I agree either is better than neither. I suppose what is ‘easier’ is pretty subjective. But if we start talking about how the entire issue of weight loss boils down to wrestling with your mind and not actually your body, despite appearances, we’ll get off the topic of walking.
I suppose people who are out of shape that want to get in shape should not expect it to be all that easy. However, in my experience there is a fitness level at which exercise becomes pleasurable. I doubt people will regret it once they get there.
Not in my experience there isn’t. I invariably feel worse after strenuous, gym-like exercise, FWIW. I control my weight through “watching what I eat”, “walking”, and “a balanced diet”, and so far that’s working very well for me.
I’m glad it’s working!
I’m staying fit through long-distance running and yoga. The yoga classes incorporate a meditational aspect in which (among other things) they encourage you to kind of withdraw from your senses and observe your body’s reactions rather than identifying with them. Then they get you doing things you don’t expect to have the endurance or ability to do. In a nutshell, staying focused reveals that a lot of body signals are just messages- you aren’t hurting yourself- and you can go on. Get distracted though and you can panic, and in any case suddenly you can’t do it. It’s pretty common. But walking out of there I am usually higher than a kite
Running does something similar, though it seems to be in a different way, different happy chemicals or something (and it doesn’t work the kinks out, though it does get the snot out). However, I have had a chronic foot injury and was sidelined from running for a long time. I’m only now getting back to it, and my podiatrist has taken over my running program. For now it actually involves more walking than running- doctors orders. It’ll be months before I get back to what I was doing before, but the Dr. insists that I not drop the walking portion of the program- ever! Well, this lighter program doesn’t have the same effect at all, it is maybe a little stress reliever at best, but I am happy to have my foot back.
I also live on a steep hill. It is absolutely exercise. Just recently a colleague of mine lost quite a bit of weight. She did three things: ate less, made better food choices and walked 45 minutes per day every day. I am guessing she lost close to 40lbs. It took her one year and she has kept it off. She has continued with her daily walks.
Walking is a great exercise for your cardiovascular system, but its not going to help you lose much weight even if you do it for 45 minutes.
A 150-pound person burns 102 calories walking 2 mph for 45 minutes and 168 calories walking 3 mph. Even a faster pace of 4 mph only burns a measly 255 calories. I do interval training on my treadmill and walk at 5 mph varying between a 3% and 10% incline for 45 minutes and still only burn a crummy 600 calories.
Let’s say you really push yourself and walk at a 4 mph pace. A medium glazed donut measuring about 4 inches across contains 255 calories, so you zero out your 45 minute walk with one lousy food choice.
Your friend was right to eat less and make good food choices. That is how one loses weight.
