A Simple Walking Weight Loss Program
It's a fact that walking for weight loss has to be one of
the most effective, and healthiest ways to lose weight.
While all kinds of exercises produce all kinds of
different, yet positive, health benefits, walking is a
natural form of exercise which stands out from all the rest.
A walking weight loss program is simple to start, easy to
keep going, and can be incredibly effective. While no
single exercise is perfect, and many can provide a range of
health benefits similar to walking, it is very hard to find
a weight loss program of more value when taken as a whole.
No exercise is perfect, and walking is no exception.
It does not build much muscle, does not directly increase
flexibility to any great degree, nor does it necessarily
prepare someone for any specific activity other
than...well...walking.
However, this last point is not necessarily a bad thing.
Many people who started out walking to lose weight or get
healthy have moved on to hiking, running marathons, and a
wide range of other activities. However, it was getting up
and moving, getting fit, losing weight, improving health,
increasing energy, and creating a better self image through
an initial walking weight loss program that got them
started.
Some more great things about walking is that it needs
little in the way of equipment, other than a good pair of
shoes; it requires little space and no real training at
all. Additionally, walking is a natural function of our
lives, and most of us can find ways to simply incorporate
more walking in our lives without creating some formal
workout routine.
In fact, I came up with the bare bones of this article
while lying in bed this morning. Later, while watching
CNN, I saw a story by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, in which he focused
on a woman who had lost 40 lbs and was able to stop taking
her blood pressure medication simply because she started
riding the train into Atlanta and walking several blocks
from the station to her office instead of driving in and
parking nearby!
However, many people are just not sure of what to do, or
what to expect, and want what my wife refers to as a
"recipe". They want to be told how often to walk, how far
and how fast to walk, and what they can expect from
following that recipe. A failure or breakdown in any of
these aspects often leads to the individual dropping out of
their walking weight loss program or not starting in the
first place because it all seems too complicated or too
difficult.
Any exercise program, and walking is no exception, is often
at risk with people new to exercise simply because of
expectations being to high, and knowledge on the part of
the exerciser being too low.
Let's cover the expectations and knowledge part up front
before we get to the subject of establishing a personal
walking weight loss program.
While researchers in a lab environment can establish
averages and baselines for weight loss, burning fat, and
the use of calories, these figures are based on data
obtained from several different participants. This data in
its final form can only represent an overall average of
these many different subjects performing specifically in
the parameters of the trial.
You are one individual whose sidewalk may be different
from the research facility's track and whose parents are
different from those of the subjects in the study. Not
only is your genetic makeup different, but what you had for
breakfast and how long ago you had it is different, as is
your personal level of health and fitness.
Do you see my point?
You cannot directly compare your activity or results to
those of the studies themselves.
On the other hand, the data DO definitely show that regular
walking can help you lose weight and increase your health.
Just because you cannot duplicate the results of a study
exactly, or even perform the program followed by the
participants exactly, does not mean that you should give up
on the idea of creating your own walking weight loss
program.
Additionally, many such studies have produced the same
basic results, using slightly varying walking programs, so
it is not absolutely necessary to follow any one specific
program to the exclusion of all other. In other words,
when it comes to your walking weight loss program, yours
has as good a chance as being effective for you as theirs
do!
How much weight will you lose and how fast will you lose it?
That is going to depend on many factors as well.
For example, your age, sex, weight, physical condition, and
diet will be just a few of the factors which will come into
play. How often you exercise, how intensely you exercise,
and your long term commitment (extending over many months
or even years) to your walking weight loss program will all
have an impact on your final results.
Is walking the only exercise you need to lose weight?
Not necessarily. While many people can lose all the
"weight" they need to lose through walking, using
resistance exercises to build muscle tissue can cause you
to lose weight more effectively and during periods when you
are not specifically exercising. Walking will build a
small amount of muscle tissue if you are not in shape at
first, but once built, that's all you're going to get and
you will have to walk farther, faster, or more often in
order to burn more calories.
In fact, some people will only be able to burn fat or
calories to a certain level, and may find themselves at a
new, though healthier, level of weight and fitness without
having reached their goals.
This is why you see many people who walk a lot who are
still overweight.
In most cases, they have not modified their eating habits,
they have not added resistance training to their exercise
program, or they have not increased their walking program
by going farther, faster, or by adding hilly terrain or
having challenged themselves to reach a new level.
The good news is, however, that if, like the lady in
Atlanta, you simply begin by finding a way to add some
additional walking to your daily lifestyle, it will not be
immediately necessary to take on the demands of a formal
fitness program. Keep finding ways to add more walking to
your daily activities, however, and you will see a definite
loss of weight and improvement in many health areas.
If you have hesitated to get started because of issues with
time, equipment, and/or because you think you must have
some particular goal or structured process to guide, you,
get over it. You just need a few minutes somewhere in your
day, a good pair of shoes, and an area to walk in, and you
can start your own highly effective walking weight loss
program.
----------------------------------------------------
Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer currently living in
central Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus,
a member of Mensa, and is retired from the U. S. Army after
21 years of service. He has published many of his articles
on diet and weightloss at
http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory .
