Okay this might seem a little nutty but, I'm curious.

I usually work out five days per week and find that when I don't workout for a few days I get depressed. Sometimes I'm unable to attend the gym because the gym that I use is on the military base (my boyfriend is active duty Navy) and my boyfriend leaves to go out to sea, out of state to a school etc... leaving me unable to workout. I still walk and do abs on days he is gone though and I stick to my healthy lifestyle as far as eating goes.

Just wondering if anyone else gets the blues when they don't workout for a few days?

Hunh. Well, psychologically I'd get down on myself if I missed a workout or two, but physically I'd love nothing more than to sit down, eat about 10 lbs of beef jerky and mixed nuts, and then take a long nap. Repeat with potato chips and ice cream. It'd make me very very happy. In the short term.

You could get a good bodyweight routine set up for days you can't make it to the gym y'know. There are tons of exercises you can do without any equipment at all. Even more if you have a mop and a couple chairs.

does it make you feel that you aren't doing enough for yourself when your in that situation?

I've read that exercise correlates with a rise in serotonin levels. Serotonin is what anti-depressants like prozac and zoloft raise to make us feel better.

No, it's not that. I get depressed, I mean I really feel blue. Now I'm a perfectly healthy and mentally stable person. I'm pretty happy with my life but, I go through these bouts of unhappiness when I don't work out. I guess that should be incentive to go to the gym all the time...ha, ha! :P

I know I can still do other stuff when I don't manage to get to the gym.......but, it's not that big a deal for me.....I should be able to take two or three days ff without feeling so awful, ya know?

I was just curious.......no big deal

Hmmm, interesting, I'll have to go read around the net about that and see what I find. Thanks for that.

Today is of my "off" day, and I was just laying in bed feeling sort of down. I can't exactly work out everyday because I need days to sleep, so I work out every second day. I definitely know what you mean!

I just typed "exercise and serotonin" into google and got a ton of relevant results back fyi.

A lot of the time, I do. Working out clears my head completely, and I do it not just for weight loss but it makes me feel good too, its a great stress reliever. When I go a few days without it, I tend to feel not so good.

i always get a bit down when i don't exercise. It feels like i missed part of my day..

Ah thank God! Don't feel so weird now. Although I'm sorry to hear some of you get the same way.

Joey, I can sympathize and familarize with you COMPLETELY. I usally try and workout at least 4 to six days a week, but often times, my body just tells me I need to rest.

I'm a runner/jogger and at night, I burn off 630 to 720 calories. When I *can't* run for reasons pertaining to life's curveballs, I do get rather depressed. I just don't *feel* as good as I do when I run. Not to mention, I feel three times as vigorous the morning's after I run than in the morning's when I haven't ran the night before.

I understand where you are coming from COMPLETELY. Exercise is truly a hobby of mine and when I can't excute it, I go all Tony Soprano psychotic, I'm not joking.

So worry not, you're definitely NOT alone in this. I'm right here with you.

I typed "world and flat" into google, and got a ton of relevant results back, too

You mean your not a member of the flat earth society?

Get with the times man!!

The number of google results on a search never had, and never will be a valid argument in a discussion that tries to be based in science and fact. Just tryin to highlight that, bud. I'm not saying anything about exercise increasing seratonin levels. Helpful posts supporting what you are saying would be published medical studies, and/or critical analysis of those studies.

Posting google results / blogs / muscle mag links don't really do anything, 'cause I could go to any of those sources, and post links detailing how Hitler didn't die (Godwin'd it), and he is coming back to power at any time now.

Even then, posting published and peer-reviewed studies isn't always necessarily helpful. Sometimes the scientists working those studies don't post that the results that they got showing that eating only celery makes you drop weight 80 times faster was done on one patient, or in an uncontrolled environment. For instance, my favorite discussion that happened on these boards was a discussion of the effects of caffeine on creatine. The famous study that was posted proving the other poster's point was on a very small group of people, and the amount of caffeine they ingested would be the same as me having to drink 2 cases of diet coke.

It is easy to google and sound smart, but if you want to bring valuable information to the table, dig it up right, and serve it up.

I am all that is man
--James