Consistent physical exercise is foundational to any weight loss journey, regardless of your current health or the goals you’re pursuing.

When paired with a healthy diet, physical exercise can help people from all walks of life maintain a healthy weight while creating long-term, sustainable habits to improve their lives.

Creating a consistent exercise routine takes time and commitment, and giving yourself grace is essential as you find the forms of exercise that work for your body and your lifestyle.

Fortunately, there are so many ways to get physical exercise, and walking outside or on a treadmill is one of the most common ways people choose to work out.

This post explores the many benefits of walking for weight loss and why it’s such a popular form of exercise for people of all different ages, sizes, and backgrounds.

Key benefits of walking for weight loss

As you explore walking for weight loss and maintenance, there are important benefits you should know about.

While walking comes highly recommended by medical professionals, it’s also a popular choice for athletes, those recovering from injury, and everyone in between. Let’s explore why this form of physical activity is so widely embraced and what positives it can bring to your journey.

Metabolism boost & burning calories

Metabolism plays a role in weight loss; it’s defined as how your body uses energy or burns calories. Unfortunately, we don’t have total control over our metabolism, which is partially related to genetics and our health history.

However, some of your metabolism can be controlled by lifestyle and the activities you perform regularly. The more movement you participate in during the day, including physical exercise like walking, the faster your metabolism works. Building consistent daily habits that include more movement, whether taking a walk during lunch or walking for 30 minutes after work in the evening, will contribute to a faster metabolism.

A high or faster metabolism means your body will burn calories during movement and while your body is resting. This is an ideal scenario for weight loss because your body is still working even when you’re no longer exercising. Weight loss is much more attainable if you burn more calories than you consume.

Sustainable and low-impact

Many choose to add walking to their exercise routine because it’s low impact and easy on the body. Regular walking at a moderate pace usually doesn’t add any strain to your muscles or joints, particularly the hips, ankles, and knees.

Walking offers minimal risk of injury, unlike other high-intensity cardio exercises like cycling or running. It’s also a more sustainable method if you want to work out for longer periods of time; you can walk longer or farther without overexerting yourself.

Many individuals add a few walks a week to their workout routine as a way to let their body recover; you control the pace, the distance, and the duration, making it a very sustainable form of exercise, whether you’re power walking or just strolling with a friend or your dog.

Cardiovascular health

The body needs cardiovascular exercise to maintain a robust and healthy heart. Engaging in regular cardio exercise can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of disease, and even reduce inflammation throughout the body, all by strengthening and exercising the heart!

Cardiovascular exercises range from high intensity like jump rope, boxing, rowing, and running to lower impact exercises like hiking, walking, and swimming. You don’t have to push your body to its limits to get a great cardio workout. Moderate or brisk walking is a fantastic way to get the heart pumping, improve blood flow, lower cholesterol, and much more.

General health and well-being

Whether you’re on a committed weight loss journey or just looking for new exercises to maintain your weight, physical exercise, like walking, is a great way to take care of the body and the mind.

Some people take long walks to free their thoughts, gain new perspectives, and even meditate. By getting fresh air or a change of scenery, many experience a change in outlook or even the “runner’s high” without engaging in high-intensity cardio exercises.

It’s no secret that physical exercise of any kind can significantly impact your mood. During exercise, the human body releases adrenaline and endorphins, which are known to improve mood and stress levels.

Additionally, regular physical exercise like walking has been shown to improve the quality of sleep, particularly for middle-aged and older adults.

Experts recommend anyone over 18 get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night so the body can recharge and repair itself so you can wake up energized, healthy, and ready to take on the day!

As you add more cardio workouts to your weekly schedule, ensure you stay hydrated. As your body works harder and sweats more during your workouts, your body will need more water to function properly. As a general rule of thumb, experts recommend men drink 125 ounces of water each day, and women drink 91 ounces per day.

How many calories does walking burn?

According to Mayo Clinic, 30 minutes of brisk walking can help you burn at least 150 calories per day. The farther you go and the faster your speed is, the more calories you’ll burn along the way.

Many wearable devices will help you track these metrics, regardless of where you are on your journey to wellness. Whether you’re training for an event or setting a weight loss goal for yourself, having a supportive device can help you achieve those goals by tracking your progress along the way.

How often and how far should I walk?

Depending on your current physical health and if you want to lose weight by walking, most experts recommend starting with slow-paced walks for a short, manageable distance.

Start by going for 2–3 walks per week for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. You can add time and distance to your walks as you build endurance and muscle strength. Before you know it, you'll be walking 30 minutes a day and loving every minute of it.

Keep your health a priority with the Evidation app

Walking is a low-impact and enjoyable way to add physical exercise to your daily routine. Is weight loss from walking possible? Most definitely! Starting small and creating healthy, sustainable exercise habits takes time and commitment, but with apps like Evidation in your corner to track your progress, you’ll be achieving your goals in no time. Download the app today and get started on your health and wellness journey!

See if this scenario sounds familiar: you decide it's time to move your health forward, once and for all. You choose a program that makes sense for where you want to take your health and fitness, and you dive in head first. For a week--or maybe even two--everything is going well.

Then, motivation wanes, and the thoughts of "I'll just start again on Monday" start to creep in.

If this sounds like your experience with motivation to exercise, you're not alone. Many people find themselves searching terms like "how to keep yourself motivated" and "ways to motivate yourself to workout" in hopes of finding a secret key to make them want to get moving again.

Here, we'll go over some tips and tricks for setting goals that you'll keep working toward even when motivation wanes, look over the benefits of exercise for your mind and body, and dig into some simple tactics you can use to keep your body moving for the long haul.

Why does exercise matter? Motivation for lifting weights, doing cardio, and more

When you've been out of the habit of working out for a while, it can be easy to forget how great working out makes you feel. Both the immediate and long-term benefits of working out mean that getting sweaty a few times a week is well worth your while.

Immediate benefits of exercise include:

• Improved brain health, including reduction of anxiety
• Improved sleep
• Reduced blood pressure
• Improved academic performance due to increased focus and memory

In addition to the benefits of exercise that you feel right after your workout, it's also important to keep in mind the benefits that you'll experience over time.

Long-term benefits of exercise can include:

• Regulation of body weight
• Increased bone strength
• Increased cardiovascular health
• Reduced risk of depression
• Reduced risk of chronic disease (including type 2 diabetes)

Setting the right goals

Sometimes, understanding the benefits of exercise isn't quite enough to inspire us to get moving. Setting a goal that's specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound--also known as a SMART goal--can keep you moving even when your initial motivation begins to fade.

Let's take a look at each facet of setting a SMART goal.

Specific

Goals like "lose weight" or "get fit" sound good in theory, but there's no way to know when you've achieved your goal. When you choose a specific goal--such as getting to a certain body fat percentage, being able to run a specific distance, or going for a walk every night after dinner--you're able to stay motivated as you see yourself checking goals off, one by one.

Measurable

When setting your goal, be sure you have a measurable outcome you're working toward, such as getting a specific number of workouts in each week or meeting your step goal a certain number of days in the month. Using a fitness tracker is a simple way to measure your daily movement.

Achievable

Setting your sights high is fantastic--but you want to make sure that your goal is achievable. Sometimes, setting massive goals--like running a marathon or losing 50 pounds--can deter motivation, as they feel insurmountable. Breaking down a large goal into smaller goals can work wonders to keep you on track. For example, if you'd eventually like to run a marathon, the first step toward your goal might be going for a 20-minute run four times each week after work.

If you're not sure what an appropriate goal is for your fitness level, talking with your doctor or a certified personal trainer can be a great start to give you some ideas. Work to create a goal that's at the nexus of challenge and ability--you want a goal that's tough, but by no means impossible.

Relevant

Your goal only needs to matter to one person: you. When choosing a SMART goal, be sure that it has importance in your life. For example, if you're not interested in running, clocking a 5K in under 25 minutes probably isn't going to motivate you to get your workouts in. Health-related goals are often a good fit: for example, setting a goal to lower your blood pressure, to move away from a pre-diabetic status, or to get to improve your cardiovascular function can help.

Time-bound

It's important to give yourself a deadline when it comes to achieving your goal. This can help you stay on track on the days you don't quite feel like getting to work. Marking your deadline on a calendar can help you stay committed.

Staying motivated to work out: Switch it up

Tired of your standard routine? Trying something new to get your heart rate moving can be a great way to shake it up and stay motivated. If you typically go for daily walks, trying a fitness class with a friend can allow you to socialize and challenge your body in a new way.

If you enjoy exercising outdoors, changing your workout to go with the seasons can be the perfect way to both utilize different muscles and keep your mind interested in your workouts. Swimming in the summer, hiking in the fall, getting bundled up and taking the dog for a walk in the winter--all of these options can help you enjoy the benefits of fresh air while keeping you motivated to include healthy movement in your day.

Get support

When it comes to staying on track toward your health and fitness goals, it's vital to develop a solid support network. Working out with like-minded friends can both give you the support you need to stay on track and motivate you to stick to your movement schedule, even on days where you'd rather curl up on the couch. Simply setting up a group at work to remind one another to drink water during the day can help you move toward your goals. Online workout communities can also be a fun way to interact with others who are working to get moving.

Evidation: Wellness data that moves you forward

At Evidation, we don't just give you the health data you need to understand where you're starting--we meet you where you're at and reward you for moving forward. Download the app today to learn how you can put your health data to work.