I am sitting here high on endorphins at the moment. I had a most awesome workout! I feel great and memories of my past insanity are flooding back! I love this feeling! I get giddy off workouts when I feel this way!

The problem?

I don't want to burn out!! I'm terrified of burn out. I did this before. I went nuts and was in the best shape of my life! I was the most fit fat person alive! Seriously! But my weight stalled out and I was not strong enough to tolerate that so I quit.

I don't want to quit!

Today, at this moment, feeling this euphoric, I can't see ever stopping. I feel strong and positive and armed with past failure and feel like I've learned from that mistake.

So now I ask. Roll with it? Or chill out?

I said when I started exercising, only a few weeks ago mind you, that I was terrified of EXACTLY THIS!! I knew that once I added exercise that would be it. I know me. I get addicted.

Roll with it! If you start slipping, come here and we will rally behind you!

This time is different. Exercise is now part of your life so enjoy it!!!!!!!

that's a tough q. maybe this is your chance to figure out how to deal with this dynamic and plow your way through it. I say maybe bec I'm throwing this out there as a stranger, follow what you think is right.

that said, for some people (myself included), eating has its compulsive/obsessive side. maybe the exercise for you falls into the mental category too, and you'll need to limit it and stick to those limitations. maybe it's simpler than that, an all or nothing see saw.

to some extent you may have to follow your instincts here. logically speaking, burn out comes when something is done to such a high intensity over a period of time that a person feels she can't maintain it. if you like exercising, and you don't want to burn out, I'd suggest choosing a moderate routine that you can stick to over a long period of time. workouts don't have to be killer for the body to get great benefits.

Exactly. This is what happened before. Combine unsustainable workouts with no progress on the scale and that's what made me quit. The scale does not respond when I do this. I took measurements before and I gained inches.

But this time I took measurements a few weeks ago and like before, I am again gaining inches. But this time I'm going to give it the benefit of time. I am not giving up for one full year, period.

I wonder if I could step off the scale until November of next year. The only problem I see with that solution is that I feel like daily weighing will be important once I hit maintenance. I worry that one day I'll give up and I won't be in the habit of daily weighing and that's when all the weights plus 10 will appear.

So if you hated to exercise, you'd be happier?

It's awesome that you love to workout! And many studies have shown that consistent exercise is the biggest predictor of maintenance success. So why stop?

It sounds like the problem you had before wasn't exercise. Nope, it was quitting a plan that was working for you because your weight loss stalled out. The way to avoid that from happening again isn't to stop exercising -- it's to resolve to keep on going even when the scale isn't cooperating. Wonderful things can be happening in our bodies that aren't immediately reflected on the scale. We all have to keep that number in perspective or we'll go It's only one, quite limited way to measure progress.

Do you measure progress in any other ways besides the scale? Do you check your body composition, have a smaller pair of jeans to try on, take measurements, take photos? Do you have fitness or behavioral goals? All these can be ways to see amazing progress even when the scale stays the same.

ETA: about sustainability of an exercise plan -- many experts recommend at least 60 minutes a day for weight loss and 60 - 90 minutes a day for maintenance after weight loss. If you're exercising more than 2 hours a day, it can be counterproductive and definitely a time to re-evaluate.

Relax and look forward to feeling this way the rest of your life! Don't let a stall/plateau stop you. Your past mistakes have taught you many things--number one is don't give up! Enjoy the journey.

If the reinforcer for you for exercising really is the high you get from working out, you will continue to get that regardless of the number on the scale. So if you focus on the high being the reward for exercising (in addition to the strength, etc. if that does it for you) and not the scale number would that work?

Ok, I'm going to take a scale break and focus on how much I love exercise. I will weigh in on my anniversary which is the ninth of every month.

I want to add HIIT to my workout routine. That's the insanity in me! I'm just so surprised at how quickly my body is remembering. I just started working out again a couple weeks ago and I can't believe how much progress I've made in such a short period of time. Our bodies really do remember. It's amazing.

I would say that as long as you are feeling good, keep going!! When it starts to feel like you've given over too much time to exercise, re-evalute. But DON'T give up.

I have the same tendency that you describe to be all or nothing. I try to do the moderation thing, but it just isn't my personality - in every aspect of my life. So, embrace who you are and ride out the "high." Enjoy this peak and when you are in the "valley" so to speak, keep going but give yourself a break. Instead of doing 2hrs a day of exercise, do 30 minutes. Don't break the habits of going every day and keeping exercise in your life.

Then, when the next high cycle comes, you'll be ready. I understand that feeling of being on the high side and wondering when the crash will come. Like Meg suggested, maybe it won't come. Maybe you really do just enjoy exercise. That's a great thing!

But if it does, have a plan that isn't quit. Create a specific plan of how you will deal with the crash. Maybe it's commiting to 30 minutes/day 5 days a week of exercise regardless of how you feel. Maybe it's keeping the strength training in but backing off of the cardio. Whatever it is, when it happens, you'll still feel in control because you'll have an action plan.

I had this same fear because I have had this same thing happen to me. I did with my exercise exactly what I did with my food. I made a written plan. I wrote down exactly what I was going to do for exercise every day, including writing in rest days. Using my written plan I slowly built up the intensity to a level that so far is satisfying my "insanity". Because I made a plan I didn't push myself too far and it also made it harder to quit because it was already a written plan. I also always put exercise plan down each night when I'm making the next days to do list. When I find some new exciting thing that I want to do that's not in my plan and that might push me too far I just promise myself that I will put it in the plan for next week or whatever, and then I do (not good to break promises to yourself).
As Meg already said it is also a good idea to have as many ways of measuring success as you can find, not just the scale. Use a tape measure, your jeans, your skill level at the exercises you do, nutritional goals - whatever you can think of.
Also, never forget, we are here and if you feel yourself start wanting to quit then come tell us and we will help you not quit