If you want to achieve weight loss then you must consider your calorie balance. Simply put, if you consume fewer calories by eating and drinking than you expend by physical activity, you will tend to lose weight. Physical activity includes practically everything that you do during the course of your daily routine. You use up calories all the time during the day. Surfing the internet, doing the ironing, watching TV – all of these normal daily activities use up a certain amount of calories.

Your metabolic rate is simply the speed at which you burn calories. Of course, not everybody has the same metabolic rate. We all know some lucky people who seem able to eat whatever they like without piling on the pounds. They probably have a high metabolic rate.

That’s one of the reasons why you should include some element of regular exercise in your weight loss program. Clearly when you exercise you will burn off calories, which is a good thing of course. However, what’s even more important is that, as long as your exercise is conducted on a consistent basis, it will actually raise your metabolic rate. You will use up calories faster than before – even when you’re not exercising – and that could mean that you see improved results, and a lot quicker, than if dieting is all you do to lose weight.

The key thing is consistency. You don’t need to go to the gym and get all hot and sweaty, a low level workout will give you results – if it is performed consistently. Walking for instance, is an extremely effective way to shed a few pounds and generally get in shape. You already know how to do it, it’s cheap – there are no costly monthly membership fees, you can accommodate it in your day to day routine whenever you it suits you best and you don’t need any special training or equipment. It has many health benefits over and above helping you to achieve weight loss and, because it’s a low impact workout, it has a very low risk of injury.

If you want, you can increase the efficiency of your walking workout using the latest design of fitness footwear. You can now purchase specially designed shoes like Skechers Shape Ups, Reebok Easy Tones, MBT’s and Fit flops sandals – all of which use specially designed soles to increase the amount of work carried out by your lower body muscles and to help trim your butt and tone your legs. However, even if you don’t feel the need to try any of these, then do be absolutely certain to get yourself a pair of shoes that are a good fit and are comfortable. If your shoes give you blisters or cause you any discomfort then it will be difficult to keep your walking program on track.

A lot of people ask how many calories walking will burn off. It depends upon your weight. A heavier person will burn more calories per mile than a lighter person – just because they are carrying more weight over the same distance. A rough rule of thumb is that a 180 pound person will burn around about 100 calories per mile. A 130 pound person will use about 84 calories when walking the same distance. If you wish to know more accurately how many calories you are burning then an Omron pedometer is accurate to a tolerance of 5% and can display your results in terms of distance covered, calories burned or the total number of steps taken.

There seems to be general agreement amongst health professionals that taking 10,000 steps each day will deliver a whole host of health benefits – including weight loss. However, you don’t need to go out and do this tomorrow. Take your time and build up slowly. If it’s been a while since you took any regular exercise, if you have any medical conditions, or if you are over forty, then you should definitely seek your doctor’s advice before you commence any new exercise routine. Remember, the most important thing is consistency and taking your exercise on a regular basis. Brief periods of high intensity activity are nothing like as good as regular low level exercise. That’s why walking is such a great exercise choice.

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Tags: Exercise, fitness, Health, pedometer, weight loss

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