Losing weight by walking is possibly the quickest things you can do to keep healthy. Even when you can't find time to go to the gym, or when you can't rise up early enough for an hour long jog before breakfast, you can still squeeze in a few minutes of walking daily. So if you've never exercised widely before, walking is an excellent way to break you into the practice.

The proper way of walking.

Walking is the simplest exercise out there. It's simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. Even people having the most sedentary lifestyles, like couch and mouse potatoes, still have to get up to walk to the bathroom to take a shower, to the dining table for meals, or to the door to answer the pizza delivery guy. Losing weight when walking is possible, even for these people, given they do it enough.

When walking for exercise, be sure you dress in convenient walking/jogging footwear, and in bright, comfortable clothing. Look for safe places and routes to take from your home and heading back. Great places to lose weight by walking cover public parks, protected subdivisions, and by the side of lakes. When you find a place that you like visiting over and over, it'll be easier to follow the habit.

Walking - the numbers.

So how much fat do you need to burn to lose weight when walking? Here's the tricky part. You have to be on a current diet where your weight doesn't change anymore. In other words, your current daily calorie absorption shouldn't make you gain an additional pound. Once you achieve this, you can then proceed to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound. Walking moderately burns 300 calories per hour. At this rate you lose 30 pounds in a year by walking moderately everyday for one hour.

Remember, however, that distance is more significant than time when it comes to losing weight by walking. The average walking pace of a person is roughly four miles per hour. But if you are able to cover five miles in an hour, you'll be burning proportionally more calories. So it's important to raise the challenge little by little as you proceed.

Other ways to lose weight when walking.

Losing weight when walking doesn't imply you have to force all that walking into one straight hour-long session - you can divide it, for example, into three 20-minute sessions all through the day. Some people like to take a 30-minute walk before breakfast to begin the day, and another 30-minute walk prior to dinner to cool down after office. That's the beauty of losing weight by walking - you can set your own schedule.

Another thing to consider about walking to lose weight is this: - increasing the level of the workout will cut even more calories - maybe even driving the number of calories burned per hour from 300 to 500. If you reside near a hill, you can start walking up a slope. If you have a treadmill, incline the treads. It's more job, but its faster weight loss.

When you've never worked out before, it's best to get your doctor's blessing before you start any exercise regimen, even if it's something as simple and safe as walking.