Losing confidence and motivation

C

curvie_girl

Member
I have been trying to maintain a schedule of 6 day a week 45min-1 hour workouts with three of those days being double workouts and two days are upper body - different muscles and two days are lower body different muscles. But this week I just feel drained. I really want to lose as much as I can before my birthday late next month but I feel like my motivation to get up and exercise is just zapped. Plus I look at the weight loss success of my mother and cousin and just feel like I will never get to my goal. :-( Any suggestions?
 
It's OK to miss a few workouts here & there. Most of us are psychologically addicted so, even though we logically know missing one workout won't hurt us, we illogically feel guilty or fat. I think there is also a physical addiction w/endorphins, but now I'm getting off track. :)

First, get some rest & work out tomorrow or the next day when you're feeling better. If you're drained & unmotivated your body might be telling you something. You are not going to undo any progress by missing one workout.

Second, you didn't mention diet in your post. Are you following a specific program? Diet is critical to losing weight, so if that's your goal you'll need to pay close attention to it.
 
I have two comments for you. One is it sounds like you're burning yourself out. You really need to cut back - that much exercise, particularly if you aren't used to it, can actually be counter- productive. Your body never gets the necessary time to heal itself and rest and then you burn out. You set yourself up for injury, as well, which can really sideline you.
If you feel you absolutely must do something, do something lower key, like some soothing yoga, or just take a long walk. Give your body the chance it needs to repair and recover.
My second comment is that you can not compare yourself and your success to others. Everyone's body is different - what works for one, may not work for someone else. Even if you're in the same family. Progess may be slow - it's an unfortunate fact. Make sure your goals are realistic and long-term. Aim to get healthy overall and maintain that lifestyle; don't try to do it all at once and in one month. Aim to do the best and be the best you can be in a reasonable amount of time and continue along that path and you will see your goals come to pass. Good luck!!
 
I would STRONGLY recommend taking a 3-4 day active rest and spend that time focusing on your diet (make sure you are getting adequate protein everyday/week) and RE-focus your workout schedule. For the next few days just take a brisk walk of 2-3 miles or do yoga and let your body have a break from rigorous exercise.

It's okay to workout like you have been, but every 4 weeks you need to take some active rest days to refuel. I will also do two workouts a day sometimes but I don't do that for weeks on end...I get too tired and when I start to feel like that I stop, take 3 or 4 active rest days and then resume with a different workout schedule.

Over training will result in burnout, which is what I think you are experiencing. I finally hit that wall myself a few weeks ago after spending all winter working out like a plow horse...I was doing 2-2.5 hours of exercise three days a week and the other three days I was doing a Cathe workout at home. Now I'm not working out at the gym, other than lap swimming 3 days a week, and I'm doing a Cathe CTX rotation right now. I always take Sundays as a total rest day no matter what. When the weather starts to turn nice I don't want to be in the gym anyway and once the outdoor pools open I'll do my lap swimming outdoors until fall.

So, take some time off from your current routine, evaluate your diet and add in foods if you need to, rework a new exercise routine that is lighter and do that for the next 2 weeks at least. And when that time is up then decide if you need to make any changes. What might be good for you is to do your two weeks of intense workouts and then spend the next two weeks on weight training/endurance workouts (the CTX dvd is perfect here). Then kick it back up with high intensity. You really need to mix it up so you stay fresh mentally.
 
NYC & Maximus - Thank you for the encouragement. I notice that my body seemed to shape up well when I do extra workouts plus the weights but it just does not seem to be moving fast enough. Like I am seeing that my legs are getting a little smaller but I am not dropping lbs. like my cousin & mom. And I can't yet get into all of the size 14's in my closet. For my diet, I am doing the 1400 calorie 90/10 solution except I don't dedicate the extra 250 calories to a dessert. I even do well even on the weekend, but I do have my favorite cheat meal the fire roasted veggie bowl from La Salsa. (yummmy!)--

NYC, I hear you I am just worried that I won't get my motivation back and then it will creep back up on me quick.
 
Thank you too 40, I didn't see your reply until after my post went through. Maybe I will just do some Leslie tapes and still do Cathe. Then go back to the more strenuous stuff.
 
Don't worry, it will definitely come back!! I've had times like that myself, and generally all it takes is a day or two of good, meaningful rest and then you wake up raring to go!! I suffer from impatience myself. But remember, sometimes the change is happening, you just don't see it yourself because it's gradual and you see yourself every day. (the old a watched pot never boils syndrome) Then, one day, you wake up and get dressed and your pants are too big!! You'll get there!
 
I get that way too sometimes. I always tell myself I'm going to just go through the warm up and maybe 5 extra min and if I'm still dragging, I'll stop. About 90% of the time I end up finishing off the whole hour. Some days though, it's just not going to happen, and I don't spend not a minute feeling guilty about it. The way I see it, at least I tried. Some days are better than others, we just gotta do the best we can.

Good Luck,


Laura
 
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