Exercise every day?

rekibmtn

Since I started tracking calories and exercise, I feel obligated to exercise every day. I am losing weight rather quickly due to eating about 1,200 calories a day and burning between 300-400 calories with exercise. I fully expect a plateau soon. I have lost 12 pounds in about two weeks. I feel great overall, but my muscles are sore most of the time; I find it difficult to take a day off from exercise. I am curious if others have experimented with days off, and if so how did it affect your weight loss?

AmyRhubarb

I always take a rest day, sometimes two if I'm particularly tired or sore. A day off is good for your body to rest, recover and repair those muscles, and skipping exercise for a day isn't going to derail any progress you've made.

And only 1200 calories a day? That's the bare minimum recommended for women - aren't you hungry? Eating too little can help you hit a plateau - slows your metabolism. Especially if you're exercising daily (or almost daily) gotta feed that machine!

rekibmtn

Surprisingly I am not hungry. I found that by eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and a good amount of protein fills me up really well. I am also snacking more throughout the day as opposed to large meals. I will start taking some time off though. Back in 1998 or so I ran the first Rock N Roll Marathon in San Diego, and now that I think about it our team coach (I ran for the Leukemia Society) insisted we take days off. Just means I will work that much harder the next workout. Thanks for the feedback.

beckizzle

And only 1200 calories a day? That's the bare minimum recommended for women - aren't you hungry? Eating too little can help you hit a plateau - slows your metabolism. Especially if you're exercising daily (or almost daily) gotta feed that machine!

And making sure you get your supplements in... Magnesium is great for helping sore muscles!!

janeinspain

You definitely need 1-2 rest days/week. That doesn't mean that you turn into a couch-potato during those days, you could go for walks etc.

But! 1200 cals/day is the minimum for a woman. You should eat way more, and definitely go into some of the exercise calories too. With exercise, you could probably eat 2000 cals and still lose. Besides the lack of rest-days, your muscles are sore because you don't give them enough nourishment to help them get restored. Reconsider your plan if you want to do this long-term and succeed.

rekibmtn

And only 1200 calories a day? That's the bare minimum recommended for women - aren't you hungry? Eating too little can help you hit a plateau - slows your metabolism. Especially if you're exercising daily (or almost daily) gotta feed that machine!

And making sure you get your supplements in... Magnesium is great for helping sore muscles!!

I was a vitamin buyer for about 4 years. I am still amazed by how much I have forgotten. Magnesium is a must; I need to revisit foods that are rich in magnesium. I prefer to get my nutrients from food vs. supplements.

rekibmtn

You definitely need 1-2 rest days/week. That doesn't mean that you turn into a couch-potato during those days, you could go for walks etc.

But! 1200 cals/day is the minimum for a woman. You should eat way more, and definitely go into some of the exercise calories too. With exercise, you could probably eat 2000 cals and still lose. Besides the lack of rest-days, your muscles are sore because you don't give them enough nourishment to help them get restored. Reconsider your plan if you want to do this long-term and succeed.

I have a lot of fat stored up at this time. Don't let the picture fool you, that was from many years ago and is part of my motivation to get back into shape. I wonder how starvation mode affects people who start out with a reserve of fat? I would expect if I was already lean, calories would be much more important.

Dahllywood

I aim for 5 days a week, with 2 rest days (not next to each other). Its important to let your body rest.

janeinspain

You definitely need 1-2 rest days/week. That doesn't mean that you turn into a couch-potato during those days, you could go for walks etc.

But! 1200 cals/day is the minimum for a woman. You should eat way more, and definitely go into some of the exercise calories too. With exercise, you could probably eat 2000 cals and still lose. Besides the lack of rest-days, your muscles are sore because you don't give them enough nourishment to help them get restored. Reconsider your plan if you want to do this long-term and succeed.

I have a lot of fat stored up at this time. Don't let the picture fool you, that was from many years ago and is part of my motivation to get back into shape. I wonder how starvation mode affects people who start out with a reserve of fat? I would expect if I was already lean, calories would be much more important.

Yes, you're right. When you start with larger amounts of fat, you can have a smaller calorie-intake. That's if you don't feel weak, have cravings etc. After 2-4 weeks, you should increase your calories anyway.

Still, I have male friends that are constantly losing with 1700-2000 cals/day and exercise. I think this is way more sustainable and, ofc, healthier.

And the guy in the photo looks great!

neelia

I take a lot of rest days, LOL...but I definitely feel guilty afterwards.

lisapr123

When I am in a good cycle of working out every day, I make sure to take a rest day or two, depending on how my body feels. But rarely is it a do-nothing-all-day type day. It's more along the lines of taking a walk or doing relaxing yoga versus a run or 20 mile bike ride.

STrooper

Generally, I do not take a day off (I am a 7 days/week person). However, if I have a particularly heavy workout day and it ends up with sore muscles (usually two days later), I will back off and do a light walking routine instead of my usual walking routine.

CyberEd312

I start at 560 lbs. and from week 1 with my nutritionist my goal was to lose at a pace of 1 to 2 lbs. a week..... Long term success was the goal from the beginning... Sure the first couple weeks I lost big number (11lbs. week 1, 8lbs. week 2, 4lbs. week 3, but by the 4th week I leveled off) because I went from eating 7000 calories a day to finding the range that would sustain a 1 to 2 lb. lose which in the beginning was 2600 calories a day. 33 months later and 303 lbs. down..... I eat around 800-1000 calories over my current BMR (2160) and am still losing 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. a week. (yes I am a firm believer in eating back exercise calories) I would seriously consider eating more food... 1200 is the bare minimum I tell my wife to eat daily, if I was you I wouldn't eat less than 1800 a day and that would be really low in my eye..... Good Luck....