SparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more
    KFQUILTER   45,340
SparkPoints 		40,000-49,999 SparkPoints
 
 
is it too much or should I stop listening to others and keep streak alive?

Friday, January 11, 2013

Today is day 46. That is 46 consecutive days that I have exercised at least 10 minutes. I started this streak because what I was doing wasn't working. I started slow. One mile of walking or jogging. As the streak grew I joined a Group Power class once or twice a week for strength training as that was getting skipped last year to get in the miles and scale went wrong way so change was necessary. Last week I added in a Group Spin class and loved it. So now I am strength training 2 hours a week, spinning 1 hour and walking or jogging a total of 10.5 miles during whole week. I am not overdoing it as far as I see but a few friends at work think I am doing too much and will burn out, but I think I have a reasonable, well rounded program set up. OK Sparkfriends, what do you think? I feel great, no muscle soreness and I have actually seen the scale finally move in right direction. Do I listen to work buddies, or my body and my Spark friends?
SHARE
  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SUSHENO 1/15/2013 10:51PM

    Listen to your body. After all, you and your body are in it for the long haul. Are you taking rest days? If so, you shouldn't burn out.

Report Inappropriate Comment
BECKYSFRIEND 1/15/2013 10:35PM

    you're doing fantastic

Report Inappropriate Comment
MARYALICE411 1/13/2013 5:36PM

    I read a survey of 50 people that had lost over 50 pounds and kept it off over 5 years. All said they did 30 mins of exercise a day every day. Yes an off day was important but an off day was a 30 min walk.

Report Inappropriate Comment
IAMLOVER2DAY 1/12/2013 4:07PM

    It sounds like everyone here is giving good feedback. I especially liked the post from Lulubelle65. For some odd reason, it struck something in me. Take good care of yourself.

emoticon

Report Inappropriate Comment
GEORGE815 1/12/2013 11:21AM

    We are all so much different. I think you should listen to B, your body. If you can't do a workout, then your body will tell you so. Sounds like you have addressed this need for your body, and are doing quite well at it. emoticon

Report Inappropriate Comment
ERICADAWN1986 1/12/2013 10:07AM

    I say if you're body is good with it, keep going! Take rest days as you feel you need them. My routine is actually very similar to yours and I don't feel like it's obsessive or like I'll burn out. If you have the time and you're still able to maintain your life outside the gym... Ignore the haters! People who don't have a regular workout routine may not understand. I know I didn't "get it" when I was 200lbs and sitting on my butt all the time.

Report Inappropriate Comment
HDHAWK 1/12/2013 9:16AM

    Go with what works for you. From what I can see it isn't too much and you are enjoying yourself. If it gets to be too much you can drop something back. You know what your body needs, but you do need to take a rest day once a week or so. You can still walk, do yoga, or something not so strenuous.

Report Inappropriate Comment
ADARKARA 1/12/2013 7:55AM

    I agree with ELISADENK, Listen to your BODY. ;)

Report Inappropriate Comment
DS9KIE 1/12/2013 7:37AM

    I think your doing emoticon

Report Inappropriate Comment
LULUBELLE65 1/12/2013 7:26AM

    Two questions. One, do you have a history of overdoing things and then getting burned out? and Two, are these friends you used to spend time with but now don't, because you are busy working out?

I think in general, people need to mind their own business, however, if your friends have seen repeated cycles of you doing something with great enthusiasm and then quitting 2 months later because you are burned out, then maybe they are trying to be helpful. It is hard to know without having a more complete story.

Friends also tend to want to stop us from doing things that take us away from them. If you've always gone out for happy hour with your work friends, but skip it now in favor of the gym, maybe you need to think about ways to include these people in your new, more active, lifestyle. Walking dates, or an invitation to join you at your spin class might encourage your friends to join you in your quest for fitness.

Report Inappropriate Comment
GOPINTOS 1/12/2013 7:16AM

    You already answered your own question. You will know when you need a break. So long as you are giving your muscles time to repair in between training, you should be fine. We do need rest & repair time, but that is when you could do one of the other activities. Which I am sure that is how you are doing it.

The thing about friends... inactive or less active friends I am guessing? Well there you have it. I don't think they mean to sabotage our efforts, but they say things like don't over do it. Don't hurt yourself. You are losing too much weight.... when we are still far from where we really should be.

But if you feel fine, continue. If you don't feel like you are gaining ground, then maybe you need more time to repair. But if you want to continue your streak, you can still walk on those days if you wanted.

The main thing I see here, is don't worry about the scale. Especially when we are growing muscles. The scale might increase, while our pant size decreases. People mistakenly say muscle weighs more than fat, when what they really mean is muscle is more dense. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, so the scale might not budge, or even go up. So don't trip on the scale GF! You are doing fantastic! emoticon

Report Inappropriate Comment
DESERTDREAMERS 1/12/2013 7:04AM

    Your body, your plan!

Report Inappropriate Comment
JULIA_211 1/12/2013 6:05AM

    You just answered your own question when you said you feel great and the scale is starting to move. emoticon Keep up the excellent work! emoticon

Report Inappropriate Comment
LAURIE160IN2013 1/12/2013 3:15AM

    I have experienced exercise burnout, but that's when I was doing 2.5 hours a day, 7 days a week. I don't think you're overdoing it--in fact your routine looks great--but don't listen to me or anyone else. Only you know what you need and what you want. For some reason many people want to discourage us. To quote a wise young lady who turned her own life around, "Some people only love you when you're down." Congratulations on your scale victory!
Laurie

Report Inappropriate Comment
BERRY4 1/11/2013 8:53PM

    Here's a thought. Every 6-8 weeks, take a break from strength training for 1 week. And maybe cut your other time to half of what you are currently doing. You may actually see positive gains from a "rest" in routine to allow your body to fully recharge, rebuild, and rejuvenate.

I have actually lost weight (4 lbs) from giving my body "rest" in cycles. -- As always, experiments and find what works for YOU!
emoticon
http://www.shapefit.com/periodi
zation-training-cycle-workouts.
html

http://www.aworkout
routine.com/rest-recovery-overtraining/

Report Inappropriate Comment
JERZGURL_NAN 1/11/2013 8:26PM

    Well, you are in a groove, it's working for you and if you are like me - once that streak breaks, the routine is broken and it's work to find another one. If you burn out eventually, so what, deal with it then and figure out your next step. Have you listened to their fitness advise in the past? Are they fitness professionals? Trainers? What do they know? Are they reading and learning as much as you are on SparkPeople? It seems everyone always has such 'valuable' advise, doesn't it? Sorry - I think you hit a nerve with me and I started ranting. I apologize. But listen to your body - it will tell you when you need a break I am trying to get my routine and fitness addiction BACK!! Because mine worked too and currently I'm not having the same success.

Keep strong and enjoy your workouts. You are doing great. Just thank them for their concern and advise - say 'your're probably right' and then just do what you need to do. lol

Report Inappropriate Comment
WHITE-FIRE 1/11/2013 7:41PM

  I say listen to your body. That may sound like a lot to some people (definitely does to me since I very seldom get off my butt and have been that way my entire life aside from a few failed attempts at being active), but if you feel comfortable with it, that's the important thing right? besides, out of the spinning and strength training, that only 3 hours. 3 hours is less than 2% of your week and 10.5miles is about 21,000 steps which is about 3000 a day right? isn't a goal supposed to be 10,000 total steps a day? So it sounds perfectly fine and doesn't sound like you'll burn out (as long as you don't over exert yourself and don't force yourself to workout when you're sick or something). Maybe the work friends are just jealous?

Report Inappropriate Comment
ELISADENK 1/11/2013 7:35PM

    Listen to your body!!!!!!!!!

Report Inappropriate Comment

Add Your Comment to the Blog Post


Log in to post a comment.
 


Other Entries by KFQUILTER