Walk your fat off

Will walking help me? Is it a waste of time?  Will I lose weight? Most of my clients ask these questions. And my answer always is… yes! It will help you, it is not a waste of your time and in addition, it is enjoyable and everyone knows how to do it and you don’t need any equipment. Yes, it will help you lose weight when combined with a calorie deficit diet.

Its not just for the number on the scale to go down, walking has a lot of benefits. Research shows that walking helps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It helps to manage stress and decreases anxiety and also decreases symptoms of depression.

But if you are just starting, it is important to start slowly and progressively increase the duration and intensity. Start with a 15 minute walk for a few days, slowly increase it to 30, then 40 till you reach 60 minutes. If 60 minutes at a stretch is not possible, you can split this time into two 30 minutes walk. As you lose weight, you have to increase the intensity of your walks. You can up your pace or walk steep hills etc.  Setting a goal can help you keep motivated. The goal can be to walk 30 minutes a day or hit 5000 steps or walk for 30 minutes twice a day etc.

Few tips

•  Make sure you are hydrated and drink before and after your walk and if needed in between too.
• Cant stress this enough- Always opt for a good pair of sneakers.do not walk with your flip flops.
•  Having a great soundtrack will motivate you to walk faster and you won’t notice you are putting the extra effort. The songs will help you walk longer.
• If going out to walk stops you, there are a lot of walking videos on YouTube. Start walking in your living room. Those are fitness walk which engages more muscle group than walking outside.
• Walking with a friend or spouse  is a fun way to stay active and it really helps to stay motivated.
• Fitness trackers helps  to maintain accountability, it’s a great tool to help us move more and hit our steps for the day.
• Swing your arms to speed up your pace and for a good upper body workout.

If you have never done any sort of workouts or deliberate walking as exercise, starting on this habit can be a little difficult. But start anyway!! Get motivated and start walking. Make it a habit to keep it going.  But always remember, your diet is extremely important when it comes to losing weight. Walking will definitely help you to lose weight if you pair it with a healthy diet.