As you begin your exercise program, burning the most possible calories might be one of your primary goals. As you pursue your medical weight loss plan, reducing caloric intake while increasing your calorie burn will create a deficit and help you work off stored energy.

If you’ve chosen walking as one of your primary forms of exercise, you’ve probably heard various tips from different people. Some advise you to wear a step counter or use an app on your phone to track distance, while others tell you to boost your speed. So which advice is correct?

If you go strictly by the research, walking at a faster speed will result in a higher calorie burn. Faster walking will also help you to boost your heart rate, leading to greater cardiovascular fitness. A more difficult workout (assuming you don’t overdo it) is healthier for your heart in the long run, and can help you ward off certain chronic health problems like heart disease.

On the other hand, an overall sedentary lifestyle is the problem for many people. The point of those step counters is to encourage more movement throughout the day, period – even at times that you don’t consider your “workout” time. Moving more throughout the day will boost your metabolism and help make your medical weight loss plan more successful.

So, the answer might be that neither approach is “better” than the other, but that each of these tips addresses slightly different goals. To get yourself moving more throughout the day, a step counter can be a useful tool. But when you go for a walk, work on increasing your speed through interval training as well. This will make those steps count for even more, with regard to both weight loss and prevention of health problems.

For more advice on a medical weight loss plan that helps you renovate your lifestyle and change your health, give us a call. We can help you put together a program involving both healthy food and exercise, that works for your body type and individual goals.