Losing weight is actually a lot easier than you might think… Just track your calorie intake every day and then burn them off walking. You’d be surprised how you can achieve a calorie deficit… where you burn more calories in a day than you take in.

Of course if you’re walking to lose weight and burn calories you need a good tracking tool like a Fitbit or some other pedometer-style fitness tracker.

Walking to lose weight with a Fitbit.

I have to admit, I’m not much of a data nerd. I don’t track my stats on the golf course and I’m not one of those guys who logs every vertical foot that I ski. Never will.

But when you’re walking to burn calories or lose weight, I can sure see the benefits in using a Fitbit or other tracking gadget.

I’m seeing these more and more… people are tracking every step they take and getting more motivated by wearing these handy little watches.

It’s like having a friend who’s constantly reminded you get off your ass and start moving. Not only that, you also get support from the Fitbit community, which provides a social component that can be quite motivational.

Here’s how far or long you need to walk to meet your weight loss goals:

The amount of weight you’ll lose by walking depends on your body weight and walking pace. The heavier you are, the more calories you’ll burn as you walk.

For an average-sized adult, walking four miles in an hour translates to about 400 calories burned.

Although you can monitor your weight loss by distance, it’s much easier to use a pedometer. By tracking of the number of steps you take the device can help you adjust your workout to meet your weight loss goals.

More advanced pedometers and weight loss apps will even calculate your calorie expenditure and recommend how many steps you should be taking each day.

According to the Daily Health Post

• It takes roughly 2000 steps to burn about 100 calories.
• One pound is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories.
• So you’ll need to walk about 10000 steps daily to lose 1 pound per week (1).

Calculate how many steps in a mile and calories burned while walk to lose weight.

Obviously, the number of steps you take per mile depends on your pace and the length of your stride. The stride normally gets longer when you’re walking at a brisk pace, but that’s also a generalization. (Olympic walkers scoot along at a very fast pace with super small steps.)

Steps per Mile Estimated by Height:

A widely quoted estimate of stride length is 42 percent of height, although some research shows that ratio is only moderately accurate. Many pedometers use these estimates and ask for your height during setup. Rough estimates of steps per mile based on a stride to height ratio are:

Don’t forget that you’ll need a really good pair of shoes if you’re logging all these steps.

Check out your options: Best Walking Shoes for Women. Best Walking Shoes for Men. 

What to expect when walking to lose weight.

Depending on where you begin, you can expect to lose a half-pound to two pounds per week with a new walking program, according to Erin Palinski-Wade, author of Walking the Weight Off For Dummies.

Ultimately, you’ll want to build up to 30 to 60 minutes of walking most days of the week. But start where you are—if you haven’t worked out in a while, that could mean just 10 minutes of motion each day.

Each week you can increase your daily total by 5 minutes. This slow, steady ramp-up gives your body a chance to adapt, reducing your risk of injury as you get more fit.

“One of the great things about walking is that it really can be cumulative during the day,” Palinski-Wade says. If you feel overwhelmed by a 30- or 60-minute total, break it up into three 10-minute segments. You’ll burn just as many calories and net the same health benefits with less stress on your schedule.