Walking Off The Pounds: Did it Just Get Harder?

These studies come out with new data and "thoeries" all the time. The truth is that everyone is different and to keep a sensible weight, everybody has their own "targets".

Classifying people by age is something I hate to see because frankly - you get people over 80 who are as fit as a 60 year old and so on.

Thanks for the information!

And it's just the number of steps you take each day but the speed/intensity. Look, all physical movement can be beneficial, especially if compared to a sendentary lifestyle. But to lose weight by walking, you must get your heart rate up and keep it there for a certain period of time. I've heard that time can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. And you must do this at least 4 days each week, which I would guess to be the minimum.

Personally, I burn an average of 260 calories on the treadmill about 4 days/wk. At that rate, it will take me 2 WEEKS to burn 1 pound. However, I don't get on the treadmill to lose weight; I do it for other health reasons.

The best advice I can give is to stop dieting and exercising to lose weight. Don't become wound up in counting calories and grams of fat and carbs. Stop estimating how many steps you have to take to lose a pound. That's a losing game, no pun intended. Instead, focus on other issues -- enjoy life! -- and the weight will come off.

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Well, 10k is easier to remember than 12 for him and 15 for her or whatever. Isn't 10 such a great number? 10 fingers, 10 toes, 10 commandments.....

I guess I must be abnormal, being that I've lost a great deal of weight (all the way down to 120 or so) and kept it off by walking about a mile a day at a nice, easy strolling pace that lets me scope out the world around me. But, hey, I'm not complaining!

If only we were designing our developments and cities to be more walking-friendly, then we would tend to get at least 5 miles in each day just getting around to work, shop and play! I find it so bizarre that we DRIVE someplace to exercise. :)

All that time walking could be better spent lifting weights or running intervals. The person would lose more weight and better improve fitness, shapeliness and strength.

Then get back home in time to cook dinner from scratch.

Of course, some people can't stand the pain. They make all sorts of excuses.

Too bad for them.

I couldn't press for four months due to rotator cuff pain, but I still pulled and worked legs. A person can still do some lifting, no matter their condition.

BTW, I like to take leisurely walks. They're good for meditation.

Does this study at all take into account walking speed? Or the incline on which one walks?

10,000 steps seems a bit much for an average person, and this is coming from someone who walks quite a bit and does so very quickly. As a matter of fact I'd be curious to see just how much I walk on an average school day going to and fro the bus stops, up, and down the stairs what have you.

People want the easy way - but death doesn't care about convenience.

Low intensity training does nothing. Get your heart rate up and stop being lazy. People day they don't have time to exercise. What do you do when you get home from work? watch tv?

SCal said:
Low intensity training does nothing. Get your heart rate up and stop being lazy. People day they don't have time to exercise. What do you do when you get home from work? watch tv?[...]

Like I said, when they're on death's bed 20 years too soon, their regret won't count for squat.

I do 60 minutes walking on a treadmill at 75-80% of max heart rate four days a week, and weight training two days a week. I've managed to lose 65 pounds since July and I've NEVER walked more than 9000 steps in a day. I have a fairly accurate pedometer, it loses no more than a hundred steps out of 10,000.

Screw studies AND absolutist advice by anonymous online know-it-alls. Find your own optimum zone in a combination that works for you. Make it fun and make it so you can push yourself without pain, and you will have success.

I usually get around 10,000 steps on my pedometer. (I take it off while exercising) I walk the dog 20 minutes in the morning, try to make it a point to park far from the door wherever I go, get up and walk around during the workday, etc.

I've noticed that it's much more difficult to get in 10,000 steps on days when I don't work unless I make a special effort to walk the dog 3-4 times.

Ok, I'm a fitness buff and I even get discouraged when the recomended daily amount of exercise keeps getting higher and higher. I'm starting to feel the same way about working out as I do about eating healthy... can't I just do it and not worry about what some government group or study says? Please?

People are more likely to work toward achievable goals, even if those goals are below some magic number that makes us "healthy". It's a start at least. Stop raising the bar!

Well, not a problem for me, but most the people I know weren't getting the 10,000 in in time for the increase in recommendations :(

I work out on my elliptical machine every day and I also take a mile walk at night with my dog. I do it to keep the extra weight off, but when I first started losing weight, I walked for my only exercise. I used to walk something like 4 miles a day in addition to the walking I did anyway. I definitely lost weight by doing that, but my body did get accustomed to it and I had to step it up after a while.