It is important to get in the habit of exercising. Think of it as making the things you do every day automatic. Like your morning routine: you don't make a list of what you need to do every morning ("Wake up, brush teeth, wash face, brush hair, get dressed, put on makeup, make breakfast..."). It would be exhausting! All those things just become part of what you automatically do. Exercise should be like that--automatically part of your routine. That way it's not so much effort to get it done. You plan your day, and exercise just gets fitted in like everything else.
And eventually it will become weird when you DON'T go the gym. Which is good, because then when it becomes more difficult to fit in exercise (an evening out, though you usually go to the gym after work; or brunch with friends, when you usually run in the morning) you will want to fit it in, despite the challenges.
As for rest days, the rest I need depends on how fit I am and what kind of exercise I've been doing. Sometimes I completely rest (mostly on Saturdays, when I'm completely lazy and don't even get groceries); sometimes I do yoga at home; sometimes the 15 min walk each way to get groceries is my activity on my rest day. Walking is good 'rest' for me because it's still the exercise habit but doesn't work me too hard.
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