Rest & Fitness

gordonest

Hi -
The meaning of the group name Aging Grace is because I have a desire to age gracefully.
I believe that rest plays a big part in the equation. What do you think is more important - rest or fitness.
If I don't get enough rest - I usually don't feel up to exercising the next day. Do you sacrifice rest to exercise?
Thanks!

b3achy

I truly think you need them in balance. I think too many people focus on the fitness and forget how important rest is for your body. Others rest a bit too much and dismiss fitness / exercise, because "you can lose weight just by counting calories" -- just because you "can", do you really want to?

Our bodies were built for movement, not a sedentary lifestyle. But most of us have sedentary jobs. I don't include in this those people that are sedentary for medical reasons, but even these people can figure out ways to get parts of their body moving even if they have restrictions. Since we're not going to get enough activity at work, then we need to get out and exercise regularly. The biggest problem is that most people think of exercise as a chore (myself included), instead of finding activities that they like to do that keeps them moving. Even if it is just gardening and cleaning the house, you are moving. An evening walk down a beautiful promenade is a great activity. I think back to my childhood when I was thin as a rail, and I never did an exercise program. I just went outside and played - bike riding, kick ball, basketball, roller skating, swimming, climbing trees, etc. I think we all need to add more play time to our schedules (myself included).

Yet, our bodies need rest/sleep to recover and rebuild. I have just had a few nights of not getting enough sleep (had to be up early for my race last Saturday, had a night of insomnia and then my cats decided to have a group cat fight after I only had a couple hours of sleep, etc). I actually got up this morning, knowing I needed some more sleep so I took a mid-morning nap of 2.5 hours (I work from home, so I have the flexibility). OMG, I felt so much better after getting that extra sleep. I had been feeling bloated since it's that TOM, and most of the bloat was gone after sleeping in. I had weighed myself when I got up, and then for giggles, I weighed myself after the nap...down a 1/2 pound. Now, I know it was just probably water weight, but still, my body finally had some rest time to work, and deal with it. It's amazing to me how much the importance of rest is downplayed in a good healthy lifestyle. I think it's getting more air time, but still, I think people need to really see for themselves how important it is in their lives, and not kick themselves if they are maybe sleeping more than usual while going through a healthy transformation / healthy eating change. Your body needs the sleep/rest as much as it needs the movement.

So, I think the most important one is the one you aren't getting/doing enough of at the time.