Walk Talk Series
Day 13 – Walking and Weight loss
Walking Successes
What successes can you note with your walking – are you able to walk further, walk easier?
Body Check
If a recommended workout is too intense, or too many miles, scale it back to meet your body’s needs. And, if you feel like you can do more, feel free to add mileage or extend your workout as needed.
Walking and Weight Loss
Have you started to see some results from your walking? I am sure you are feeling some results by now. You may be wondering how much weight you can expect to lose by walking. The real question you should be asking is how many calories should I burn per day with walking? Our magic numbers is going to be from 250 – 500 calories. Having calorie deficit of 500 per day you end up losing one pound of pure fat per week. Since 3500 calories = a pound of fat. If you also add your efforts from reducing your calories by modifying your diet, you can see a one to two pound weight loss per week.
To give you an idea of how many calories you can burn with just a mile and also for multiple miles of walking per day we have created a chart which shows how many calories you would burn per mile by weight. Those with a higher weight will burn more calories mile than those with less weight because of the fact that it takes more energy to move their particular amount of mass. This is one of the reasons why this program is perfect for those who have a lot of weight to lose to jump start their weight loss before venturing into more intense workouts.
Pacing your walk
One way to check for improvement in your daily walks is by tracking your pace. You can measure your pace during your walks in a couple of different ways:with a pedometer (counting steps per minute), or with time (how long it takes you to walk a mile) or miles per hour.
For this plan, we recommend using the following guidelines to determine your varying paces:
Moderate Pace (130-135 steps per minute, 15-17 minute mile, 3.5-4 mph) 
Brisk Pace (136-141 steps per minute, 13-14 minute mile, 4.1-4.6 mph).
Today’s Walk
- 20-40 minute walk at a comfortable pace, concentrating on your walking form
- Warm up with 5 minutes at a very easy pace
- Stretching 5 minutes
- Now resume your walk at a comfortable pace
- Use your arms
- End with 5 minutes of gentle stretching
Advanced walkers:Same as the others, concentrate on your form.
Wine and Spirits
Alcoholic beverages can be a hidden source of calories, as well as a destroyer of will-power Alcohol lies between carbohydrates and fats in calories. You should count an alcoholic beverage similar to a dessert if you are watching calories. Alcohol also inhibits your ability to stop eating or refuse more helpings. It quiets the reaction that tells you that your stomach is full, so it is easier to overeat. Think of it as a piece of chocolate cake, if you indulge too often you will not lose weight.
