Walking can help you lose weight. How much weight you lose depends on your effort, speed, time spent walking and weight. Walking isn't as good a short-term weight-loss exercise as bicycling, running and other exercises, but the ease of walking gives you many opportunities to lose weight without formally exercising. Altering your daily schedule so you drive less and walk more can help you lose a lot of weight, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking."
Recommendations
You should burn at least 2,000 calories per week to become fit, according to exercise expert Dr. Dean Ornish. This is the equivalent of four-sevenths of a pound, because you need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound. Ornish wrote that walking four miles in one hour five days a week burns 2,000 calories weekly. Spreading the 20 miles over seven days will result in a loss of 333 calories or almost one-tenth of a pound per day. If you walked four miles in one hour every day, you would lose 400 calories or slightly more than one-ninth of a pound per day.
Effort
Superior athletes might not burn as many calories walking fast as the average person, because it's so easy for them that their heart rate might not rise. When your heart rate increases, you need more oxygen. The greater amount of oxygen causes you to burn more calories. Most people burn more calories when they walk faster, because walking faster usually requires more effort and a higher heart rate. The average 150-pound person burns 258 calories per hour walking 3 mph, 374 calories per hour walking 4 mph and 586 calories per hour walking 5 mph, according to "The Complete Guide to Walking." Thus, a 150-pound individual walking one hour per day will lose about one-fourteenth of a pound per day walking 3 mph, just over one-tenth of a pound daily walking 4 mph and about one-sixth of a pound daily walking 5 mph.
Weight
Heavier people lose more weight walking than lighter people. A 200-pound person walking one hour burns 348 calories walking 3 mph, 500 calories walking 4 mph and 782 calories walking 5 mph. This individual loses about one-tenth of a pound per day walking 3 mph, one-seventh of a pound daily walking 4 mph and almost one-quarter of a pound daily walking 5 mph. A 125-pound person walking one hour burns 216 calories walking 3 mph, 312 calories walking 4 mph and 490 calories walking 5 mph. This individual loses about one-sixteenth of a pound per day walking 3 mph, about one-eleventh of a pound daily walking 4 mph and about one-seventh of a pound daily walking 5 mph.
Comparisons
Ornish compared six exercises, including walking, in his analysis of how much exercise requires you to burn 2,000 calories per week. You need to run three miles in 30 minutes six times, swim for 30 minutes six times, play singles tennis for one hour five times, cross-country ski for 30 minutes six times or aerobic dance for 40 minutes five times.
References
- "Harvard Heart Letter"; Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights; July 2004
- "The Complete Guide to Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2008
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
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