Hello Everybody,
Happy New Year. Now that you have enjoyed Christmas, and probably put on weight as a result, you should think about getting back to your walking for weight loss program. But how much weight can you lose by walking anyway?
An average man needs 2500 calories a day and a woman 2000. But this depends on lifestyle. A sedentary man weighing 145 pounds needs just 1950 calories and if he is moderately active 2250. A sedentary woman of the same weight will need 1770 calories and if moderately active 2065. It is fairly obvious that if we are just sitting around we use less energy, the problem is that we are likely to be snacking as well.
So how many calories can we burn off by walking? If he or she walks at 3 miles an hour our 145 pound person will burn off 4 calories a minute. That is fine, but how much are they trying to burn off?
A grande Cappuccino and a butter croissant at Starbucks provides 560 calories. That is around a quarter of our daily needs and it is only 10 o’ clock in the morning. Worse, if we decide to walk the calories off it will take well over two hours and we will have covered six miles. We will then be very hungry and wanting a big lunch.
What all this is showing is that walking is not enough. A couple of miles a day is excellent, it does burn off calories and it certainly improves fitness levels. But you do have to eat a healthy diet as well, and coffee and croissant in the coffee shop and maybe a sandwich and another coffee at lunchtime is not a healthy diet.
To lose one or two pounds a week you will need to cut down on 300-500 calories a day. As it happens that is close to our grande Cappuccino and butter croissant at Starbucks. Replace those with a black coffee, preferably without sugar, and you are doing well.
If you make a few other changes to your diet you will be doing even better. Cut alcohol consumption to a maximum of one small glass of wine a day with a meal. Do not drink fizzy drinks. Leave out sugar in tea or coffee and, if you must have milk in it, use skimmed milk or Soya milk. Prepare your own lunchtime sandwiches so that you can use less butter and mayonnaise. You may also wish to eat fewer egg sandwiches to minimise your cholesterol level. These are just a few things that will help you lose weight without a massive lifestyle change.
But do keep up your walking. A walking for weight loss program really does work and it has many more benefits than just weight loss. For Seniors, or people living alone, it can give an opportunity to join a walking group and make new friends along the way. If you have access to the countryside there is always lot to do and see as the seasons change. In towns and cities there is plenty to explore. So not only will you be enjoying 2010, but keeping fit as well. I don’t think Starbucks will mind too much if they see you less often.
See you soon,
Peter Stockwell
1 January 2010
Photo. Cl_thic (Flickr)
Add A Comment