So yesterday I was discussing my exercise routine with some co-workers and listening to it all and looking at the expressions on their faces, I felt kind crazy. I love exercise, it's really important to me, so I make it a priorty to fit into my busy life. It also keeps me out of therapy - LOL. But sometimes I won't if it's a bit over the top. Am I alone in this?

Here's my program just for reference.
M - Spin
T - Yoga
W - Run
Th - Spin
F - Run
S - Walk
S - Run

And when there is time and I'm feeling overextending I try to lift weights T & Th. Most of my exercise is early morning so it doesn't interfer with family or any other responsibilities/priorities, but my DH and I do have an agreement about us both getting some "me" time and I choose to excerise during that time. I don't know where on earth I'm going with this, maybe just some reassurance that I'm not an exercise junkie.

I also want to stop and and say "Hi" because I haven't been around much - I miss you guys a bunch, but staying away from the boards has really helped bring a lot of balance to my life. Things are good on the maintenance front and I'm really finding my maintenance "sweet spot" and feeling like things are permanent as I head into my 2nd year of maintenance. Hope everyone is well!

I don't think your schedule looks excessive at all. At least, I'm assuming your spin and yoga classes are about an hour long. It is probably more exercise than I do at the moment, but it looks comparable to when I was training for triathlon.

For reference, here is my current exercise schedule:
M/W/F 20 minute walk/jog intervals (I'm building slowly back up to running following foot injury)
Saturday: sometimes yoga, otherwise some walking
Sunday 30-60 min swim
Plus I do ~30 mins pilates 1-2x/week and ride a stationary bike ~30 mins 1-2x/week. I typically get in about 5-6 workouts per week, sometimes two of them are in one day. I rarely have a week with fewer than 3 workouts.

I don't consider myself an exercise junkie. In fact, I've had enough health problems this year that I don't feel like I exercise much at all compared to what I used to do (mostly in that my exercise is less intense and only 30 minutes at a time). Think of it this way -- if you told your coworkers that you played basketball with your friends for an hour every afternoon, they wouldn't think it was weird. So why is it weird to do other forms of exercise?

People have commented that I'm an exercise junkie, mostly those who don't exercise at all, but people like hubby and my mum I think have finally realised that it's what keeps me a little saner than I probably would be. My schedule right now is:-

Mon - 45min Zumba class then 45min Step class
Tue - 45min Body Combat class
Wed - Changes - possible PT session, possible run or possible rest day
Thur - 5k Run then 45min Bodypump class
Fri - Changes - usually one of the options I didn't do on Wed
Sat - 60min Advanced Step Class
Sun - Rest Day

I just find that I eat much better when I consistently exercise, I feel better in my body and most in my head. I LOVE the feeling during and after a good workout, there's nothing better. And still to this day I'm proud of myself that I can do what I do when just over 2 years ago I couldn't even walk far without pain before of all the weight I was carrying.

Yes, yes, 100% yes. If I stop exercising, I start eating poorly. They are somehow tied together. If I start eating poorly, I don't want to exercise.

As for mental health, I can say easily that my DH exercises far more than I do, and it is absolutely the thing that keeps his depression under control. It's even obvious that on his one rest day of the week, he's grumpier. (He runs 6 days a week and lifts weights or does yoga 5 days a week.)

You are definitely not alone. For me, exercising just makes me feel good. It is the release I need during the day and it is time just for me, and it is my time to do something good for my body and mind. My typical schedule consists of the following during the week:

Sunday: Run 5k
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Run 5k
Wednesday: Spin
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Run 5k
Saturday: Walk, clean, something that keeps me active for more than 45 min

lol pick me! ...i will have been maintaining 125lbs for one year effective January 31. it took me from may'10 to dec'10 to go from 180 to 130, and from dec to jan to get from 130 to 125. i quit smoking oct '10 and LOST about 20/25lbs lol!

when i started my weight loss joureny, i'd walk about 5k in the river valley and do about 300 stairs (sometimes I'd SMOKE at the same time!! GROSS) and that 5k has translated into accidentally falling in love with running this past summer; i haven't done any races, but i did complete 22k (13.3miles) in under 2 hours (1:55) while gaining over 450ft of elevation (mostly in the first 12 k).

since march, I have run a total of 495 miles (as of yesterday) and have cycled approx 2,735 miles since january (as of yesterday, and sadly on the stationary, but usually at a level 13/14 of 25 as far as resistance goes).

my norm is minimum 50 minutes of cardio 5-6 days/week. as its winter in northern canada, running outside in the dark over icy surfaces isn't exactly fun, so i'm stuck to the treadmill, which is ****, so i do mostly bike until my forearms drip sweat. i also do 2, 30 min. weight lifting sessions and 2, 40 min calisthenic sessions every week.

this summer i'd trailrun at least 6m 4 times a week plus weights with long 10mile runs on the weekend.

i feel UBER guilty if i go for 3 or more days with out...i'm always terrified that if i go for more than a week that i will fall off the wagon never to get back on again only to regain the 80lb total loss and then some.

i'm also worried how this level of activity can be maintained long term. i currently have access to a stationary, elliptical, treadmill, freeweights, rivervalley with hundreds of kilometers of trails (the city i live in has the largest urban park in north america) at my doorstep. i live 2 1/2 blocks away from work, work above a grocery store, and don't have kids...what happens when any of these conditions change?

i live for the high that a killer workout gives me, but i find that i can't lose weight if training is my focus. i need to eat to maintain such high activity, but need to lose about 10lbs before next year's running season. how will i let go of all this activity to decrease my caloric intake to lose the weight without compromising my fitness?! ...i've been battling with this for a few months now!

any advise while we're at it?

Nope--your schedule looks normal to me --and probably to many of us on the boards because we're more aware of our bodies and our weight than I think many "average" people are. That's fine. I've accepted that I will have to do some sort of activity for an hour a day, most days of the week in order to get healthy and be able to eat the number of calories that will satisfy me. Frankly, lately, 3-4 days a week, I get in two hours of exercise (usually walking combined with a fitness class). So, you keep doing what you're doing!

I have this same fear, to a certain extent. I have a tread-desk and that helps me to get in at least an hour of walking 6 days a week (or even 7 sometimes). This seems effortless to me because I am doing work while I'm walking. I sometimes wonder, "What will happen if I get a job where I'm not doing a lot of computer work?" Also, I've gotten back into fitness classes at the gym, and I love going to them at this point, so sometimes, I actually do two hours of exercise a day (3-4 days a week) because I walk AND I do a class. I'm sort of worried about what might happen if I get tired of this.

But you know what? I've decided that I will take this one day at a time. If my circumstances change, then I'll have to come up with other effective strategies for getting in exercising. I refuse to give up, though.

I think, for active people, our exercise schedules look pretty "normal". I walk dogs for a living so that's from 8-3 every day and then 1 hour Sat. and 1 hr. Sun. Plus I do 30 minutes of yoga 3X per week and lift weights 30 minutes 3X per week. And in the summer I will walk, paddle (kayak and SUP) and bike on the weekends (not all of those every weekend but you get the idea).

I've been doing this for 16+ years now and I feel really weird if I don't go out and do something physical every day. When I fractured my wrist 3 winters ago I started feeling totally "squirrely" after 3 days inside (couldn't find a mitten to fit on my cast). Finally wrapped a scarf around my hand and went for a walk.

I was a sedentary kid and teenager. And I was quite overweight. Then I got a big dog and the rest is history.

My DH called me a "jock" a couple of years ago. I was shocked at first (not a group I ever identified with) but then realized that yes, I am an athletic fit muscular person who enjoys working out.

Dagmar

I exercised 5-6 days a week during my first round of weight loss, but it was never my intention to keep exercising that much. I want to be strong and fit, but I also want to have a life.

A couple of years into maintenance, I had regained about ten pounds and wanted to get it off, so I went back on plan and upped my exercise. I was going 5-6 days a week again, and I was working with a trainer and taking step classes plus the aerobic stuff and weights. Then my back started to hurt. It is a kind of arthritis, as it turns out, but not one of the usual kinds--all that exercise and step stuff and some of the core exercises the trainer was having me do set it off big time. So then I had to stop everything, and when I started again, I had to be very careful not to do too much. Otherwise, more pain. This condition continues to this day.

During the time I've been exercising, starting in the mid-2000s, I've also had bursitis, tendonitis, and so on that I had to deal with.

So, I guess I question whether a life of daily exercise is good or not. At the moment, on my second time around with weight loss, I simply can't do the kind of strenuous things I was doing even 4-5 years ago. Regular exercise is still a part of my regimen, but if I'm going to lose the weight I regained, it now has to be mostly about the food choices.

Jay

JayEll...your quote says it all: its not a lifestyle, its a job.

indeed...weight(loss) maintenance is sometimes overwhelming, but so worth it!

Your post is really inspirational. It's so good to hear that someone who grew up as a sedentary teen turned into a person who does so much physical activity daily.

Yeah, me.

Today is a good example. I had to write something important on deadline. I knew I'd need all my morning hours from 5 AM onward to get it done on time. So I didn't go to the gym that early, as I usually do.

Even though I knew I could get to the gym at the end of the day, the rest of the day felt just ... not right. I was on edge. I just didn't feel okay at all. I knew I wouldn't really be at peace and feel like my day was done till I'd gotten in my workout.

That, for me, defines being a junkie as much as anything.

IMO the gym is a better habit than binge eating. Or drinking alcohol. Or a number of other addictions. I think my body does crave movement. But isn't that what we're made to do? And isn't that a positive thing?

Dagmar