I Want To Lose 20 Pounds By Summer – Is Walking The Way To Do It?

I've always had an issue with my weight even as a child. I was never an athletic kid and I love me some food so I've usually been at least ten to twenty pounds overweight throughout my whole life. Well, now, it's more like thirty pounds overweight and I've decided that I want to lose twenty pounds by June. I'm tired of chub rub, being wiped out because I'm carrying around so much extra weight, and not being able to wear cute summer shorts because, well, chub rub.

I've been researching the best way to lose twenty pounds and since I have a treadmill at home and my sister and I try to walk for an hour around our neighborhood Monday through Friday, I figured I better find out how long it will take me to lose twenty pounds via walking.

It's really crazy how much information there is out there about weight loss. Do this, don't do that, this will work, not it won't - not matter what you read about something working there are a zillion articles out there that will say that thing absolutely doesn't work. Next thing you know you're off down another rabbit hole of alternate suggestions.

I found an article that gave a good breakdown of how you should do an hour of walking if you're going to walk. I like this because it breaks the hour up and seems to be something that everyone could do. I've got a lot of time to be able to do something like an hour a day walk because my beasties are grown. If you have to drag your monsters around with you, maybe you can make a deal with your significant other to give you an hour and you'll give him an hour. It's so important to not only do this for your physical health but also for your mental health.

Here's how to break down your hour-long walk:

1. 12 minute warm up - Alternate a quick pace with a slower pace and do knee to chest leg lifts. I try to do a couple of rounds of 8 side steps also.

2. 40 minute walk - If you're on a treadmill, walk quickly for 2 - 3 minutes then a bit slower for 2 - 3 minutes, add in five minute bursts of walking uphill quickly and 5 minutes of a higher incline but a slower pace. I time myself by songs. When the song changes, I change whatever my pace or incline is.

3. Don't forget to cool down - Don't jump off the treadmill or off the trail without a cooldown. It takes longer than you think. If you're on a treadmill slow down a little at a time every couple of minutes until you finish out about eight minutes of cooldown. Don't forget to stretch a bit after.

Losing weight is such a beatdown but I don't want to plateau at the weight I'm at now. Hopefully by June I'll be at a more manageable weight and ready to wear some shorts!