Walk 8,500 steps a day to keep the weight off

Forget 10,000 steps—walk just 8,500 steps a day to keep the weight off after dieting.

Up to 80 percent of people who lose weight put some or all of it back on again—but stepping out every day helps to keep the pounds off, say researchers from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy.

They analysed 18 studies that had involved 3,758 people who were on weight-loss programmes that combined diet with walking.  On average, people were walking around 7,280 steps a day, and lost around 4.39 percent of their body weight, equal to roughly 4 kg.

But those who increased their daily step count to around 8,500 after the dietary phase had ended kept most of the weight off; interestingly, walking more during the dietary phase didn’t help shed extra pounds.

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