Not long ago, Gina Buck got on a scale and saw that her weight had crept to 287 pounds. She was shocked. And then she started to get really worried about her health. “I said, ‘I’m not getting any closer to 300 pounds,’” recalls the South Carolina retiree, 65, who has five beautiful granddaughters she wants to see grow up. “So I went to the doctor for diet pills.” Her doctor, a no-nonsense woman who’d overcome weight issues herself, agreed to three months of appetite suppressants as a jump-start . She also “prescribed” long-term strategies, including taking 10,000 steps a day and intermittent fasting. “It all made sense,” Gina recalls. But after a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, she was skeptical she could actually make changes and stick with them. “Even so, I figured I had to try.” So she found free phone apps to count her steps and help get her eating on track. What Gina didn’t realize: At that very moment, scientists were finishing experiments on the same strategies she was about to try. And they would ultimately find that intermittent fasting has the power to turbocharge exercise, helping walkers like Gina triple their fat loss . Wow!
Experts: The mix of intermittent fasting + walking is magic
As Gina’s journey got underway, she often turned to the internet for inspiration. And from the beginning, she’s loved the Start TODAY Facebook group , where Al Roke r and thousands of others go for walking workouts, healthy meal ideas and expert advice. Best of all, says Gina, “Everyone cheers each other on!”
Turns out, Gina is one of many who have hit on the combo of walking and intermittent fasting. “It’s very popular,” confirms Today fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour , a weight-loss coach who helps create fitness challenges for the group. She does think it’s important to note that even gentle fasting isn’t right for everyone, and there’s no need to force it if it doesn’t feel helpful. That said, many folks do indeed get triple-fat-burning results like those in the recent study. Why? Basically, the biochemical changes triggered by walking and intermittent fasting synergize inside us and lead to an explosion of benefits. “The combination can be like magic,” says Mansour.
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Superpowers of step counting
Walking is one of the easiest workouts in existence, and it’s one of the most effective for weight loss. Why? Precisely because it’s easy. What many of us don’t realize is that more difficult forms of exercise, while good for building stamina, give our bodies so much to handle that they can’t efficiently convert stored fat to fuel. Instead, hard workouts burn mostly blood sugar. “Go gently, and the difference in fat burning is dramatic,” says Katarina Borer, Ph.D. , whose studies at University of Michigan have revealed walking at a pleasant pace more than doubles fat burn compared to going all-out.
And with step counting you don’t have to set aside time to walk or wear special clothes. Just weave more steps into your normal routine. It’s easy-peasy, “so you’re more apt to do it,” notes Mansour. And consistency pays off. In one test, counting steps helped women be so much more consistent, they lost nearly 20 pounds before a group using traditional workouts shed 4 pounds.
Mansour adds that while 10,000 steps is a great goal for intermediate walkers, “your body responds when you challenge it in new ways.” So even if you can only do 4,000 steps (or 400 steps) to start, you’re on your way. “The key is to keep mixing things up as you get stronger,” she says. “That might mean adding more steps, walking on hills or incorporating yoga or strength training into your day.” At first, Gina was proud to get to 6,000 steps. But seeing all that Al and other Start TODAY members could do made her think she could too. “In a month, I worked my way up to 10,000 steps,” she smiles.
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Intermittent fasting Gina-style includes pizza
Gina’s doctor pointed out that if we eat more food than we can burn off, it slows or even prevents fat burning during walks. So the doc suggested Gina avoid high-cal junk and use a food log to keep her calories down. Gina began choosing food that seemed nutritious (including lots of grilled chicken). She plugged her choices in a free Samsung Health app . The app suggested she stay under 1,500 calories a day, so she did. “Honestly, I didn’t like a lot of my food, and I didn’t know if I could keep it up,” she shares.
One day she allowed herself a chicken-tender kids meal at Cracker Barrel , logging what she ate. Another time, she had pizza with her bowling team. Later, half a cheeseburger. She still hit her calorie goals and the scale kept going down. “I realized I don’t always have to eat healthy. It was a huge relief,” she says. “I think other people need to hear it. You can have things you like in moderation and still lose!” In a month, Gina was down 17 pounds.
The health benefits of gentle intermittent fasting
Now you might be wondering how Gina, who once felt addicted to snack food and chocolate, was content with one slice of pizza or three chicken fingers after she stopped taking the appetite suppressants. She gives partial credit to protein. She finds extra protein makes her cravings and appetite quieter. But there’s more to it than that. (Click through to learn more about how protein boosts weight loss )
“I was losing weight and feeling good. I thought, ‘Is there anything else I can do to help myself?’” She’d been meaning to try the intermittent fasting the doctor had suggested—specifically a version called time-restricted eating (TRE), which is all about stretching the time between your last meal or snack one day and your first meal the next.
Gina knew that TRE was supposed to set off changes in her body that could get her to her goals faster. Sure, she’d given up on it in the past, but maybe an easier version would still help?
“I found an app called Zero . When I’m done eating dinner, usually around 6 pm, I push a button to start a timer.” The app gave her choices for how long she wanted to fast. “I picked 13 hours. It seemed doable.”
She often stays up until 11 pm, and was used to snacking on chips and chocolate in front of the TV. “But there’s something about pressing the button on the app. It just tells my brain I’m all done, and intermittent fasting really hasn’t been a struggle. When I get up in the morning, I’ve already done 13 hours or more.”
Says Mansour: “I really like that Gina used a gentle version of the approach, because a lot of people think they have to do strict fasting for 16 hours and just 8 hours of eating. It’s so strict that it’s not always maintainable.”
And yes, the gentle intermittent fasting works. Experts explain that when we go longer without eating, even 12 or 13 hours, it gives our bodies more time to do things like burn off excess blood sugar , rebalance hormones and repair any damage inside us. “Basically, all our cells start to function better,” says Will Cole, Pharm.D ., author of Intuitive Fasting . Worth noting: Fasting has even been shown to quiet hunger hormones. In fact, a study on folks using gentle fasts like Gina found the approach led to significantly decreased hunger during the hours before bedtime .
On top of that, gentle fasting is linked to better blood-sugar control and lower levels of belly-fattening hormones like insulin and cortisol . You can also expect to experience better blood pressure, lower cholesterol and a nice spike in both morning energy and overall energy. Gina can certainly attest to the extra energy. “Prior to 2022, I wasn’t very active,” she says. “Now I walk all the time. I’ve even done several 30,000-step days! I go dancing and bowling with friends and camping with my family. I’m always looking for something to do.”
Weight Loss Most of us have heard of intermittent fasting for weight loss. But what about “intuitive fasting”? If it sounds gentler and easier, “that’s because it is,” shares functional medicine expert Will Cole, IFMCP, DNM, D.C., bestselling author of Intuitive Fasting. Here’s what sets the strategy apart: Instead of depriving yourself even if you’re ravenous, you […]
Intermittent fasting + walking success story: Gina Buck, 65
As Gina was having a blast eating what she loves and making friends on daily walks, pounds kept falling off. “I started in March and hit 100 pounds lost in October,” she says.
Since then Gina’s had ups and downs, losing more and regaining a little during a health scare with one of her kids. “He’s fine, thankfully. And what I’m doing has never felt hard, so it was easy for me to get back on track,” she says.
As Gina shed pounds and built her stamina by walking and using intermittent fasting, she never planned on becoming a basketball player. But that’s what happened! “My youngest granddaughter loves basketball and she’d always beg me to play,” Gina recalls. “When I was heavier, I could do it for maybe 15 minutes, then I’d have to go inside and rest. Now we play forever. I play volleyball too. And I’m not bad!” Gina says it’s the whole reason she started working on her health in the first place. “My mom was 96 when she passed, and she got to see her grandbabies have babies. I want that same experience. And now it definitely seems possible.”
After spending most of her life in plus sizes, Gina now fits nicely in size 12. “I can sometimes even wear a junior size 11, which means I can shop for myself in stores that my granddaughters like,” she shares with a smile. “I get a huge kick out of that. This is the smallest I’ve been since I was in my 20s. And besides vitamins, the only pills I take are for my allergies.”
The bottom line? Her advice to other women who want to restore their health: “Just start with whatever you can handle. You don’t need to eat salads or go to the gym. Just keep going. Little by little, your body starts to crave walking—you can’t wait to go out there and get moving. You just feel so good. And the whole world opens up!”
Gina’s guide to slimming as you eat what you love
Eating like Gina did is easy. Use a free app (like Samsung Health ) to track meals; aim for about 1,500 calories and about 100 grams of protein daily. Veggies and whole grains are nutritious picks, “but you don’t have to eat them to lose weight,” Gina insists. Just focus on calories. She also swears by waiting at least 13 hours between dinner one day and breakfast the next. We’ve got meal and snack ideas to inspire you. Find more at Today.com/start-today .
Sample breakfast: Morning chocolate fix
Blitz 1 chocolate protein shake, 1 ⁄ 4 cup peanut butter powder, optional drizzle sugar-free
chocolate syrup and ice to taste.
Sample lunch: Dagwood sanwich
Pile 4 oz. turkey, 1 oz. cheese and toppings of choice on a sandwich thin; enjoy with optional fruit on the side.
Sample dinner: Restaurant special
Check restaurant websites for options higher in protein and lower in calories. You can eat half or even get a kids meal.
Bonus recipe: Quick protein dip
This recipe is packed with ranch flavor and is so easy to make
About 12 servings, 20 calories and 3 g. protein each
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt
- ¼ cup light sour cream
- ½ packet Ranch dressing mix
- 2 Tbs. unflavored protein powder
Instructions:
- Just mix all ingredients and chill. Enjoy with veggies or crackers/chips of choice, such as Quest brand protein chips.
Gina has even more great tricks to try!
Two of the most powerful strategies Gina used to lose 100 pounds were increasing her daily step count and eating all her food in an 11-hour eating window each day. But she also used these little tricks to help make her progress quicker and easier…
Boost results with H2O
“My friend introduced me to Propel water. There’s a whole variety of flavors with no sugar or calories. I’m hooked on the grape one,” says Gina. She drinks both Propel and plain water, aiming for half an ounce for every pound she weighs. “I swear it keeps me from being hungry.” Dutch researchers agree. Their MRI studies shows that drinking just 12 ounces of fluid expands the stomach to double its normal size, sending stop-eating messages to the brain .
Have an indoor option
When the weather outside is frightful, Gina walks at her local mall or follows an indoor walking routine from YouTube. Check out options on the site’s “Fabulous50s” channel .
Stock ‘safe’ snacks
While Gina makes no food off limits, she tries to enjoy foods that may While Gina makes no food off limits, she tries to enjoy foods that may tempt her to overeat outside of her home. “I cleaned the chips, chocolate and soda out of my kitchen,” she says. “For me, safe snacks are deli meat, cheese and crackers.”
Outsmart boredom
When Gina has nothing fun to occupy her attention, her mind may prompt her to eat when she’s not hungry. “When it happens, I go for another walk. If I’m busy, I’m not thinking about eating,” she says.
Get your protein
If you log your food in just about any free app, it’ll automatically tell you how many grams of protein you get. “I find I feel best and have the easiest time hitting my calorie and walking goals when I get 100 grams of protein a day,” Gina says. Bonus: Studies show women over 50 who get this much protein have significantly more strong, firm, metabolism-boosting muscle !
Additional reporting by Kate Arcell and Beth Weissman
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