what do you do when you dont feel like exercising

draining of energy comes from a lot of different things..have u talked to ur doctor about this? It could be ur diabetic. If thats not it and u check out good to go..could mean u need a supliment like iron. If thats not it, look at what ur eating. Is it breads? Pasta? or even turkey has a tendency to make us feel drained. I just found out if I am eating right, and working out, I have more energy! Protien shakes work too! I eat every 3-4 hours a little something. A lot of carbs and some protien before I workout, and A LOT of protien and a few carbs after a workout. Listen to your body...I workout because it's fun and I have become addicted! I workout 6 days a week and the one day I take off I wish I was there cause I'm missing all the fun! Yes im sore after, but i am also energized! I figure if im not sore i didn't workout hard enough! But I also take a day off. one day isnt going to set u back unless u eat stupid crazy that day too! Remember! You can eat or drink anything you want, IF your willing to work it off!

"Rest days" are often a great idea. If you are pushing yourself hard every single day, your body doesn't have time to rebuild your sore muscles.

If you don't want to 'rest' completely, then very the intensity. Work out hard one day, easy the next, hard again, then easy... you get the idea.

Agreed. While the idea of working out everyday seems like a reasonable goal, if you are moving from an almost completely sedentary lifestyle the sudden strain of overtaxing your muscles (and not giving your muscles time to heal and repair themselves to become stronger) is usually the killing blow for many people who are trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

In order for a person to build muscle, you tear muscles (note I do not mean ripping them from the bone, I mean small microscopic tears). As these muscles tear and rebuild your body releases lactic acid, which is what causes soreness. Muscles then re-knit and become stronger, and build upon themselves. More muscles = higher resting metabolism, because muscles require more nutrition to stay healthy.

Rest periods are a must. Stretching is also important. Overtaxing or overexerting strained muscles can actually cause you to damage them over time. If you feel to sore to work out for a day, then by goodness gracious please take a day to relax and heal, and pick up your workout again tomorrow. If you are afraid that if you skip a day you will loose complete focus and stop working out, do something like a light Yoga workout instead of a cardio/strength training workout.

You can still go for a walk or something low-impact that still burns calories.

"Rest days" are often a great idea. If you are pushing yourself hard every single day, your body doesn't have time to rebuild your sore muscles.

If you don't want to 'rest' completely, then very the intensity. Work out hard one day, easy the next, hard again, then easy... you get the idea.

Agreed. While the idea of working out everyday seems like a reasonable goal, if you are moving from an almost completely sedentary lifestyle the sudden strain of overtaxing your muscles (and not giving your muscles time to heal and repair themselves to become stronger) is usually the killing blow for many people who are trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

In order for a person to build muscle, you tear muscles (note I do not mean ripping them from the bone, I mean small microscopic tears). As these muscles tear and rebuild your body releases lactic acid, which is what causes soreness. Muscles then re-knit and become stronger, and build upon themselves. More muscles = higher resting metabolism, because muscles require more nutrition to stay healthy.

Rest periods are a must. Stretching is also important. Overtaxing or overexerting strained muscles can actually cause you to damage them over time. If you feel to sore to work out for a day, then by goodness gracious please take a day to relax and heal, and pick up your workout again tomorrow. If you are afraid that if you skip a day you will loose complete focus and stop working out, do something like a light Yoga workout instead of a cardio/strength training workout.

Excellent answer.

Also, you might want to look at what you're eating and see if you're properly fueling your body. If I start getting sloppy with my nutrition and/or if I've simply not been eating enough calories, it effects my ability to work out. I become fatigued and find my exercise performance slipping.

Unlike another poster in this thread, I do better with less carbs and more protein. I think this is one of those things where we're all a bit different and need to try different things until we find out what works for us.

Best wishes.

I agree with the idea of a rest day. Though I haven't really been doing that myself - I don't think I work out hard or intensively enough to have one.

I woke up feeling that way today though, I got to the gym, and my heart just wasn't in it. Yesterday had been a really long and tiring day,work was draining etc. SO, I came back from the gym after just half an hour, watched some TV, and then had a good two hour nap! Woke up feeling so much better, and am currently on my way out, back to the gym (: Naps are great.

Sometimes some inspiration works too. If you do want to work out but your body might be feeling heavy, maybe just remind yourself why you do want to lose weight. Or use the time you don't go to the gym usefully - look online for new exercises to do to target certain areas, or make yourself a plan for things to do tomorrow (:

Rest /eat less or more if you are building and repairing muscle

Sometimes I need a rest day.

Otherwise, I look around, thank the Lord that I have two functioning legs and arms and that I have the opportunity to go work out, and I go do it.

When I don't feel like exercising, I exercise anyway. Just tailor your workout to how you're feeling. If you're not "due" for a rest day, but you're feeling tired and sore, just go for a walk or do something light. I don't give myself a rest day every time I'm tired and sore. That said, definitely factor a rest day or two into your week.. But keep in mind, it's easy to fall of the exercise wagon with too many workout days OR too many rest days. Find the balance that works for you

While I definitely promote taking a rest day, I feel like the days where you don't feel like working out are where it's MOST important to make sure that you do. As long as you're not sick or in pain, find a way to do it! Making excuses and not doing it because I was tired is 90% of the reason why I got so big in the first place. Sure, one rest day isn't going to hurt and out of a seven day week, you're not supposed to work out more than six days. However, even just going for a little walk is mentally getting you up and about and very important.

in answer to your question...what do i do when i don't feel like exercising?

exercise!

If I have already had a "rest day" I will just do it. It's tough to start but (at least for me) once I start I'm good. Make a deal that if you exercise after 10 minutes you can stop if you want as long as you start. Most of the time you keep going.

I think to myself "What would I like to eat right now?" Then I go burn the calories for it and eat it! It's very motivating for me to think that the more I exercise, the more I can eat.

i just read your food diary .. i can see why you dont have energy. you should take a serious look at changing the foods you eat . there isnt many healthy things in there. fueling yourself properly makes all the difference in the world when you are trying to be healthier. i compare this to fueling a car. if you put water in a car gas tank the car wont take you very far before it either doesnt start or it poops out. when you put in the right type of gas then it starts and runs ..when you tune it up it runs even more effectively.. when you put the wrong food in your body you become sluggish and even sometimes get sick and your body just doesnt run right. when you tune yourself up by eating right,exercising and drinking water then you will have energy and you will find yourself feeling better