Training & Nutrition - Tired at work

I am noticing recently I get REALLY tired (sleepy) about 4 hours into my shift. I bike 14 miles into work every morning and I eat about 2200 calories/day (small meals, my biggest meal is after my ride.)

I noticed my diet doesn't contain a lot of fruit (beyond orange juice and fruit yogurt) could this be cause or could I be looking at something different?

It certainly could be diet-related...what are your typical meals like?

How much sleep are you getting at night?

basic breakdown (not including measurements but generlaly a serving of each)

Wake up around 2:15am

For breakfast I have honey nut cheerios with dry oatmeal added over mlik. (2:30 am)

I have gatorade on the commute in along with water. (3:30am)

Upon arrival at work I have:
orange juice, 2 hard boiled eggs, bran cereal with milk, banana or fruit yogurt (5am)

First break: 5 tomato slices, pickles, 1 cup cola (9am)

-- This is normally the point where I start feeling tired.

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, cheese, rice or potato, vegetable, fruit yogurt (11am)

Last break: peanut butter and jelly sandwich. On days I'im feeling extra tired I will make it with 3 slices of bread and extra peanut butter. (2pm)

Ride home: Orange juice (watered down) and gatorade (4:30pm)

Arrival at home: milk, pasta with light coating of cajun alfredo sauce. (6pm)

I have water throughout day and with every meal.

In bed around 8pm.

That's maybe 6 hours of sleep. No Jay Leno. No Beijing Olympics.
The sleep issue; the nutrition issue; what about the weekend issue? Do you sleep in on the weekends to catch up?

What's the age?

Age 28. On weekend I sleep, like this morning (my weekend) I slept about 11 hours and I feel fine. I know I am pushing myself hard during the week but I relax on the weekend. If I go to the store it is on bike but it's only a mile from home and I keep it in low gear.

you're getting up pretty early, are you screwing up your schedule by sleeping in on the weekends? after a few nights in a row with 5 or 6 hours of sleep, i'm tired during the day as well (age 29). You might try a short nap during the day instead of sleeping in.

First break: 5 tomato slices, pickles, 1 cup cola (9am)

-- This is normally the point where I start feeling tired.

I don't know about anyone else, but cola makes me feel lousy. :P I think it's a combination of the caffeine and quickly absorbing a lot of sugar from the high-fructose corn syrup. Drinks with caffeine and other forms of sugar (e.g. coffee with granulated sugar, tea with honey) don't do that to me.

I tried adding fruit and drinking a glass or orange juice in place of the coke. Wow. What a difference.

I was still tired as I didn't sleep well last night but I was doing much better at work. I did notice that my crash was near the time of having soda. Maybe that's where I was going wrong.

I'm also making it a point to not push myself too hard.

Looking at your diet I think that you may be lacking "good" carbohydrates? I tend to eat muesli (no added sugar/salt type) with added nuts + fruit. I also prefer brown bread too (toast for lunch or breakfast if I cycle early). If you eat white bread (high GI) or similar you can have a high sugar buzz followed by a low sugar bonk not long after.

Fruit such as apples or bananas burn more slowly.

In the UK we have advice on having "5 a day". This is 5 portions of fruit + vegetables. An apple or orange would be one portion.

When you start feeling tired, drink a tall glass of water. We can often feel very tired if we're a bit dehydrated.

It's the sleep..... need 8 hours. Way more important than anyone realizes.
Also,
I have found that the "lance" drink, FRS, has seemed(big S) too give me more energy. I no longer need a nap in the afternoon

basic breakdown (not including measurements but generlaly a serving of each)

Wake up around 2:15am

For breakfast I have honey nut cheerios with dry oatmeal added over mlik. (2:30 am)

I have gatorade on the commute in along with water. (3:30am)

Upon arrival at work I have:
orange juice, 2 hard boiled eggs, bran cereal with milk, banana or fruit yogurt (5am)

First break: 5 tomato slices, pickles, 1 cup cola (9am)

-- This is normally the point where I start feeling tired.

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, cheese, rice or potato, vegetable, fruit yogurt (11am)

Last break: peanut butter and jelly sandwich. On days I'im feeling extra tired I will make it with 3 slices of bread and extra peanut butter. (2pm)

Ride home: Orange juice (watered down) and gatorade (4:30pm)

Arrival at home: milk, pasta with light coating of cajun alfredo sauce. (6pm)

I have water throughout day and with every meal.

In bed around 8pm.


I don't think there's anything wrong with the sleep habit, personally. I've slept on less and done the same commute, plus taught aerobics classes during the day, and I've been ok. A lot of people don't realize how much a 14 mile commute can wake you up when you have to get up at 2:15 am (as I also did when I used to do my long commutes too).

I do notice that you have your most substantial morning meal at 5 am. By 9 am, your blood sugar levels will definitely be so much lower that I think that is what causes you to bonk by 9 am. You have a lot of exercise under your belt by 9 am, and all you have are tomato slices and soda? Nuh-uh, boyfriend! You need another substantial meal in your system. In fact, I absolutely love your lunch, and I think it should actually be your 9 am meal. A turkey sandwich should increase your blood sugar levels and stave off that fatigue you're feeling by 9 am. The tomatoes and soda can be your snack at about 7 am.

Basically, I'm telling you that you should add another meal into your daily diet.

I also think you need more protein in your diet- lean protein, that is. Up your protein at bedtime and get a bit more protein in your stomach during the day and you should be fine, besides adding in that extra meal I described to you. I don't think endurance athletes realize how much more protein they need, but you have to keep in mind that all that riding on a daily basis is tearing down your muscle. You need a way to rebuild your muscle and provide the building blocks necessary for the body to rebuild in your diet.

Please try what I described and let us know if it works. Give it a week... I bet it makes a difference.

koffee

are you snorning too loud at night, could be a sleep apnea situation that's wearin you out. If yes (ask your bed partner how disturbing it is) then diet alterations or other tricks will do nothing for your problem

"112 miles a week commuting on a mountain bike at night to a job where I'm on my feet and physical for 10 hours straight.... Why do I chose to do everything the hard way?"

Sounds to me like you already know the answer

Different people have different sleep needs, but if I were getting less than seven hours a night sleep that's the first thing I'd consider as a cause for fatigue. Also you seem to be in a physically demanding job, and on a shift which is probably out of sync with your natural sleep rhythm (when I was young I worked a similar shift of heavy work in a dairy plant. It was a double whammy. I never really got used to the shift, and the physical demands of the job kept me exhausted for the six years I did it).

are you snorning too loud at night, could be a sleep apnea situation that's wearin you out. If yes (ask your bed partner how disturbing it is) then diet alterations or other tricks will do nothing for your problem

My wife told me I stopped snoring a month ago.... And when I do sleep it is a deep sleep and I'm pretty sure my breathing is fine.

"112 miles a week commuting on a mountain bike at night to a job where I'm on my feet and physical for 10 hours straight.... Why do I chose to do everything the hard way?"

Sounds to me like you already know the answer

Yeah, but I've been doing this for a while... and what happened was I went from working the night shift (6pm-4am) to working day shift (5:30am-4) . I gave some consideration to my complete jolt in schedule but it has continued past the adjustment point. I never had the 'bonk' effect on night shfit.

I think some of it is coming down th sleep. My "Monday" is 8am-6:30 pm but the rest of my work week I'm 5:30am-4.. so that first day is always trouble.

I will try changing my meal habits as suggested...

This past week I was sick so I ended up driving two of the days... not something I plan on doing in the future but I don't want to push myself too hard.