[cherylmn]

Hello ladies (and gents)!

I have been diligent about exercising 5-6x/week for many months now, and I believe it was essential to me achieving my weight loss goal AND to simply feeling good and improving my health.

For the last 2-3 weeks, however, I am lucky if I fit in 2 workouts/week! I can tell that my weight is creeping back up, I am so tired I can barely get up each & every morning, I am crabby/moody, etc. My motivation has completely been waning and I simply feel like I am running on empty.

I know that exercise provides energy. I saw it in action. So what gives here? I understand what I need to do, but every morning, I just don't do it. I turn my alarm off, I'm constantly chasing my tail, I'm grumpy, I'm short with kids & hubby - ugh, not a joy to be around!! (BTW - I have to workout in the AM or I run out of time, which means a 5am wakeup call. I work Mon-Thur and am home with my kids on Fridays.)

I had set a personal (and secret) goal of breaking 140. That felt do-able until 3 weeks ago! I'm back to 145 (and higher on some days) and am sure that it will continue to creep up if I don't get on top of this.

Maybe this isn't the right forum for my whining. I just know that exercise is key to my ability to maintain and potentially meet this new, personal goal. I have lost weight several times before, and the beginning of the end always starts with not prioritizing exercise. I am scared. I am depressed. I'm already acting like I've regained all 60 pounds.

How do I stop the train wreck? Who is coming to my house to yell at me & tell me to JUST DO IT?? Really - this is getting ridiculous.

Thanks if you've read this far. I appreciate any & all words of wisdom you have to share.

[hopefulchick]

Hey Cheryl,
I've recently found myself in a similar position, including having the secret goal in my head!
I experienced this tiredness last week and i'm not sure if its partly due to a change energy levels due to the weather (my body is getting ready for winter!) but I decided to give myself a few days off he gym and took long walks instead.
Just look at how far you have come already! I think its entirely possible that your body is tired and just needs a little break. Let yourself go easy on the exercise this week - but still stick to your food plan. Then next week you'll have the energy to jump back in to your exercise programme. Good luck i'm sure you'll break the 140s in no time

[Number8]

I think we all feel this way at times. Once you skip a day it's so easy to skip another!
Maybe as hopeful suggests you can throw in a different activity, go for a bike ride or change the route you usually walk/run what ever your exercise of choice is.
Also you should take your secret goal and make it a public goal. Write it in big letters and tape it on your alarm clock. When ever I feel like stopping I look at my biggest weight I put a big 198 on the treadmill and run away from it.
Forget the past and embrace a new start!

[cherylmn]

I forced myself to jump on the treadmill tonight, even though it meant working out at 10:30PM. I took your advice & tried something new. I forgot that my treadmill came with a cheststrap HR monitor, which I've never used. So I put it on & completed an HRC Interval set where the system identifies your intensity & alternates between high & low HR. It wasn't the hardest workout ever, and I was disappointed by the # of calories burned, so I ran an extra mile at the end to round out 55 minutes on the mill.

My legs are tired, but I feel good for having pushed myself to do this. I guess late night workouts are going to have to be my new routine if I cannot get up in the morning. Maybe I can alternate on my workdays - 2 days of PM, 1 day rest, 2 days of AM and at least 1 weeknd day whenever I can fit it in.

Thanks for offering your suggestions. I have just been so darn tired & sluggish. Actually, seeing my HR tonight made me realize that I have likely been pushing myself harder than I realized. Maybe I just need to back off a bit & return to my original philosphy of "just do SOMETHING". It is so easy to think that what you are doing isn't enough...

Speaking of enough, enough of my ramblings for tonight. I'm off to stetch & bed.

G'night all.

[StephanieM]

Seeing someone who got their goal weight and still struggles with motivation, it really reminds me of how human we all are.

Switching it up helps me find new things to do that I'll like so that exercising isn't a chore. Just trying something new can have a big difference. And sometimes telling myself that I gotta do what I gotta do, no excuses is my last resort to just doing it.

Have you tried getting your husbands help on accountability? It took me months to train my fiance how to do that (he also wants to gain weight). I've got him reading nutritional labels, we talk about what we ate in the day and how well we did, and if I miss a couple of workouts (I went a week without working out because of life) he get's on my butt about it and how I need to step it up to make up for it. He get's plenty of exercise being a carpenter, and he's going to start weight lifting once we get our home gym set up. I keep on his butt about eating enough food and making sure it's healthy stuff (I gave it to him a few days ago because all he ate was toaster strudels, chocolate wagon wheels and four cups of coffee while I was at work)

Some girls would hate their man doing this, for me it's extra support and it helps a ton!

[kellost]

Just want to say, I can relate! I was running three times a week, and sadly it had decreased to maybe once a week since the summer. First, it was too hot out, then I was on vacation, now it's being too busy. My point is, there is always an excuse. My weight has slowly creeped up also, due to lowered exercise and increased calories. I ran this morning, and it feels great. I wrote down my exercise plans, so hopefully by putting it on a to-do list, I'll actually feel compelled to do it! The cooler fall weather will hopefully help motivate me to get out there more.