How to Start Walking to Lose Weight

Are you wondering how to lose weight?

No matter what your reason for deciding to lose weight is, it’s as easy as putting one foot in front of the other - literally because one of the best ways to exercise and lose weight is by walking it off.

Here’s how to start walking to lose weight.

The Health Benefits of Walking

First, let’s briefly talk about the health benefits of walking. Walking can help you maintain or even lose weight. But aside from that, it also offers a host of other health benefits.

Walking regularly for exercise can:

• Prevent or manage health conditions such as diabetes
• Reduce stress
• Improve your mood
• Improve cardiovascular fitness
• Strengthen bones and muscles

Walking is a great way of exercising for beginners.

Before You Get Started

As with any exercise regimen, talk to your doctor before you start. The last thing you want to do is to start an exercise regimen and make an existing condition worst.

Set Smart Goals

Before you get started, set a goal. Your goal should be more than just a number on the scale. Decide how often you are going to walk and for how long.

But if you’re new to walking for exercise, don’t be unrealistic with your goals. If you think you can walk for 20 minutes, do that. As you get more comfortable, you can up that goal to 30 minutes, and so on.

Stay Hydrated

You may have heard that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. That’s not actually true.

Instead, experts recommend going by your weight, and diving that number in half. That will give you how many ounces of water you should drink per day.

However, that’s without exercise. You should also drink about 8 ounces of water for every 15 minutes of exercise.

So you will need to calculate your base amount of water to drink per day and add an additional 8 ounces per 15 minutes of walking.

Equip Yourself with the Right Gear

One of the great benefits of walking is how easy it is to get started.

You don’t need to invest a lot of money in gear to get started, but you should consider at least buying the following:

• Orthopedic shoes, which are designed to support the foot and ankle
• Compression socks, which help maintain blood flow
• Other lightweight, breathable clothing
• Water bottle for hydration
• Insoles for added support

Stretch to Prevent Injuries

Finally, before you get started walking, remember to stretch. Stretching before your walking session can prevent injury. And when you’re done walking, be sure to stretch again.

Stretching exercises are easy and take only minutes to do.

Walking to Lose Weight

If you’re considering a new exercise regimen, walking to lose weight is a safe, low-impact way to achieve your weight loss goals.

Before you get started with your weight loss journey, be sure to pick up the right equipment. Apex offers a variety of footwear perfectly suited for your new walking regime. Our orthopedic shoes will keep your feet healthy and comfortable - even if you’re a diabetic.

Check out why Apex is the number one destination for orthopedic and diabetic shoes.