How Much Should You Walk for Weight Loss?

Do you want to be more active and do more physical activities to support your weight loss? Perhaps you’re only getting started and activities like running or lifting do not appeal to you. And such high-intensity exercises can also cause injuries or illnesses especially if you shock your usually sedentary body. 

So what can you do? The obvious answer is walking. Walking is a low-impact, accessible form of exercise that can help you lose weight, improve your health, and enhance your overall well-being. 

But how much should you walk? Let’s explore why walking is beneficial for weight loss, how much you should walk every day to lose weight, and what else you can do to support your weight loss journey.

Why is walking beneficial for weight loss?

Walking is a simple and effective way to burn calories and increase your daily physical activity. It is a natural form of exercise that can improve your cardiovascular health, boost your metabolism, and increase your muscle tone. 

In addition, walking can help you relieve stress, improve your mood, and increase your energy levels. However, this comes with a caveat: You should also learn how to walk properly. 

This may come as a surprise to everyone but there is a good and bad form when it comes to walking. This involves looking for areas of improvement in your natural walking pattern, straightening your back, watching where your arms fall, checking your foot movement, and slowly increasing pace. We have discussed this in more detail in our previous article about the correct way of walking. 

You must also remember to use proper shoes and socks to prevent blisters and injuries. Ideally, you should use right-fitting, anti-blister socks and shoes that have gel technology or absorb shocks. It may be costly but it's a great investment in the long run. 

How much should I walk every day to lose weight?

The amount of walking you need to do to lose weight depends on various factors, such as your current weight, activity level, and goals. Some studies suggest that one should walk at least 10,000 steps a day while others suggest that about twenty minutes every day will do wonders, especially if you’re just getting started. 

To help you track your progress, you can use a pedometer or a fitness tracker to monitor your daily steps and calories burned. Weight loss programmes like BodySlims also makes use of an online portal for weight loss during the course of the programme. 

To lose more weight, what else should I be doing aside from walking?

Of course, simply walking will not get you anywhere if you’re still living an unhealthy lifestyle. We have to be consistent in all aspects of life, especially in terms of health. 

In addition to walking, there are several other activities you can do to support your weight loss journey. These include:

Eating a healthy and balanced diet

Focus on eating good foods for weight loss. Some examples include whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats. It goes without saying that you should try to avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, and junk food as much as you can. 

Avoid alcohol

Aside from giving you a beer belly when you regularly drink, alcohol also has adverse effects on your health. No matter how much you exercise and eat healthy, a pint every other day will set back your progress. 

Practice mindfulness and meditation

Make sure to make time for mindfulness and meditation to reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost your mental well-being. 

If the mind is in a good state, the body follows. It’s particularly difficult to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and push yourself towards a healthy lifestyle if there are other circumstances in your life that are preventing you from doing so — you may be feeling overwhelmed and stressed so much that is making you gain weight by stress eating and doing other risky behaviours. 

Remember to hydrate 

Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and flush out toxins. This is also especially helpful when you are walking. You can bring a small water bottle while you are out and about so you can take a sip every once in a while if you feel thirsty. 

If it’s a particularly hot day or you’re keeping fit while vacationing in warmer climates, staying hydrated is also important to prevent a heat stroke. 

Seek guidance and join a weight loss programme

By combining walking with a healthy diet, mindfulness, and other activities, you can maximize your weight loss results and achieve your goals. Sounds simple, right? It should be, but we also understand that sometimes, you need guidance and a tried-and-tested framework that can help you achieve your weight loss goals. 

This is where we can come in – at BodySlims, we make sure to put you back in control. We have a unique approach to weight loss which was devised by Europe's premiere peak performance coach. You can take the weight loss programme from anywhere in the world for ten weeks and it has a track record of delivering results four times better than the best medical programmes on the market now.