Walking is a readily accessible, low-risk form of exercise that offers numerous health benefits, including weight loss. Incorporating a daily 5-mile walk into your routine can be a sustainable and effective strategy for shedding pounds and improving your overall well-being.
How Walking Helps with Weight Loss
Walking is a form of physical activity, which is important for weight control because it helps you burn calories. Your body requires energy, measured in calories, to perform essential functions like breathing, moving, and thinking. When you are physically active, you burn more calories than when you are sedentary.
A sedentary lifestyle can contribute to weight gain and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart failure and mortality. Increasing physical activity by walking more often can help you burn more calories and reduce these risks.
A 2021 study measured the number of calories regular walkers or runners burned after walking 1 mile (1.6 km). Results showed that walkers and runners burned, on average, 107 calories. This number will vary, however, depending on your weight, sex, and ethnicity.
Furthermore, the study found that running burned more calories than walking, although the difference was small. This means that both forms of exercise, walking and running, contribute significantly to the number of calories burned and, therefore, weight management.
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Walking burns approximately 65-100 calories per mile for most adults, though this varies significantly based on individual factors, according to Verywell Fit's analysis of walking calorie expenditure. Courtney Meadows, an NASM-certified personal trainer and fitness coach, notes that the average person burns about 100 calories for every mile walked. That means you'd burn roughly 500 calories each day and 3,500 calories in a week - the equivalent of one pound of fat. That's ideal, since it's generally considered safe to lose one to two pounds per week.
The 3-5 Mile Sweet Spot
According to CDC guidelines for weight management through physical activity, most people need to walk 3-5 miles per day (equivalent to 6,000-10,000 steps) to create meaningful weight loss when combined with a sensible diet. Recent research published in GeroScience (2023) confirms that faster walking pace significantly improves cardiovascular health and calorie expenditure.
Yes, walking 3 miles daily can absolutely lead to weight loss, especially for beginners or those currently sedentary. A 155-pound person walking 3 miles at a moderate pace burns approximately 240 calories daily.
Creating a Calorie Deficit
To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume, creating a calorie deficit. To lose 2 pounds weekly through walking requires creating a 7,000-calorie deficit (3,500 calories per pound), which translates to a 1,000-calorie daily deficit. To burn 1,000 calories through exercise alone, you'd need to walk approximately 10-12 miles daily (based on average calorie burn rates). However, the CDC recommends 1-2 pounds per week as a safe, sustainable rate.
Many people unconsciously eat more after starting a walking routine, negating their calorie deficit. It's important to track your food intake for the first few weeks and avoid rewarding walks with high-calorie treats.
Read also: Weight Loss: Walking vs. Swimming Comparison
Walking and Belly Fat Reduction
Walking can help reduce belly fat. Storing a lot of fat around your midsection (abdominal fat) has been linked to an increased risk of diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Men with a waist circumference greater than 40 inches (102 cm) and women with a waist circumference greater than 35 inches (88 cm) are considered to have abdominal obesity, which is considered a health risk.
One of the most effective ways to reduce belly fat is to regularly take part in aerobic exercise, such as walking. Researchers found that at least moderate aerobic activity was beneficial for reducing visceral adipose tissue. Additionally, exercising 3 times per week for 12-16 weeks and performing 30-60 minutes of aerobic activity reduced visceral adipose tissue.
Optimizing Your Walking Routine for Weight Loss
- Start Gradually: Begin with the recommended distance for your activity level.
- Increase Distance: As you get comfortable, aim to increase your distance by about half a mile every one to two weeks to continue challenging your body and drive further results.
- Increase Speed: Faster walking speeds are more effective for weight loss because they burn significantly more total calories in the same amount of time. Research on metabolic equivalents demonstrates that walking speed dramatically affects total energy expenditure. While slower walking uses a higher percentage of fat for fuel, faster walking burns more total calories overall. The percentage difference is notable: leisurely walking burns about 68% fat versus 45% for brisk walking. However, the total calorie burn is what matters most for weight loss.
- Vary Your Routine: Vary your route, pace, and terrain weekly. Cramming your weekly miles into two long weekend walks increases injury risk and may provide less consistency than regular activity.
- Track Precisely: Use DEXA scans to monitor true fat loss.
- Stay Consistent: Walking regularly may help you burn extra calories, develop lean muscle, and reduce belly fat.
Additional Benefits of Walking
Beyond weight loss, consistent physical activity offers other health benefits. If you want to stay fit and healthy, it’s important to exercise regularly. This is because being physically fit can reduce your risk of developing health conditions like heart disease or diabetes. In addition to helping you live a longer and healthier life, exercise can help you manage your weight.
- Preserves Lean Muscle: You often lose some muscle in addition to body fat when you cut calories and lose weight. This can be counterproductive, as muscle is more metabolically active than fat. This means that having more muscle helps you burn more calories each day. Exercise, including walking, can help counter this effect by preserving lean muscle when you lose weight. Preserving lean muscle helps reduce the drop in metabolic rate that often occurs with weight loss, making your results easier to maintain. What’s more, regular exercise can reduce age-related muscle loss, helping you retain more of your muscle strength and function in later years.
- Improves Mood: Exercise is known to boost your mood. Physical activity has been associated with improved mood, decreased feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety, and increased energy levels. It does this by making your brain more sensitive to the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine. These hormones relieve feelings of depression and stimulate the release of endorphins, which make you feel happy. Experiencing an improvement in mood when you walk regularly might also make the habit easier to keep up with than if you walk less frequently. What’s more, some studies have found that finding enjoyment in a physical activity can increase the likelihood that you will continue to participate in it. People tend to exercise less if they do not find the exercises they’re doing enjoyable. Walking is an excellent choice because it’s a moderate-intensity exercise. This is likely to motivate you to walk more rather than give up.
- Helps Maintain Weight Loss: Many people who try weight loss programs end up gaining allor some of their weight back. Regular exercise plays an important role in helping you maintain weight loss. However, you must continuously engage in physical activity if your goal is to keep off weight that you’ve already lost. Studies have found that people who exercise the most are usually more successful at losing a greater amount of weight, whereas people who exercise the least are more likely to regain weight. According to the National Weight Control Registry, 94% of people who have successfully maintained a loss of at least 30 pounds for 1 year or more report increasing physical activity, mainly by walking. Incorporating more walking into your day can help you increase the amount of exercise you do and contribute to your daily activity goals.
Practical Tips for Incorporating More Walking into Your Day
According to the Centers for Disease Control, it’s recommended to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week to maintain a stable weight. In walking terms, that means walking for around 2.5 hours per week (at least 10 minutes at a time) at a brisk pace. Or, walking just 22 minutes per day also satisfies this recommendation. Doing more exercise than this has additional benefits for your health (and your weight) and reduces your risk for disease even further.
There are many ways to increase the amount of walking you do and achieve this target:
Read also: Weight Loss with Indoor Exercises
- Use a fitness tracker to motivate yourself to move more, see your progress, and set step goals.
- Make a habit of taking a brisk walk on your lunch break and/or after dinner.
- Ask a friend to join you for an evening walk.
- Go for a walk with family and kids.
- Walk your dog every day or join a friend on their dog walks.
- Take a walking meeting with a colleague or take work calls while walking, instead of at your desk.
- Do errands, like going to the grocery store, and any shopping on foot and in person instead of curbside pick-up or online shopping.
- Walk to work. If it’s too far, park your car further away or get off your bus a few stops early and walk the rest of the way.
- Try picking new and challenging routes to keep your walks interesting.
- Join a walking group.
Every little bit helps, so start small and try to gradually increase the amount you walk daily.
The Importance of a Healthy Diet
Of course, nutrition plays a key role. Preparing healthy meals will help you burn fat and feel better overall. "It's true when you hear that you cannot outwork a bad diet," Courtney said. "It's all about calories in vs. calories out. In order to lose weight, you need to be eating in a caloric deficit, and you'll want the majority of your meals to be whole foods." That means all the usual suspects are out, including refined carbs, sugar, and packaged foods. Make protein, vegetables, and healthy fats staples on every plate and you should see results.