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Walking burns something like a measly 100 calories per mile. We could double our walking and still not dent obesity. We have a crisis that involves lack of rea

Walking burns something like a measly 100 calories per mile. We could double our walking and still not dent obesity. We have a crisis that involves lack of real exercise (which walking, is not) and excessive caloric intake.

bilbo0s 12y ago
I think that depends on the grade. In more hilly terrains... I think walking might burn more. I remember reading a LOOONG time ago, that a person will burn a lot more if their metro stop is Lamarck-Caulaincourt than they will if their metro stop is Odeon. So I could see walking around ... say ... Duke University probably burning a lot more than walking around Rice University. And walking around the University of Wisconsin at Madison all day will be a workout unto itself most likely. I don't think it is just... if you're walking you are not exercising. I think it really depends where you are walking at. Maybe even depends on if you have a backpack or heavy side bag as well. I'm not sure you can make a hard and fast rule.
philwelch 12y ago
1000 calories per week would make a difference. If you lived 1 mile from work you'd burn that from your commute alone.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
beachstartup 12y ago
in a walking vs. driving lifestyle, you don't just double your walking, you more than likely 10X your walking. 20X on an exceptionally busy day. i live in LA but my 'moves' app tells me that when traveling to walking cities, on a busy day i burn 600+ calories walking. at home it's around 100. sometimes less. this is quantified via GPS and an understanding of human biology. if you choose not to believe this, you're picking another fight entirely. a delta of 500 calories a day combined with eating just a little less, or of healthier foods is rapid weight loss. it's why people can easily lose weight on a vacation to europe or asia.
- brandonmenc 12y ago
  I do believe this. What I don't believe is that the average American will ever have time to walk 10x more than they currently do, or that the average obese American is eating only in excess of 500 calories a day. My original comment was harsher than it needed to be. I believe our exercise and obesity problem requires a lot more than just ditching cars to fix. Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. All things being equal, yes, more walking is better.
  - smacktoward 12y ago
    > Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. This part is a chicken-and-egg problem, though: we design sprawled-out, unwalkable communities because everybody has cars; everybody has cars because they live in sprawled-out, unwalkable communities.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - zachrose 12y ago
      Maybe we should just let the cars drive themselves and have a treadmill inside the car. "It feels like you're running at an incredible rate, Harry."
  - TheCoelacanth 12y ago
    An excess of 500 calories per day would lead to a weight gain of roughly 50 pounds per year. That could lead to obesity in less than a year and morbid obesity in just a few years. Most likely the average obese American is eating an excess of substantially less than 500 calories per day.
simonebrunozzi 12y ago
Wrong - walking, or any sort of physical activity, reactivates your metabolism. If you go from 0 to 1 hour of walking per day, your metabolism would burn way more than 100 calories.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  Walking and sprinting and weight training boost metabolism. Doing a lot of jogging actually lowers resting metabolic rate because the body adaptively conserves energy when confronted with such stress. After a few weeks of a daily jogging habit you're in total burning barely more than you were when sedentary. This is why you see so many people pounding away on gym treadmills month after month and still looking squishy.
dguaraglia 12y ago
Any sort of physical activity is better than nothing. I gained some weight in the first month and a half after moving to the San Francisco (blame startup lunch and having no time to look for of a gym for that.) All I needed to adjust to drop the extra pounds was walk home every night. It's a longish walk (about 45 minutes) without a terrible difficulty level (not going through any of the hilliest areas), and yet that was more than enough to keep me fit and happy. Sure, walking alone won't make you gain a lot of muscle or incredibly performant in aerobic exercise, but it's definitely way better than just sitting on your ass all day and driving/shuttling home every day.
a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
> a measly 100 calories per mile Five miles a day of walking is something everybody can do pretty easily. What the heck is measly about 500 calories a day when people eat something like 2500 calories?
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  It takes hours to walk 5 miles. Walking speed is something like 2 mph; fast walking is 3 mph. No way can I spend 2 hours walking every day. Much rather be biking :)
  - WalterBright 12y ago
    I tried reading while walking. Didn't work out very well, I gave that up before something awful happened.
    - Evgeny 12y ago
      I switched to audiobooks almost exclusively recently. Very compatible with walking and running, and even mild outside exercise such as pullups.
      - WalterBright 12y ago
        I haven't done that out of concern of being unaware of things coming up behind me, like bicycles and cars. What I do do is "front load" my head with the context of a problem that's vexing me, and then while running think about it. I'm often able to come up with a solution that way. I also "write" articles while running, and then just tap them out when I get back.
  - a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
    3.8 MPH is a totally reasonable pace to expect from a healthy adult. That's apparently what I clock walking to work. I think 70 minutes of walking every day at 3.8 MPH is totally reasonable and doable. Two 35 minute walks every day. It's best to make this a part of your commute. I have got shredded doing little more than an hour of daily walking. Don't tell me walking doesn't burn calories.
jmadsen 12y ago
yes, but you don't understand how many miles the avg. person walks in a day who lives in an pedestrian/public transport friendly area. It is far, far more than you think.

bilbo0s 12y ago

I think that depends on the grade. In more hilly terrains... I think walking might burn more. I remember reading a LOOONG time ago, that a person will burn a lot more if their metro stop is Lamarck-Caulaincourt than they will if their metro stop is Odeon. So I could see walking around ... say ... Duke University probably burning a lot more than walking around Rice University. And walking around the University of Wisconsin at Madison all day will be a workout unto itself most likely. I don't think it is just... if you're walking you are not exercising. I think it really depends where you are walking at. Maybe even depends on if you have a backpack or heavy side bag as well. I'm not sure you can make a hard and fast rule.

philwelch 12y ago

1000 calories per week would make a difference. If you lived 1 mile from work you'd burn that from your commute alone.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

beachstartup 12y ago

in a walking vs. driving lifestyle, you don't just double your walking, you more than likely 10X your walking. 20X on an exceptionally busy day. i live in LA but my 'moves' app tells me that when traveling to walking cities, on a busy day i burn 600+ calories walking. at home it's around 100. sometimes less. this is quantified via GPS and an understanding of human biology. if you choose not to believe this, you're picking another fight entirely. a delta of 500 calories a day combined with eating just a little less, or of healthier foods is rapid weight loss. it's why people can easily lose weight on a vacation to europe or asia.

brandonmenc 12y ago
I do believe this. What I don't believe is that the average American will ever have time to walk 10x more than they currently do, or that the average obese American is eating only in excess of 500 calories a day. My original comment was harsher than it needed to be. I believe our exercise and obesity problem requires a lot more than just ditching cars to fix. Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. All things being equal, yes, more walking is better.
- smacktoward 12y ago
  > Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. This part is a chicken-and-egg problem, though: we design sprawled-out, unwalkable communities because everybody has cars; everybody has cars because they live in sprawled-out, unwalkable communities.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - zachrose 12y ago
    Maybe we should just let the cars drive themselves and have a treadmill inside the car. "It feels like you're running at an incredible rate, Harry."
- TheCoelacanth 12y ago
  An excess of 500 calories per day would lead to a weight gain of roughly 50 pounds per year. That could lead to obesity in less than a year and morbid obesity in just a few years. Most likely the average obese American is eating an excess of substantially less than 500 calories per day.

simonebrunozzi 12y ago

Wrong - walking, or any sort of physical activity, reactivates your metabolism. If you go from 0 to 1 hour of walking per day, your metabolism would burn way more than 100 calories.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
Walking and sprinting and weight training boost metabolism. Doing a lot of jogging actually lowers resting metabolic rate because the body adaptively conserves energy when confronted with such stress. After a few weeks of a daily jogging habit you're in total burning barely more than you were when sedentary. This is why you see so many people pounding away on gym treadmills month after month and still looking squishy.

dguaraglia 12y ago

Any sort of physical activity is better than nothing. I gained some weight in the first month and a half after moving to the San Francisco (blame startup lunch and having no time to look for of a gym for that.) All I needed to adjust to drop the extra pounds was walk home every night. It's a longish walk (about 45 minutes) without a terrible difficulty level (not going through any of the hilliest areas), and yet that was more than enough to keep me fit and happy. Sure, walking alone won't make you gain a lot of muscle or incredibly performant in aerobic exercise, but it's definitely way better than just sitting on your ass all day and driving/shuttling home every day.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago

> a measly 100 calories per mile Five miles a day of walking is something everybody can do pretty easily. What the heck is measly about 500 calories a day when people eat something like 2500 calories?

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
It takes hours to walk 5 miles. Walking speed is something like 2 mph; fast walking is 3 mph. No way can I spend 2 hours walking every day. Much rather be biking :)
- WalterBright 12y ago
  I tried reading while walking. Didn't work out very well, I gave that up before something awful happened.
  - Evgeny 12y ago
    I switched to audiobooks almost exclusively recently. Very compatible with walking and running, and even mild outside exercise such as pullups.
    - WalterBright 12y ago
      I haven't done that out of concern of being unaware of things coming up behind me, like bicycles and cars. What I do do is "front load" my head with the context of a problem that's vexing me, and then while running think about it. I'm often able to come up with a solution that way. I also "write" articles while running, and then just tap them out when I get back.
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  3.8 MPH is a totally reasonable pace to expect from a healthy adult. That's apparently what I clock walking to work. I think 70 minutes of walking every day at 3.8 MPH is totally reasonable and doable. Two 35 minute walks every day. It's best to make this a part of your commute. I have got shredded doing little more than an hour of daily walking. Don't tell me walking doesn't burn calories.

jmadsen 12y ago

yes, but you don't understand how many miles the avg. person walks in a day who lives in an pedestrian/public transport friendly area. It is far, far more than you think.