Gym vs Walking

I have chosen my blog subject well today as I have lost a whole pound in 24 hours, which I think is mostly down to having walked 17,000 steps yesterday. I can't be entirely certain, but my calorie intake yesterday was about the same as it was the day before (when I only lost 0.2lbs), but the difference in the number of steps I did is quite large. I also made a conscious effort to walk quickly yesterday, which should burn off more calories. Perhaps only doing 6,000 steps a couple of days ago contributed to me not losing much weight yesterday.

Obviously, this is in no way a scientific conclusion, but the fact is that I lost a pound in the last day, making 3.4lbs in just four days. I am eating less and eating better, and I am walking. Just walking. That's the only exercise I'm doing. I've been getting up and walking around the block a couple of times every couple of hours. FitBit is great for reminding me that I have been far too sedentary (lazy) for far too long, and motivating me to get up and MOVE.

I've been doing the walking thing for about six weeks now and have found that I can walk further and faster than I could to start with by quite some margin. We walk to the supermarket every day which has the added advantage of reducing our food wastage, although it does mean I'm faced with temptation every day. I try to walk everywhere locally and have reduced my fuel consumption by about £10/week. Excellent. I can put that into my pampering fund ;)

I used to go to the gym. I was doing the same diet at the time and so I think it's safe to say, in my unscientific way, that I have found that I am losing weight just as quickly by walking as I did when I belonged to the gym.

Walking is free. My favourite price to pay for anything.

The gym was good as it had some variety. You could work out different parts of your body and it was great for toning too. The people in the gym were all nice and I know from talking to the operations manager there, that they are really keen to help people get fit regardless of your starting point.

I may well go back to the gym if I want a new challenge, but for now, I will save the money and stick with walking further and faster to lose the pounds.

Give it a go! Just have a 5-10 minute walk 2-3 times a day and see how much better you feel.

Let's see how I'm doing...

Menu

Breakfast: Grapefruit and a Yakult
Lunch: erm... half a packet of chocolate chip cookies (that made me feel very lethargic)
Dinner: Pork loin and lots of salad with some mayo.
Snack: Ovaltine Options hot choccie drink. 
Drinks: 1.5l of tap water

This little lot adds up to about 900 calories according to FitBit.

FitBit Stats From Yesterday

Steps: 17,222 (following yesterday's debacle, I popped out and walked around the block every hour or so)
Distance: 6.82 miles
Active minutes: 137 

My Stats

Current weight: 11st 8.2lbs (About 3.4lbs down in four days)
Next weight target: 11st 7lbs (pre-holiday weight)

TOMORROW: Avoiding Temptation