I thought I was doing it right....but something is wrong. Why am I so tired? :(

Hey Guys !

  I have been on my weight loss journey for about 4 1/2 months now. I have lost almost 40 lbs ( 4 more to go until that mark) and have completely changed my lifestyle. Believe it or not my favorite thing about it is working out. I go to the gym 5 days a week and work out for two hours a day. According to my heart rate monitor I burn right around 700-800 cals a day. I fell in love with running and weight training. The problem is for the last month or two I feel great when I am working out but about an hour after I crash. When I say crash..I mean it..I nap for two hours and wake up having body aches like I do when I have the flu. Right now my calorie intake is around 1800. Before I workout I use a protein drink and I am taking creatine capsules ( 40mg ). Im drinking plenty...I eat alot of hard boiled eggs and bananas and strawberries....I cant function to clean my house or do my homework..I need help . I don't want to stop working out. Any advice is welcomed

Height : 5'10

Weight : 193

Sex : F

Age : 24

Shorten your workouts to one hour.

Agree. Let me preface this...on a normal, non training day [I am a sport specific athlete], Iwork out for 2 hrs a day. [During training months and/or days when I have to take over certain classes for absent instructors, I work out as much as 6 hrs a day].  As great as you may feel while working out..I would definitely shorten your workouts..alternating weight and cardio days. Everyone is diff and if your body is 'quitting' after working out...as you say...unable to do simple tasks...then you need to adjust your workout.  There is no need to work out two hrs a day - at your level - so adjust it. 

Best of luck and get some rest!

You are probably getting close to your goal, and probably have too much of a deficit now that you don't have as much fat to draw on.  I am not nearly as tall as you, don't exercise as much, and I have a 750 calorie deficit at 1800 calories/day.  Have you considered bumping your calories if you enjoy exercising at your current rate?

 I have about 25-30 more to go. Yea I bumped it from 1650 to 1800. Should I go higher?

I agree with decreasing the workout time - no real need to work out 2 hours a day.  Is there any specific reason you have your protein shake before your workout instead of after?  Or do you have something else immediately after your workout?  Especially if you continue with the 2 hours, you probably need a light snack before and a protein shake after - if you decrease to 1 hour, the shake after should be plenty.  Also not sure why you would need creatine, but that shouldn't make you crash anyway.  Your calories are probably ok where they're at if you adjust your workouts.

I usually do a snack after I work out. Yougart and some fiber one ceral along with a boiled egg. Protien shake and creatine was recomended to me for better recovery and muscle hydration.

Original Post by kayb85:

According to my heart rate monitor I burn right around 700-800 cals a day. Right now my calorie intake is around 1800. \

Height : 5'10

Weight : 193

Sex : F

Age : 24

Woah, just to put things in perspective, I'm a girl of height 5'4'', weight is around 120~130, and 23 yrs old. And even without working out, I eat around 1600 at least. (not trying to gain or lose) You are 6 inches taller than me and exercising 2 hrs to burn 7~800 off. I think you need a lot more calories.

Original Post by kayb85:

 I have about 25-30 more to go. Yea I bumped it from 1650 to 1800. Should I go higher?

 

Well, you know your body is telling you there is a problem -- so I would either eat more calories or exercise less until I started feeling better.  Or maybe both.

Congratulations on all your success!

You definitely need more calories. I used to only eat 2000 calories a day @ 200 lbs and I exercised a lot. My doctor told me that I should be getting at least 3000 calories per day. I was skeptical at first. However, I have gotten the best results of my life eating more. More times than not people that exercise don't eat enough and that is one of the main reasons why they don't see results, or feel really tired, etc.. If you are going to be exercising rigerously on a regular basis, you need more calories to help you recover to avoid overtraining.

The trick is eating a lot of small meals through out the day (1 meal every 2-4 hours) and eating the RIGHT foods. Since I weighed 200 pounds at the time my doctor told me to get 3000 per day, and you weigh 193, I would say get at least 2500 plus per day. Stick with protein (1 gram per pound of bodyweight), complex carbs from whole grains/fruits/vegetables (1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight), and 40-60 grams of healthy fats. Plus at least 1 gallon of water per day. Follow this six days a week, and take one day where you slack a bit.

As long as you are eating the right foods and keeping up with your exercise, the raise in calories won't hurt.

Are you taking any days off? Your body needs recovery time! I am training for a half marathon and my training schedule (by a professional) mandates one "rest" day. He won't let me do anything but yoga! Let your body recoup!

I had the same problem but I was doing the classes at the gym.  Couple of things to consider -- check your blood sugar.  I was doing the classes on an empty stomach (to maximize my results) and I would crash after.  Checking my Blood Sugar, right before nap, I was at 70!! Way too low, dangerously low.  To avoid this, I eat a high protein snack before workout (protein bar) and then about 1/2 hour after (before my crash hits), I eat another high protein, low fat (good quality) snack or meal. 

Congratualations on losing 40 pounds! That's so amazing.  Have you tried eating carbohydrate rich foods, in addtional to protien foods, about 1-2 hours prior to you workouts?  Durung a long workout such as that, your body relies on carbohydrate stores to get you through. It sounds like you are already having a high energy, high carbohydrate snack after your workouts.  I also agree with taking a day to take it a little easier. Hope this helps!

Rebecca

I personally think it may be the creatine capsules.  Try cutting them out for a week or two.  My husband has tried all kinds of supplements and he often experiences weird reactions...your flu like symptoms may be a reaction to that specific brand of creatine.  Just an idea.

Hi!

I'm new here and no expert or anything, but I also work out 5 times a week for about 2 hours (I'm a les mills rpm/bodypump/bodycombat junkie and I try to do 3 classes of each program every week, sometimes more LOL).

I used to work out much less than this (twice a week for 2 houes) and when I first increased my workout level, my body was soar too, and I had the worst leg cramps even though my diet included high levels of potassium, magnesium to prevent them). This stopped when I started taking a multivitamin supplement (includes all kinds of vitamins + minerals) plus an extra magnesium supplement.

I also think your calorie intake is too low. I'm a 27 year old, 5'9, 141 lbs female and on average I think I need at least 2300 calories to mantain my weight working out at this level.

I say "I think I need" because I joined CC to make sure my calorie intake matches the calories I burn and I want to do that in a healthy way. I mean, my goal is to mantain my weight and sometimes is hard to reach 2300 calories with healthy food choices.

Hope this helps!