All I do is walk

[Anonymous]

I’m a 45 year old overweight working mom and I’d like to get in better shape. For the last few months I’ve walked 10k steps per day and haven’t lost any weight, I’ve recently started reducing sugar and calories and have lost just a couple of pounds. What’s the next step? Lifting weights? Further calorie reduction?

[Anonymous]

How recently and how many pounds? It takes time to lose weight. 1/2 pound per week is normal….

[Anonymous]

Yes, lift weights.

[Anonymous]

Yes, lift weights.

Can you describe your meals?

[Anonymous]

50 and overweight as well.

Walking doesn't tend to help you lose weight (unless you are doing a bizarre amount of it). If your focus is weight loss, you want adjust your diet. That's how you lose weight, not exercise.

Keeping weight off once you lose it is another story -- that's exercise. But I feel like walking is more in the category of "movement" than exercise. It's good to do it, even really important to do it, but it doesn't really cut it as far as the need for exercise goes. I have found what works well for me, and that is an emphasis on strength training, with some cardio. But YMMV (lots of folks these days are saying cardio is useless, but I have heart disease in my family so I'm doing it).

[Anonymous]

Can you ramp up your walking? Add stairs? Hills? Jogging intervals?

Walking for me burns virtually no calories. In an hour, I'd burn just 150 calories just walking moderately. It just doesn't get my heartrate high enough to make a dent.

And I disagree with 17:13 - I lost 50+ pounds and have maintained it for nearly a decade, focusing primarily on increasing my exercise. Exercise raises your metabolism, and as long as you make it a permanent part of your life, it will make a considerable dent in weightloss, if not make it a significant factor. For me, exercise was more important than a perfect diet.

[Anonymous]

Agree, diet is the most impactful on weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Disagree, walking can definitely help you lose weight if you're walking at a good clip. Are you breathing hard or having a conversation with a friend as you stroll: aim for the breathing hard! And, cut your calories and drink a ton of water

[Anonymous]

For those who say walking isn’t enough, look up NEAT.

[Anonymous]

10K isn't enough. Double it plus weights.

[Anonymous]

Carbs, carbs, carbs

[Anonymous]

My exercise class instructor always says "Exercise helps with your health. If you want to lose weight, it's all about nutrition."

Which is her way of saying "Eat less."

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I’ve been trying to stick to 1500 calories per day for the past 2 weeks and I’ve lost 2 pounds. I guess that’s to be expected and this is going to take a while. I will also try some light weights.

[Anonymous]

How tall are you? I’m short and dieting, I aim for 1200 calories. Few carbs, no dairy, no alcohol, no red meat.

[Anonymous]

90% of weight loss starts in the kitchen, so that's why you're getting some results by reducing your sugar intake. You would be surprised what has sugar in it, so learn what to look for in food labels. Anything that includes an ingredient that ends in "...ose" is a sugar. Dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose etc.

Since you seem to enjoy walking why don't you include some intervals in there with sprints. So walk, sprint, walk, sprint. This would help you. I'm a big fan of lifting, that will also go a long way.