Should I exercise or rest?

My rule is that I try to avoid going 48 hours without working out. You don't have to unless you get close to two days without exercise.

you benched yesterday and swam today? thats tough man. swimming can be recuperative, but the one time i tried doing it after an Overhead press day it was tough. my form was horrible and i didn't last long.

if you are hell bent on getting in another work out, i'd say go for a quick 20-30 minute run. two-a-days are not uncommon, but you need to be smart about how you schedule your work outs in the future.

Why do you feel the need to workout several times a day?

I'm genuinely confused.

To burn off what I have eaten during the day. Normally I go for a run after breakfast to try burn it off; and at night I normally exercise to burn off my lunch and dinner - since its the whole "burn more calories than you eat" to loose weight.

thats not how it works. your stomach isn't a gas tank that immediately fuels a car engine. it takes a while for your body to metabolize food.

Why do you feel the need to workout several times a day?

I'm genuinely confused.

To burn off what I have eaten during the day. Normally I go for a run after breakfast to try burn it off; and at night I normally exercise to burn off my lunch and dinner - since its the whole "burn more calories than you eat" to loose weight.

Couple of points here:

Your body is always burning calories, even when you are sleeping.

MFP has set your daily calorie goal so that you are already eating fewer calories than you are burning per day even if you never worked out.

This mindset of trying to work off everything you eat is not a great relationship with food. Food is not your enemy!

A few thoughts here:

1) I believe exercise is an act of self-care and is good for your body, mind and spirit. It is great for so many things and it just feels good. Our bodies were made for movement and exercise.
2) Exercising as a form of punishment because you have the audacity to eat food does not seem like a sustainable mindset. You aren't burning off all the calories you consume when you exercise....you would not be able to function if you did.
3) Eating food is normal, healthy, and necessary for life. Being worried that you did or didn't burn off the banana you ate makes me believe that you think food is your enemy. It is not. The way you view food, and dare I say yourself, seems like the real enemy.
4) It is helpful to get exercise the day after a lifting session, especially one that leaves you sore, because it helps flow blood to those muscles, speeding repair/recovery. It is more than safe to do some light cardio using the sore muscles. Oh, and I don't think you have to do anything perfectly to lose weight. I really don't think stressing about doing the perfect exercise, and eating the perfect blend of foods, helps you achieve your goals. I would argue that it reinforces negative thoughts that caused you to gain weight in the first place.
5) If you don't trust yourself to eat well and maintain a healthy exercise regimen, then you probably won't. The "diet" industry makes billions off of the idea that we humans can't be trusted around food. I would argue that with the right mindset, you absolutely can be trusted with food. I think that the "diet" mentality, which stresses punishment, deprivation, and self-hatred, feeds into the things that cause people to develop an unhealthy relationship with food and their bodies in the first place. Trusting yourself to take good care of your body will help you sustain the positive changes you have started to make for your lifetime.

A few thoughts here:

1) I believe exercise is an act of self-care and is good for your body, mind and spirit. It is great for so many things and it just feels good. Our bodies were made for movement and exercise.
2) Exercising as a form of punishment because you have the audacity to eat food does not seem like a sustainable mindset. You aren't burning off all the calories you consume when you exercise....you would not be able to function if you did.
3) Eating food is normal, healthy, and necessary for life. Being worried that you did or didn't burn off the banana you ate makes me believe that you think food is your enemy. It is not. The way you view food, and dare I say yourself, seems like the real enemy.
4) It is helpful to get exercise the day after a lifting session, especially one that leaves you sore, because it helps flow blood to those muscles, speeding repair/recovery. It is more than safe to do some light cardio using the sore muscles. Oh, and I don't think you have to do anything perfectly to lose weight. I really don't think stressing about doing the perfect exercise, and eating the perfect blend of foods, helps you achieve your goals. I would argue that it reinforces negative thoughts that caused you to gain weight in the first place.
5) If you don't trust yourself to eat well and maintain a healthy exercise regimen, then you probably won't. The "diet" industry makes billions off of the idea that we humans can't be trusted around food. I would argue that with the right mindset, you absolutely can be trusted with food. I think that the "diet" mentality, which stresses punishment, deprivation, and self-hatred, feeds into the things that cause people to develop an unhealthy relationship with food and their bodies in the first place. Trusting yourself to take good care of your body will help you sustain the positive changes you have started to make for your lifetime.

This post....I like it!

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OP: how long has it taken you to lose the 44lb you are showing on your ticker?

44lbs down since last May. (I stopped from July-December). I started at 16st 10lbs last May, now 13st 8lbs...was 15st 6 when I started around 2/3 months ago. Confusing I know, but I've lost nearly 2st in 2 months.

not at all. you're an 18 year old kid. you can just look at a weight room and get buff.

OP - I did not realize you were 18 when I wrote my post (not that I would have said anything different).

I just want to congratulate you on your success and your MATURITY in wanting to lose weight the healthy way. You look terrific and more importantly, you seem to be a bright, nice young man. Looks only get you so far in life!

As a recovering perfectionist, I have been down the road of feeling like whatever I was going was not good enough (exercise, calorie restriction, etc.). It took me until my mid 40's to figure out what really matters (good health, strength, properly fueling my body) and you, my dear young man, are figuring it out at the tender age of 18. Good for you!

OP: how long has it taken you to lose the 44lb you are showing on your ticker?

44lbs down since last May. (I stopped from July-December). I started at 16st 10lbs last May, now 13st 8lbs...was 15st 6 when I started around 2/3 months ago. Confusing I know, but I've lost nearly 2st in 2 months.

2st in 2 months is really really quick...too quick to sustain. The main thing is to create sustainable habits. Keep active, start lifting some weights if you do not do it already, and be patient.

Had a banana for breakfast, and then went for a swim around 10 this morning, only did around 20/30 minutes worth as it began to get busy and filled with kids, although one of my apps suggested I would've burnt around 400 calories in that time that I did - so I'm more than sure that it'd have burnt off my banana.

Came home around 1 (as I visited some family after) and had a few rashers of bacon (with the fat cut off), 2 poached eggs and some beans - didn't have much food in so just threw some things together. For dinner I'm planning on having a jacket potato with tuna.

I'm not sure whether or not the morning exercise was enough for the day, because the other day I did bench presses for the first time, and now my pecs hurt...and going swimming seems to have made them hurt more. I feel like I should exercise after dinner because I'd feel like I was a failure if I didn't, and considering I'd like to loose around another 40lbs by next January...I need to work hard and I don't want to slack. Yesterday I had a rest, I went for a run in the morning but had a rest for the rest of the day, so I'd feel it'd be pointless to have yet another rest. But I don't know which is the best (or safest) thing to do.

Does anybody have any advice?

Hi!

Just for context, I eat about 700 calories for breakfast 2/3 hours before my 30 minute swim, and I know I'll still be struggling as most of that breakfast will be filling my glycogen depleted body from it's sleep, and I'd have eaten to maintenance with big dinner the day before.

So, a lot of that breakfast will be used to just 'live' without exercise. Probably use 250-300 of it for the swim.

I wasn't always like this with food, I restricted badly and had lots of shame and confusion.

Much happier and healthier now that I can track and eat the right amounts. Up to 3000 some days.

My body fat is lower and my measurements are better than when I was your age at the same weight I am now.

I'm 5'7" 127lb and 43.

Keep at it! Keep reading! Good luck.