I get sick. I was so psyched on Saturday when, after 5 weeks of exercising, I could powerwalk fast for an hour and love it! I finished with sweat pouring down my face and my muscles burning, and I couldn't wait to exercise the next day. I've been walking 5x/week for an hour each time, and sometimes loving it, and sometimes not so much. It just figures that when I really start getting hooked on exercise I come down with a head/chest cold I'm scared now that a. I will have to take more than 2 days off and consequently get out of the habbit and b. I will lose muscle/endurance in the interim...anyone have any suggestions?

Don't stop.

LOL

I exercise while sick. Sometimes I have to take it down a notch but I stick to my routine regardless of how I'm feeling. I've had an awful chest cold for the past week but I'm still doing P90X.

Really?! You don't find it makes things worse?! So, you think maybe I should just walk slowly for an hour?

Might make you more tired later on but it's worth it to me.

But I was a competitive gymnast for 14 years so I have a different level of "normal" when it comes to exercise...

I am still feeling the cold I had last week. I took off one day. And went easy the next day. Felt guilty. But I think if you are being consistent, and it sounds like you are, that a few days off won't set you back. Listen to your body and do what you feel like doing. And don't worry or feel guilty if you are not up to it.

2 days off isn't going to make you lose that much muscle or endurance. You would have to take a week or more off to make a significant impact. Your muscles are sort of like bike riding, they remember what they've been trained to do. Your biggest obstacle would be getting out of the habit and for that, I would recommend not stopping...just turn the energy expenditure down a bit. exercising while you have a cold or something similar is actually good for it since it helps clear out your sinuses and maintains lung capacity, it also keeps your immune system in top shape as well. over-exertion is what you have to be careful about. if you're tired, slow down.

Thanks I guess I will just walk a bit slower, and maybe only for 45 mins if it seems like too much

This will happen. I got the flu or something back in the winter and felt exactly as you do, pissed of that I was missing excercise. I've been keeping an excercise journal for a couple years and just wrote in the dates that I was sick and picked it up when I felt better. If I slack more than 1 or two days I get mad and kick it up even harder when I get back. I highly recommend keeping a journal it has the practical benefit of helping you track gains plus it keeps me motivated to go out there day after day.

Congratulations on choosing a healthy lifestyle.

It's called "life" and I agree, sometimes it is the pits but then no one ever promised that life would be all peaches and cream. We just have to learn to deal with things that happen and keep putting one foot in front of the other and above all, keep a positive outlook. I lost the entire month of February to a serious heart problem and had to almost start over in March but I did it and have worked my way back to where I was............so voice of experience........says you can do it too....you just have to take that first step and then another and another........

Well, I did take two days off and was really skeptical yesterday when I stepped on the treadmill despite feeling congestion and tightness in my chest. The first ten mins were awful, even after taking my inhaler, but I made it the full hour and actually felt BETTER after! Today I sounded like crap but could tell the cold was moving out, and I felt good. On the treadmill today, I couldn't even tell I had been sick. I NEVER EVER though exercising as I felt my lungs struggling would be good for me. So, thank you for all the suggestions. I will still be able to fit in 5x exercising this week, and my cold only lasted two days!