If you want to lose weight but haven’t exercised consistently in a while, you may be considering starting a walking program to help you ease into a fitness program. For many people, walking is less intimidating than other forms of exercise because you already know how to do it and it usually doesn’t require a major financial investment or extensive planning to get started. But is walking really enough exercise to help you lose weight?
Weight loss comes from burning more calories than you consume. In order to lose 1 pound of fat, you need to burn about 3,500 more calories than you eat. If you want to lose 1 pound a week, that means burning 500 more calories than you eat every day.
The best way to create this calorie deficiency is to combine dietary changes to eat fewer calories with physical activity to burn more calories. If you’re not eating fewer calories, it may be difficult to burn 3,500 calories a week through walking alone. However, if you’re reducing your calorie intake, burning extra calories through walking can help you lose weight more quickly.
A brisk 30-minute walk burns about 150 calories. Again, if your goal is to lose one pound a week, that means you need to cut about 350 calories from your diet every day in addition to the daily walk. The faster and longer you walk, the more calories you’ll burn. To reach a moderate intensity level, try to reach at least 3 to 4 miles per hour while walking.