Question time!!!

Well... I'm not trying to lose weight (rather it's the opposite, I have several people telling me I should GAIN weight). But yeah, I work out 5-6 days a week but I do take a rest day. As far as staying motivated, I try to make sure it's only a rest DAY and not a rest WEEK ;) (that's usually not hard because I normally have to force myself to do the rest day). I try to always eat mindfully but also treat myself too, and I usually spend the rest day with a friend or just doing something else that's usually more important than working out :).

AmyLauren

I go to boot camp Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - sometimes I swim on Saturday. I enjoy my Sunday by relaxing, and I also enjoy something "unhealthy" on Sundays...nothing too major, just one sweet (or salty, or fried) reward. It's become such a routine for me, that I really don't have to think about staying on track with it. I've done it every week for the past 3 months...so I just do it.

I just try and relax. Hang out with friends, go shopping or lay out in my pool. I try to eat good and just try to enjoy my day off.

A rest day is just that - a rest day. It's built into everything else I do. There's no lack of motivation going on. It's just as important as all the other days.

My off days are usually the weekend because 1. family is home 2. I work weekends.

I like the idea of keeping workouts liek a mon-fri thing. If I cannot do it on a weekday that workout gets pushed to the weekend though.

I try to keep my eating in check and reflect on how hard I worked the week before. I still blog daily and really that small task alone motivates me the most.

I just try to get lots of rest on rest days. Take it easy and try to eat well, though I do that on every day anyway.

Well first I try to SLEEP IN! It usually doesn't work out because my dog so helpfully reminds me it's time to wake up. I usually try and still be active, but in a not-really-stressing-my-body kind of way. So I take my dog somewhere fun and go on a nice long walk with him. Or I just try and do something to make the day a little special. When it comes to eating, I just remind myself that since I'm burning less calories today, I don't need to eat as much. Sometimes I even listen to myself!

I use my rest day to get prepped for the week ahead. I tend to do a lot of really sexy things like meal planning, laundry and grocery shopping. ;)
Sometimes I golf on my day off. It's still kinda exercise, but for me it is so fun that it doesn't feel like work at all (even though my bag must weigh 50 lbs!).
Rae
xo

Rest Day? A Day Off? Really? We can do that?

Understand that I am in the midst of raising four children, no wait, they're teenagers now. Despite the fact that they are all potty trained, can dress themselves, prepare their own food when motivated and some of them can even drive, there's still a lot of work that requires either my direct attention or supervision. Or my wallet. So I also work away from home.

I simply count quieter days as "Non Scheduled" exercise days, i.e. I'm not actually at the gym sweating like a pig. Instead I'm schlepping tons of laundry to the clothesline, fetching food, nagging young people to get after their chores, cooking food, cleaning something, fetching more food, cleaning some floor, and oh yeah, fetching more food. Did I mention that two of the four teens are boys? They eat a LOT of food.

Hi FG, I don't have a "rest day" as such because my current routine consists of exercise on only 3 or 4 days a week. But on the days that I'm not exercising I definitely eat mindfully and use the time to nurture my mind by reading motivating books, my favourite blogs (like yours), working on positive thinking (nlp), or even researching new foods etc. xx

I always have to remind myself that if I don't have a workout I don't need the fuel for one, so I go for less calories. I also am only now learning to stay motivated after a rest day, and I just plan really specific exercise for the next day to get myself into it - like walking with someone I won't want to cancel on...it works really well for me!

Sometimes my rest days are just days I don't have time to go to the gym. Other times when it's more planned I usually do more intense cleaning like the windows or vacuuming under furniture, or do something light like a walk or a yoga tape. That way I'm moving but it's in a different way than on the elliptical or treadmill. Usually I keep my eating the same those days, mindful but not anymore restrictive than gym days.

Ok I know this reads bad, but on my days off, I'm feeling relieved that I'm not at the gym. I have a love/hate relationship with the gym. But I usually just veg out in front of the tv or listen to music while working on some art work or spending time with The Professor or my KiD :)