I’d disagree with that right there. Energy deficit is energy deficit, plain and simple. I find dieting makes me weak and crazy. It’s much easier for me to eat at a maintenance level and let my exercise routine make a 400 calorie deficit.
But when it comes down to it, everybody’s different. Some people do fine on just dieting, some people don’t. I exercise so I don’t have to diet so much.
Ah, I see I made a mistake in my original mesage – I’m running an 850-1000 calorie deficit a day, not a week.
A 1,000 calorie deficit a week isn’t a diet, any more than a Nintendo Game-Watch is equivalent to a PlayStation 2.
There’s another angle: don’t think so much about weight loss; consider rather the build-up of muscle. As muscle is denser than flab, you don’t need to lose weight to slim.
A pedometer is available at Walmart for $3.88
Simply having something like that available to you will give you some feedback on how you’re doing. The guid that comes with it recommends walking 10,000 steps a day. I’m in pretty good shape, just not as good as I was before the kids were born (we spend our waking hours with the kids, don’t wanna waste it at the gym. I lift weights twice a week at 4:oh God: 15: am.)
Do what you think you can sustain. I started excercising by putting an alarm in my pda for tuesdays and thursdays, occasionally I’d miss one, but as long as I left the reminder on, I eventually went back to it.
I’m sorry, but the guy that said walking isn’t excercise is wrong. Walking is activity. Activity burns calories. It is worthwhile in that you’ll either enjoy it, or tire of it and move to a higher level of fitness.
I’d recommend that you work on flexibility too. Stretch out after walking. Sure, the ability to lift heavy things is nice, but I value being able to touch my toes more.
That is what I derrive the most satisfaction from already. My legs are one of few things I like about my body, and walking can only be a good thing in that respect.
One thing I don’t think I mentioned - I’ve always enjoyed walking (I used to walk rather than sit if waiting for a train, for instance) and I can’t believe I never thought of taking a longer route to work before.
P.S. How do those pedometers work? Are they accurate?
Seems to work pretty well. You measure 10 strides, divide by 10 and enter the distance in inches and it’ll let you know how many miles you walk in a day.
Now, is it accurate? That’s hard to say as walking from the bathroom stall to the sink probably isn’t the same stride you use walking purposefully to work, but it’ll let you know from day to day how you’re doing. It appears to be VERY sensitive, measuring strides I’d think were too smooth to register.
Heck, it’s $4!
Well, if you’re willing to spend a bit more money (over 100 bucks) you can get the Garmin Forerunner which tracks your position by satellite to the nearest foot. I have one. Love it.
Also, to go against a previous notion in this thread. If you are going to either exercise OR diet, you are much better off exercising. Obviously you’re better doing both, but I eat what ever I damn well please because I spend a lot of time exercising and (not to toot my own horn) but I’m in very good shape.
I am sure FiveYearLurker is in great shape, and I understand he isn’t necessarily promoting exercise only, but I want to point out that someone who looks like they are in great shape can be a physical timebomb on the inside. Eating whatever you want, even if you look great and feel great, is a good way to find an early grave for many people. Nobody should overlook the impact cholesterol, fat intake, and caloric intake can have on the inner workings of the human body. Obviously family history has a lot to do with this, but it is an important caveat for anyone.
The key, as with anything else, is to find the proper balance of diet and exercise. Crash diets don’t work in the long term, and many actually have a negative health impact. Exercise is incredible, but can also be taken too far if you don’t consider your personal level of fitness.
I think the key advice has already been offered Lobsang. Try to make the walk brisk. Push hard, but don’t do anything that is going to result in injury. Watch what you eat. And most importantly, spend less time online 
If you wish to increase the cardio and weight loss benefits of walking without resorting to jogging/power walking increse on or both of the following:
walking uphill
carry a load
Any load will do - a weight belt, dumbells, even just throwing a few tins of food in the backpack will help. As you adjust to one level of load simply increase it - more uphill bits and/or more load.
Yeah, I overstated my case anyway. I don’t eat whatever I want. I do eat a small portion of whatever I want though. And, I think that’s the key. Have some cheesecake, just don’t eat half a cake.
To answer the OP, I think walking is fine if:
a) your joints can’t take more
b) you are using it as a stepping stone for more vigorous exercise.
c) you are significantly overweight enough that walking IS very vigorous exercise, in which case it should still be a stepping stone because hopefully you will be losing enough weight to where this won’t be the case anymore.
And, if I can do it, anyone can. I’m not naturally in good shape. I was the proverbial “fat kid” until the age of 15 or so when I started making a conscious effort. My wife didn’t believe me till I took out the pictures. I was LARGE. Husky department shopping large.
So, yeah. Walk for awhile. Watch what you eat. Lose fifteen pounds. Then, throw a little jog into your walk. Just a few minutes at first. Then ten minutes. Then a mile. Then two.
The pounds come off.