Are all exercises created equal!?

All forms of exercise are good for your body in some fashion - cardiovascular health, mental health, etc. but no exercise is required to lose weight - that only takes a caloric deficit. That being said, depending on what you are doing at the gym, taking a walk is great exercise but it will not burn the calories that the gym workout could burn (unless you are walking for several hours or doing some serious power-walking).

I guess that it all depends on what your goals are... are you working out at the gym to retain muscle tone or are you doing mainly cardio? What do you want to look like when you reach your goal weight?

Bottom line, calorie deficit for weight loss and exercise for fitness (not mutually exclusive goals either).

I didn't either, at first, but now it's a habit and that's how I start my day Monday thru Friday. I think it gets easier as time goes by and it's also easier if you are enjoying what you do at the gym... it doesn't sound like you are doing anything that gets you fired up, so try some different things (classes, etc) to see if any of them are more to your liking. You could also get a bike and use that as your exercise along with walking if that sounds like a better idea than going to the gym 5 days a week.

If you are losing 2 pounds a week I assume (I hope) you have a lot to lose since that is a very aggressive weight loss.

If you are considerably overweight then walking is all you really need to do. Walking is great exercise for fat loss and its much more likely you can get into a sustainable routinue of regular walking than long-term commit to a total lifestyle change of making it to a gym everyday.

Lose the weight with walking first, then you can decide if you want to build overall strength with workouts in a gym.

All I'd say to this is you might want to do a little something for your upper body so you don't lose muscle mass up top. At 2 pounds loss per week you probably are going to be losing muscle as well so best to try to stave that off with some exercise.

Honestly taking a walk daily is as good if not better for you. Turns out when we move enough (let's say 10,000ish steps) our blood sugar stabilizes and we don't get the common sugar spiking in our blood with our meals even with carbs. I don't really worry about official cardio anyway. The author (Dr Ken Cooper) who wrote the book "aerobics" found a number of women who WERE aerobically fit and did no formal exercise. Very busy "housewives" who somehow got enough activity even if it was a lower cardiac level.

My take is that you should do what you like. I have fun riding a bike and yes I am increasing my heart rate climbing hills but do it because I like it. I like my morning walk too . I belong to a gym to do upper body weights but alas don't go as much as I could. I just don't like having weights at home.

It depends on how you want to look. You said you wanted to look "in shape", but that's subjective. If being thin is what you think is a healthy look then you just need to be in a caloric deficit and don't really need exercise (this is what people call skinny fat, although the term bothers me). If the more athletic/toned look is what you think is in shape, then yes, you should be lifting weights.

Weight loss is dictated by having a calorie deficit, that's all. However, I will say that by including strength training in your weight loss, it really helps you not have lots of jiggly, squishy, wobbly bits once you get to goal weight. Helps everything stay shaped, sculted, and shapely, lol. And for me, personally, I enjoy cardio, because of the gratification I get from seeing my fitness/strength/endurance progress and achievements.

But it really does come down to what your goals are.