Running assists in weight loss

Several reports have stated that people in the United States are 77% overweight and obese with the larger percentage in the obese category. Trying to find a reason for this increase in weight is debated between the advances in technology that reduce the amount of work needed for a job versus food portions that are much larger now. Between eating more food and moving less it is inevitable that a person will gain weight. Secretaries in early days had what is called a ‘manual typewriter’ that required some effort to push the keys down. When ‘electric typewriters’ came into the job the secretaries gained 10 pounds. The difference in the pushing down the keys on the typewriter was enough to cause an increase in weight. The television commercial that had the woman looking at her hamburger and exclaiming, “Where’s the beef?” has food companies providing larger hamburgers. Why get a single patty burger when for a few cents more the person can get a double, or triple, meat patty? And now with computer technology the energy required to write a letter or a report is even less.

A person doesn’t have to fold a letter, put it in an envelope, lick the envelope and a stamp, and walk it to the mailbox.

Just hit the icon that says, ‘send’ and away it goes.

There are two ways to lose weight. One is to eat less and two is to move more.

Eating less can be accomplished by eating foods with fewer calories but still have enough volume to make a person feel full. And cutting back on a serving size is another method to try. Maybe trying skipping a dessert after a meal will be enough to lose a few pounds. Moving more is another good way to lose weight but is not as easy as it sounds. Walking around the block does not burn enough calories to eat a piece of pie. Walking is one of the best means of exercise as it does not stress the joints or muscles and usually does not have muscle soreness after the initial effort. For an overweight or obese person walking is preferred to running as far as stress on the feet and joints is concerned.

Burning calories has three factors to consider. One is the energy required to exercise and another is the amount of time the exercise continues. Another factor is the weight of the person.

A light person will not require as much energy expenditure as a heavy person.

A formula used in determining how many calories are burned during exercise is: (amount of calories the exercise uses X the weight of the person X the time the exercise lasts). To calculate the amount of calories burned the following is a list of calories burned: walking 2 mph = .022 calories per minute; walking 5 mph = .064 calories per minute; running a 10 minute pace = .079 calories per minute; running a 6 minute pace = .10 calories per minute. Walking a 2 mph pace for a 150 pound person that walks for 30 minutes is one mile distance and follows the formula: (.022 X 150 X 30 = 99 calories). In perspective a 12 ounce soda has about 150 calories. That 30 minute walk did not burn the calories in a soda after the walk. A runner that has a 10 mph pace for 30 minutes burns 355 calories.

It seems like a big difference between running and walking. The difference is not as much if they both move 3 miles. The walker now moves for 90 minutes.

This moves the calories burned up to 297 calories. Distance counts.

And if the walker moves the pace up to 5 mph moves the calorie count up to 403 calories. The time to walk that 3 miles is only 42 minutes instead of 90 minutes. This looks like a great plus for walking versus running. The one point to consider is a 5 mph pace is a very fast walk. Walking 5 miles in an hour requires some brisk moving.

By walking a route that has an uphill section will burn more calories than a flat route.

A dirt trail will burn a few more calories than an asphalt road because of less traction with each step.

The point of this knowing the amount of calories burned is not that important as the actual getting out and moving.

At the end of the day you have still burned more calories during the day than you did if you did not go for a walk.

Over time the calories are added up and weight is lost. It will take a longer period of time to lose the weight but some research shows that losing weight over time tends to be more permanent than a quick loss.

One point in favor of exercise versus a restriction in the diet is that dieting has the metabolism of the body slow down and makes it tough to lose.

Walking increases the metabolism and burns calories so is a much better solution to weight loss efforts.