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How to Lose Weight by Walking

 Walking is a part of everyday life. We all use it as a mode of transportation, and some use it as a form of exercise. However, if we compare the number of people in the United States who walk to work with those in, say, Europe, the Europeans greatly outnumber the Americans in walkers. How does this play into their fitness levels you might ask? The Europeans on the whole are slimmer than the average American. Granted, this is also due in part to eating more well-balanced meals and smaller portion sizes, but the walking on a daily basis also contributes to the lack of obesity on the other side of the pond.

To get a good workout from walking, one should first invest in a good pair of walking shoes. If you are going to spend a good deal of time on your feet, you should be comfortable, and the shoes must be supportive. There are a number of shoe shops around which have a special weight bearing meter hooked up to a computer. You simply remove your shoes and stand on the platform to figure out where you put the majority of your weight when you are walking and standing. This will help the shoe salesperson find you shoes that will properly fit your feet, and also suggest an insert to correct any high or low arches that may give you problems after a lot of walking.

Once you have the shoes, you need to mark the trail. Any walking surface is good. Some people prefer paved areas, while others will opt for a walk through the woods. If possible, you should drive the trail you plan to walk to determine exactly how long it is. This will help you with future walking workouts when you need to see if you are making progress in both distance and speed.

Spend several days walking the route you chose and focus on using proper walking technique: head up, back straight, arms at the sides of your body, abdominal core muscles tucked in and tight, and heal strikes the ground before the toe with each step. Once the route is easy and you feel you need more of a challenge, add some weights to your routine. The best to start out with is to carry one one-pound weight in each hand as you walk. This will add enough weight to notice a difference after the workout, but not too much weight so you will become tired after walking for a bit with the weights. After several days of the one-pound weights, you can bump it up to two-pound weights, however, I would not suggest going much higher than that, especially if you are walking a longer distance. Never use ankle weights when walking! The additional weight near the ankle puts additional and unnecessary strain on the knee joint, and will eventually lead to knee problems down the road. Another option to adding weight to your walk is to fill a backpack with water bottles or books and walk with the additional weight spread out on your back.

Once you notice the walking workout is helping you lose some weight, start to challenge yourself. Add an occasional route to your workout that includes some inclines, or change the pace throughout the workout so you can include some interval training. Overall, enjoy yourself, and enjoy walking!
By: SariH
Published: 07/16/08


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6 Posted Comments:

@ 4:54 am 07/17/08 by Rohit Patel
Hey SariH, Thanks for your articles.

I have weight problems as my weight is 68 Kgs and hight is 5.76 feet. My Stomach have lots of fat and it make my shape bad to worst. I found many information about to lossing wight but no change for me. Well you come out with good idea of walking and I do start it slowly depends on time.

Does this method needs any instruction with food? Can I continue same food as I am taking?

I am glad if you come with revert.
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@ 6:12 am 07/18/08 by Nikolai
I'd say any physical activity is great. I had a weight problem (almost solved it at this point) myself. I weighed 120 kg two months ago and now my weight is down to 95 kg. I am pushing to loose 10 more kilograms and think it will take me a month to accomplish that.

How did I loose that much in two months? Well, it is my own "modded Atkins" diet. Actually, I am on a combination of protein + occasional starvation + exercising diet :) Worked miracles for me.
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great article

@ 10:15 pm 07/18/08 by archy22
I liked your article a lot. Great tips to reduce weight.
I believe even breathing exercises also help you reduce some weight.
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Walking Away...

@ 10:52 pm 07/18/08 by Jannie Borg Larsen
Nice thoughts about "just" walking away from excessive fat! I realize that it is not "just" and that it requires determination and stamina. But for most people, this can actually be done. Great tip - thanks!
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@ 8:10 am 08/01/08 by Elma Sandoval
I will swear by walking as an effective means to lose weight. I tried this before and really became very serious about walking almost 2 hours each day and boy did it help me trim down a lot.
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@ 1:30 pm 08/01/08 by L Romano
I love walking. I started doing it more frequently recently and I already feel better.
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