High activity level and exercise - how do you find the energy?

My husband, who is in his 60s, seems to manage all right.

He has a physically active job ... and then we walk, go to the gym, or cycle together after work and on weekends.

He does get a good 8 hours of sleep each night ... maybe that helps. And he doesn't overly restrict his calories.

I also plan rest evenings at least once a week or lightly active weekends now and then so it isn't full on all the time.

My job is anything but active (desk job) but I do move around a lot with just my daily routine. I bike to work (70-75 mins total) and walk my dog for at least 1 hour a day. So after dinner, I was usually so worn out I had no energy for my strength workout I ended up dropping it from my routine.

I've since picked it up again (2 weeks now) and seem to be doing a lot better. The main reason I couldn't do it before was probably because my deficit was too high so I had nothing to fuel my workout with. I was burning a lot of calories with biking/walking my dog already and wasn't properly eating those calories back. Now that I am, I have more energy in the evening.

Another thing that probably helps me now is the extra sun I'm getting. I'm always outside a lot, but now the sun is still there when I'm outside and I feel that this really helps. I always have less energy in the winter.

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

supermysza wrote: »

I walk about 8-10 km a day at work according to my Fitbit. By the time I get home I'm physically wrecked and spend the rest of the evening resting. What do others in this situation do? Do you do scheduled exercise on top of your work activity? Do you just manage the rest with diet?

Are you eating enough to fuel your activity level and are you getting enough sleep? I walk about the same amount as that every day and I am doing C25K 3 days per week, other nights I do some weight training or take a friends dog out. I've rarely had an issue with having the energy to do the extra workouts. When I do it's normally because I haven't had a good nights sleep the night before.

I second this, are you eating enough. I'm a 5'1", 176lb, 45yo female and I eat 2000+ Calories a day to lose around 2lb/month. I take 20000+ steps a day which for a short *kitten* like me translates to 13km+ a day, I also lift 3x a week, run 3-4x week and take 3-7 high intensity classes. The only time I really flag is when I add 3x PT to the mix on my deload week, come Friday afternoon I'm just about beat.

Part of it is habit. My job can be physically demanding as well, but I've just made it a habit. I have to get up at 3:15 am several days, so working out before work is not an option, but I try to do it soon after I get home. The only day that's hard is when I have to work 12 hrs on Sunday. When I get home I only have 2 hrs before I have to go to bed, so I often take that day off.

I find that often if I feel fatigued, it's more mental than physical. The body can be trained to tolerate a lot.

If its your daily job, you should get used to it. My job used to require a lot more walking and involve more stairs and ramps than it does now. I could easily get over 10,000 steps just at work. I would get up early to do a workout video before work, and then run on the treadmill or do a weight circuit after. Sometimes I'd even take a walk on the treadmill mid-morning while at work. Maybe your diet is off?

I eat enough. Helps tons.

Eat & get proper rest. Learn how to program accordingly to your goals.

Eating enough and really enjoying working out is key. Going to the gym is my favourite thing so I look forward to it no matter how tired I am.