Can 30 Minutes On A Treadmill Help Me Lose Weight?

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If you can do 30 minutes on a treadmill then you will definitely see weight loss. This will be the case if you walk or run. You will be burning a lot of calories and provided you eat a sensible diet, you will be losing weight. How much is dependent on how big you are, how fast you go and how often you walk or run 30 minutes on a treadmill.

How many calories 30 minutes burns

As I said this depends on many factors including your weight and speed. Let’s do an example of a 150 pound person and a 180 pound person, I’ll also use those examples to go 3 mph and 5 mph. 3 mph is a brisk walk for most people and 5 mph is a gentle jog for most people. If you go faster or slower then you will burn more or less calories.

Speed – 5 mph
Time – 30 minutes
Your weight – 150 pounds
Calories burned – 310

Speed – 3 mph
Time – 30 minutes
Your weight – 150 pounds
Calories burned – 200

Speed – 5 mph
Time – 30 minutes
Your weight – 180 pounds
Calories burned – 372

Speed – 3 mph
Time – 30 minutes
Your weight – 180 pounds
Calories burned – 240

As you can see a walk or jog burns a significant amount of calories. You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of weight. So you would need to exercise for 30 minutes on a treadmill regularly. This should be possible if you’ve worked up to doing 30 minutes already. You should aim for 3 times a week or more.

Using a treadmill to lose weight

If you’re walking to lose weight, you may want to use the incline to burn more calories and fat. This is very popular and you improve the shape of your thighs, hips and butt at the same time. The true secret to losing weight through exercise is to do it regularly. Once a week isn’t enough. You need to make it part of your lifestyle.

If you do it 3 or more times per week, within a few weeks, you’ll start to see the scales change as your weight decreases. You may not be able to last 30 minutes at first. But the body will adapt if you build up slowly by 5 minutes per week until you reach 30. This is what I did when I lost 30 pounds. Seeing your weight change is very motivating and an exercise plan will do that.

CDC recommendations on physical activity

As I’ve said above all physical activity has the capacity to lose you weight whether it’s a 3 mph brisk walk or a 5 mph jog. This is especially so if you can do it for 30 minutes. Here are the CDC recommendations on physical activity for adults. We can compare what 30 minutes of treadmill exercise will do with regards to these recommendations.

The recommendations are 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity. A 3 mph walk is classed as moderate physical activity and if you can do that for 30 minutes on a treadmill you will get important health benefits.That’s what the CDC says. These include weight regulation and meeting your natural weight.

The recommendations are 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity. This is what a 5 mph jog is. So if you can do this for 30 minutes on a treadmill you will experience even greater health benefits. So 30 minutes on a treadmill is a magic number. This is quite a commitment but if you’ve worked up to 30 minutes then you must be exercising quite regularly already.

Focus on the diet too

It’s quite easy to be large and still exercise regularly. If you’re eating enough to maintain your weight, you’d be eating enough energy to function everyday and the calories burned. That’s why I say if you want to lose weight you need to control your eating too. Exercise won’t do it alone, not even 30 minutes regularly.

The good news is you can still eat a little more than a normal person who doesn’t exercise does. You just need a calorie deficit. Eat 3 meals throughout the day and 2 snacks. Try to control the portion sizes on these. It’s about reaching your desired weight. You can see by the calories burned above that you have that part done with exercise.

This chart shows you your ideal weight for your height. Once you get into the normal range you can consume more calories while still exercising. The reason is you don’t want to lose too much weight. 30 minutes on a treadmill will give you fantastic health benefits and weight maintenance is one of them.

Summary

So 30 minutes on a treadmill will help you lose weight. The heavier you are to start with the more weight you’ll lose more quickly. My own progress testifies to that where you can see I lose weight quickly at first although I was watching what I ate as well. Remember to weigh yourself weekly and at the same time and you’ll see progress.

If you only have a few pounds to lose then be aware that this maybe stubborn at first to go, but 30 minutes on a treadmill will get you there. If you’re brisk walking and want to lose more by running, consider my couch to 5k treadmill plan to get you running for 30 minutes in a regular achievable way. However, if you’re getting 30 minutes on a treadmill, keep doing it and you will lose weight.

Thinking of buying a treadmill? Here’s my favorite, I always recommend it when asked*