The Power Of This Most Underrated Fat Loss Tool

00:00You will burn more total calories throughout the day from general movement than you will from your workouts. Walking helps to lower your stress and helps to lower your cortisol. Like think about it like this. If you're having a stressful meeting or you've had a stressful long day and you go for like a 10 to 15 minute walk, that can lower your cortisol levels and help reset your mood. Yo, you guys, what's up?

00:30Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkie Stott. And welcome to today's episode, episode number 238. And today, we're going to talk about what I believe to be one of the most underrated tools for fat loss

01:01and for recovery and for a multitude of different things for your overall like health and well-being. And that is walking. Yeah. Plan on walking. Plan on walking.

01:43There's sweating buckets at the gym and being in a certain, you know, calorie deficit and all of those things. And what if I told you guys that like one of the most powerful tools for long-term fat loss and your metabolic health isn't just like focusing on yet another intense workout. It's just simply moving your body more throughout the day. Like it literally doesn't have to be that complicated. And I think that's what the fitness industry does really, really, really, really, really well is they make it seem like the secret sauce to you getting the results you want with fat loss

02:18and getting the tone body of your dreams has to be this like E equals MC squared and type of equation. And it doesn't have to be that complicated. So today when I want to talk to you guys is one, I want to talk about like why, why walking? Like why is it so effective for fat loss? And then I want to talk to you guys about like how walking compares to traditional cardio and some of the benefits of walking beyond just like weight loss. And then obviously like giving you guys some tactical takeaways of which I love to do in the episodes with you guys

02:51is how you can add more steps in your day without like totally turning your routine upside down. So if you guys are struggling with fat loss, if you guys are feeling like run down because you're overtraining and you're just like, oh, I got to get to the work. I got to get to the gym today to get my another workout done this week. Or maybe you're just like, I'm just looking for a simple way to just start improving my health. Then this is for you. Okay, so let's dive into it. First, let's talk about why walking is such an effective tool for fat loss. I think that most people think that fat loss comes from like crushing in the gym.

03:25It comes from doing hours and hours and hours of cardio. It comes from eating in a calorie deficit. And while yes, like all of those things are important and they matter, workouts, nutrition, like they 100% matter. But what gets overlooked is, and I don't know if you guys have heard of this before. Maybe you have. Maybe it's definitely a term that's used very much so in the fitness industry. Or if you ever worked with a trainer. More so, I think you would hear it if you're working with a trainer. And that's, it's called NEAT. I definitely talked about this on episodes before.

03:57But that's non-exercise activity thermogenesis. And so what that is, is it's basically all the movement that you do outside of your structured exercise. Like your structured workout. Like it is you walking around your house. It is you pacing while you're on the phone. It's, I'm, you can't see me if you're, if you're just listening to audio. But I'm like, I talk with my hands. I'm fidgeting. It's cleaning. It's taking the stairs instead of taking the elevator. And what I think what will blow your mind is when you guys think of it like this.

04:32NEAT is it will actually account for like more calorie burn than your workouts do. So let me repeat that in a different way. You will burn more total calories throughout the day from general movement than you will from your workouts. Put into this perspective too as well. If you're just like only focusing on one hour gym sessions, but you're sitting the rest of the day, you are missing out on a massive opportunity when it comes to fat loss.

05:05You're missing out on this extra added tool. If you could just get up and do a walk, like a 10 minute walk, or even if you're just standing, you know, and at a desk or whatever it is, if you can add some of those things I just said, into your routine every single day, like this, that will greatly benefit you. Because if you're just like, oh, I'm going to have to get my, I have to get a workout in, but then you sit for the rest of the day. I'm just saying like, there's so much room for you to be able to improve on your journey.

05:37If you start to incorporate more of this. So what I also want to kind of break down with you guys is what is the difference between walking versus like traditional cardio? Because a lot of people think like if walking burns calories, wouldn't it be better if I was doing more like intense cardio instead? And not necessarily. And this is the reason why. One is walking burns fat without spiking stress hormones. So think about it. Like what does high intensity workouts do?

06:08And like long cardio sessions, what do they do? They will spike your cortisol levels. It will spike your stress hormone. And when cortisol is constantly elevated, as we talked about in the last episode, which I would highly recommend that you guys go and listen to because I broke down basically like what could be, you could be doing everything right. You could be crushing your workouts. You could be crushing your nutrition. You could be crushing your sleep. But you're still feeling like you're stuck. And that could be because you're in like a chronic state of stress, which a lot of us

06:40are from our day to day, from responsibilities. And then, you know, X, Y, and Z that gets added to it. So definitely go check that out. Because as we learned in that episode, if you listen to it, high intensity exercise and things like this will continue to add more stress to your body, which is in the episode says it's a good thing. There's a multitude of other things that is increasing your cortisol. But anyway, when cortisol is constantly elevated, it will make fat loss harder, especially around

07:11your midsection. Walking, on the other hand, it burns calories and it encourages fat loss without overloading your body with stress. So think about it like that. Like walking will burn fat without spiking your stress hormone. That's why I would recommend like if you are just getting into fitness and you're just like, I'm looking for some sign right now that's going to help me make it super simple to just start doing something. This is your sign. Walk more. Go walk for 10 to 15 minutes today, then tomorrow, then the next day, and just see that more neat

07:47movement throughout your day is going to help to start to facilitate fat loss. Another thing on top of like how walking burns fat without spiking your stress hormones is walking will help to preserve muscle while you are in a deficit. So one of the biggest mistakes that I see people make when they're trying to lose fat is they're overdoing cardio. They're constantly running miles. They're constantly doing the Stairmaster. They're on the elliptical. Like they're prioritizing.

08:18And I did this in an episode a couple of weeks ago, which was so good. It was one of my favorite ones I've recorded where 97% of society, and I saw this on Instagram, thinks that it's cardio workouts and nutrition when it is the exact opposite. It's nutrition, workout, cardio, and cardio should just be a tool. So in terms of fat loss, but so many people think that it's like, I need to go if I want to lose fat, I need to overdo my cardio. And along the way, what happens when you're overdoing your cardio when you're in a deficit

08:49is you are losing muscle along the way. Because think of it like this, not because, but think of it like this. Like muscle equals you having a higher metabolism. More muscle means that you burn more calories even while you're at rest. Walking allows you to stay active and burn fat without breaking down muscle. Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling

09:22stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show. Majority of the time when I'm working or have worked with clients in the past, I know that some of our warrior wave coaches do this depending on the individual that they're working with, a woman will be in a calorie deficit to help facilitate fat loss. But you, depending on the individual, will most likely see at the beginning of that individual's journey that we're just focusing on getting like eight to 10k steps a day, depending on

09:54where they're at, even with their steps. I'm going to talk about that a little bit. But it doesn't have to be like this, like you need to do cardio five days a week on top of your training. You can just do your training and then you can focus on getting X amount of steps in the day. And then one thing else too is that walking is so sustainable. Like you can do it every single day because I mean, if you're anything like me, like let's be real. Nobody wants to do a hit five times a week forever, right?

10:26It's kind of like thinking about keto. It's like nobody wants to eliminate carbs for the rest of their life forever, right? And so in that regard, macros is sustainable. And in this regard, walking is sustainable. You don't have to do hit five times a week. But walking, you can do it daily without feeling exhausted or without feeling like you're burnt out. And that's the key to fat loss. Sustainability and every single strategy that you use when it comes to strength training,

10:57when it comes to nutrition, when it comes to sleep, when it comes to cardio. Like it should always be a question that you ask yourself whether you're joining us at Warrior Babe or whether you're joining another program. It should be, is this going to be sustainable? And why just for a little bit of an addition to this topic that we're on, why does it need to be sustainable? Because it's something that you can do long term. And I want to rewrite like the whole diet narrative and everything that's in the fitness space of like get this in 30 days, 60 days, which still happens or all of these GPL, whatever pill

11:33injections, like it bogs my mind. That's not, is that sustainable? No. So that should always be the question that you're asking yourself. Fat loss is great, right? But what walking does is so much more, it does so much more for the body than just burning calories. Like walking helps to lower your stress and helps to lower your cortisol. Like think about like this, if you're, if you're having a stressful meeting or you've had a stressful long day and you go for like a 10 to 15 minute walk, that can lower your cortisol levels and help reset your mood.

12:05Once it gets warmer here, at least in Philly, it's like, cool. I get to go last summer. I don't know if you guys remember, if you found me on Instagram, I would get out with Maverick every morning and go knock out like 8,000 steps right first thing in the morning. And I love doing that because I'm outside, which is 1000% better. And it shows that research shows that walk, you got like walking in nature can reduce your anxiety and improve your mental health by a long shot. On top of that, how lower stress and cortisol is that it improves your digestion.

12:38Have you guys ever heard like, uh, I know this was being talked about a couple of months ago, but basically whenever you have a meal, right? You are, you have a big meal. What happens there is it can spike your blood sugar, but at the same time, it can also make you feel bloated. It can make you feel sluggish and if, have you ever noticed that like, after you have that big meal, you go out for a walk, how you don't feel as bloated or sluggish after like a 30 minute walk because it helps to stimulate your digestion and helps to reduce bloating. So like a pro tip, like 10 to 15 minutes after you have a big meal, it will help to stabilize

13:12your blood sugar and it will help to prevent having any type of energy crash. If you, if you are feeling sluggish, I would just recommend getting out there for 10, 15, 30 minute walk. And then at the same time, like outside of just fat loss, like walking also improves your sleep. And it shows that people that walk more get X amount of steps in a day, it shows that they sleep better. Like, especially if they're walking outside and they get natural sunlight during the day, or if you start your day with the natural sunlight and then you end your day with the natural sunlight, maybe doing a time of a walk in the morning and time we're going to walk at night,

13:44like that can dramatically improve your sleep. So if you guys struggle with falling asleep or you wake up groggy, get more steps in earlier in the day or just in your day in general. Okay. So you guys know that I love doing like some tactical takeaways that you guys can walk away from an episode and start implementing into your life like immediately. And one of those that I want for you guys to do is just set a step goal. Like if you're currently at 3000 steps per day, please do not jump to like 10,000 steps.

14:20Just start by adding an additional like 1000 or 2000 steps like per week. So you don't have to do it per day. Like just let it tally up at the end of the week that maybe you were hitting three times seven is 21,000 steps a week. So maybe you're hitting by the end of the week, like 23 or 24,000. Or if you feel like you can do it, then add a thousand to your day. Instead of 3000, do 4000 or do 5000. For most people like getting anywhere from it doesn't have to be 10,000 steps either.

14:51It can be like 8,000 to 12,000 steps per day is like the sweet spot for improving your overall health and for fat loss. And a way that you can help get more steps in the day is just like get out there for a morning walk. Like take short walks throughout their day. Do a 10 to 15 minute walk before starting your day. Do a quick like 10 minute walk after you've had your lunch or your dinner because as we just talked about it, that improves and stabilizes your digestion and your blood sugar. And then a wind down walk that helps to lower your cortisol and it helps to improve your sleep.

15:22This is something I do all of the time, which is walking while I do other things. You will find me if I'm ever on the phone with friends or family, I'm pacing my island out in my kitchen. And so when I'm taking phone calls, I'm walking or pacing. Or I love this like park further away when you're when you're going to Target or you're going to Whole Foods, you're going food shopping or whatever you're doing, running errands, like park further away because you're naturally getting in more steps.

15:53Even if it's cold, you're going to get warm in 30 seconds once you get inside. And then what I would say too as well is like if you guys work at a desk, like I have a walking pad. I don't know the brand right off the top of my head. I think it's a Renfo. I think it sounds about right. But you know, whenever sometimes I'll just pull it out, stick underneath my desk and put my desk up because it's a standing desk too as well and just start walking. So that's another recommendation or use walking as like a way to spend quality time with people.

16:27Go for a walk with a friend and suddenly meeting for coffee. And granted, like totally hear anyone that's like in the cold and that's the last thing y'all want to do right now. Like I feel you, I totally understand that it's miserable outside. But once it does warm up, like just keep this in the back of your head. Like instead of meeting a friend for coffee, let's shift to the season of walking outside. Right. All in all guys to say like with this episode today and what I've shared with you is walking is like the easiest, the most effective and the most sustainable tool for fat loss and

17:02for improving overall health. And again, like if some of you guys are like, oh, I just, you know, another workout or I need to do more cardio or I need to up my, my training to be a little bit more intense or I need to sweat buckets after the gym. Like you don't need to do that. You just need to move more throughout the day. Okay. If you're feeling stuck, if you're feeling like your progress isn't where you want it to be and you're constantly stressed out and you're unsure of how to burn more calories and like

17:34without adding more to your workouts, without like what I just said, increasing the intensity or, you know, adding another day, just start walking. You accomplishing fat loss, like there's a multitude of, of different ways that you can accomplish it. And as I said earlier, like nutrition and workouts are absolutely, they absolutely matter. But fat loss isn't always about doing more in the gym. It's about moving more throughout your day. And walking is something you can do daily for life.

18:07As always, I like to do or here and there again in these episodes is challenge you guys, challenge yourself this week, set a step goal, take a 10 minute walk after your meals, swap one of your cardio sessions, uh, for a long walk. If the weather's starting to get nicer, at least in Philly here. So can you get outside to do that? And I promise you guys, when you start prioritizing, like moving more throughout the day and having daily, more daily movement and just not just relying on like your one hour gym session and

18:40you sit the rest of the day, you, I promise you, you will feel a difference. All right. So guys, if this resonated with you, please, I just ask that you share it with a friend who needs to hear it too, as well. And, um, like always, like if you're needing more help, if you're unsure how to take your fitness level to your fitness to the next level, check out warrior beam, go to warriorbeam.com. All right, my friends, I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I hope you had some takeaways, some light bulbs go off until next time, my friends keep crushing

19:10it and get those steps in. Real quick. If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

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