A sedentary lifestyle does more harm than good to the body system. On the other hand, any form of movement gives a person’s health a huge boost. This is why it is often canvassed that those attempting to lose weight stay active, getting involved in one physical exercise or the other. And, you do not even have to keep turning up at the gym to stay active as you can get some pounds sloughed off by taking a walk. What may not always cross your mind each time you take a walk is the number of calories burned while at it.

However, since every weight loss routine requires some degree of commitment and track-keeping, getting to know the number of calories you burn from every physical activity is no less a necessity. The focus of this article is to discuss how you can burn the caloric equivalence of 5 pounds by walking. Let me, however, be quick to add that this (walking) should only be seen as only a part of your weight loss program – dietary intervention is the other vital aspect.

Understanding the basics

As with every physical activity engaged in during a weight loss program, there are a host of factors that will influence the number of calories you will give off while walking. One of the most crucial factors is your current body weight; it is well established that the higher the body weight is, the higher the number of calories burned during exercises. So, someone that weighs 150 pounds is expected to burn more calories than a 120-pounds individual.

Another factor that will count is the intensity of the exercise – walking in this case – and the hours spent doing the exercise. The intensity of an exercise can be viewed within the context of metabolism. This is because highly intense physical activities tend to increase the rate of metabolism thus increasing the probability of calories being burned.

The different intensity levels for a walk are now highlighted below:

• Slow pace: This is about 2 miles per hour, and it looks more like taking a stroke. Walking at a slow pace for an hour will result in a 180-pounds individual burning around 169 calories.
• Moderate pace: Moderately pace walks will see one moving at 3 miles per hour; this should be your normal walking pace by the way. A 180-pounds person walking at this rate will burn 219 calories after one hour
• Fast pace: This is also called brisk walking, and it is quite good for cardiovascular health. Lest I forget, the pace is around 4 miles per hour, and it is usually difficult to keep talking while walking at this pace.
• Very fast pace: If you intend to take it up a notch, then you consider walking at a very fast pace which is about 4.5 miles per hour – and above.

The table below shows the number of calories burned by people in different weight categories after taking a one-hour walk at varying paces.

Losing those extra pounds by walking

You have to understand that there are a variety of walking styles that can be engaged to lose weight, and these differ in the level of intensity. Before I proceed further; it’s important to let you know that losing 5 pounds by walking in a month will mean that you would have given off 17,500 calories by the end of the month. This would mean burning 625 calories every day considering a 4-week window.

Nevertheless, you do not have to necessarily burn the calories at the same rate as you can walk at different intensity levels for some minutes on different days. This will be particularly helpful for individuals hoping to factor walking into their work schedule as they attempt to lose weight. The table – showing a monthly walk routine – below is prepared with a 250-pounds person in view.

table – showing a month walking routine – below is prepared with a 250-pounds in view.

Going by the plan put up here, a 250-pounds person would have succeeded in sloughing a little over 17,300 calories by the end of the twenty-eightieth day of the month. That said, you don’t have to attempt to complete the walk at a stretch; breaking it down into sessions will be great. Additionally, you should learn to mix the bursts of fast pace and very fast pace walk with a slow walk to catch some breath – however, you choose to do your walk, be careful not to be hard on yourself.

References

Jakicic, J.M., et al. (2019). Physical activity and the prevention of weight gain in adults: A systematic review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 51(6): 1262 – 1269.

La New, J.M., and Borer, K.T. (2022). Effects of walking speed on total and regional body fat in healthy postmenopausal women. Nutrients 14: 627.

Lee, I.M., and Buchner, D.M. (2008). The importance of walking to public health. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 40(7): S512 – S518.

www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-many-steps-better-health