm. If you have the discipline though and REALLY want to lose weight quickly, wrap it up by 3 pm! Game changer alert right there.
Might I also add that eating in a shorter window such as 6 to 8 hours can afford you the ability to eat less overall. Just keep your meals infrequent and modest in size. Game changer number two right there.
Lastly, make sure to get into a regular routine of walking to ensure you get the best results. Since walking is not highly impactful or intense, I suggest you do it every day. Aim for 20 minutes when you first start and gradually increase it until you get to 60 minutes or more.
We were made to walk, so take advantage. You can also do multiple bouts of walking through the day. This is what a lot of the 10,000 steppers do. Accumulated walking time and distance is just as good as one long bout. It might actually be easier for you this way.
Walking for Weight Loss Summary
To finally answer the question of how much should I walk to lose weight, well, just simply get off your ass and walk! Open the door to your house and move one foot in front of the other for an extended period of time.
If it’s raining, wear a waterproof hoodie or bring an umbrella. If it’s sunny and warm, take off your shirt. If it’s snowing, wear boots and find a field to walk in. The snow will act as awesome added resistance.
And in ALL cases, perform intervals where you alternate back and forth from fast to slow speeds. Another hack is to walk up hills as much as possible. Hiking and walking stairs are both forms of walking too. Use them to your advantage if you want to pile on the caloric expenditure.
Have fun, see yourself in possession of that which you want and good luck on your walking journey.
Until next time,
This is Kevin David Rail signing off.
About the Creator: A Life and Career Dedicated to Healthy Living
Kevin David Rail is a Fitness Nutrition Specialist who’s certified through ACSM, ACE, NASM and AFM. He has a BS in Sport Management/Fitness and Wellness and was featured in the documentary films Fasting and The Motivation Factor for his expertise as a health and fitness professional. Kevin has helped thousands of people change their lives, lose weight, transform their bodies and become more motivated to take action.
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