Walking and Weight Loss

[Imasquare]

I have been losing weight for the past few months by a combination of calorie reduction and walking.

When I was walking 2 hours per day I was losing about 3 pounds per week. Last week I increased my walking to 3 hours per day and left my calorie intake unchanged at about 1200. But I only lost 1 pound last week.

What has happened? Have I gained 2 pounds of muscle in my legs? Or has the amount of calories I need to consume to avoid starvation mode been increased by the extra exercise?

I'm not sure whether I should persist with the extra walking or drop back to 2 hours per day...

[zombywoof]

Putting on 2lbs of real lean muscle mass in one week would be essentially impossible for even the most hardcore weightlifter, I think you can safely rule that option out as a walker.

I'm no doctor but I'd suggest sticking to an intake/exercise regimen you can realistically maintain as a "lifestyle" over the long term, lest you put the weight right back on once you come off the intense diet and exercise (as most people do)...good luck!

[Richard Pearse]

Measuring weight changes of 1 pound over a week is meaningless. There are lots of things that change your body weight over the course of a day. I can put on 1 pound by having a drink of water, and I can lose it by going to the toilet.

If, over the course of a month, you find that your average weight loss has been 1 pound per week than it could be because the calorie intake required for your current lower body weight is less than it was when you started your weight loss program. In other words, as you lose weight you need to further reduce your calorie intake in order to continue losing weight. You can also increase the exercise, which is what you have done, but exercise alone burns very little in the way of calories. At my weight of 90 kg, 1 hour of walking burns only about 500 calories.

[Imasquare]

Originally Posted by 1920s Style "Death Ray"

Measuring weight changes of 1 pound over a week is meaningless. There are lots of things that change your body weight over the course of a day. I can put on 1 pound by having a drink of water, and I can lose it by going to the toilet.

Yeah I know that. But I have been consistently losing a minimum of 3 pounds per week for the last 5 weeks. Then, when I increase my exercise I only lose 1 pound.

[Bijou Drains]

I lost weight and I think you tend to lose to a certain point and then it is harder to lose beyond that. I went from 200 to 160 and now that's where I stay which is fine for me. To go below 160 I would have to exercise a lot more which I don't have much time for and 160 is fine for me anyway.

[fluiddruid]

Originally Posted by Imasquare

Yeah I know that. But I have been consistently losing a minimum of 3 pounds per week for the last 5 weeks. Then, when I increase my exercise I only lose 1 pound.

Weekly weigh-ins do not show cause and effect in this way all of the time. You have natural daily fluctuations in your weight. This effect is even worse if you are female (due to cycles) but it happens to everyone. This is basically just water weight.

If you weigh yourself daily and put it on a graph, you will see this natural fluctuation oscillate back and forth over time. Thus, you watch the trend -- you don't watch for the immediate cause and effect in this way. However, if you only weigh yourself once a week, you will not see the pattern as easily. You will not know if you are on the high end or the low end of this oscillation. You say, "Yeah, I know, but why"... that's the reason why. There is no magic reason.

I'll give you an example. I have been on a diet for months, but went on a weekend trip and went off the diet. I weighed myself on Friday and then again on Monday. Based on the scale, I gained 7 pounds over this trip. That would be around 25,000 extra calories that weekend -- and no extra exercise, despite all of the walking and activity. Impossible! By the end of the next week, though, I was back to about the same weight as the previous Friday. Did I have a 25,000 calorie deficit that week? No, I didn't. I probably gained a little and then lost a little, but nowhere near these numbers.

1200 calories for an adult is pretty low, however. I have found such diets to be very difficult to sustain and very likely to cause you to regain weight. Are you working with a professional at all?

[Imasquare]

Originally Posted by fluiddruid

Weekly weigh-ins do not show cause and effect in this way all of the time. You have natural daily fluctuations in your weight. This effect is even worse if you are female (due to cycles) but it happens to everyone. This is basically just water weight.

I guess it must be due to water retention. I have tried to avoid this issue by always weighing myself on the same day of the week right after I wake. Always with an empty bladder and bowel. Also I eat the same things each week to avoid fluctuating fluid levels due to differing salt intake.

Originally Posted by fluiddruid

1200 calories for an adult is pretty low, however. I have found such diets to be very difficult to sustain and very likely to cause you to regain weight. Are you working with a professional at all?

Do you mean that by depriving myself on a low cal diet for several months I may pig out when I reach my goal weight?

I don't really feel that I am being deprived. In fact I feel much healthier than I did when I ate junk food all day and did no exercise. I don't feel hungry and I enjoy my food much more. I no longer have any problem getting up in the morning and my tennis elbow and chronic neck pain have disappeared. And my symptoms of depression have lifted.

Once I reach my goal weight I intend to raise my calorie intake to 2,000 per day and reduce my walking to 1 hour per day. I think that will be very sustainable. There is no way I ever intend to go back to 4,000+ calories per day and no exercise.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by 1920s Style "Death Ray"

At my weight of 90 kg, 1 hour of walking burns only about 500 calories.

And even that seems like a lot, unless you're walking uphill. At a normal pace, you're looking at closer to 250-350 calories per hour for your weight.

[Richard Pearse]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

And even that seems like a lot, unless you're walking uphill. At a normal pace, you're looking at closer to 250-350 calories per hour for your weight.

I was converting my running calories to walking on the assumption that calories burned for distance is much the same regardless of whether you are running or walking. I did over estimate a little, I got 410 calories for 30 minutes/5km run using this website.

Edit: putting walking figures in, I see that you are right, It's about 310 calories.