[April_Showers]

Hey all!

I am chugging along on this "get-fit" journey, and I am discovering that I absolutely love working out. Whether its in the gym for an hour, jogging in the park with my boyfriend, playing a game(tennis, volleyball), or just popping in a tae-bo tape I love it, but I am concerned..am I over doing it? I make sure that I stretch before and after working out (sometimes during if its a long set) drink plenty of fluids and rest when needed.My goal is to hit 140 in about a year, but I have a beachy vaca in December as well that I want to look good for. Lately people have been pointing out that I have become a nut for doing it so much, but I truely love seeing my body getting stronger and being able to challange myself to more and more difficult tasks. By the way I do eat...the more I work out, the more I eat(recently up'd it to somewhere from 1800-2300 calories, to be honest sometimes more), and usually do something active 2-3 hours a day roughly...I don't do much on Sunday maybe a jog...but ever since I started getting serious about getting fit I feel guilty about sitting around...anyways I guess what I am asking is Am I doing too much??

Any feedback positive or negative is welcome!! Thank you all!

[byugrad]

I think the only danger is similar to over-training. If you push too hard and start to feel exhausted, edgy, achy or burned out, then you should slow down. Cardio you can usually do every day, but for muscle-building activity you need to give your muscles time for recovery -- usualy just 24 hours.

Since you are doing a variety of exercise, you're less likely to over-train. You might want to do a google search for symptoms of overtraining. I know they include things you wouldn't expect, such as decreased coordination and difficulty sleeping.

[Jennifer 3FC]

One thing I see is that you aren't doing weight training. If you are doing 2-3 hours of cardio and no strength training, you stand the chance of thrashing your metabolism in the long run. You want to make sure you lose body fat and not your existing lean muscle mass. If you just do cardio, that is what will happen.

I'd replace some of your cardio time with strength training. You might not feel like you're really burning calories, but in the long run, this will keep your body burning more calories per day on a regular basis.

As far as how much time your spending, I'm not qualified to answer that, but I can tell you that current government guidelines for exercise are 60-90 minutes per day to lose weight.

[Ilene]

April -- If you were over training you'd know it... You'd be very tired and you would get injured. I agree with Jennifer that you should add some weight training ... If you are taking things gradually I think you should be fine.

[ellenuw]

I don't hear "obsession" in what you are doing, I am hearing "passion" and that is where I am, too. It is almost like the unbridled joy of being 5, isn't it? For so many years I had concentrated on using my brain and getting ahead and ignored my body and now it is happy to move and lift and dance ... I say go for it and ride the wave of how good it makes you feel. I would agree with Jennifer and Ilene, and suggest you add strength training into your routine. It will also boost how good you feel about yourself and find wonder in what your body can do and how it responds. Why limit yourself because of the clock - ask yourself if you are ignoring your family, friends or work? Are you tired, contantly sore or achy, edgy and snappish? Then you might be overtraining. Relax and enjoy learning about and how to listen to your body.