No Workout Guilt?

I take it you don't eat back your calories from exercise? As one that does, I only work out 3 times a week. Thus, I just stick to my net calories here on MFP and have no guilt.

I agree ^^ If you eat back your exercise calories (or at least most of them), it shouldn't make a difference

I know EXACTLY how you feel!! I have hurt my back and therefore have missed 3 x running sessions, 1 x Zumba class already. No running again tonight and no circuits tomorrow. I'm walking the dogs instead but really missing the endorphins from the cardio stuff.

B x

My exercising is walking to work and back and takibng the dogs out for a walk, short walks in the week and long walks at weekend. Occasionally I will pop along to the gym one night a week but always eat those calories back. I don't feel guilty at all as I am still losing weight

So you'll still have 5 workouts in 7 days, and missing 2 days makes you feel overwhelming guilt? To be honest, that sounds obsessive to me. Exercising 5 days/week is amazing, and you should give yourself credit for that instead of beating yourself up if you have to miss 2.

Where I'm coming from: Right now, I do 40-60 minute workouts five days a week, and take 45 minute brisk walks with my wife and dog 7 days a week.

1. The weekends always feel like a break.
2. I'm less hungry on weekends.
3. Monday workouts are always easier than Friday workouts, because of the "break."

I don't consider even this to be an exercise regimen that I can live with forever. It's a strategy for rapidly improving my weight and health. I can live with it long enough to reach my goals. After that, I will back off to fewer, lighter workouts. I'll keep doing the daily walks, because they are good for me, good for my dog, and good for my relationship with my wife.

I recently read a study that indicated exercise isn't a good strategy for losing weight, for two reasons. First, exercise makes you hungrier, and you may be as likely to gain as to lose (and, no, it isn't because of increased muscle mass.) Second, as in your case, there are inevitably times when you can't do a scheduled workout.

Face it: You are not going to work out 7 days a week for the rest of your life. You should develop an exercise program and a diet regimen that you can live with. That includes the reality that you will on occasion eat more than your diet calls for, and on other occasions you will miss planned exercise. Embrace that reality, and realize that those occasions are all part of the program -- not a reason to feel guilty. It doesn't matter if your weight bumps up a pound or two once in a while; it's the long-term trend that matters.

I try to mentally separate my reasons for working out from my reasons for eating. (Yes! There are reasons for eating.) I exercise to improve core strength, endurance, and overall health. It makes my body feel good. With eating, I try to eat foods that are both good and healthy 80-90% of the time, in reasonable amounts. On occasion, e.g., with my wife and friends, I eat for enjoyment, picking whatever I want from the menu, and trying not to order more food than I need to satisfy my appetite.

One more point... If you are burning 8 or 9 hundred calories a day in workouts, you're probably getting more exercise than your body needs, and are perhaps in danger of muscle/joint stress injuries. That's why it's important to remember why you're working out, which is to improve the health of your body, rather than to damage it for the sake of losing weight. I think if I eat and exercise in ways that make me feel good and enjoy life, I'm much more likely to continue.

Remind yourself that results are 80% from diet, and only 20% from exercise. So dont worry about missing a couple of workouts, and just be extra vigilant about what you eat this week.

But if you have always eaten well, it's pretty much 100% exercise that makes the difference. Diet only helps if you previously ate too much or ate junk. For me, being here is 80% about exercise, 20% food.

Remind yourself that results are 80% from diet, and only 20% from exercise. So dont worry about missing a couple of workouts, and just be extra vigilant about what you eat this week.

I completely disagree with this from experience. I lost 2 lbs a week for 7 months only because of working out 2 days a week. My diet was horrendous. Weight loss can come from any partitioning between the two, but the closer you get to your goal, the more vigilante you must be of both.