First week over....does anyone take a rest day?

[wohlvo]

I have been doing this for one week....I have lost two pounds thankfully....am getting an average of 12,000 steps in and have only gone over my calories of 500 deficit twice. It wasn't much.  I feel great, but it's Sunday. I am exhausted. My feet are killing me. I'm 46, 5'6 and need to lose 20 pounds.  I don't want to walk another step to make it to 10,000 steps. I have been doing strength training as well. Does anyone just chill for a day and then move on the next?  I mean, not cheat but just maybe go over a bit in calories and not walk 10,000 steps?  Its weird becuase I am under for calories today (since I have walked a mere 8,240 steps)  but have eaten 1500 calores and they say I am over for energy consumption. Yet I have 200 more calories I can eat if I want to.  I am confused.   I have been under my calories or "in the zone" for the other 5 days.  I just don't want to burn out and am curious as to how everyone else does it. I want to lose 20 pounds.  I am not going nuts overboard but am just curious.

[A_Lurker]

I have less active days, however, I eat less on those days.  You can be over at a point during the day, but as long as your food plan is set to sendentary it will let you know how much you can have based on not moving any more for the rest of the day.  I do take a planned rest week at ~16 weeks or so where I'll eat more for the week.

[wohlvo]

How do you set it to sedentary?

[A_Lurker]

That's the default I believe.  On your computer, from the dashboard, go into the log.  Under the Food Plan click on the gear icon and two options will appear:  personalized and sedentary

Personalized will guess at your activity level based on your history.  I sometimes have it at this at the beginning of the day - helps with planning.  Although to be fair I'm at the point now where I know I can make up my calorie burn after work if I need to, so I'm not really sure why I even look at it.  Sedentary takes your BMR and subtracts your deficit at midnight.  Then you need to earn all the calories you eat.  It can be quite low in the morning though, so don't freak out. 

[GershonSurge]

My general rule to prevent injury is to take a rest day anytime I feel the slightest onset of some injury or if I feel more than slightly fatigued. Sometimes, I end up taking two or three weeks off.

When I do reduce my exercise, I'm careful to reduce my intake. 

[emili]

If you are trying to lose weight and you need a break, you either move less or eat more but not on the same day. If your feet hurt then take a day off from walking but maybe do another activity like strength training or yoga or even a good stretching session. If you are tired of measuring and logging, don't for one day but keep your steps up to ensure a decent calorie burn. my no walk/run day is Friday, but I go lift weights in the morning. It makes me feel like I did something good for me..

[tractorlegs]

Heck yes! Everybody needs a rest day from time to time @wohlvo. Even an occasional "rest" day from the strict diet. You're trying to accomplish a long-term health goal, and doing it gradually is fine - as a matter of fact preferred. 

Bodies need to recover and rebuild from exercise.

I've lost almost 50 pounds this year, but have taken it easy and have done so gradually with little stress. There's been plenty of days off and "cheat" days. But it seems like the time has gone by pretty quickly. Exercising and dieting doesn't mean being cruel to yourself lol!

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@wohlvo wrote:

I have been doing this for one week....I have lost two pounds thankfully....am getting an average of 12,000 steps in and have only gone over my calories of 500 deficit twice. It wasn't much.  I feel great, but it's Sunday. I am exhausted. My feet are killing me. I'm 46, 5'6 and need to lose 20 pounds.  I don't want to walk another step to make it to 10,000 steps. I have been doing strength training as well. Does anyone just chill for a day and then move on the next?  I mean, not cheat but just maybe go over a bit in calories and not walk 10,000 steps?  Its weird becuase I am under for calories today (since I have walked a mere 8,240 steps)  but have eaten 1500 calores and they say I am over for energy consumption. Yet I have 200 more calories I can eat if I want to.  I am confused.   I have been under my calories or "in the zone" for the other 5 days.  I just don't want to burn out and am curious as to how everyone else does it. I want to lose 20 pounds.  I am not going nuts overboard but am just curious.

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[PhilBee]

I'm going to be contrarian here.

The usual pattern is to drop fairly rapidly in the first few weeks, then to see your weight loss level out to a less dramatic rate. If you're still in the early days, I would try to work it strictly as long as you can. Cheat days have a way of turning into cheat weeks...

I know that "don't wanna take another step" feeling sooo well, but as long as you're not actually injured--do it anyhow. That goes double for eating stuff you know will wreck your momentum. (PS Halo Top ice cream is your friend, but remember that a serving is 2 oz., not 1 pint <grin>)

Good job for embarking on this Fitbit journey!

[Mukluk4]

Every action has a reaction.

You only live once so do what you need to do to be happy.  If you take a rest day and eat over your calories, you can't complain about the resulted weight gain.  

[shipo]

From my perspective, a "rest day" is something different for any given individual engaged in any given type of exercise (coupled with how long said type of exercise has been sustained).  Since I'm a runner and coach runners, I'll use runners to illustrate my point.

1. Runners just embarking on a new running program need one or even two rest days between run days; running more often than that can lead to over use injuries and/or exhaustion.
2. Runners who've been engaged in a running program for six to nine months may benefit from a rest day every other or every third day.
3. Experienced runners, especially distance runners with a base of at least a few thousand miles, may require an occasional "rest day" which comes in the form of a "nice easy" 10-miler at a 9:30 pace instead of say a 15-miler at an 8:30 pace.

[AuroraKat]

Congratulations on your loss so far!

My opinion about rest days is this - if you feel you need one, take it and enjoy it without guilt. Getting into a mindset that you must eat only a certain number of calories or take a certain amount of steps each day to be successful can lead to burn-out and relapsing into old habits. I believe this is unrealistic and not how most people live their lives. Sometimes you'll get invited to a birthday party and eat more than your diet plan allows. That's OK because you can eat a little less the next few days. Your calories will even out over the next week or so. Sometimes your body just feels off and needs a day of rest and relaxation. You may not burn as many calories on that day, but that's OK because you'll feel rested and revitalized afterwards and get more out of your workouts.

Especially in the beginning of a weight loss journey it's important to not get into the "all or nothing" way of thinking. It's so common for people to "fall off the wagon" and then abandon healthy eating for the rest of the day/week/month because the diet was "ruined". Allowing for variations in eating and exercise patterns early on will help promote a more natural and sustainable lifestyle. 

[tractorlegs]

@AuroraKat -- your post is the post of the day. I completely agree. Weight loss is a long journey and some days . . . well, you know. In the last 7-1/2 months, I've lost almost 50 pounds but probably had a good 15 days of it when I messed up and ate too much or got discouraged and just blew it off. But the next day? Back on track. The overall picture? Still great. It's a long road with uphills and downhills.  

AuroraKat wrote:

Congratulations on your loss so far!

My opinion about rest days is this - if you feel you need one, take it and enjoy it without guilt. Getting into a mindset that you must eat only a certain number of calories or take a certain amount of steps each day to be successful can lead to burn-out and relapsing into old habits. I believe this is unrealistic and not how most people live their lives. Sometimes you'll get invited to a birthday party and eat more than your diet plan allows. That's OK because you can eat a little less the next few days. Your calories will even out over the next week or so. Sometimes your body just feels off and needs a day of rest and relaxation. You may not burn as many calories on that day, but that's OK because you'll feel rested and revitalized afterwards and get more out of your workouts.

Especially in the beginning of a weight loss journey it's important to not get into the "all or nothing" way of thinking. It's so common for people to "fall off the wagon" and then abandon healthy eating for the rest of the day/week/month because the diet was "ruined". Allowing for variations in eating and exercise patterns early on will help promote a more natural and sustainable lifestyle. 

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