Walking is one of the simplest exercises out there because most of us do it every day. Starting a walking program is just like beginning any other exercise program.

The amount of calories burned while walking can vary greatly, depending several factors. The amount of time you walk, how fast you go, what shape you're in and even where you walk can make a big difference in the calories you burn. For instance, a 150-pound person who walks slowly on a firm surface for half and hour will burn about 85 calories, whereas a 200-pound person on a cross-country hike will burn 273 calories in the same amount of time. Calorie calculators can help you determine how many calories you're burning.

When it comes to upping your calorie burn, remember to keep your pace up: Walking can burn as many calories as running if you work hard enough. And, don't shy away from hills. They might leave you breathless but you'll burn mega calories in the process. Finally? Head off the beaten path. Hitting the trails on a nature walk burn more calories than city-walking does.

Why should you care about how many calories you burn? Burning more calories shaves inches off your waistline and is crucial for your overall health and well-being.

Want an easy way to up your calorie burn? Head for the hills.

Liz Neporent is a diet and fitness expert and co-author of "The Fat-Free Truth." She regularly appears on national TV programs and is the president of Wellness 360, a New-York based wellness provider. You can also follow her on Twitter @lizzyfit.

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I've heard that walking or running hills is a better workout than always staying on the flat -- fit or fiction? Margie Burger, Boston, Mass.

Does the thought of struggling up a hill during your workout make you want to run the other way? Perhaps you're suffering from hillophophia, a common disorder that makes you quake with fear every time your feet meet with an incline. If you are so afflicted, relax. The secret to running and walking up hills is not to let them get the upper hand.

The thing to keep in mind is that hills are not the enemy. Treat them as an opportunity to improve your fitness level and pick up the pace on calorie burn. For every additional 5 percent of grade (a modest uptick in the landscape), a 150-pound exerciser will burn an extra three to five calories per minute.

"Hills" star Heidi Pratt (née Montag) is half of reality TV's most controversial couple, but love her or hate her, there's one thing that all of us can agree on: The girl's got an incredible body. And she's not shy about showing it off either. Next month, Heidi will grace the cover of Playboy, and it was the positive feedback she received at her shoot for the mag that inspired her to share her get-fit secrets with the world in a new downloadable workout series called "The Heidi Montag Workout." In our exclusive interview below, Heidi, husband Spencer, and trainer Chad Waterbury dish on her routine. Heidi also shows us some of her favorite moves and dares her "Hills" costars to give her challenging workout a try.

I've got hills -- seven of them in my neighborhood, and I often truck up and down each one for exercise. I've never given much thought to how exactly I move up and down my inclines but apparently, I should.

According to the Family Circle fitness folks, we shouldn't barrel up inclines as fast as possible. Instead, we should shorten our strides and focus on maintaining an easy and constant pace. On the way down, we should elongate our strides, while keeping core and leg muscles engaged. We'll gain energy this way, which will help propel us forward.

Good tips. I'm going to try them next time I hike up and down my hills. And you?

For guidance on how to approach a treadmill incline, read on here.

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Walking is great exercise all on its own. It's perfect for most any fitness level and doesn't require any special equipment. But if you add a few of the following techniques to your daily walk, you can significantly increase the number of calories burned and burn some of that dangerous and unsightly belly fat.

CNN recommends one of three methods for putting the punch into your walking workout:

• Plyometrics: These moves might make you feel a little silly at first, but you'll be the one laughing when that belly felt melts off. Add moves like bounding, jumping, and skipping to your walking workout.
• Hills: This is easy if you live in a hilly neighborhood. Substitute about 25% of your usual flat walking route with a hilly one. If you live in a flat area, you can program a hilly workout into a treadmill instead.
• Intervals: Intervals are surprisingly fun. Just keep up your normal moderate pace for ten minutes, then speed up for one minute. Return to your former pace for three minutes, then speed up again for a minute. Repeat this three or four times, then go back to your moderate pace.
  
  

Check out the full CNN article to find out how to make these walking techniques work for you and get ready to blast that belly fat!

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I've been running this great 3.5 mile loop in the mornings, just after I drop my little boys at school. I leave my car parked in the school parking lot, strap my MP3 player to my arm, and run. I also wonder. I wonder what all the drivers who pass me on the street think when they see me running by. It's a pretty traffic-y area (don't worry, I stay on the sidewalk and cross streets only when I see the flashing "walk" guy) so I know bunches of people spot me working on my fitness. Do they critique my form? Do they laugh at me trying to keep my balance while hunting for my favorite song? Do they see me tugging at my wedgie, adjusting my shorts, wiping sweat from my brow? Of course, they do. I see all these things when I zero in on a runner. But mostly, when I see someone exercising outdoors, I think one thing: I want that to be me.

When I see someone running, I want to run. When I see someone power walking, I want to power walk. And when I see someone riding a bike up and down the seven hills in the my neighborhood -- big hills, I might add -- I want to be conquer those very same hills.

My new neighbor inspired me. There she was the other night, powering up and down hills while I was walking them. My walk was good. But that bike ride -- it looked even better. Well, it looked really hard, to be honest. But it made me want to tackle something different, a new challenge. I've never done it, so why not. I may even coax my seven-year-old into joining me. Together we can accomplish something great. Together we can become eye candy for those around us. What will they think? Probably that I'm huffing and puffing way too hard as my kid leaves me in his dust. What I hope, though, is that they'll think they want to ride too.

What makes you want to run, walk, or ride?

Feel like you hit a plateau on your runs? I can relate -- I feel like I've been running at the same pace since I've started. I know I've gotten marginally faster but I'm having trouble pushing myself further -- I feel like I'm already going at my max intensity.

But becoming a faster runner only take 10 seconds, according to this article from Runner's World. The secret? Run uphill as fast as you can for 10 seconds each run. It will help you develop the necessary speed and muscle power in no time at all. Plus, after running up a hill, running on flat ground seems like a breeze, right? And an added bonus? Running uphill will also help you tone your legs.

So next time your running, don't run away from the hills -- head for them!

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Sometimes I think I just can't do this anymore. I can't run one more mile, take one more step. I feel like my legs are made of stone and my feet hurt so much they might explode out of my running shoes.

This normally happens towards the end of a run, when I know I have more miles to go and am no longer comfortable running. I've never been a competitive runner, so for me, to feel comfortable when I run is key.

But not always. Sometimes I hide in my comfort and forget to challenge myself. I enjoy a challenge almost as much as I enjoy comfort. Yet there are times when the challenge seems overwhelming. I can't make it up the hill, or around the park one last lap.

Then I start to think about all the other people in the park. Some of them are going through the same thing--struggling just to make it a few more yards. I start to think about the people who can't even make it to the park, those who can't run or literally can't take another step.

I think about an inspiring picture I took from last year's NYC marathon of a man hauling it down 4th Avenue in Brooklyn who had no limbs. He was kicking butt and having the time of his life. And he was working very, very hard. He'd worked so hard just to get to the marathon--I can't even imagine what it must have been like the first time he got on one of those machines and got going just using his arms.

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Two weeks ago before a ten mile run I posed the question of whether running made me a better mother. Well, ten (actually more than that, say sixteen) miles and a lot of hills later I am here to report on my findings.

I'd been worried about the increasing time away from my son spent doing self-centered things like running up hills to help me lose the baby weight and train me to run the marathon--a dream that was never really mine in the first place, but that fell into my lap via the lottery last year before I got pregnant (and won a lottery of a totally different kind!).

I'd been worried about all the emotions that came up when left with all that time to myself. My voice was the only one who answered me when all those awkward questions about what I was going to do with my life now that I was a mother, and needed to DO THE RIGHT THING came up, along with all the emotions of having to move on, to let go, to live. Well, there was my voice, the inner voice, but there was also the answer of the pavement.

I could hear my footfalls like a steady heartbeat--tap, tap, tap, tap. My feet lightly tapping the road as I gingerly made my way around the park. And again. And then a third time. Boy, that was a LOT of miles. After a while I stopped remembering which lap I was on--I was so caught up in my emotions I'd lost sight of the fact that I was getting sore and tired.

Physical pain--say, giving birth or running a marathon--I've realized is nothing compared to emotional pain. The former I can deal with no problem. It ends, one way or another. Emotional pain is different. It can overcome you. You can ignore it, bury it, deny it--but it will always be there. And it will haunt you.

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I'm a walker. I walk anywhere I can in a reasonable amount of time -- the store, the bank, downtown to meet my friends for lunch. I walk for a few reasons -- because I love the outdoors, because I love the feeling of being active but not in pain, because I love the city scenery and because I love having time alone with my thoughts. During some stressful and upsetting times in my life, walking has helped calm me, and helped me come to terms with what was going on in my life. If walking was the only exercise I had to do for the rest of my life, I would be fine with that. Now, if I could only located to a city where I could walk comfortably year-round ...

Here's the thing about walking -- while it seems like walking is routine and not really 'exercise', it can be. A walking program can help you lose weight and get fit. It's a cheap, easy and convenient way to get in your workouts from anywhere. All you need are some good shoes and some water.

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Here's an easy way to rev up your already-established walking routine: take the path of most resistance. What does that mean? Take the hard route, the one with all the hills. You might think the because you walk every day, you're in great shape, but trust me -- taking a steep hill will leave you huffing and puffing. And it will up the amount of calories you're burning, not to mention sculpting your legs.

If you're primarily an indoor walker (read: on the treadmill), this plan also works. Just keep increasing the incline on your treadmill, or if you use a fancy treadmill, use one of the pre-set workouts that constantly adjusts the intensity and incline of your walk to mimic a real outdoor stroll.

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