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Walking is a safe way to improve your health and fitness. You don’t need any special gear, only a pair of comfortable shoes and a shower proof coat (just in case).

Get walking and lose the belly!

It’s all about the maths. Let’s say you weigh about 11 stone (70kg) and you complete a 1½ mile (2.2km) walk. You will burn about 162 calories (about the same as a packet of crisps) regardless of the speed you walk. This doesn’t sound like much, but if you walk five times a week you’ll burn off 800 calories (5 packets of crisps) and over a year, 41,600 calories (260 packets of crisps!).

It takes 3500 calories to burn 1 pound (450g) of body fat. If you take care with your diet and do five walks a week, every week you could burn nearly 12lbs (5kg) of body fat in a year. Not bad for just a short walk.

Walking is the easiest, safest, cheapest and greenest way to improve your health. Use our calorie wheels on our leaflets to work out how many calories you could burn on each walk.

Feel better!

Regular walking helps you to feel better and helps you sleep. A good walk also helps you to feel less stressed. Get away from it all – have a walk. Regular walking will also strengthen you heart, reduce blood pressure, lower your cholesterol and (if you watch what you eat as well) help you to manage your weight.

If you are inspired to use walking as part of a new healthier lifestyle we've developed a series of walks that will let you progress from short and easy routes to longer and longer routes. We've also put together some Healthy Walking Tips to help you along the way.

Not sure how to start? Need some extra guidance? Our guide to local walking groups in the area is a starting point if you would like the help and support of other like-minded people. 

Contact Information

For more information on Healthy Walking please contact our Countryside Exercise Specialist on:

Tel: 07788 547350

Email: beggbj@caerphilly.gov.uk

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