Take the Day Off.

Today I went to buy some cat food for our starving 13-pound cat. As I was getting ready, I put on a shirt that I hadn’t worn in months and much to my surprise, the think swam on me. Yes, I used to fill this shirt out; I mean there was no spare room at all. Now, there is almost room for another person (but I won’t go there, as I try to maintain at least a PG rating on this blog).

This put me in such a good mood that I celebrated by trying to come up with an excuse not to exercise. I tried and tried and then it came to me: I have to but cat food. The time that I leave to go do that is, coincidentally enough the same time that I exercise. Well, that’s my excuse. However, there is a small problem: I always guilt myself if I don’t workout. So, I also had to find a way around this, and I think I did. I decided to do some work in the backyard. Yes, I know that it is not as intense a workout as my usual strength training, but it’s better then nothing.

Have you ever been in this situation? You decide that “today I just don’t feel like exercising.” Then, you start thinking that if I skip one day I’ll gain all my weight back or that I’ll feel like never exercising again. I have to say that those things come into my mind each time I take a day off. This is especially true when I take a week off in order to help break a plateau.

But don’t worry, these things won’t happen. You have made it this far and one day off now and than will not do any harm. It will actually help you, since it will allow your muscles an extra day to heal. I also think it’s a good thing to take a day off, because it helps break the monotony of the routine. So, give yourself a treat every once in a while. You’ve worked hard and you deserve it.