I don't buy into the whole no pain, no gain mentality. The way I see it, the less pain I experience, the more I have to gain. For a while, running gave me pain up and down my shins. The pain stopped me in my tracks and forced me to rest and recuperate. Had I not taken a break, had I kept on running in spite of the pain, I would have surely gained very little. Well, I may have gained a severe injury and maybe a trip to a medical clinic but physically and mentally, my gains would have been nonexistent.

I'm not alone in my thoughts about pain and gain. Author and celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak is right with me on this one.

According to Pasternak, many people think if their muscles don't hurt, they're not having a quality workout. This is simply not true, he says. While some training can be intense and can produce some level of discomfort, pain is never a requirement for a successful workout. Don't forget, he says, that pain can be a warning sign of an exhausted muscle or a torn ligament.

If you're a no pain, no gain advocate, you'd do best to toss that myth right out the window -- before you get hurt.

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New moms have it rough. No doubt about it. Everything from the physical recovery of giving birth to sleepless nights and zombie-like days can drain the best of us. It's hard to imagine good nutrition and exercise ever fitting into the hectic days with wee ones. The experts at parenting.com say it's possible, though. Here are some of their ideas for sneaking in some good-for-you nutrition and fitness.

• Start the day off right with a healthy breakfast, a quick workout, and some tunes. Breakfast quick picks include whole-grain cereal with skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese with fresh fruit, or two hard-boiled eggs with wheat toast or crackers. Workouts can be as short as 15 minutes. Try some squats, lunges, push-ups, and crunches to get the day started. Then belt out some of your favorite lyrics -- singing burns 59 calories per hour.
  
  
• Drink water throughout the day to keep your body properly hydrated.
  

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People make jokes about how it hurts to think, or that it's so exhausting sometimes it's just not worth it, and although we all laugh it turns out there may actually be some truth to those comments! Thinking too hard can actually make you tired.

It all comes down to the fact that our brains need glucose to work, and that when we concentrate we use up glucose faster than when we don't. And the older you are (keep in mind this was done with rats so take it with a grain of salt) the longer your glucose levels take to bounce back up to normal.

So now you can say how tired you are from thinking all day, and when people laugh just look at them, "I'm serious, man."

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Exhaustion is something I'm sure we all know a thing or two about. Most of us feel tired most of the time. But being chronically tired isn't normal, and can be a sign of something bigger going on in your body. If you're tired most of the time, here's a simple quiz you can take to see if it's problematic or not. If you score over 10, you should see a doctor about the possibility of a sleep disorder.

I scored a 7, which seems to be normal. I suspect my sleepiness is more to do with staying up too late engrossed in the latest book club book, not a sleep disorder. What about you?

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I'm in my mid-20s but sometimes I feel about 120. Take today for instance; It's a beautiful summer's day and instead of heading to the mountains with my friends, I had to take a nap after dinner. I was exhausted--despite being in bed by 10pm last night. So when I saw this article titled Your Guide to Never Feeling Tired Again, I just had to read it and see if there were any ground-breaking revelations. Here are a few things they suggest:

• Have breakfast
• Eat three to four times a day
• Add more fiber and Omega-3 to your diet
• Don't drink caffeine after noon
• Drink lots of water
• Dress 'energetically' -- for example, wearing your sweats inspires you to snooze. Wearing your dressy clothes makes you want to get out there.

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Like Maggie hit on earlier, many workers these days seem to be exhausted. Are working citizens being overworked, you say? Perhaps, but it should not be surprising. The amount of work to be done can be overwhelming, and it can lead to being exhausted.

With many workers and others being tethered to work through BlackBerries (I don't have one) and other portable devices, many of us never "leave" the office -- an unhealthy fact. When we're away from the office, we're still connected (that can be emotionally draining). When we're at work, we're overworked. Hence, injuries, stress and overwork ensue.

Think it will get better? With more companies competing on a global level, think again. It does take effort (oddly enough) to make sure you're not really "exhausted."

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Not really. But this is my grand invention for the day. Wouldn't it be wonderful? The reason I wish for a nap room is because sometimes I am legitimately exhausted! I love to work out. My profession is fitness and I pursue it with a passion, but sometimes I just feel like a nap would do me equal good.

I have two small children ages 2 and 4, who stay with me full time. They're even in my gym with me while I train people. I run myself ragged doing it all. Between training, lecturing, writing and keeping my house nice... I take them on wonderful adventures each day.The only time I get for myself is when they stay at the "Kids Club" at the gym I attend. Mind you ... I own an amazing gym, but can't use it because the kids want me to entertain them. So ... I use the other gym and they play at the Kids Club.

Sometimes when I go to the gym, I'm really wishing for a nap. Just a little dark room with clean sheets that I could doze in for half an hour. How many people would go for that? I 'd bet it would be cool to go for a run and then take a snooze to break up the work day. So there you have it. My invention of the day. If someone reading this owns a gym, and puts in a nap room, please invite me. I could really use some rest.

Ugh I'm am the pathetic victim tonight. I went to sleep at 11:00pm exhausted. My two year old son woke up at both 1:00AM and 1:45AM screaming. I calmed him down once, and changed his diaper once, but was able to fall back to asleep after each event. Then he woke up screaming at 2:30AM. Desperate, I bring him into my bed. He falls asleep and I stay awake. My husband comes home from fighting crime at 3:30AM and goes to sleep. I am STILL awake! It's 4:57AM and after three hours of lying in bed staring at the inside of my eyes, I've got my rear end up to ask for help.

Fortunately, I only experience this nonsense once in a blue moon. I can imagine though, that lots of you get stuck with insomnia far more often. What works for you? If you've found some spectacular way to get back to snoozing.....preferably without any sort of drugs, let us know! We've got a whole comment section available to share your thoughts. My kids are guaranteed to wake up at 6:30AM. I've just considered whacking myself over the head with a frying pan. That seemed to work so well in the old cartoons. Help!