walking and weight loss

Walk just a little bit more per day; use a pedometer to keep track. Eat just a little bit less by making small changes to our diet.

Step up: A daily family walk could lead you to a healthy weight.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—New research on how eating, walking, and weight loss are connected,published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition once again proves that old truism: "It’s the little things that count"—even, it seems, when it comes to the large problem of losing weight. While many of us have experienced the frustration being unable to stick with a weight-loss program, new research shows that making small changes is very doable.

THE DETAILS: Researchers from the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center recruited 116 overweight adults (most of them women), recorded their body weight and height, and instructed them on how to use a pedometer and a diet diary. The participants were then asked to wear a pedometer for a total of three weeks. After the first week, each participant’s daily step count was calculated. During the second and third weeks, the participants were asked to increase their weekly step count by 500 steps, for a total of 1,000 additional weekly steps in two weeks. Similarly, the participants were asked to keep a detailed diet diary for a total of three weeks. After the first week, each participant’s daily calorie intake was calculated. During the second and third weeks, the participants were asked to decrease their daily calorie count by 100 calories. Previous research has shown that these kinds of changes can lead to weight loss over time—if people stick to the program.

After all the calculations were complete, the data showed that not only were the participants able to comply with the changes in exercise and diet, they actually did more than they were asked. They increased their daily steps by an average of 1,454 steps a day, the equivalent of an additional caloric expenditure of about 70 calories. Plus, they reduced their daily calories by about 300 calories per day—three times what they were asked to do.