How Many Calories Do You Burn While Walking?

Weight also plays a factor in the number of calories you burn - for a person that is overweight, they actually expend more calories in the effort than someone who weighs less and walking can be safer and easier to perform, thus encouraging them to walk longer and burn more calories - make sense?

Counting Calories

The following information was compiled from a couple of different fitness sites supporting personal trainers and fitness programs. Remember, these are all averages and are based on weight (in pounds) and the speed at which you are walking. For example, according to my information if you weight 175 pounds and you walk at an average speed of 3 miles an hour, you will burn about 5 calories per minute. That means 30 minutes of walking will burn 150 calories and if you walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, you will burn about 750 calories per week.

So based on your average weight and walking at a speed of 3 miles an hour, you will burn calories at the following rate:

• 130 to 140 pounds - 3.5 calories burned per minute
• 145 to 155 pounds - 4.0 calories burned per minute
• 160 to 170 pounds - 4.5 calories burned per minute
• 175 to185 pounds - 5.0 calories burned per minute
• 190 to 200 pounds - 5.5 calories burned per minute

For every ten pounds or so more you add, you burn an extra .5 calories, so based on that, someone who weights 235 pounds would burn about 7 calories per minute if they walked at the same rate. If they walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, they will burn 1050 calories per week.

So, as you can see, if you are counting calories, lifestyle walking can have definite benefits towards your weight loss program and staying in shape. If you have any questions or you do not see your weight listed here, feel free to drop me a note. We'll be referring back to this as we dive into our Spring Forward to Action Challenge next week.

Can you walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week?