What To Do When you Miss a Workout Instead of Feeling Guilty

We all have gone through that terrible feeling of guilt after missing a workout or two in a row, and the level of guilt can be higher if we have placed all our hopes on exercise to lose weight and get in shape. However, when you are too busy to even breathe, have fallen ill, or have other unavoidable commitments, it’s okay to skip workouts. As we have mentioned above, weight loss is all about 80% diet and 20% exercise, and doing regular exercise does help to accelerate the pace of fat burning. From hitting the gym, doing yoga, to even brisk walking – every form of exercise where you get to move the body, is great for losing weight. But do not get obsessed with workouts to an extent that you want to kick yourself for having missed one. When it comes to exercise, consistency is the key that would boost weight loss and is a great way to relieve stress as well, but working out every single day of the week is not necessary. Also, do not consider exercise as a form of punishment or to compensate for the extra slice of pizza you had last night. Please do understand that rest and recovery is just as important as working out and it’s okay to miss workouts because that’s when muscles repair themselves and take shape. Taking stress, getting anxious will do no good – we agree exercise makes you feel relaxed and happy (thanks to the “feel-good” chemicals such as endorphin and adrenaline released during exercise) and feeling stressed over a missed workout can hamper your progress (especially with regards to weight loss). Lack of motivation/will power are some common reasons that prevent you from working out, and on some occasions, it’s absolutely fine. What you need to do is to get back up on your feet and resume the routine the next day. If you skipped exercise due to sickness or soreness, be kind to yourself and instead of feeling guilty, take the time off to recover and recuperate. Still feeling distressed for not exercising today? Read on to find out what to do instead:

missed workout

1. Ditch your All-or-Nothing Attitude: Avoid falling into the trap of “all or nothing” attitude and do not take the skipped workout to slack off on dieting and to indulge in unhealthy stuff. Even one week of missed exercise routine will not do much harm as much as a full day of binge eating. You may not gain weight by missing workout, but it’s most likely to happen with overeating, so do avoid fall into that trap.

2. Do Not Skip Meals: Do not punish yourself for missing the workout. Take a chill pill, relax and eat healthy.

3. Do Not Overcompensate for Missed Workout: Overexerting by working out extra over the next few day  may lead to exhaustion and may even cause injury.

4. If you have skipped workout to catch up on sleep, then that’s a good decision. In fact, we would ask you to prioritize sleep over everything, particularly when trying to lose weight. Sleep deprivation is strongly linked to weight gain and increase in belly fat, so make sure you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night, even if you have to miss the gym the next day.

5. Take Time off To Recover: Rest days are just as important as working out because that’s when the body burns fat, muscles get repaired, and the body gets into shape. Avoid the temptation of working out every single day, get proper rest in between workouts. In fact, experts say, you reap maximum benefits with just 4 days of exercise and 3 days of rest in a week!

6. Try This 7-Minute HIIT Routine: High-intensity interval training workouts are more popular to burn fat when compared to cardio exercises such as walking or running on the treadmill. Interestingly, even after you have finished HIIT routine, your body continues to burn calories because of increased oxygen consumption, keeping up the metabolism high all through the day. HIIT also boosts enzymes that are responsible for fat burning and also decrease levels of fat-producing enzymes. HIIT exercises are great for busy women because they burn more fat and calories in less time, and not finding 7 minutes out of 24 hours is not a good excuse at all. Here’s a list of “7 Minute Fat Burning HIIT Exercises That you can Do at Home.”

7. Fidget Those Legs Whenever you Can: What! Yes, apparently, people who fidget their legs through the day can burn significantly more calories than people who are standing still! So, make use of the TV time, and fidget those legs to lose up to 300 calories in a day!

8. Just be on your Feet Through the Day: Remaining active and on your feet for most part of the day will ensure calories are getting torched at a steady pace. Being on your feet throughout the day helps in burning calories and keeps metabolism robust. One hour of gymming is never enough to lose weight, keep moving throughout the day and practice NEAT activities. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis and is the energy we use for everything we do in our day-to-day life except for when we are sleeping or exercising. Using the stairs instead of the lift, squatting on the floor to lift something up, walking while talking on the phone, every activity we do while being on our feet, comes under NEAT. All these activities help to burn some amount of calories and these bits of calories spent here and there, add up to a considerable amount when you are trying to lose weight. Read more about how you can include NEAT activities in your daily life here.

9. 12 Household Chores That Would Help Burn Calories: It’s not necessary to spend hours in the gym to torch calories when you can melt away those love handles doing some basic household chores. Using the stairs instead of the lift, squatting on the floor to lift something up, walking while talking on the phone – every activity we do while being on our feet, comes under NEAT, and the same applies for household chores. All these activities help to burn tiny amount of calories through the day, and when they add up, you have torched up a significant amount, so here are “12 Household Chores That Would Help Burn Calories.”

Benefits of Exercising Consistently:

1. Helps lose weight.
2. Improves mood and reduces stress (the “feel good” chemicals produced by exercise — endorphins, adrenaline).
3. Improves overall health.
4. Boosts metabolism.
5. Tones and shapes the body.
6. Improves overall health.

Most importantly, if you are worried that one day of missed workout will lead to weight gain, do not worry, if you are on Rati Beauty Diet, you will continue to lose fat!

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