walking...

[Tinkabee]

I need some info.


I'm in a job where i'm walking 7-10miles a day. I have been since xmas but haven't really lost any weight (i hadn't intended to anyway). I'm worried that the reason i havent lost weight is because my body is messed up because surely if i now stop doing this amount of walking a day i'll gain loads of weight? or is it simply that walking isn't intense enough or muscle building enough to aid weight loss? :hyper: <---- i love him!

[otter]

7-10 miles is a lot of walking to be doing each day, walking isn't that intensive to loose that much weight, although it can help keep you fit, it mostly tones your muscles. if you want to loose weight, you need to concentrate on the amount of food you are consuming not just exercise. if you are eating quite a bit as well as walking you are more likely to build muscle. that will make your weight increase because muscle mass is heavier than fat in the body. so ironically, if you do stop that amount of walking, and may be walk less - you might not put on that much weight at all, providing that the amount you are eating doesn't go up.
and also: muscle building enough to aid weight loss
muscle building and weight loss cannot happen at the same time. you can tone your muscles, but not build them as you are loosing weight.

[Kermit]

Muscles weight more than fat.

Walking is good exercise, actually, you can burn a lot of calories walking, and muscle tone and definiton is greatly aided by lots of walking. But if you turn fat into muscle you will probably maintain weight, or even increase weight, but your fat levels wioll; be lower. That's what you should focus on.

[nicebutdim23]

ive always been told that you need to walk at a fast enough rate to make you sweaty and slightly breathless and increase your heart rate in order for it to have any impact on fat stores???

[satehen]

Muscles weighs more than fat, i'd stop worrying about the scales and get out the tape measure instead!

[Kentish]

ive always been told that you need to walk at a fast enough rate to make you sweaty and slightly breathless and increase your heart rate in order for it to have any impact on fat stores???
Any exercise will impact your fat stores simply by increasing your energy requirement, but increasing your heart rate to the point of becoming breathless will improve your fitness.

Walking 7-10 miles a day is good. If you want to lose weight, walk more. If you're happy with your weight, stop worrying.

[Tinkabee]

oh don't get me wrong. its not that i'm worried about losing weight. i'm worried about gaining should i stop my present job and go into something more sedentry! :hyper: :hyper:

[morrocan roll]

traffic warden!

[Tinkabee]

traffic warden!



i resent that :eek2:



i'm a care worker! :D

[olaola]

dont want to alarm you but my withdrawal systems of excerises are very noticelable. I used to be very musular but i broke my leg a month ago, so it hasnt had any exercise for that time and its already gone all flabby and thin. I cnt see any difference when i tense it because its so flabby

but thats obviously a much more extreme case than urs

[limehead]

7-10 miles is a lot of walking to be doing each day, walking isn't that intensive to loose that much weight, although it can help keep you fit, it mostly tones your muscles. if you want to loose weight, you need to concentrate on the amount of food you are consuming not just exercise. if you are eating quite a bit as well as walking you are more likely to build muscle. that will make your weight increase because muscle mass is heavier than fat in the body. so ironically, if you do stop that amount of walking, and may be walk less - you might not put on that much weight at all, providing that the amount you are eating doesn't go up.
and also:
muscle building and weight loss cannot happen at the same time. you can tone your muscles, but not build them as you are loosing weight.

Walking can be intense and you can lose alot of weight from walking, but it really depends if you are dawdling, strolling, walking, or fast walking. I would expect in general someone to lose weight walking this amount - however if you are walking this amount very sedendarily through retail work, traffic warden etc then I don't think your body would change much from combined effects of weight loss and muscle gain in minimal form.

I worked in retail 3 years - on my feet 7 + hours per day - I never sat, I wondered around 80% of the time, ran about 20% of time - the 80% was not fast walking or exerting myself. I had back ache, leg ache etc - and I put on weight from what I weighed prior to the job. This I put down ,to feeling knackered & achey all the time from standing - and compensating with food on my breaks. Another example of this is I worked 3 jobs for around a year e.g. office job (9-5 Mon-fri) then bar work 3 nights a week (7-2) and Sundays - data input 8 hrs. I put on weight doing these 3 jobs as I ate, whenever I could, to give me what I thought was energy...... I never had time to think what I was eating - and I ate crap. I also did not drive at the time and walked probably 20 miles plus a week....and still put on weight!

Questions I would ask myself in your situation to elimiate anything the doctor should help you with is:
Did I weight myself before I started the different the job? (if you last weighed yourself a month or two before this may be affecting your view that you have not lost weight)
Was I doing something equivalent in activity before?
Am I eating more - as I feel I need to from the extra exercise etc?
Am I eating differently due to my job / new lifestyle? e.g. (a pasty on the move in the morning, instead of the previous Weetabix at home... etc)
Do my clothes fit different? e.g. (smaller on waist (lost weight) larger on calves (gained muscle) )etc
Do I feel different? e.g. more toned, healthier etc
Can I qualify 7-10 miles per day walking? e.g. (do you have a pedometre? -however they are not that accurate!)

when you find out why your body is reacting the way it is to your job change - then you can decide for yourself if you should change this to a sedentary job. One bit of advice about a sedentary jobs though - you will get little exercise as part of your work - BUT whether you overeat is generally due to your interest in your job / boredom levels - you can also over eat in any job. You need to compensate with exercise anyhow - its up to you whether you make the time to exercise in your life outside of a sedentary job......

Anyhows, I hope maybe my post will highlight some things you can look at for yourself to pinpoint the problem for you

[groovechampion]

can help keep you fit, it mostly tones your muscles.

Toning is a meaningless term.

You can lose fat to make your muscles more visible, you cant "tone" your muscles.

[Kentish]

Toning is a meaningless term.

You can lose fat to make your muscles more visible, you cant "tone" your muscles.
Tone isn't a meaningless term. Ask a physiotherapist.

You're talking about muscle definition.

[soraliah]

if you are walking for that amount every day you SHOULD be losing weight.. it just depends on how much you are eating..
ive just decided to lose some weight and i go for a walk every day, do a few situps etc at night AND eat healthily during the day and ive already lost 6 pounds over the last week. as long as you exercise AND eat healthily you should lose weight easily