When taking a day off from working out...

I was wondering if anyone else feels this way...I workout out pretty hard 5-6 days a week.  Why do I feel so bad when I take a day off?  Like I'm ruining everything.  All my hard work that is, I feel as though it's just going down the tubes!  I also feel bad when I eat on days that I don't workout.  I know in my head that your body needs a day here and there to rest...but my brain tells me something different.  Am I addicted to exercise?  Does anyone else feel this way?

Yes this happens to me too.  I'm skipping today because I have a final exam at 4:30pm and hanging out with a friend immediately after but I still feel kinda bad.  I think I feel this way because I think of exercise as a pleasure and not a chore, which is good.  I don't think working out 5-6 days is a bad thing unless you aren't eatnig enough or overly killing yourself at the gym.  I think its good that you want to exercise but don't beat yourself up too much about it, your body's muscles will enjoy the time to repair and will be ready for the next workout session :-)

What sort of working out are you doing?  If it's heavy lifting, you should limit yourself to 2-3 times a week or you risk overtraining your muscles.

My routine usually is:

Saturday I run upwards of 9 miles (I'm trying to build on that, so it's increasing)

Sunday Jillian Micheals shred 1 and 2 back to back for a 40 min work out or if it's nice outside I run between 5 and 9 miles.

Monday I run 4 miles over my lunch so I hit the 4 mile mark at about 36 minutes...which is a pretty intense workout because I do it on inclines over my lunch hour.

Tuesday I run 3 miles doing HIIT I end up doing 3 miles in 26 minutes and then I lift with 15lb dumbells, I do circuts to try and hit as many muscle groups as I can for 15 min over my lunch hour.

Wendesday is my day off (today I took off today)

Thursday I run 3 miles doing HIIT on inclines so I hit the 3 mile mark at 29 min.  Then I use either 20lb dumbells or 15 (if someone is using the 20's) and circut exercise with those for 10 min over my lunch hour.

Friday I usually just jog for about 38 min....or I will walk on a 11-14 incline with 10lbs weights in my hands over my lunch hour.

Also, Mon-Fri (except wednesday) I do 20 min of abs and pushups as soon as I wake up.

Now that the weather is getting nice my family and I will start going for our evening walks on top of all of this....it's a little over a mile walk every evening. 

Dang....when you type out your workouts...it really hit's home how much you do....hmmm  Yeah, I would say I'm an addict :-P

Yeah, it seems like you're spacing your workouts adequately, but if you're doing all of that just because you feel like you absolutely have to then maybe it is too much.  Nothing bad will happen to you if you take off another day or two a week. :)

I feel so guilty when I take a day off workin out. Also, I get used to eating the calories for workout days and then if I take a day off that means eating over maintenace.

This week so far and plans for the rest:

Monday-6.25mile run in one hour before breakfast
Tuesday-4 mile run in 40 mins plus intense 6 mins rowing on ergo
Wednesday-60mins body pump and rowing (~60mins but drills and pieces so on and off effort-wise)
Thursday-6.25mile run in one hour before breakfast and rowing as above
Friday-Rowing
Saturday-Rowing and 60mins body combat or 60mins spinning+20mins abs
Sunday-Rowing and 45mins spinning + 40 mins core workout

This gives me an average burn of 2500ish a day but also makes me REALLY hungry and I still struggle to stop myself eating that and more. I'm now aiming for 2000cals/day but if I take a day off my sedentary burn is ca.1600 and light burn ca. 1900 so not good!

HI ,

i realized this thing also happen to me ... i run 3 times a week. played tennis twice a week. so on rest day i feel really funny ... probably the feeling of being FAT ...haha .. is there something wrong ?

 

Yes...that's the feeling!  I do love exercise though....I would do it more if I could, but I definatly do it every chance I get.  Which is why I must force myself to take a day off...I love that day and I hate that day, if that makes any sense???

im addicted. i admit and i cant stop. i love the feeling but i know i need rest. like below my knee hurts a bit so i was just gonna walk tomorrow, but spinning starts back up tomorrow so im gonna go. even though today i set the treadmill for 75 mins and intervalled.

i would do 3 min walk, then 3 runs, increasing the incline and speed each time. did that twice. then i got off did weights jumped back on for 3 mins, walking and sprinting and i did that for the hour. then i did the first interval thing and walked the last 15 mins.

its just hard. and k-loo. i know. i HATE when i take a day off, but i LOVE it. it feels good but i feel bad that i didnt do anything. i think this weekend i should go away to ny and not have a gym!

I took today off! I usually take the weekends off, but today I just felt so blah (that time of the month). I noticed it though, because I love the way I feel after working out, more energized, happier. I felt guilty tonight and verrry fatigued and fat... Also, it makes me feel like I will get off track. but, I will get back on it tomorrow.

I was just thinking the same thing when I woke up today! I run for about a half hour to 45 mintutes every morning, but it's been pouring since I got up and my right arm is killing me from playing tennis yesterday, so I decided to take the day off from running and lifting. I run and work out every day, so I shouldn't feel bad about this, but I feel so guilty, like I'm going to gain ten pounds or something today as punishment. I'm just going to make up for it by eating super healthy today - I made oatmeal for breakfast, I'll have a hard boiled egg as a snack this afternoon, and I'm making salmon with spinach and broccoli tonight - then I'll get back to my routine tomorrow.

I make myself take a day off, just to let my body rest.  But on my days off, I take a nice 3 mile walk. 

I HATE taking days off. Basically all I do is run between 6 and 9 miles everyday.  I have track workouts that are interspersed in there about 2-3 days a week, so sometimes those go over 9 miles long (with warm up and cool down). I think if you feel ok then you can workout everyday, but maybe take one day lighter than usual..kind of as a relaxed day? That is something I am probably going to try to do.

Well another day to take off from working out has come and I fell horrible!!!  Like tomorrow I will wake up and have put on ANOTHER 5lbs!!!  Why can't this plateau I'm on just be over already so I can go on losing my last 8lbs!!!  Again, I feel like taking a day off from a workout will sabatoge the whole thing!  I hate feeling this way!!!!  Okay...just needed to get that off my chest!

Personally, I love taking days off. :)  Before I was doing mostly cardio 6-7 times a week. It's only since I started decreasing my cardio and started lifting that I've seen real changes in my body. So now I lift heavy 3 times a week and try to get cardio in at least two of the other days. But even on the days that I do nothing, I still feel like my body is getting stronger, so I don't feel too bad about it.