Too much exercise??

UsedToBeHusky
UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,227 Member
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I have always heard that you should give yourself a rest from exercise one or two days out of the week, but very often I have to exercise to stay below my daily calorie goal. The days that I don't need the exercise I have a ton of energy and really want to. Should I try harder to stay beneath my calorie goal or is it okay to exercise everyday?

Replies

  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,250 Member
    It depends on how you feel. Most people need at least one day of rest whether they have the energy or not. Our bodies simply need time off to recover and repair themselves. If you don't have at least one day off a week you're more likely to get an injury and burn out quickly.

    If you're having trouble staying under your calorie goal make sure you're only eating fresh, healthy foods, are only drinking water and are staying away from sugar. You might also want to increase your daily calorie goal. And remember, it's ok to go above your calorie goal one or two days a week as long as you're not going crazy. If you're over by 200 calories or so you won't see any negative effects.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,227 Member
    And remember, it's ok to go above your calorie goal one or two days a week as long as you're not going crazy. If you're over by 200 calories or so you won't see any negative effects.

    That is really good to know. I have been stressing that red number. Maybe I'll just do a shorter workout today and take tomorrow off. Thanks for your response.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,250 Member
    No problem. It's easy to stress about staying under your calorie goal but it's really not that black and white. You can be within 100 calories above or below your goal number and still lose your desired amount of weight. When I first started I would take two days off from counting calories completely. I would indulge in restaurant foods, some junk food, etc. on those days too and I still lost weight.
  • mielikkibz
    mielikkibz Posts: 552 Member
    i'm not doing a lot of high impact exercises because of a bum knee, right now it's a stationary bike, and I've started walking at lunch at work. . .some days, I workout three times(30 in the am, 30 at lunch, and 30 in the pm), found it helps with my stress and sleeping better, but if I'm sore, I take the day off :)
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,227 Member
    No problem. It's easy to stress about staying under your calorie goal but it's really not that black and white. You can be within 100 calories above or below your goal number and still lose your desired amount of weight. When I first started I would take two days off from counting calories completely. I would indulge in restaurant foods, some junk food, etc. on those days too and I still lost weight.

    Well, unfortunately, it's the social events that are catching up to me. My daughter had birthday... work had some appreciation events this week... Mother's day. I just have had a difficult time this week. I'm 330 calories above my goal right now. I have already calculated my evening snack (watermelon chunks). I do 45 minutes of Wii boxing when I workout which burns through 560 calories which is totally awesome, but I had intended to take the day off. My muscles are sore, but I just can't bring myself to stay at 330 calories over par. If I do, then I'm going to break down and splurge. In my opinion, if its shot, then its shot.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,250 Member
    No problem. It's easy to stress about staying under your calorie goal but it's really not that black and white. You can be within 100 calories above or below your goal number and still lose your desired amount of weight. When I first started I would take two days off from counting calories completely. I would indulge in restaurant foods, some junk food, etc. on those days too and I still lost weight.

    Well, unfortunately, it's the social events that are catching up to me. My daughter had birthday... work had some appreciation events this week... Mother's day. I just have had a difficult time this week. I'm 330 calories above my goal right now. I have already calculated my evening snack (watermelon chunks). I do 45 minutes of Wii boxing when I workout which burns through 560 calories which is totally awesome, but I had intended to take the day off. My muscles are sore, but I just can't bring myself to stay at 330 calories over par. If I do, then I'm going to break down and splurge. In my opinion, if its shot, then its shot.

    If you're sore you need to give your muscles the chance to recover. Not doing so really does risk injury. Take the day off and don't worry about being over. Stick to the foods you've planned and don't deviate from that plan. You're over your goal but there's no reason to completely blow it. You need to learn how to keep things under control. Being over is ok but that's no excuse to go off the deep end.
  • mielikkibz
    mielikkibz Posts: 552 Member
    <<but I just can't bring myself to stay at 330 calories over par. If I do, then I'm going to break down and splurge. In my opinion, if its shot, then its shot. >>

    Get rid of this mind set!!

    Last two weeks have been stressful for me. . my animals are my family, and one of them is deathly ill, and there have been days I've gone over and just not had the energy to do anything about it, but I also didn't let myself go screw it. . .stop where you're at and say tomorrow is a new day, and it will be a better day!
  • phinners
    phinners Posts: 524 Member
    You can exercise every day if you wish - I was in the British Armed Forc es for a number of years, do you think we got a day off from phycial activity? like fook we did! hehe :)
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    It depends on the type of exercise you are doing as to whether you can workout daily. Heavy weight training or high intensity cardio or anything high impact and you need to give your body a rest. Light cardio, yoga, pilates, tai chi, etc. can be done daily.
  • AllyS7
    AllyS7 Posts: 480 Member
    I exercise just about every day. But I do different types of exercises: mostly running, but also circuit training, resistance training and yoga.

    I'd say as long as you don't over work the same groups of muscles every day you should be fine.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,227 Member
    Thanks for your suggestions everybody! I did workout on Saturday night, but I took Sunday off. My muscles feel much better today so I'll be back at it tonight. I managed to make everyday under goal last week. @mielikkibz - I understand about stress. I do have some at the moment, but it is my general daily stress. I have a real tendency to get lazy if I allow myself so I just really have to stay on top of it even when I don't want to. I'll give myself a break if something outside of my normal routine comes up. Thanks for caring!
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    It depends what kind of exercise you are doing. I can't run for an hour every day, but going for a long walk is no problem at all.
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