In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWalking and Weight LossHow Much to Walk7-Day Walking Plan
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Walking and Weight Loss
How Much to Walk
7-Day Walking Plan
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You probably know that walking is a great exercise to support your overall health, from improving your blood sugar levels to bolstering your heart health. But can it help you achieve your weight-loss goals?
Is Walking a Good Enough Form of Exercise?
How Walking Supports Weight Loss
So, what makes this low-impact exercise a great weight-loss tool? Like other types of exercise, walking increases your heart rate and helps your body utilize and burn calories more efficiently.
Additionally, walking can also help reduce appetite. Research has shown that regular physical activity like walking can help improve your sense of fullness, helping you makenutritious food choicesand support healthy weight management.Additionally, walking outdoors in nature has been shown to help reduce stress levels.High levels of stress may increase emotional eating and weight gain.
“Walking increases your energy expenditure from baseline, helping to create a calorie deficit, which is essential for weight loss,” saysMike Masi, a certified personal trainer at Garage Gym Reviews. “Additionally, walking may reduce stress for some people and lower cortisol levels.” Consistently high cortisol levels may increase abdominal fat, which increases your risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
How Much to Walk for Weight Loss
So,how much walkingdo you need to do to lose weight? The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, like walking, per week, which can be broken down into shorter sessions spread across the week.
However, Masi explains that the amount of walking required for weight loss can vary depending on individual factors such as age, fitness level and diet. “For those with an irregular schedule, it may be easier to track your walking minutes throughout the week,” says Masi. “Be sure to brisk-walk at a pace that’s fast enough to raise your heart rate while still being able to carry on a conversation. If you have access to a treadmill, consider manipulating variables such as the elevation to increase the intensity.”
7-Day Walking Plan to Lose Weight
“To lose weight, I recommend walking at least 30 minutes straight every day,” says Mentus. “This approach will help burn an extra 100 to 200 calories when combined with a healthy, well-balanced diet. This would lead to at least 210 minutes of walking a week and an extra 700 to 1,400 calories burned.” However, when it comes to exercise, it’s important to focus not only on calories burned but also on how regularmovement benefits your overall health.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Walk continuously for 30 minutes, aiming to cover as much distance as possible. Maintain a consistent pace throughout the entire walk. If walking outdoors, consider finding a track or path where you can complete laps to track your progress.
Day 4
After a 5-minute easy-paced warmup walk, alternate between a fast-paced walk for 1 minute and a comfortable pace for 2 minutes for 7 sets. Finish your walk with a 3- to 5-minute cooldown walk at a slower pace to gradually lower your heart rate.
Day 5
Day 6
Challenge yourself to walk as far as possible within 30 minutes, aiming to surpass your performance from Day 3. Maintain a brisk pace throughout the entire walk, pushing yourself to sustain the intensity without slowing down.
Day 7
Begin with a 5-minute, easy-paced warmup walk. Then, alternate between a fast-paced walk for 1 minute and a comfortable pace for 1 minute for 10 sets. Finish with a 5-minute cooldown walk to gradually ease your heart rate.
What Happens to Your Body When You Walk 10,000 Steps per Day
The Bottom Line
Walking is a fantastic form of exercise to support your weight-loss journey. When combined with a well-balanced, calorie-conscious diet, walking can help you burn calories, increase your heart rate andreduce stress, all of which support good overall health. The recommended amount of walking to lose weight is 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, or about 30 to 60 minutes daily, five days a week. However, walking even 15 minutes daily can help improve your health and support your weight-loss goals.
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Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Ungvari Z, Fazekas-Pongor V, Csiszar A, Kunutsor SK.The multifaceted benefits of walking for healthy aging: from Blue Zones to molecular mechanisms.Geroscience. 2023;45(6):3211-3239. doi:10.1007/s11357-023-00873-8
Dorling J, Broom DR, Burns SF, et al.Acute and Chronic Effects of Exercise on Appetite, Energy Intake, and Appetite-Related Hormones: The Modulating Effect of Adiposity, Sex, and Habitual Physical Activity.Nutr. 2018;10(9):1140. doi:10.3390/nu10091140
Legrand FD, Jeandet P, Beaumont F, Polidori G.Effects of Outdoor Walking on Positive and Negative Affect: Nature Contact Makes a Big Difference.Front Behav Neurosci. 2022;16:901491. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.901491
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.Key Guidelines.
