Exercise guilt?

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LauraSrock18
LauraSrock18 Posts: 125 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anybody else struggle with guilt when you can’t get your workouts in for the week?! I’m struggling to workout any more than 3 days a week! I know something is better than nothing but I still Struggle with the “all or nothing” mentality?!

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  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    LauraSrock18 wrote: »
    Does anybody else struggle with guilt when you can’t get your workouts in for the week?! I’m struggling to workout any more than 3 days a week! I know something is better than nothing but I still Struggle with the “all or nothing” mentality?!

    ive slacked off the last 2 months or so so dont feel guilty I know I can still lose without exercise so.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    LauraSrock18 wrote: »
    Does anybody else struggle with guilt when you can’t get your workouts in for the week?! I’m struggling to workout any more than 3 days a week! I know something is better than nothing but I still Struggle with the “all or nothing” mentality?!

    ive slacked off the last 2 months or so so dont feel guilty I know I can still lose without exercise so.

    Yep, I don't exercise at all during the winter months, no guilt. I manage my weight by my calorie intake and have for years now. Exercise is not a factor in my weight management plan.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    zeejane03 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    LauraSrock18 wrote: »
    Does anybody else struggle with guilt when you can’t get your workouts in for the week?! I’m struggling to workout any more than 3 days a week! I know something is better than nothing but I still Struggle with the “all or nothing” mentality?!

    ive slacked off the last 2 months or so so dont feel guilty I know I can still lose without exercise so.

    Yep, I don't exercise at all during the winter months, no guilt. I manage my weight by my calorie intake and have for years now. Exercise is not a factor in my weight management plan.

    I do walk my dogs and do housework but thats as far as its went lol. my motivation slacked off some.
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
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    Can you increase the workout time or intensity and really make those three sessions count?
  • mengqiz86
    mengqiz86 Posts: 176 Member
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    I do and the way I cope with it is to come up with a realistic plan that I can stick to, with optional days. When you build the plan be very specific about what fitness goals you are planning to accomplish - calorie deficits? Running faster? Lifting heavier? Mental health? How will a 3-day workout week help you towards that goal? Would 5 days make a huge difference? It just helps to see the specifics for me.

    I have a different kind of exercise guilt. I always feel like I’m being selfish for taking time away from family, especially since I work full time. Weekend long runs are the worst. Im struggling to cope with that one!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    No guilt. Most people have other life obligations and goings on, so my fitness regimen is flexible. Ideally, I would exercise 5x per week, but that sometimes doesn't happen because I have other things going on.

    At one point in time I was doing a lot of endurance cycling events and training quite a bit. Things in my life changed to where I couldn't train like that all of the time, so I just had to adjust my fitness regimen to fit with those changes in my life...no biggie.

    I'm pretty hit or miss in November, December, and January as my primary exercise modality is cycling and I enjoy being outside on the road and those months are cold and dark in the morning and dark when I get home and I'm lucky to get a ride or two in on a nice weekend. I have an indoor trainer, but I loath using it, but still no guilt...it's actually a nice break and I enjoy the holidays and get going again after the superbowl when the weather starts warming up and it starts staying light out a little longer.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
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    LauraSrock18 wrote: »
    Does anybody else struggle with guilt when you can’t get your workouts in for the week?! I’m struggling to workout any more than 3 days a week! I know something is better than nothing but I still Struggle with the “all or nothing” mentality?!

    yes,. I realized how difficult it is to adjust my thinking..im like you I always get some in but I start w lofty goals and hit baseline...then feel bad and I think...I did exercise why should I feel bad? :#
  • kds10
    kds10 Posts: 452 Member
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    Are you able to move quite a bit during the day, walk/take the steps, etc. I honestly think that moving all day long is better for you.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Exercising three days a week is good, actually any exercise is good. As far as feeling guilty for not being able to exercise, no, but what I would do is make those exercise hours help me improve upon my fitness goals.

    So make those days work for you, for example if strength training find you a 3 x a week total body program to follow, if you are just doing cardio, exercise in a manner that helps you improve and build in areas like increasing time and distance, or speed. Plan out a goal for your fitness in other words.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    My mental health, sleep, and productivity suffer when I'm not active so I make it happen, except for when I'm debilitated by my period or very rare occasions when life interferes, and I do not feel guilty about that.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
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    I get that too. In my normal schedule I have 4 gym days. If I get more, awesome. If I get less, I find it frustrating. But sometimes, you just have to be flexible. This week I am shifting one of my days around due to all the snow we got yesterday. It wasn't worth risking my life driving on slippery roads to make it to the gym. I may also have to miss tomorrow because I think my husband wants to go to dinner. We will see on that one though. On weeks like this, I just try to focus on the bigger picture. As long as I still am going consistently and making progress in the gym, that is what is important. Life happens and sometimes it requires being flexible in your schedule.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    I don't feel guilt, but I do get frustrated.

    To be fair to yourself though, there are plenty of 3 day a week workout programs out there. Do a quick google search. And if you get free time aside from those days, add in any accessories, or cardio you want to, or take a guilt free rest day.
  • saratay05
    saratay05 Posts: 1 Member
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    Sounds like we are similar in that "all or nothing " mentality. I have always been one to have lofty goals and go all out; feeling like if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right! I'm not as hard on myself anymore if I don't make it all they days I set out to exercise. I try to do at a minimum a small walk if I can't get to the gym; just to stay moving...

    However, the real key, I think is to look at it as a lifestyle change and it has to be attainable AND sustainable. If it's not sustainable then it starts to become defeatist and then harbors negative feelings associated with the activity. Look at the long term picture and be happy to make steps toward that goal even if they're small steps.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Depends. When I know in advance that it's not going to happen (two examples I can think of: spending 2 weeks visiting my parents in Montreal meant I'd have time to take walks, but strength-training wasn't going to happen; had bladder surgery and was medically restricted from lifting for several weeks, then obviously had to start again with lighter weights than I'd been using prior to surgery), there's nothing to feel guilty about. It's out of my control.

    And while, in the former case, we can make the case that I could have done body-weight exercises, hefted potato bags, etc., truth is I have a dumbbell routine I like and am comfortable with and with the whole family around including two nephews under the age of seven, let's just say that if I'm working out in my parents' house, interruptions will happen and it's just not the same. In the latter case, there truly was no recourse. I had to heal. End of.

    I just did the cardio, knew I was going back to the lifting routine as soon as I could, and reminded myself pointedly that at least one book on strength training mentions that taking a break every so often is a good idea and look, here's life pushing me to take that opportunity! But no guilt there.

    The guilt would come if I started giving into the urge to skip the workout because, "I just don't feel like it today. Meh. I'll get back to it tomorrow." And it wouldn't be so much guilt over skipping the workout as guilt over realizing that giving into that attitude has, in the past, been my first step toward undoing all the progress I've made and giving up the new lifestyle.

    In essence: If it's within my control and I shirk, I'll feel guilty. If it's out of my hands, not so much.

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