Walking to Lose Weight: 8 Tips to Burn Fat

One of the best ways to lose weight is just to get up and walk. Sounds deceptively simple, doesn’t it? But plenty of research shows that if you commit to it, walking can be just what you need to take control of your health, increase stamina, and shed excess weight. 

Walking for weight loss can sound a little boring at first. But there are so many ways you can make it work for you. We’ve got the tips you need to help you get out on the road…err…sidewalk. 

We’ll cover how walking helps you lose weight, how many steps you need to hit your goals, and some of our favorite tips for keeping the habit going.

Walking helps with weight loss the same way most physical activity does: it burns calories. When you burn more calories than you eat, you create a calorie deficit. Most experts will tell you that a calorie deficit is the most important of all your weight loss goals. 

As we move forward, please remember that while this may be true for most people, it’s not true for all people. Obesity is a disease. If you’ve been living with this condition for a long time, your body may not respond to walking (long-term) the same way other people’s bodies respond.  

Learn how weight loss medications can help support your journey.

If you’ve been struggling with excess weight for years, can walking actually help you lose weight? Yes, 100 percent! But the key to success is to make it a part of a more holistic weight loss plan.

Physical activities like walking help improve overall health and reduce your risk of weight-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Studies show exercise can even decrease your risk of various cancers.

A 2022 meta-analysis that looked at more than 47,000 adults found that walking (around 10,000 steps a day) can reduce your risk of all-cause mortality — a sort of blanket term for everything from stroke and liver failure to that traumatic scene in Final Destination that changed your highway driving habits forever.

Walking is unique in that you can do it anywhere, anytime. Best of all, it can get you outside — a fail-safe mood booster. 

Lest we forget, it can help you avoid those annoying gym bros and yoga goddesses until you feel ready to face them down. (You’ll get there, give it time).

When it comes to walking for weight loss, every person is different. Everything including your height, age, gender, starting weight, diet, and typical activity level can dictate the average number of steps, miles, and calories burned you’ll need to to lose weight. 

Ready to hit the road? Or the treadmill?

Walking for weight loss can work for almost everyone. But people with a good amount of excess weight will lose weight the fastest, at least initially. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person weighing 154 lbs walking at a moderate pace of around 3.5 miles per hour will burn up to 140 calories walking at least 30 minutes a day. At five walks a week this equates to roughly 700 calories a week.

Other research shows that 150 minutes a week of walking (or 75 minutes of jogging) is the minimum needed to stabilize your weight — to initiate weight loss, you’ll need to walk for around 300 minutes per week.

Ready to get moving? We’ve assembled some tips to help you make walking more productive, less intimidating, and more doable on the daily. 

Here’s how to make it work for you.

Set a Goal

Stepping out of your front door is usually the hardest part of getting started every day, and the worst part is that just getting started isn’t always sufficient to capture the benefits of walking. For the best results, you need a walking plan that challenges you. 

Maybe you want to focus on walking off a particular number of calories or walking for a particular number of miles or amount of time. Whatever you decide, setting a goal will help motivate you and keep you moving

Build a Habit

A good routine or habit is key to continuing to get enough exercise — and to build a good habit or daily routine, you need a cue.

Some people can just get out of bed first thing in the morning and do their walking workout without an issue, but if you have trouble getting yourself dressed and out the door or struggle to squeeze in your steps, you can create a cue that will make it easier to break through that resistance. 

You might hit the pavement right after turning on your coffee maker, or put your pedometer to work during the second half of your lunch break. 

Habits don’t have to be oppressive either. You can make rules to support your other needs, like skipping your evening walk any day that you get home more than an hour late from work. Sometimes it’s okay to prioritize your mental health over your fitness level. 

Wear the Right Clothing

Exercise isn’t always a walk in the park — even when it’s a walk in the park. But physical activity doesn’t have to be a miserable experience.

Exercise that helps you achieve weight loss goals shouldn’t be too easy, but you can make it less difficult, reduce your risk of injury and distract yourself from discomfort in a number of ways. 

For example, wearing clothes that don’t chafe and are breathable can make hitting your steps easier. 

Step into the Right Shoes

Walking shoes with proper support will reduce the risk of blisters, rolled ankles, and other dangers that beginners are prone to. Shoe technology changes all the time, and your needs will depend on the terrain you plan to walk and the pace you plan to keep. You’ll want to discuss those with an expert, be they a trainer or sporting goods expert.

Your current body weight is also important to your shoe choice. It may affect the type of support and cushioning you need.

Walk with Friends

We’re all for being safe and careful when you’re getting exercise. Safety concerns aside, there are plenty of reasons to walk with friends, join walking groups or find yourself a personal trainer to keep pace with.

Having an accountability buddy can help you keep up your walking pace on slow days and keep you committed on the days when you don’t feel like showing up — plus, great conversation can keep your spirits up and your blood pressure down.

Add a Soundtrack

Let’s be real. Sometimes, walking can be boring. Might as well listen to your favorite true-crime podcast or some show tunes.

Not your thing? Pop on whatever pop hits, groovy beats or background noise you want to break up the daily walk and distract yourself from those first unpleasant blocks until you hit your stride.

Get a Full Night’s Sleep Afterwards

While walking is important, so are factors like how well you sleep, at least according to science. Research shows that getting enough sleep every night was associated with better burning of fat and with weight loss in general.

So if you’re working to feel the burn or bring on the sweat, fine. Just make sure you’re also keeping the activity level high enough to exhaust yourself by bedtime.

Make it an Uphill Battle

Remember how we said that more intense exercise can give you results more quickly? Make use of that information. Low-impact exercise is always great, but to prevent heart disease and burn off belly fat, sometimes you need to increase the intensity of your walk. 

One word: cardio. You don’t need every walk to feel like the first week of boot camp, but if you’ve noticed you’re coming back from your strolls without feeling like you’ve worked for it, it may be time to make some changes. 

Learn more about the best exercises for weight loss. 

You can increase the intensity of your workout by power walking uphill both ways like your grandparents claim they did heading to school each morning, but you can also get your heart rate up by increasing your walking speed or walking across some uneven terrain — anything that gets your activity level up and adds aerobic exercise to your step count.

If you’re looking to burn calories and drop body fat, the health benefits of an exercise routine are irrefutable — and walking can absolutely be part of that. 

Here’s what to remember:

• While many factors play a role in weight gain and weight loss, walking, along with diet changes, is a well-established way to drop pounds.

• How many pounds you’ll drop depends on a number of factors, from the calories you consume to your weight, age, gender and genetics. 

• Generally speaking, 300 minutes of walking a week will help with weight loss. Up to 10,000 steps a day can also contribute to a reduced risk of mortality, but you don’t need to get that many to see benefits.

• If you’re trying to keep the walking habit going, set goals, get the right shoes and clothing, challenge yourself and bring podcasts, playlists or friends along to stay entertained.

Regular exercise and physical movement are only one option available to help you feel more comfortable in the body you’re in. Learn more about effective weight loss treatments.