I get what you're saying, and I can sort of feel myself doing it. Right now I'm struggling with finishing my workout today. I cut 15 minutes short this morning and burned "only" 275 calories. It's been eating at me all day long. I'm antsy to get home and finish my last 15...which will probably turn into 20 since I "slacked off" this morning.

Mindi - I'm actually glad that I'm not to only one that does that... I fell back asleep instead of exercising this morning and have been chastising myself in my head all day. Maybe we both need to take a little break.

Seriously, a recovery period isn't just recommended, it is a necessity. You don't have to take the entire week with absolutely no exercise, some use the concept of active rest - yoga, walking, lighter activities than you normally do. I've done that before and it helps some with the 'I'm not exercising' crazy.

I'm glad too!! At least someone understands...my husband just thinks I'm wacky.

I'm not going to finish my workout today. I think that's a good first step to taking it easy on myself. We'll see about tomorrow. One step at at time.

I agree that if you feel bad about yourself if you don't hit these targets- you are too obsessed about it. I try to keep exercise in the "fun hobby" category not the "essential job" category.

Also, it is very possible that with all the exercise you are gaining muscle, not fat. In which case, it could be a good thing. It sounds to me like you are putting a lot of credence (and emotion) into the scale. The scale is just a tool for you to use. Don't let it use you.

You have to do what's right for you, but you most certainly do not have to burn any certain number of calories to maintain your weight. And as others have mentioned, it is almost impossible to measure the calories burned that accurately anyway. The true benefit of exercise is not the calories you burn at the gym- it's the continued burn you experience all the time because you exercise regularly. I think you can certainly cut back and you should. I think it sounds like you know that and are here looking for validation. You should not feel exhausted all the time and you should enjoy your workouts- or eventually you will give up.

I think the first step would be a check up with your doctor just to rule out any other possible causes for your exhaustion.

Mindi, I would be probably be like the living dead if I got up at 0430 every day. I'm not surprised you're tired. What time do you go to sleep?

I believe sleep is as important as food and exercise in weight loss. I'm in bed now. zzzzzzzzzZzzzzZz

If my thoughts help wonderful, if not, know that my intention was to do so.
I have compartmentalized three areas for attaining and maintaining my best health. They overlap but do not have the same function:

1. Calorie/carb counts are for weight loss/maintanence.
2. Calorie/carb selections are for nutrition
3. Exercise is for fitness.

I have never counted any "calories burned" in my calorie goals regardless of how much or little I exercised for the day. These counts are highly inaccurate, if for no other reason, than repetitive motion of the muscles uses fewer calories over time. If I burned any, I always take this as a bonus.

Personally, I exercise anywhere from 1-3 miles and use resistance bands daily. Additionally, I frequently ride horses, hike, dance, easily keep up with my many children and grandchildren, clean my house, etc... Low impact exercise is, for me, a means to an end- enjoyment of these other activities. I also think too much exercise works up an appetite, which will need to be satisfied in some manner. So diminishing returns in a way. I think you being aware is key and I think over time you will find your answers. I always gained when I quit tracking.

I get up at 4:30 4xs a week to run. I love it and it works. I also ST/Yoga in the evenings 2xs a week. Now that said, a few weeks back I was starting to burn out and so I cut my milage back a little bit on my runs and I felt SOOO much better. The only reason I'm seeing any sort of creep is due to weekend over indulgence which I've kicked in the bud by dropping my weekday cals, because for me, weekends are free. That's me though, I know it's not for everyone but it works for me.

So now I'm upping my milage and working a little harder at the gym because I'm renewed from the "break" and I feel great working out more again.

I know what it's like to over analyze this whole maintenance thing, it's hard, really hard. But the bottom line is you just have to keep trying things until you find what works for you. I got really caught up in being the "perfect" maintainer, the "health nut" (well I still kinda am, but I love to induldge too!), the always on plan calorie counter, the killing myself to run as many miles as I can, etc. etc. And in the end it just wasn't for me and sprialed me back to binging, which I am now trying to overcome once again. So I know that was a little off topic, but my point is do what feels GOOD for YOU.

"Well theoretically if you are eating 1850 calories a day x 7 = 12950 calories/week then you need to burn 12950 calories a week to maintain right?"

Nope. You use the vast majority of your daily caloric intake as resting metabolic rate (RMR) - what your cells/organs use even while asleep, just to stay alive. There is also a thermic effect of food - you actually burn extra calories every time you eat (!!) because it takes work to digest food. And then there's all the calories you burn by walking around, fidgeting in your chair, stretching, yawning, etc. Anyway, it turns out that you burn THE VAST MAJORITY of your daily calories by simply existing. This is why it's possible to lose weight without exercising at all. And why sometimes simple math doesn't add up, because if you are eating way way below what your body needs in order to maintain itself (say, you are eating 1400 calories/day but your RMR is 1200 and you are exercising away 400 calories a day, causing your daily intake to be 200 calories below what your body needs to sustain its basic life support), you will actually lower your RMR over time. If you then start eating even 100 more calories (e.g. 1500), your RMR won't bounce back easily, and over time you can actually GAIN weight on an overaggressive diet/exercise strategy.

The only way out of this kind of vicious cycle is -counterintuitively- to cut back on calories burned while slightly increasing calories in. And then be patient. It takes at least 2 weeks for the "new normal" to set in and allow you to start losing weight again. In the short term, weight may bounce up 2-4 pounds. Very scary- I know, because I went through this process myself about 4-5 months ago. It sucked, but now I maintain on 1600 cal/day instead of 1400, and on a total of 4 hours/week of exercise instead of 7.

Just my 2 cents.

Oops; forgot to post this link. You might find it helpful:
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_BMR.php

So I didn't finish my workout yesterday, and cut out five minutes of the workout today. I plan to continue my M-F workouts, but to cut back on the time. Especially on the days when we're going to walk the dogs in the evenings. Baby steps....

I'm also going to take it very, very easy this weekend. I don't normally work out on the weekends, but for the past six weeks or so my "weekends" have been pointless -- lots of time on my feet running around, building fences, mowing yards, etc. No real down time for my body to recover in a couple of months.

This weekend I plan to sit in a bean bag chair and play Xbox, or sit at the computer and do some work online. Sounds so nice...