If you were to suddenly begin to walk briskly every day, you will not lose weight.
Surprised? I found this out the hard way. I was so pumped to lose weight by walking that I bought my Apple Watch and used Strava
When it comes to exercising for weight loss, understanding the correct heart rate is crucial. This is important for obese individuals to know the ideal heart rate to keep you in the fat burning zone.
How Much Should I Walk for Weight Loss?
First, how much should you walk.
Aim to walk at a moderate pace for at least 30 minutes, five days a week. This can help burn approximately 150 calories per day (depending on your weight), which can contribute to a calorie deficit and support weight loss. The key here is caloric deficit. So please don’t go home after the walk and gobble up a cake.
Calculating Heart Rate for Obese Individuals
To maximise your weight loss, aim to have your heart rate within the fat burning zone. Star by calculating your maximum heart rate = subtract your age from 220. For example, I am 50-years-old. So my maximum heart rate is 220 – 50 = 170 beats per minute (bpm). The fat-burning heart rate zone is typically between 50% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. So for me, I should be aiming to keep my heart rate between 85 beats and 120 beats per minute.
Here is a table of estimated fat-burning heart rates for obese males and females:
Age
Male Fat-Burning Heart Rate (bpm)
Female Fat-Burning Heart Rate (bpm)
20-29
120-140
115-135
30-39
115-135
110-130
40-49
110-130
105-125
50-59
105-125
100-120
60-69
100-120
95-115
Five Key Points to Focus on While Walking
Heart Rate: Monitor your heart rate regularly to ensure you are within the fat-burning zone. You can use a wrist monitor or chest strap to track your heart rate.
Pace: Aim for a brisk pace of at least 100 steps per minute to reap substantial fitness benefits. But dont over do it.
Breathlessness: If you can talk comfortably with some breathlessness, you are likely walking at a moderate but brisk pace. If you can’t talk easily, the pace is probably vigorous.
Posture: Maintain good posture while walking to engage your core and burn more calories. Keep your head up, shoulders relaxed, and engage your core muscles.
Consistency: Aim to walk at least 30 minutes per session, three to four times a week, to see significant weight loss and fitness improvements.
Very Important – You’re not in Danger!
Your fat burning zone is very important. Even if you think its too slow of a walk for you, keep at it – increase the duration, if possible. Keeping your body in the fat burning zone tells your body that you’re not in danger and its safe for your body to consume the fats. If you reach the higher heart beat range, you body will think you’re in danger and stop burning fat because it knows, from our cave man days, that you will need the fats later when the danger is over.
Here is 3 practical tips to lose one kilogram of your weight within a week. Try it and you’ll be amazed. No artificial flavours. Just some determination and consistency.
Table of Contents
Tip 1: Control Your Meal Portions
Weight control is simply using more calories than you consume. I first discovered this when I had finish a salad meal with my boss and I was complaining to him that I still didnt feel I was full. And he said, “Good. You should be feeling not full. When you have eaten until you felt full, that is a sign that you’ve eaten too much. This is because of the delayed response from your stomach to your brain saying that you’re full. Nothing in our body is instant expect for pain.”
That made a lot of sense to me. I know I can always get food whenever I want. So this made a lot of sense. So now I eat a little less.
Tip 2: More Fibre and Protein
Now I eat more fibre rich foods, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains into my meal. It’s a tough change but its a change for the positive as these food keep my tummy quite for a longer time.
I also include good protein portions with each meal, such as lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, and tofu, to support muscle retention and control hunger.
Tip 3: Water over Wine and Beer (and Red Bull)
I now consume 2 litres of water per day. It’s mainly because I dont want to end up like my uncle, hooked 3 times per week to a dialysis machine. What is life then? Wine and beer and other energy drinks contain too much sugar for my body at this point in time. As much as I love them, I will pay the price eventually. So water it is for now, with an occasional Himayalan Salt to keep up my electrolytes.
I couldn’t believe it when I found that the first thing I had to do to accelerate my productivity and focus was to sleep more.
Sleep More
I know how you feel. I felt so angry when I first read this in Nick Littlehales, “Sleep: Redefine your rest for Success in Work, Sports and Life”. Nick is a sleep coach for elite athletes (look at me, reading techniques for elite athletes). One of the things I learned was understanding my circadian rhythms and chronotypes – about my internal body clocks and sleep patters. This, using my Apple Watch, really helped me understand how long it took me to go into REM sleep, which is needed for my memories to form and connect; and to Deep Sleep, when my muscles and tissues begin to heal (this is also when some people accidentally wake up and find that they cannot move their bodies – also known as Sleep Paralysis [Afraid to Sleep]). Nick explains about other stuff which I don’t really implement like planning my sleep around 90-minutes cycles instead of 8-hours. I am not an elite athlete, so I don’t practise this. Nevertheless, I found this book to be a good source of basic knowledge.
I am pretty sure you are aware that during sleep, your brain processes and consolidates memories, clears waste, and regulates emotions. Getting enough sleep improves your cognitive performance, boosts mood, and sharpens your focus and concentration. Basically, having adequate sleep, not overdosing on it, gives you enough energy to make your feel you can take on the world. For me, it makes me think clearer at work, and I can focus well. In the beginning, I felt lousy going to bed earlier when I had so many things to do. But after a few weeks, I found that I could do most things at work because I was sharper and calmer.
Track Your Sleep
Use an app to track your sleep. If you don’t track it, you will not know how well your sleep was or how long it took you to get into REM or Deep Sleep, your breathing rate and so forth. These are important vitals for you to check. Only then you can either learn how to improve them yourselves or speak to your doctor about this.
Use a smartwatch like Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 to help track your sleep rhythm throughout the night. This really paid off for me as I realised that I had restless leg syndrome when I slept. My Apple Watch showed that I wasn’t getting enough Deep Sleep and explained several causes, one of it being the restless leg syndrome.
Tips for Improving Mental Clarity through Better Sleep
Here’s a few things that I did to sleep better:
Established a Consistent Sleep Schedule: I slept at the same time every night, weekdays and weekends. This helped my body to wake up at the right time feeling fresh.
Create a Sleep-Conducive Environment: This was hard for me to do as I have a beautiful view outside my window. But I had to shut my blinds and make my room pitch black with the airconditioner set at 22 Celcius. Then I slept well. Not to mention have a comfortable mattress and pillows to promote relaxation, especially when I have back pains.
Avoid Stimulants Before Bedtime: I used to drink tea before sleeping. I had to abandon that. Caffein was preventing me from sleeping.
Practice Relaxation Techniques: Engage in calming activities, such as meditation, deep breathing, or reading, to help the mind and body relax before sleep.
Monitor Sleep with some Electronics: Use an electronic gadget to track sleep patterns, identify areas for improvement, and make adjustments to the sleep routine accordingly. It makes a huge difference. You cant change what you cant track.
Sleep Apnea
I have recently been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I guess it comes with age and weight. If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to brain damage due to the lack of oxygen. This is a prevalent syndrome for overweight men. Get yourself a good CPAP machine. This will save your life.
