Okay, here is the deal...

I'm very proud of myself for making Walk Away the Pounds a habit. I've walked at least 8 miles every week for the last 5 weeks. Many weeks, I'll walk 11 or 12 miles in the week. (Maybe not great for some, but from someone who NEVER used to exercise, I'm proud of myself.) The problem is that while I like the workout she gives, Leslie Sansone is driving me a little batty. All that "nice, nice, nice" and "everyday is a good day for a walk" was motivating at first...but now it is just annoying me. Basically, I"m just getting bored with this kind of walking and need to switch up my routine.

Since it was sunny today and a balmy 30 degrees I decided to go for a 30 minute walk outside. Now, when I do WATP, I sweat. The 2 mile makes me sweat and the 3 mile makes me SWEAT. Walking outside today, I think that i walked two miles, I kept up a very brisk pace and even walked up some hills....but I'm not sure that it was the same intensity of work out as my WATP tapes. What do you think? Does walking outside for 30 minutes (at a pace that was brisk enough to allow me to talk in sentences, but just barely) count the same as 30 minutes of WATP?

Thanks in advance!

I've never done watp, but you have to consider the outside vs inside temps and wind as a factor in how much you sweat. One way to figure out if you're getting an equivalent workout would be to take your heartrate half way or so through one of the tapes and also take your heart rate half way through an outside walk. If it's about the same rate, you're probably getting about the same workout. If not, just walk a bit faster

I also find I work harder with WATP than just walking outside. Remember when you do WATP you are throwing in all sorts of high steps, arm movements, even weights, and you typically don't do that walking elsewhere. OM is right, monitoring your heart rate is the best way to gage how hard you are working. You can always walk faster or add other movements to your outside walk to pick it up.

I DO think walking outside or on a track occasionally is necessary for overall fitness goals. It's going to use your muscles in a slightly different way, and it's going to keep your body from getting complacent. Walking outside is also MENTALLY beneficial for a number of reasons. I firmly believe that doing the same type of activity over and over again isn't a good idea. Still, if you want to do Leslie without the chatter, then simply turn the sound down. I do this sometimes -- I DON'T play other music because it would be too hard to keep pace while hearing a different beat, but if you know the routine you can still follow along without having to hear the cues or the music.

I think the nice, nice of the tapes is a bit too much. I mute my television and pop in a cd or turn on the radio. I like that I can change the intensity of the workout and just use the video as a guide.