Maybe you have a friend who told you that she lost a lot of weight by walking. Or maybe, you’ve been thinking about starting a walking program to take off some extra pounds yourself. If so, congratulations! Walking is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to exercise. It can be as simple as walking around your neighborhood or as complex as participating in competitive racing. Walking is also one of the best forms of exercise because it’s easy on your joints, like your knees and hips, yet still provides numerous health benefits. However, if you want to lose weight, there are some things about walking that you should know. This article tells you how many calories you will burn by walking for different amounts of time and at different speeds, plus some tips on what you can do to lose the most weight by walking.

The amount of calories burned while exercising is dependent on three factors: 1) your weight, 2) how fast you walk, and 3) how long you walk. One of the most important factors in determining how many calories you burn while walking is your weight. The more you weigh, the more calories you will burn while walking at a given pace for a given distance. Another factor that determines how many calories you burn while walking is your pace. A simple way of finding your walking pace is to count the number of steps you take in a minute. Then measure the distance you walk during that time. Divide the total distance by the number of steps to find out how far you will walk in one minute. Multiply this number by 60 to find out how many steps you will take in one hour. Then divide this number by 4,500 (the total number of calories in a pound) to find your walking speed in miles per hour.

The third factor that determines how many calories you burn while walking is the distance traveled during your walk. If you walk a mile in 30 minutes, you will have burned about 100 calories. If you double the distance to two miles and double the time to one hour, you will burn twice as many calories: 200 total. If you started walking to lose weight, you probably have a specific number of pounds you want to drop. The table below shows how many calories you would burn if you walked for one hour according to your desired weight loss. Aside from helping you lose weight, walking has numerous other health benefits, including lowering LDL cholesterol levels improving blood sugar control reducing insulin resistance lowering stress hormone levels, decreasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke building muscle mass thereby increasing metabolism promoting better sleep. Walking is a great way to get in shape and burn extra calories while enjoying the outdoors. As long as you monitor your calorie intake, walking can be an effective part of any weight loss program.