Walking 40+ miles a week to drop pounds?

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phillyman

New member
Last year around June I started dieting and exercising, I was doing 3-6 mile walks on some days....and weight training on other days. I dropped from 255lbs down to 234lbs. I stopped losing weight and lost track of things......now I am back up to 242lbs. Last week I decided to take back up walking (since the weather is warmer). I am shooting for a goal of 42 miles per week, and trying to cut my calories down to 2000 per day. My end goal is to weigh 200lbs, which will be what I weighed back in 2001.

Dietary Changes

Replace all drinks with water
Replace out coffee with hot tea (no sugar)
Replace out no breakfast with a Slimfast and a Banana
Replace out bad lunches with a Subway 6 inch
Eat only 1 pasta based dinner per week
Try to eat 1 fish based dinner each week


Exercise Changes

Week 1 = 9 Miles (done)
Week 2 = 15 Miles (completing tonite)
Week 3 = 21 Miles
Week 4 = 27 miles
Week 5 = 33 Miles
Week 6 = 39 Miles
Week 7 = 42 Miles

At work I am parking 1/4 mile away from my desk....which gives me an extra mile to walk each day. I am still eating regular dinners, but will keep an eye to see if I need to become more healthy on those also. Do you guys think that I can drop weight with these changes? I really need to drop this 9lbs that I put back on, because I know that I will be extremely happy once I break through the 234lb barrier that stopped me last time.
 
Hey Phillyman,

It sounds like you have planned this out pretty well. I have found out that phasing in better habits one or a few at a time, they stick. When you make a lot of changes really fast they are do hard to maintain. I would suggest you dropping back your list into phases. Drop your biggest calorie offenders (biggest calorie habits) out and replace it with something better.

It is eating that will mostly help you lose the weight. The training program is only in support of this.
 
You could do half that and still lose weight at a good pace. I think 40+ miles a week may be overdoing it. I'd do half that, and let the deficit from your diet cover the other half, and don't skip on weight training in favor of cardio. Also your diet could use some more fruits/veggies. :cheers2:
 
You need to keep track of everything you eat everyday and add up the calories meticulously. The walking will not take off the calories if you are not eating under control.
 
Balance

I am in agreement with 42 miles per week being a bit much but that is ultimately up to you. If you are walking with friends 6 or 7 miles can seem to go by pretty quickly. The important thing is that you have a plan to start with. I also agree that you probably want to add in some type of strength training a couple times a week as increasing your muscle mass will help to increase your metabolism and will ultimately help you in your goal.
 
As long as he's got the time....

Walking 6-7 miles is not going to hurt you at all. You really can't overdo walking. It's very low impact and totally natural and free to boot.

However, can you see yourself walking 2 hours every day for the rest of your life? If you were to jog for an hour you would burn more than twice as many calories in half the time. If you can only jog for 5 minutes do that and walk to rest up and go again. 12 weeks of intervals and you'll be able to jog an hour non-stop.

A 190lb man running at 6mph (that's a brisk jog) will burn 863 calories.
A 190lb man walking 3mph will burn 302 calories.

Jogging is almost 3x more effective.
 
caddyguy said:
Walking 6-7 miles is not going to hurt you at all. You really can't overdo walking. It's very low impact and totally natural and free to boot.

However, can you see yourself walking 2 hours every day for the rest of your life? If you were to jog for an hour you would burn more than twice as many calories in half the time. If you can only jog for 5 minutes do that and walk to rest up and go again. 12 weeks of intervals and you'll be able to jog an hour non-stop.

A 190lb man running at 6mph (that's a brisk jog) will burn 863 calories.
A 190lb man walking 3mph will burn 302 calories.

Jogging is almost 3x more effective.
Click to expand...


No I can not see myself walking 6 miles a day, but this is to lower my weight to a point where I can run. I need to drop from 236lbs to 225lbs....so that I can start jogging. Its just too rough on my knee's, shins and tendons to jog. I believe they say that jogging impacts at 3x your weight (708lbs). I hope to continue to walk 6 miles each day, and then get to the point where I jog 6 miles a day (1 hour).
 
phillyman said:
Dietary Changes

Replace all drinks with water
Replace out coffee with hot tea (no sugar)
Replace out no breakfast with a Slimfast and a Banana
Replace out bad lunches with a Subway 6 inch
Eat only 1 pasta based dinner per week
Try to eat 1 fish based dinner each week
Click to expand...
For drinks, consider skim milk or lowfat buttermilk (my favorite). USDA recommends 3 cups of milk per day or equivalent. Vegetable juice is good, too. 3/4 cup qualifies as a serving of vegetables. Look for the low sodium kind.

Eat breakfast or not. It's your choice. Statistically, people who ate breakfast were less likely to be obese. But, correlation is not the same as cause, and there is no physiological reason you have to eat breakfast.

What kind of Subway sandwich? Some are not very good for weight loss.

There is no real reason to limit pasta to once a week. It qualifies as a grain, and you can get the whole wheat kind. Watch your portions.
 
I walk 6 days a week at a rate of 4.5 miles per hour. Four of those days I walk 6.5 miles, and the remaining two days I walk 8 miles. I lift free weights 4 days a week, alternating different muscle groups every other workout. The 7th day is my reset day; the day that I refrain from any strenuous exertion. I ran for years and years, but, sad to say, my knees couldn't take the pounding anymore, so I walk distances rather than run them. I rise from bed and prepare for the day, which takes approximately one hour. I wear blue jeans, a t-shirt, a sweat shirt with a hood, a light jacket, and steel toe boots that weigh approximately 2 1/2 lbs. each, during mornings that are cool or cold. I fasten my pedometer to one of my belt loops, grab an apple from the fridge, and then I head out the door. After the every walk, I undress, weigh in, and then head to the kitchen for my breakfast. My breakfast is comprised of the following: 1/2 cup of old fashion oatmeal, a handful of sweet onions lightly fried in olive oil along with 3 egg whites, a protein shake (1 scoop of Now Foods protein powder isolate mixed with just plain tap water), and my homenmade sports drink ( 1/8 tsp iodized salt, 1/8 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tbls honey, added to 2 cups of tap water- 1 pint.) I have a clean diet and get plenty of rest. I don't smoke, drink alcholol, or do drugs. As for supplements other than the protein shake, I take a good multi-vitamin, calcium-magnesium-zinc combo 1000 mg, omega 3 fatty acids derived from salmon. My route is along a river, through the woods, past one small lake, around another lake, up a steep hill, and then the route undulates for approximately a half mile before it flatens out. I am sixty-six-years old and know from life's experiences that most people can not and will not stick to this sort of training. In closing, I have many friends, young and old, who are runners, and they complete this course as I do 6 days a week, without fail. My hat goes off to anyone who makes an attempt at taking care of their precious body, their temple, their temple where God lives.
 
I made an error in the sports drink ingredients. They are as follows: homenmade sports drink ( 1/8 tsp iodized salt, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tbls honey, added to 2 cups of tap water- 1 pint.)
 
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