Science Reveals How To Lose Weight Faster: Walking Or Dieting

Getting rid of excess body fat is not only an aesthetic matter, but also helps take care of our health. It is known that the overweight and obesity They are risk factors in many serious diseases, such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems, as well as influencing the deterioration of bones and joints.

Of course, losing weight and burning fat are not the same thing. For example, it is possible to lose two kilos in one training session, but they can be mostly liquid, which you recover with proper hydration.

However, they will be mostly liquids, which you replenish quickly with proper hydration. Therefore, it would be better to talk about losing a percentage of body fat mass and not weight.

To lose weight, the body must burn more calories than it consumes. Calories are the energy that the body needs to carry out all its functions, which allow us to move, breathe and think.

The question that many ask is how much you need to walk, and at what pace, to lose weight. There is no single answer – it will depend on the number of steps and pace of walking.

According to the Movida Sana websiteThe National Center for Biotechnology Information establishes 10,000 steps as the minimum required for walking to bring significant health benefits. Which translates, depending on the stride of each one (the average is 75 cm), into about 8 km.

According to experts, the ideal is to find the speed that allows us to walk with the correct technique and with which we feel comfortable. But at what speed? According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), it is advisable for a healthy adult to walk at a speed ranging between 4.8 km/h and 6.4 km/h.

Rosa Martí writes in the specialized magazine Runners World, and estimates that losing a kilo of fat (“or not gaining it”, as many point out) you need to burn 7000 calories. “Now the accounts begin, but know that for weight loss to be effective it is necessary to accompany calorie consumption with a balanced diet (and a moderate intake, it is useless if after returning from a workout in which you burned 500 calories, you eat three portions of potatoes bravas)”.

And he continues with the analysis: “According to the Adidas Runtastic calculator, someone like me, a 62 kilo woman, walking at a moderate pace (5.1 km/h), burns 4 calories per minute. It therefore takes 1,750 minutes to burn the 7,000 calories that a pound of fat represents, which is more than 29 hours of brisk walking. month you’ll have lost a pound. Not bad, right?”

what science says

It has been proven that one of the most effective ways to reduce belly fat is to do regular aerobic exercises, for example to walk. In one small study, obese women who walked between 50 and 70 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks were found to have reduced their waists by an average of 2.8 centimeters and lost 1.5 percent of body fat. Healthy move.

Another study found that people on a calorie-controlled diet who walked for an hour five times a week for 12 weeks lost 1.5 inches from their waist and 1.3 percent more body fat than people who they followed the diet alone.

So, walk or diet?

Exercise is essential to staying healthy and a huge help when it comes to losing weight, but food takes center stage and is the most effective way to achieve it.

Going on a diet often involves effort that can’t be followed over time, so it’s best to do it learn to eat. Knowing which foods are best, and in what quantities should be taken.