ZERO energy, tired almost ALL the time!

[SteelWeaver]

Can someone help me figure out what's going on here? I just feel kinda wasted all the time. OK, so I'm dieting, but you'd think the body would kind of adapt, right? It's a typical diet - approx. 40:40:20 maybe, starchy carbs + protein early, fibrous carbs + protein later in the day. BIG carb-up once a week. Creatine, glutamine, multi-vitamins, extra vit. C and E. Currently 3 x 60min mod cardio FTITM per week. 4 x weight training in the evenings, per week. 6-7 hours sleep per night. Office job - but damn, it's an effort to stand up and go to the copy machine! It's an effort to walk the 12 mins from the station to work. I think the cardio's making my legs kind of shaky, too ...

A couple of weeks ago I went straight through for 2 weeks with no rest days (ski weekend ate up the rest days), then had huge emotional trauma for a weekend, then woke up with a nasty cold a week ago - but didn't stop training and dieting.

Is it just the cold that's making me so frickin' tired? The cardio? The whole she-bang? Anyone get this on diet?

 

[Par Deus]

>OK, so I'm dieting, but you'd think the body would kind of adapt, right?


It adapts by decreasing leptin, which decreases sympathetic output, which can, of course, cause fatigue.

Or it could be that you have not recovered from your illness.

 

[Sassy69]

SW -- How far out from your show are u? From about 8 weeks out up to my show date I was constantly exhausted - from cardio, training, low carbing, limited cals, etc. It just caught up w/ me. If you are in that point of training, could be just the whole thing. But it sounds like you've really stressed yourself and you just need a couple nights off ?

 

[MS]

Yeah, what Par Deus said. Either way you should take a few days off of training and dieting (eat lots of carbs) to let your body recover from your illness or top up your leptin. The addition of adrenergic drugs (such as ephedrine) may give you a small boost, but since you still have plenty of time before your show you can afford to take a short break.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Really?? Take a break, MS & Sassy? Naturally, that idea freaks me out, but not nearly as much as it usually would - I really MUST need a break, lol. Yeah, Sassy, I'm still 12 and a half weeks out - hmm, most people are just starting at this point - I'm already run ragged, ha ha.

The good news is that although my body feels like a ton of lead, my spirit feels light and happy - the opposite of what I had last month.

OK, so, if I take a break - like how, what? Just .... NOT get up and do cardio tomorrow morning? Just ... NOT go to the gym tonight, tomorrow? Won't I have to squeeze in the missing body parts somewhere later on, or just skip them this week altogether?

I tried pounding down coffee to give me a boost - no go. I have PPA too, but didn't want to use it just yet.

 

[wilson6]

Take a break for a few days, even a week or you'll never make it to the show. You've basically pushed yourself over the limit way too early.

W6

 

[Arioch]

Yeah.

You and VDL should get together and both take a break.

 

[Bigsatan13]

I was feeling like that and backed off the weight, still trained but lightened up. Feel like a million bucks!

 

[new@gettinbig]

Give yourself a break or you will be in worse shape come closer to your show..you have plenty of time...Give your bod time to rest and you will come back better than ever!!!

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks everybody!

An update: I took the advice given here (twist my rubber arm, frankly I didn't have the energy to even argue), and skipped training last night and cardio this morning, stayed home, watched a video and went to bed earlier than usual. The bad news, though, is that despite a big carb-up last Friday, I went nuts on my diet last night - yeah, give me an inch and I take a mile! I'm talking chocolate bars, a chocolate chip cookie, bowls of cereal, and (whew) legume stew, saving grace (well ...).

I woke up with what felt like a hangover this morning, to go with the cracked voice and grated raw throat and chest from the cold. I really meant to just carb-up a little bit, then fell off the wagon completely.

I've decided to take the whole day off work tomorrow and just sleep all day, and skip training either for the whole week, or until Saturday, depending how I feel. Very naughty, but I feel like crap.

I have a question about diet, though - do I bring calories up to maintenance? With carbs only or carbs and protein? And where exactly would maintenance be right now, I wonder? And how does last night's binge fit in? Skip usual carb-up on Friday I assume - just keep calories up a bit and even?

Or keep calories at diet level and assume not training will fill in the deficit?

I'm scared to gain the losses I've achieved (ha ha - odd sentence!)

Help, please?