Been Doing So Good Exercising... Now Can't This Wkend. HELP!

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PrincessLynn2010
PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I finally got into the groove of making exercise part of my day. I won't be able to do it Saturday or Sunday and am scared weight loss will be quit, or even that I'll get out of habit and things will get screwed up.

Advice? Am I screwed now?!

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  • gameovergt
    gameovergt Posts: 502
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    no, don't sweat it. your body will use this as recovery time
  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
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    Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. You'll be fine. Body's need rest anyway. If you have been eating back exercise calories it may be a little hard because you'll have less calories to eat.
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    Ok, duh.

    So I just won't have a larger calorie limit on any "days off" from exercising?

    The two of you who answered mentioned "recovery" time for the body. What does that mean, exactly? Is a day or two per week OFF from exercising best?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    When you exercise your body, especially if you do so with a higher level of intensity, it causes stress on your muscles and joints. A rest day allows that to heal or recover, hence some people call it a recovery day. You need at least one of these a week, more if your exercises are particularly intense. If you want to do some workouts at home, there is no reason you can't do that on the weekend. Something like the beginner body weight workout I have on my blog http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/rileysowner/view/beginner-focused-bodyweight-workout-102072 might be appropriate.
  • Avalonis
    Avalonis Posts: 1,540 Member
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    The short answer: It depends.

    Basically it works like this: IF and only if you have been working your body hard enough to feel it (muscle soreness), the muscles need rest. If you are only doing light walking, resting isn't really needed.

    I would recommend that if you have been working out so hard that you are sore, you need to give those sore muscles a rest. If you have only been gently using them, go ahead and go for a walk or a light jog or something, even go shopping at the mall for a few hours.

    As long as you don't down an entire pizza, you'll be fine. Don't stress things like not being able to exercise every day. Do it as often as you can, and don't make excuses to NOT exercise on the days you can, and you'll be fine.

    P.S. Kadye mentioned weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise - Not true at all. Building muscle will speed up your metabolism, which in turn will cause you to burn calories faster. Each lb of lean muscle you have burns ~50 calories a day, just to maintain, so if you have muscle, your weight loss becomes MUCH easier. Weight loss is about diet AND exercise, and probably equal parts of both.

    You CAN lose weight by just dieting, but it will be much slower, and in addition to that, you will probably never lose the layer around the belly. Obviously, all the exercise in the world isn't going to help you if you eat McDonald's 15 times a week.
  • PrincessLynn2010
    PrincessLynn2010 Posts: 49 Member
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    Can STRENGTH training burn calories, too? Like if I work my arms (I'll be sitting most of the weekend. Long drive/visit with loved ones) with light weights (I'm a weakling LOL)?
  • Aesop101
    Aesop101 Posts: 758 Member
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    You are totally screwed! Not really. I just love being contrary. (Hmm I think I know why I'm divorced)

    Actually rest is really good. It gives the body time to heal. In fact you may drop weight because the body won't need to retain the water to repair muscles. Then if the muscles are repaired you have more muscle to burn fat. I'm not a nutritionist. These are things I have learned.

    On a side note, I believe the exercise we do today pays off in about 2 weeks. Just my theory.
  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
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    The short answer: It depends.

    Basically it works like this: IF and only if you have been working your body hard enough to feel it (muscle soreness), the muscles need rest. If you are only doing light walking, resting isn't really needed.

    I would recommend that if you have been working out so hard that you are sore, you need to give those sore muscles a rest. If you have only been gently using them, go ahead and go for a walk or a light jog or something, even go shopping at the mall for a few hours.

    As long as you don't down an entire pizza, you'll be fine. Don't stress things like not being able to exercise every day. Do it as often as you can, and don't make excuses to NOT exercise on the days you can, and you'll be fine.

    P.S. Kadye mentioned weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise - Not true at all. Building muscle will speed up your metabolism, which in turn will cause you to burn calories faster. Each lb of lean muscle you have burns ~50 calories a day, just to maintain, so if you have muscle, your weight loss becomes MUCH easier. Weight loss is about diet AND exercise, and probably equal parts of both.

    You CAN lose weight by just dieting, but it will be much slower, and in addition to that, you will probably never lose the layer around the belly. Obviously, all the exercise in the world isn't going to help you if you eat McDonald's 15 times a week.

    I was answering her specific question about missing two workouts this weekend. I seriously doubt that she would have built so much muscle this weekend that it would make any difference at all in her metabolic rate.
  • misroz31
    misroz31 Posts: 17 Member
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    Normally I eat 1600 calories a day, most days I don't make my calorie goal because of exercise calories. On the days that I don't work out, I usually eat only 1200 calories. I only work out 6 days a week anyway so If I decide to only do 5 days that is what I do. I don't think you're hurting your weight loss. Hope this helps

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