Am I eating too little? Constantly tired/lethargic....

Am I eating too little? Constantly tired/lethargic....

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BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
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Hey Folks

Apologies if this is a stupid question but I'm relatively new to the concept of eating less/exercising more and would appreciate some thoughts!

Since the turn of the year I have been going to the gym 2-3 times per week in addition to making wholesale changes to diet.

The long and short of it is that I now burn somewhere between 1,600 - 2,400 calories per week from exercise (whereas before it was zero) and on average consume around 1,500 per day (unmonitored prior to the turn of the year so no idea what it was beforehand, but I'd estimate minimum of 2,000-2,400 per day).

My exercise normally consists of 5k on the rowing machine (~ 20mins) in addition to 40 mins or so on the cross trainer, 2-3 times per week.

I've always eat reasonably healthy meals, the main difference now is drastic reduction in alcohol consumption (red wine) in addition to pretty much zero of the usual culprit foods (cakes/sweets/biscuits in the office being the main offender). We also used to snack a lot at home on evenings/weekends, things like big bags of crisps and biscuits which has all gone out the window. We now have one bottle of wine between us per week, and that's it on the alcohol front.

I've lost around 1 stone in the five weeks since I got started, which I'm really pleased with, but I feel really tired/lethargic all the time. I don't know if this is just normal reaction to the double whammy of reduced energy in vs more energy out or whether I need to up my food intake? I wake up feeling as if I've not been to bed most mornings.

It's having the desired effect on my body (i.e. lose body mass!) but I want to ensure I'm doing it in a healthy way.

Thanks all

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Meant to add, I'm a 30 year old male, 5ft11, now weigh 11st8

I'm really skinny framed (really thin wrists/fingers/ankles etc) but have always carried fat in stomach and chest which is what I'm trying to address (though I wanted to make healthy changes to my food and drink intake anyway, not just for weight loss per se)

944fan

4,962 posts

184 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Use MyFitnessPal, it will work out target calories for you based on current weight and weight loss goals. You can then track your progress. You should eat back the exercise calories you burn.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
944fan said:
Use MyFitnessPal, it will work out target calories for you based on current weight and weight loss goals. You can then track your progress. You should eat back the exercise calories you burn.
Thanks will check it out. I know the missus uses it - we basically eat the same except I have more snacks now and again (mainly fruit) so if she's eating the right amount I guess I'm eating too little. She's lost pretty much exactly the same amount of weight.

I find it hard to get out of the 'I can't eat more as I won't keep losing weight' mindset.

FredClogs

14,041 posts

160 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Are you getting enough sleep?

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
FredClogs said:
Are you getting enough sleep?
Probably 6.5-7 hours on average during the week.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Ok so MFP reckons I should be eating 1,730 per day and that's before considering the defecit caused by exercise. So realistically that's 14,000+ per week depending on exercise levels.

I'd say I'm some way below that at the moment so will start tracking...

FredClogs

14,041 posts

160 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
BRISTOL86 said:
FredClogs said:
Are you getting enough sleep?
Probably 6.5-7 hours on average during the week.
If you're tired why not try sleeping more?



BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
FredClogs said:
If you're tired why not try sleeping more?
I wish...busy job and home life so I already get as much as possible! 7ish hours a night is pretty respectable isn't it? I don't even have kids...I imagine most who do get a lot less!

FredClogs

14,041 posts

160 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
BRISTOL86 said:
FredClogs said:
If you're tired why not try sleeping more?
I wish...busy job and home life so I already get as much as possible! 7ish hours a night is pretty respectable isn't it? I don't even have kids...I imagine most who do get a lot less!
7 hours seems reasonable, 8 or 9 might help. You could try some Cocunut oil or MCT oil supplement, I have the holland and barret cocunut oil which I cook with sometimes and use instead of butter, sometimes I put it in my coffee, I heard somewhere it helps your body kickstart if you're having a bit of a carb starvation of sugar low.

There's a lot of bro science around these things, who really knows? The likelyhood is if you've gone from nothing to gym 3 times a week and changed your diet at the same time your body is probably letting you know about it.

foxsasha

1,416 posts

134 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
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You're on a calorie deficit of around 9500 a week. That's a lot. Eat more to compensate for the exercise. You can't burn the candle at both ends indefinitely. 1500 calories a day is not a lot in the first place but is doable but then you are exercising on top. Plus not sleeping much. Something has to give.

TwistingMyMelon

6,385 posts

204 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
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Also with increased exercise you need more sleep to recover and more water

Are you drinking enough water to aide the dhydration from exercise


BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Thanks for the info and feedback guys, appreciated. Don't see much chance of drastically increasing my sleep in the foreseeable but will ramp up the calories for a while and see what difference it makes.

Re water - I drink water all day every day, I'm permanently thirsty so I probably drink 8 pints of water a day minimum I reckon!

dreamer75

1,401 posts

227 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Have you done a blood sugar test? Constant thirst and tiredness could be an indicator for diabetes?

Monty Python

4,812 posts

196 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Possibly a shortage on magnesium - we get very little form our diet and it's a very important element in the body. Try some supplements and/or Coenzyme Q10.

TurboHatchback

4,151 posts

152 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
quotequote all
BRISTOL86 said:
FredClogs said:
Are you getting enough sleep?
Probably 6.5-7 hours on average during the week.
Probably not then. 1500kcals a day is practically a starvation diet, I would say you are absolutely not eating enough. At your height and weight if you say you are carrying some fat then I would guess you don't have much muscle mass.

This is just my opinion but if I was you I would:
  • Get a solid 8hrs sleep a night
  • Eat much more, like 3000kcals a day at least
  • Eat healthy. Low sugar, little processed food, moderate unrefined carbs and loads of protein and vegetables.
  • Stop doing low intensity machine cardio altogether. Start lifting heavy weights to build some muscle, increase your testosterone, mix it up with HIIT if you like that sort of thing.
I'm willing to bet that if you did the above you would find yourself feeling and looking much better in a matter of weeks.

chris watton

22,477 posts

259 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Have you tried taking a multi vit each day? perhaps supplemented by cod liver oil capsules.

I have taken them since May 2014, when I dieted and was down to 1200 calories (making every single one count) per day for a few months and I honestly never felt lethargic - always made sure I got more than my daily requirements for vitamins and minerals. (as I was weight training, too)

DuncanM

6,109 posts

278 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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TurboHatchback said:
Probably not then. 1500kcals a day is practically a starvation diet, I would say you are absolutely not eating enough. At your height and weight if you say you are carrying some fat then I would guess you don't have much muscle mass.

This is just my opinion but if I was you I would:
  • Get a solid 8hrs sleep a night
  • Eat much more, like 3000kcals a day at least
  • Eat healthy. Low sugar, little processed food, moderate unrefined carbs and loads of protein and vegetables.
  • Stop doing low intensity machine cardio altogether. Start lifting heavy weights to build some muscle, increase your testosterone, mix it up with HIIT if you like that sort of thing.
I'm willing to bet that if you did the above you would find yourself feeling and looking much better in a matter of weeks.
I agree with Turbo, especially looking at your stats:

Meant to add, I'm a 30 year old male, 5ft11, now weigh 11st8

That's already on the light side, so your issue is more likely body composition rather than how much you weigh?

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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If my back of fag packet maths is right that's about 73kgs, so no it's not.
I'm 6'1" slim build but with a little more muscle mass than 'normal' and about 15% BF and I'm 78kgs, and I'm getting on for 24 years older than him.

Anyway, weight alone is a poor metric. Body composition is more important but quite difficult for those not familiar with it to judge.

Having said all that, sounds like he needs to eat more (quality whole foods) and maybe lift some weights. hehe

MrBarry123

6,025 posts

120 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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BRISTOL86 said:
FredClogs said:
Are you getting enough sleep?
Probably 6.5-7 hours on average during the week.
No wonder you're tired. I sleep that much (and more) every night.

sleep

biggrin