How many calories will I burn?
Walking one mile burns about 100 calories depending on your weight, intensity and speed. The more you weigh and the more intense your workout, the more calories you will burn.
So, to lose one pound of fat in a week, you would need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit – that’s 500 calories per day. A great way to achieve this is to burn an extra 250 calories through exercise and reduce your food intake by 250 calories each day (trim calories at the end of the day – those are usually the extras we don’t need). This is a safe rate for weight loss and not so drastic that you won’t be able to keep up your new lifestyle!
What should I do if I hit a plateau?
It’s common for people to hit a weight loss plateau. Here are a few things to boost the intensity of your walking:
Walk more hills (or with an incline on a treadmill).
Increase your speed.
Alternate intervals of speed walking and your normal speed.
Increase your distance or time spent walking.
Try not to focus only on walking for weight loss, you will likely not stick with it. Walking improves your health even if you aren’t dropping pounds so focus on ALL of the benefits of walking to keep you motivated.