When you think about starting a weight loss program, one of the last things some people think of is walking, but it is time to think again.  When asked about walking as a viable weight loss tool, Art Weltman, PhD, director of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia said, “Fast-paced walking, when combined with healthy eating, is hugely effective for weight loss.”

We aren’t talking about race-walking either just fast-paced walking or power walking.  Not only can you lose a lot of weight doing it but you will also reduce your chances of having heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.  And it can be a huge stress reducer.

Walking To Lose Weight

If you have been taking daily strolls for any period of time but haven’t noticed any weight-loss it is probably due to the fact that you are not walking to lose weight.  Walking to lose weight is different than just strolling.  Once you dial in the proper nutrition and schedule at least 5 walks a week that last between 30 to 60 minutes, you will lose weight almost effortlessly.

Here’s How To Plan It

Losing weight by walking is like a 3 legged stool.  Each leg is important and if you remove one, the whole stool topples over.  The legs are power walking, nutrition and rest.  These 3 things combine to make walking a way to lose a lot of weight almost effortlessly.

The first leg of the stool is power walking which isn’t to be confused with race walking, it simply means to walk at a fast pace.  This is usually walking 3 miles and hour or faster.

In order to understand power walking, you need to mark off a one mile course—use you car’s odometer to figure this out.  Next walk that one mile and time yourself.  You should finish the mile in 20 minutes or less: that’s a power walking pace.

Schedule Your Power Walks To Lose Weight

According to a University of Virginia study, researchers found that when you compared two groups of walkers who walked each day until they had burned 400 calories, the group that power walked lost 300% more body fat than the group that just strolled.  Not only that, but they found that if you scheduled 5 power walks a week with two of them being extended walks, you had even greater results.

Nutrition For Your Power Walks

The groups in the study did not change their dietary habits at all and the experimental group still got those amazing results.  When you add proper nutrition and rest to the mix, the results explode.

Micheal Gooden, who tried this combination lost 15 pounds in 30 days.  “It was like automatic weight loss,” he said, “I ate differently than I was used to, but I had quite a bit of food and still the weight came off.  It was like I couldn’t stop it.”

The rule of thumb here is to write down the weight you’d like to be and times that by ten.  This is the number of calories you should limit yourself to every day.  So if I wanted to weigh 135 lbs, I’d times that by ten giving me a total of 1,350.  I would then limit my daily calories to 1,350.

Next I would use the “magic pie graph” to guide me as to where those calories should come from

These numbers will need to be tweaked as time goes by, but they are a good place to start.  Once you began eating this was and power walking according to your schedule, you should see dramatic results.

The Secret To Making This Easy

Tracking apps make all of this pretty easy.  The best one I have found and the one I use is My Fitness Pal—I am not affiliated with the company and my endorsement is not compensated.  This app and website have changed my life.  I also have recorded and produced my own audio walking program that includes 24 power walks.  I used these to blast off my fat and I still use them to maintain.  They make life easier since all of the calculations for your power walks are done for you.  Just download to your device, put on your earphones and your ready to go.

Whether you use my Country Power Walks or create your own.  Good health and fitness are within walking distance.