Feel down because I've not exercised!

[40andlovelife]

Recently I've cut my drinking from around 3 to 4 times per week to once per week and I credit going to the new classes I've started ( spin, legs bums tums, body pump). I'm loving the classes but today I haven't done one and it's made me feel all sad and down. Trying to tell myself that rest days are important ha. I just don't have the motivation to exercise at home on days I can't get to a class hence why I do classes as it's the only way I can make myself do it! What do other do to combat this? Oh and then the feeling of sadness made me eat a full pack of biccies!

Join the gym? Pool? Or walk/run?
I feel the same if I go a day without exercising, at the moment I can’t afford the gym or classes so I walk and occasionally swim.

If you can't get to the gym you need to find an online trainer you feel comfortable with. There are so many, but amongst the best are Growingannanas for Hiit, Sydney Cummings and Heather Robertson for all round training, and Caroline Girvan and Fitness Blender for working out with weights. Popsugar Fitness have lots of different workouts with different trainers - i like Jake Dupree. I'm sure there are others that are good. I hope you find one that works for you.

I totally understand! Super quick, just 5 mins: Get down and do 5 press ups, 10 squats and 20 high-knees. Do some stretches and lunges too. At least you’ll feel like you’ve moved your body, you’ll feel nice and stretched, but you still get the benefit of a rest day.

Yeah think I need to write a routine down that I can do in the house that way I should stick to it

Download 30 day shred

Mix up what you are doing, so have a rest day by going out for a walk or short bike ride. You will still get endorphins and by being outside you will get more with less effort! At least that is my theory!

Maybe doing just a quick Joe Wicks HIT session on You Tube might work for days like this.

This is where discipline comes in, just do it! And not exercising is not making you feel rubbish, it’s probably those biscuits.

It’s just one day though, get back on it tomorrow

I know exactly what you mean, OP. But rest days ARE important and you should feel good about taking a day out.
Could you do a short at-home yoga sequence on rest days, to help you keep on feeling positive? I'm a Yoga with Adrienne fan.

I get that too. As a minimum, go for a 10-15 min brisk walk. Gradually build up to doing more. But always have 1 full day off a week minimum.

I'm really struggling to get into a routine too - my normal wake up time these days is 0430 so I get up and go to the gym but I'm sleeping so badly that I just can't do it. I'm exhausted but then by 1800 hrs when I get home I'm too exhausted to do anything then and the gym is too busy and the weather is too wet and windy to cycle (not safe or enjoyable!). Walking on my own around a housing estate without any purpose is boring even with music on so I find an excuse not to do that either!
Tonight I'm going to try and get out on my bike for just 20 minutes in the hopes that it will turn into a longer ride that I actually enjoy, given that its not forecast to rain this evening

I think it is to do with dopamine crashing. Also muscle wants to be used - IME the off days get easier to get motivated on the more you keep going with the on days! It's a virtuous circle so stick with it and it does get easier.

Yes I agree I do feel like my dopamine is so high on work out days then on the off days it does feel like a dopamine crash. I've got classes Weds, Thurs and Friday this week so looking forward to feeling good after them but yeah I need to get in to the mindset that everyone needs rest days. I'm not really into doing exercise videos in the house so today I've made sure that I've been on 2 thirty min walks and I'm definitely feeling better.

I lift 4 days a week, and on rest days I miss lifting a lot so watch lots of videos of other people lifting on tiktok/instagram. I also do mobility work on rest days so I feel like I'm doing something. Still hate rest days though but they are important.

Yeah that is why I try to work out mon, weds, fri, so only one day in between. Sat and Sun off together are hard, I can feel it Sunday!

But brisk walk is great, or slotting in a bit of low impact cardio but really it is good to let the muscles rest and repair.

Consistency of exercise is key. I also try to eat at regular times all the time, this helps the dopamine crash. I have adhd so I know this stuff well!

Music helps too.