I have absolutely NO desire to exercise right now.
Who am I?!
I feel exhausted, tired, sleep-deprived, drained.
I’m not sure if it’s the grueling puppy-schedule-situation or what but I also feel no guilt associated with not (formally) exercising since last Thursday.
And for me to take three (potentially four, if I don’t make it tonight) days off without any guilt is seriously unheard of!
Due to a myriad of fun plans (yea!) I couldn’t hit the gym — physically couldn’t get there during operating hours — and then the one time I could go (and even planned to go — Sunday) I opted to stay home with my husband and Rocco before heading to a friend’s baby shower. Yea, you heard me. I CHOSE to stay home. CHOSE to not exercise.
Who is this alien life form inside my brain!??!
It can only mean one of three things:
1) I’m burned out and just need a week off.
2) I’m getting sick (I honestly don’t feel well).
3) I’m finally realizing that, hey, it’s OK to just “be” sometimes.
My instinct tells me it might be a combination of the three, but regardless of the “why” — it’s quite freeing to feel no guilt associated with what I’d typically chastise myself for being (i.e., “lazy”). The thing is, I know myself … and I’m anything but lazy. One week off (for me) would not set a negative tone. For someone like me, it’s probably a healthy break.
So if I need these few days — or even a week — for me … so be it.
As a chronic over-exerciser (mostly in the past, but even today I still sometimes push myself when I really shouldn’t) this was really mind-blowing to genuinely feel no remorse or regret.
In fact, I’m looking forward to tonight — taking Rocco to the vet for the first time, and spending some time with my husband, who heads back to school tomorrow after a little break.
Something tells me I just need to be listening to my body right now. And I don’t feel like talking back.
How about you? Do you ever feel this way? And does the lack of guilt ever surprise you?
Let There Be Light 
I ilke to be active and workout but am happy I am now at a place where I feel NO guilt if I miss workouts. I actually find I have much better results when I take adequate rest days.
Lara, I think maybe I’m embracing that healthy approach as well. I get so hung up on the fact that I MUST work out every day, but even the days I haven’t formally exercised, I’m still active. And frankly, it’s felt wonderful. I think tonight maybe I’ll give it a shot but really, it’s been a nice break.
Because I’ve been training, I feel like crap if I miss a run because I’m so close to the goal. Its become part of me and I do love it but I know the pace has to slow down and besides the having to pay more attention to what I eat, I doubt I’ll feel much guilt. We shall see. 😉
Yay for you!
Thanks Staci. I hope after your race this weekend you can be a little relaxed about it, too–without guilt! People like us aren’t lazy; if we choose to rest it could only be good for us.
we are pretty similar with never missing a workout. my first instinct is to feel guilt, but once in a while, when it is a conscious and guilt-free decision, it does feel good.
Yup, sometimes, even though I usually enjoy going to the gym, I just feel like I’m dreading it, and then I remember wait a minute, I don’t HAVE to go its something I do for fun. And if it’s not fun, I shouldn’t go. So I don’t. after I take a break, I usually feel better. Most often its cuz I was starting to feel under the weather or something.
Like I said on FB, the EXACT same thing happened to me at 35 weeks. I went straight to triage and they hooked me up to monitors, telling me that it would probably be 4 hours before I got to go home. However, I “failed” the contraction test, so I had to stay there for 24 hours (without food, in case they had to do an emergency C-section). Luckily, everything was fine, and he stayed in there for another 2 weeks — just in time for his lungs to develop! I, too, got to have a nice tour of L&D so I knew what to expect.
So glad everything is OK, and you did the right thing!