Cardio machines vs hilly dog walks in OPT

[Kirjava]

Life has finally stabilized to the point where I feel like I can commit to a fatloss program like OPT, so I am going to give it a go again.

My only question is with regards to the cardio workouts in OPT. I'd like to switch out the cardio workouts in OPT with hilly dog walks instead. I take my very-active husky for fast-paced, hilly 90-min walks most days of the week after work and on the weekends, and that combined with a 35% deficit in the past two weeks has shown some nice progress on the scale--i.e. I dropped from 147 to 142.

However, I'd like to put some weights back in there, and I like the focus of a program, so I'd like to restart OPT.

The thing is, is that I love my walks (and so does my dog!; I also walk her for 30 min before work every day). I love being outside with her, and the modernate nature of them keeps me from feeling famished and like I "deserve" more food.

My understanding is that a brisk 90 min of a hilly walk has the same calorie-burning benefit of shorter bursts of more intense cardio, so would it be okay to swap them out? Any feedback would be appreciated.

ETA my title is a bit misleading; I realize that OPT does not only allow cardio machines. I could also go jogging/running with my dog, for a shorter amount of time. That is something I'd consider doing, if there was a clear reason why that was a great benefit than the longer brisk walk.

[Aoife]

You'd be fine. Leigh's point is trying to not exhaust you while you're on a big deficit. Plus, I'd always stick with what one likes and will do AND IS WORKING over something that someone stuck in a plan for the masses, even if it's as good a plan as OPT. You'll be fine with your nice walk, it'll get you a good amount of movement, and then if you stop seeing results you have something you know you can try changing to conform more to the program and see if that works.

For me, the cardio there was a bit too much, and I'm fine on what I'd equate to your hilly walks with your dog.

(Plus, you can use machines if you want, she's giving a routine that could actually be done at home with just a bit of equipment, and so just lists the freeness of going outside over the costliness of having a treadmill/elliptical/bike/what ever.)

[Kirjava]

Thanks, Aoife. That makes sense to me, too. It seems to accord with what Leigh says--do what works, don't exhaust yourself--so I didn't want to let go of the walks unless it seemed necessary.