Walking or Running: What is better?

Running is much better because you can get more miles in and more calories burnt. And the calorie rates for walking and running a mile are different, it takes more calories to run than walk. I can burn 3700+ calories during a marathon.

Advice from someone who only read the topic headline.

As others say, I would keep with the walking. I started at 240 and walked for exercise until I was below 200. I did sort of have a program, in that each week I would try to increase my walking time by 5 minutes until I reached hour long walks. So for the first week I walked 4-5 times a week for 20 minutes. Next week was 4-5 times a week for 25 minutes, etc. It helps if you can increase the pace too but that comes with time.

Note this was all on a treadmill. And I hate steady state exercise so I would try to do 5 mins low speed, 5 minutes medium (starting to breath hard) speed, then as long as I could go at the fastest walking speed (when I started that was like 3.2 mph, now it's like 4+). Then I would go back down to slow, then start again. You just have to go with what feels right.

Hello to the OP! First, I'd like to congratulate you on getting out there and walking

Second, many posters have already stressed that the best exercise is what you'll do and given great tips on avoiding injury.

Personally, I don't think I'll ever be a runner. It hurts me, even though I've lost most of the weight I need to lose. Walking can be a great workout! I admire all the runners out there; I wish my body liked it more.

You can increase your intensity by walking by doing hills and intervals (walk faster then slower and when you get to that point, start jogging if you wish). However, please also pay attention to form. Proper form is so important and can improve the quality of your walks. Also, you can add some resistance while you walk. Tighten muscles as you walk, feel the stride, etc. Move your arms a bit faster while flexing them a bit, things like that that can help raise heart rate. Also, try not to get too out of breath. I've found that if I find a pace where I'm breathing at an increased rate, but evenly, lots of oxgen intake, I can improve my cardiovascular ability letting me progress to longer or more intense workouts.

Also, for days you don't walk outside, have you thought of in-home walking workouts? Leslie Sansone has some good ones, and there are others, but these also incorporate some upper body and mild resistance training. Good for increasing your fitness capacity.

Just take it easy for now, keep walking, and the running will come in time if you desire to do so. Please don't do too much too soon, though, as injuries take much longer to recover from than a more gradual start to running.

Best of luck to you!!