Walking can help you lose weight Walking 1 hour each day can help you burn calories and, in turn, lose weight. If you’d like to lose a substantial amount of weight (more than 5% of your body weight), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 300 minutes of moderately intense physical activity weekly.

Walking can help reduce waist size, and lower weight, body fat percentage, and body mass index (BMI, an imperfect but commonly used measure). The American Heart Association recommends that everyone get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, per week.

A combination of physical activity and cutting calories seems to help much more with weight loss than does exercise alone. Physical activity, such as walking, is important for weight control because it helps you burn calories. If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily habits, you could burn about 150 more calories a day.

The ideal target for weight loss is walking 5 miles a day. This will burn around 3,500 calories a week, the equivalent of one pound of excess fat. Build up to walking 5 miles a day gradually. If you have a high body mass index BMI, and you’re carrying a lot of excess weight, your calorie burn rate will be much higher.

The recommended amount of walking to lose weight is 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, or about 30 to 60 minutes daily, five days a week. However, walking even 15 minutes daily can help improve your health and support your weight-loss goals.