I plan to start a walking routine tommorow but to tell you the truth I know very little about it. I was just planning on going out and walking a while. I thought better of that and figured I would see if anyone could suggest to me a good routine for walking. I am reading a lot about WATP but I am not quite sure what that entails and it seems to be geared towards woman. Is there anyway I can tell how far I have walked if I do just go out and start walking so I can keep track of my progress and know how much I am getting done?

if you are on streets, you can drive your route and check the mileage with the car odometer and be pretty close. or you can buy a pedometer, calibrate it to your stride, and then measure it directly.

or - walk briskly in one direction for 15 mins - turn around and walk back. Then increase the intensity - either keep turning back at the same place but try to get your roundtrip faster - or keep going faster and further in that 1st 15 mins to increase your distance/speed for the 30mins you are exercising.

this allows to you track "progress" without needing to know the real distance.

my understanding is that WATP is a video that allows you to equate the completion of their workout with a walking distance - e.g. you move arms & legs for 20 mins at the speed of the video and it is "as if" you had walked 1 mile or 2 miles, etc.

There are many ways to start it.

Here is walking site with free 10 weeks program, and with support forum:
http://walking.about.com/cs/walkofl...PM=ss12_walking
Or another one:
http://www.thewalkingsite.com/index.html
Or if you buy a pedometer (it less than $20), you can not only measure the distance, but join to many challenges here, on this forum.
Check the pedometer challenge:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=115221
How about walking around the world?
http://www.walk-the-world.net/

WATP is a nice program, there is nothing feminine in it - I started my running program with one month WATP 3 miles - with my husband:-)) It is good if you can not go outside, or if you want to do some upper body workout too.
If you go to www.collagevideo.com, you can read reviews, even check 60 sec previews from the program. (Search for instructor: Leslie Sansone)

I found a pedometer that measures either in steps or distance at our local Walmart for about $5 ($4.95 I think). It is small, clip it to your waist.

Thanks guys, these suggestions are great. I went ahead and started today by doing what LisaS suggested and walked "briskly" for about 20 minutes each way. Felt like I got a good workout. I was planning on buying a pedometer too so that will help. I am going to look into those programs also.

It's great that you've taken the first step towards fitness! I started the same way last year and am happier than I have been in a long time. If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about makin' it all complicated right now, just get out there and walk (and walk, and walk). I don't mean to walk too much at first, just be consistent! The more ya' walk, the more you'll want to walk. The better it makes ya' feel, the more you'll wanna' do as far as fitness goes, but I think it's good to just establish a good base first.

I found a pedometer that measures either in steps or distance at our local Walmart for about $5 ($4.95 I think). It is small, clip it to your waist.

I bought this pedometer today. It works like a charm!