using walking for permanent weight loss advice needed

Five years ago, I started a walking program. From almost the first week,
the walking was extremely intense, especially for someone who was 75 pounds
overweight. However, I lost the weight within 6 months BUT 3 years ago
gained it all back and then some because I switched jobs and couldn't find
time to walk.

I need to start a new walking program and I am seeking advice as to how I
should proceed. I am a 33 year old male of medium build, with a weight of
275 pounds. I should weigh 190 lbs. The last time I did my intense walking
program, I often felt so weak afterwards that is took hours before I could
do anything else. I lost weight quickly, along with vitamins and water. In
fact, dehydration happened so fast that it was the cause of my weakness. Of
course, I really wasn't working at the time so the weakness didn't matter
although it was uncomfortable at times. This time, I want to start a
similar program, but I'm wondering how intensity works. For example, my
walking program 5 years ago consisted of 5.5 mph walking for 45 minutes, 5
days a week. HR would average 175 bpm and declined somewhat as I lost
weight. This time though, I want to decrease the intensity as I'm older and
more concerned about health, plus I'm working full time. So, if I decreased
my HR to 145- 150, which is more like what it should be, how much longer am
I going to have to walk to burn the same amount of calories?

Any other helpful advice would be appreciated. For example, I'm not always
going to be able to continuously walk throughout my life, so how can I keep
the weight off without exercise?

Thanks,
Rick Johnston

Rick Johnston wrote:
> Five years ago, I started a walking program. From almost the first week,
> the walking was extremely intense, especially for someone who was 75 pounds
> overweight. However, I lost the weight within 6 months BUT 3 years ago
> gained it all back and then some because I switched jobs and couldn't find
> time to walk.
>
> I need to start a new walking program and I am seeking advice as to how I
> should proceed. I am a 33 year old male of medium build, with a weight of
> 275 pounds. I should weigh 190 lbs. The last time I did my intense walking
> program, I often felt so weak afterwards that is took hours before I could
> do anything else. I lost weight quickly, along with vitamins and water. In
> fact, dehydration happened so fast that it was the cause of my weakness. Of
> course, I really wasn't working at the time so the weakness didn't matter
> although it was uncomfortable at times. This time, I want to start a
> similar program, but I'm wondering how intensity works. For example, my
> walking program 5 years ago consisted of 5.5 mph walking for 45 minutes, 5
> days a week. HR would average 175 bpm and declined somewhat as I lost
> weight. This time though, I want to decrease the intensity as I'm older and
> more concerned about health, plus I'm working full time. So, if I decreased
> my HR to 145- 150, which is more like what it should be, how much longer am
> I going to have to walk to burn the same amount of calories?
>
> Any other helpful advice would be appreciated. For example, I'm not always
> going to be able to continuously walk throughout my life, so how can I keep
> the weight off without exercise?
>
> Thanks,
> Rick Johnston
>
>
Rick, why would you not be able to walk for the rest of your life? Are
you planning a debilitating disease for yourself? Hang in there. Eat a
lot of beans and salads and other green stuff. Hold the cow and the
cookies. Stop wondering and start walking. Bring some water with you.

Also, consider carrying dumbbells with you as you go. There are various
things you can do with the weights. I carry 7-pounders or 3-pounders,
on alternate days. Today I will carry the 3s. As I walk I swing these
weights like a soldier swings his arms when marching. I swing them up
to my navel for a while, then up to my shoulders for a while, then up to
my ears for a while. Ears is tough. I need a little rest after that,
so I go back to the navel and start again there. The idea is to keep
yourself out of breath for the most part. The system is called
'heavyhands' and to learn more about it for now, do a Google search on
that term.

There's another program I follow with the 7s. You can check it out on
my website:

http://justjohn.4t.com/walkingwithweights.htm

I plan to update it soon to include the heavyhands method.