Yes, you can lose weight by simply walking. You can lose more than 20 pounds by walking alone without the need to visit the gym or adopt some specific diet. This simple yet amazing activity can also shape up your muscle and improve your overall health.
Losing Weight by Walking Properly
Two factors that affect the calories burnt while walking are walking place and body weight. Even if you walking with an average speed of four miles per hour, you can burn 400 calories from this activity. You can also adjust the speed based on your preference. You can add walk another 3 miles and burn another 3 calories that day. See how walking is just amazing?
You can use pedometer to help tracking how many calories you burn through walking and manage your schedule. After do it for some time, you will soon realize who easy it is to lose weight by walking and you will surely love this exercise.
Pedometer to Help You Lose Weight
One way that can help you in achieving your expected result is by giving yourself a stimulus. Use pedometer as recommended by The American Medical Association. By using pedometer you can control your weight better and efficiently. Just wear it around hip area, it is not heavy at all. One of the best feature from pedometer is that is can inform you how many steps you take during the say.
By having pedometer or wrist band, you can monitor your exercise progress per day. Some more sophisticated pedometer usually offer you a feature that allow you to check the number of pounds you have lowered and how many calories you have burned. You can see your progress through walking by seeing this information.
How Many Steps Do You Need to Lose Weight?
Everyone might get different result from their walking activity, even when they actually spending the same amount of time or walking through the same distance. Some people might be able to burn a hundred calories in a mile but some other may have to take 2000 steps in a mile to burn calories and lose weight. This is where the pedometer comes into play.
Looking at the pattern below:
♦ 1 mile = 100 calories burned and 2000 steps
♦ 1 pound = 3500 calories
♦ Losing weight of 1 pound per week = 500 calories per day
♦ In order to lose 1 pound in a week, you have to walk 10,000 steps
Maintain Your Interest to Walk
Walking may be the easiest exercise you can do. The only problem with this exercise is that it could be boring and you no longer have passion to walk. Below you can find some tips to keep your interest in walking.
Change the routine and try to make it more exciting.
Ask you families and friend to join your walking activity.
Change your walking track each day at least once every two week. Walking through the same track every single say can be boring.
Walking in various areas such as park, neighborhood and also put on your head set and play your favorite music to accompany your walking activity. This will gives you more energy to reach your goal.
If you can afford it, try to buy a treadmill. This way you can walk while watching your favorite movie or TV program even when the weather is cold
Here are some tips to allow you walking even when you have a busy day:
Park your car away from your destination, then reach your destination by walking.
If you usually using bus when you go out, try to shift it to walking even only half the way.
Don’t use elevators, use stairs instead.
Walk your children to school
Every time you have an opportunity to walk, then walk, don’t use bus or taxi to get to your destination.
Define Walking Style
Define your walking style can help you get optimum result from walking. For example, if you want to walk as an exercise, then you have to keep your eyes 100 feet forward, squeeze your glutes, hold your chin up, and tighten the abdomen in the matching direction with the spine.
How Often Should You Walk?
Before you start doing walking as an exercise, you need to check your condition with the doctor to know if it safe for you to do this activity. If your doctor say that you are in perfect condition to walk, then you can start your walking habit.
When you just started, you can walk 15 to 20 minutes, three days per week. After you get used to it, increase the time to be around 30 to 60 minutes per day.
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