The past month I have walked like hell. I started off with 150,000 steps as the norm for each week, and then shorted it down to 100,000 per week. Here is what I learnt and a short guide.
I started off with 89kgs on December 29. Current bodyweight as of April 30: 78kgs. Age: 23. Height: 5'7
Type 1: More cardio, more food.
If you have time on your hands, and can do bursts of walking after tasks, this is for you. This gives you a lot of leverage on your diet. I can eat more and feel more full. More energetic and better lifts in the gym. Make sure to take your carbs during the early hours of the day. Carbs are an instant source of energy and burning that energy helps your body get to your fat reserves when you have lower blood sugar and during your rest period. Sleep well though. This does come at a cost of higher hydration and more chances of fatigue. Keep in mind I walked 25 mins to my gym everyday, and because I was not hydrated well enough during the early days of higher step counts, I developed an abs cramp one day. Would not wish it on my worst enemy. Hydrate. Keep a good blood sugar level for your energy and divide your meals throughout the day. An advantage of this plan is also that it allows you to have small amounts of comfort food when you have a macro budget. I was eating out 3 times a week because it fit my macros. It was satisfying and it made me more motivated to walk more. 10k steps burns 450 cals for me, so an extra 10k over the designated step count let me have some chicken momos, I had cake and it was so much effective not for my diet but for the mental state. Keep in mind that you work out not to suffer but to enjoy your life more. Living healthy does not mean cutting off everything you love from your diet.
Type 2: Reduced cardio, reduced food.
Everything remains exactly the same. Your energy is the same. Your lifts are the same. Because the deficit doesn't actually change. What changes though is the things you can eat. I used to have a macro budget to sneak in an ice cream when I did 25k steps a day. With 12500, not so much. You eat the essentials and the essentials only. So the mental toll for your relationship with food is higher. But you get more time for yourself. Absolutely a banger for working professionals.
Type 3: Wild amount of steps today, low step count tomorrow.
This one I liked and I hated so damn much. On the days when I walked 5k steps, I had so little food, and the cravings were high because I was accustomed to having higher calories on the day before. Keep in mind that micro nutrients are essential here, your sleep on the day you do 30k steps is absolutely phenomenal. Your energy levels are depleted when you wake up though. Great sleep, phenomenal rest, but you do wake up a bit hungry. On the smaller step count days, you basically get to rest more. This cycle of high and low energy may seem alright, and I was very curious to see what it would do to my overall feel. But I hate this one the most. My body is genuinely confused as to what is going to happen. You're more likely to give up on this than any other.
To sum it all up:
Walk. You want to do something on your phone? Walk. Want to watch a movie? Treadmill. Phenomenal. You'll lose fat with all of these, but what actually matters is how you feel. Health is not about suffering. It's not about pushing yourself to the limit each time. Locking in does not mean to be mentally unsatisfied. You can look like a Greek god and feel absolutely horrible, or you can actually keep that body fat percentage a bit higher and feel better.
My results:
I am so happy to do this. I loved each minute of walking because it clears my mind so much. I can listen to songs I love, I can walk with my favorite street dog who waits outside my house everyday because I treat him to a bowl of milk each day. I can watch events happen and smile. So much happens around us everyday. I appreciate looking at small moments happen and smile. I can disconnect from the digitality of interactions. I feel alive. I have not lost a single bit of muscle and gained so much strength. Only downside is the bloody heatwave going around the country. Walking in the rain is absolutely high dopamine. I am grateful I did this.
83kg when I started this walking experiment. 78kg today. Better confidence.
Sorry for the long post though. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I am not an expert, but I've really improved my relationship with fitness in these last 2 months. Lifts are one part of the spectrum, but movement is what actually changes a lot for you.
TLDR:
Walking is goated. Stay hydrated. Keep a smile. It helps. Really. There is no advice which is the best for you, and you should test out methods on how they feel for you.
Open to any questions about any of this. I used to be a runner before, and I plan to start again once I hit 72kgs.
Thank you to the community as well, I have researched so much about diet and wellness from this sub. 🩶
Didn't use any AI in this post, nor in my health advices.