Burned out NO energy clyde HELP !!!!!
 

Here I set our best day of the yr going to be in the upper 60's and I feel burned out ! Fighting with myself to make myself ride . I hardly ever don"t ride nice days and a lot a times I ride at night in good weather also .

I been at this riding dieting thing since last fathers day and ya I have dropped 125 # so far with about 30 to go . So my goal is in site . But just having a heck of time mustering energy today . So close to my goal and here I set feeling like iam burned out.

Any ideas how to push thru this its never really been a problem befor :(

So if anyone has any ideas HELP .

My wife says I am not eating enough or sleeping enough ! I agree with the sleep thing only getting about 4 hrs a sleep a night the last few weeks NO REASON I can pin point . My calorie intake is 1200 to 1400 a day with 15 to 25 mile ride or the equal in the gym almost every day if the weather is bad .

Have I done somthing wrong to cause this or just spit happens ? Iam really upset that I am NOT looking forward to todays ride I LOVE MY BIKE and I love to ride normaly .

Ramble and rant over Its a few hours befor I would leave maybe the energy will magicly appear I HOPE .

one more thing I feel like I am craving CARBS BAD I want to just start eating my oatmeal and bananna isn't cuting it this morning . Normaly Iam fine .

1200 calories is OK for a smallish woman if she's not exercising much. You are not a sedentary and smallish woman. Just off the top of my head I'd suggest 2000-2500 calories a day for you, perhaps a little less. You have no energy because you are starving yourself. Take a day off or two from exercise, and for goodness sake EAT SOMETHING!

Take a couple days off - but don't feel guilty about it. Enjoy doing other stuff: hanging out with your wife, watching tv, napping, enjoying the sunshine while reading a book... You get the idea.

Sometimes you just need a day off. The world won't end & nothing irreversibly bad will happen.

Sounds like your body needs a bit of a break. Hopefully that will help get your sleep cycle working well again, which will give you energy, which will make you want to ride again.

I think you really need to see a doctor. Tell him/her what's going on. Some tests may be in order.

After seeing your doctor, a consultation with a nutritionist may be called for. 1200-1400 calories is not adequate for an exercising adult male over a prolonged period, in general. It's conceivable that since your body is drawing calories from fat reserves, so its daily energy supply is greater than intake (the key to losing weight of course), you may be able to do better with a special calorie-restricted diet with more protein, vitamins, minerals, specific amino acids and other compensatory nutrients.

However, my sense is that you probably need to intake calories than currently, e.g. to 2000-2500, and accept a lower weight-loss rate, i.e. be patient, and reset your dates-to-reach target weights.

For example, a weight loss of 3-5 pounds/mo can be quite adequate, if you've entered the "merely overweight" BMI-index zone from previous clinical obesity or morbid obesity.

If your doctor approves, a higher weight-loss rate may be feasible through increasing your caloric intake, and riding more (or doing more exercise of other types) than currently.

You aren't getting enough sleep, unless 4 hours has been your norm without problems for many years, which is rare. Modern research has found 6-7 hours to be needed by most adults, some more, some less. Besides our needing sleep to feel more energized, adequate sleep prevents metabolic dysfunction that triggers fat deposition.

Good luck, and congratulations on losing so much weight!

The others are right. Though I'd suggest bumping up your calories to 1800-2000. As you get closer to your goal weight, the loss slows. If you keep on the same very restricted diet, but with much less reserves, you will be loosing muscle (and energy for daily tasks). You just need to eat more. But eat smart too.

I am no expert, but....you need some calories, Buddy.

If I tried living on less than 2000 cal per day, I think I'd be sleeping for about 20 hours of it. My guess is that you are deficient in many vitamins and minerals, plus you probably lack the sugar levels to keep you up and at em. Try eating sensible portions of highly nutritious foods.

Welcome to my world as of about 2 weeks ago. I'm 6'0" and 260 down from 320 last year. I was startled to find that I was only eating 1500-1800 cal/day. Your body, like mine was, is probably in a pretty severe starvation mode. Your body is now holding on to every calorie and killing your metabolism. For significantly overweight people, a low calorie diet will work well in the beginning and will result in mostly fat loss. As we get closer to our "goal" we will start burning more muscle and less fat and our metabolism shuts down especially since you didn't mention that you're doing any weight training. For 17 days now I've been eating nearly 3000 cal/day and spike it up to 4000 on every 4th day. My workouts have improved SIGNIFICANTLY because I have tons of energy. I'm still at a significant calorie deficit with the amount of exercise I do and I'm down 7 lbs in the last 2 weeks and I know that weight is mostly FAT lost, not muscle. So, like everyone else said, EAT MORE. I also highly recommend reading the eBook by Tom Venuto called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle."

Ok folks I here you !!!!! I do see my doc every 6 to 8 weeks and I have an appt Thursday ! All my levels have been good if not great last few visits . Iam 53 be 54 next month . Iam going to see him . He runs every test known to man every visit . I started this mess at 371 lbs at 6 ft tall goal is 210 maybe 200. will see then .

BUT I agree I don"t think Iam eating enough thou I am eating very healthy foods just not enough . I love pasta and being I am now bordeline diabetic was full blown off all the meds now and ck my sugar 4 or 5 times a day still .

Iam so afraid if I start eating and break my new ways the flood gaates will open ! Some of you got to understand that ?

I want a a giant plate a pasta or think I do so bad ! Thou Iam sure the way my body stomach is now I couldn"t eat much . I think Iam going to need a profesional diet person for the last lbs and thats not a problem as I got more health insurance than most folks Iam very lucky in that respect .

I know I need a pro because now Iam at a point I am confused about what to do . As a LOT of you know losing all this amount of weight is a mind blowing thing to go thru . I refuse to go back to the old me and my old ways ever again NOT gona happen . ( am going to up my calorie intake some .

my wifes having a fit she agrees with you guys Iam not eating enough and thats caused the NO energy thing .

Sounds like you need a brief vacation from exercising and low calorie diets.

You've lost a PILE of weight in a rather brief period of time and that is actually quite stressful for your body.

Instead of eating that giant plate of pasta in one sitting, add an extra small meal a couple of times to your diet. Cutting calories that low affects also cuts the amount of vitamins and minerals that your body needs. I bet your protein intake is quite low too judging by the total number of calories eaten each day. It sounds like your body is screaming "enough".

You shouldn't screech to a halt and then revert to previous habits. Just pause, look around, and adjust your diet a little bit. I understand how you feel that you are still on a slippery slope and it's easy to slide back down. The part of the slope you are on has more traction then you think and a handrail.

Check with your doctor and ask for a recommendation to see a registered nutritionist.

I'm totally impressed with your successful weight loss! That's some excellent work!!

Try and find a happy medium, like someone else said reevaluate your goals and the length of time it takes to reach them. No point in being starved and unhappy, fighting with yourself to do a bit of exercise. much healthier to be enjoying yourself. whether its exercising, relaxing etc. I understand the fear of going back to your past weight but that wont happen if you take your time and make these changes to your lifestyle habitual. best of luck with this hurdle;)

Maybe remembering the old adage, "Rome wasn't built in a day", would help. You lost a lot of weight fast. It is probably not reasonable to assume that you can continue at that pace.

Things seem just fine this morning got 8 hrs sleep ! Ate about 1500+ calories yesterday cutting that back or up depending on my level of exercise . I see my Doc tommrow . I couldn't resist I had a short 12 mile ride yesterday afternoon and then went to the gym and sat in the hot tub and and dry sauna no workout . Feel great today I got a load a energy ! Thanks everyone for the advice and reading my rant :O) you guys are great .

SMall changes can make a big difference
 

HI,
I try and eat a bananna before my ride its alot of calories and some protein and potassium, all rolled into one food.you will burn off the calories during the ride.
Be sure your getting enough hydration coffee and tea can dry you out, i usally drink one or two no calorie salt replacement drinks that i make up before i ride.
dehydration is a common cause of fatigue most people are dry all the time and don't know it.
Doug
As a hyper-active person normal calorie goals are very un-realistic, try small additons prior or during a ride many clif bars have the right amount of energy for a long ride.

You need pie and burgers for a couple days, buddy. Eat.

I take it you're NOT a "healthy lifestyle" coach? :rolleyes:

Eat, but eat healthy and track it. Also don't burn out on exercise. I made both mistakes last year, when I started relaxing the rides and eating more not only did I feel better but I lost weight like it was (literally) falling off. This year I'm trying to make a more directed approach to weight loss and exercise, focusing on eating the right amount and not over-training.

Also sleep, seriously. I can't imagine trying to live on 4 hours/night!

I saw my doc and he took blood and is running every test known ! I am tracking what I eat now on livestrong.com ! He put me on Ambien for a couple a months for my sleep . 7 weeks ago all my tests were perfect even my bad cholestrol was only 70 good was 124 he checked all my vitaminlevels that could be a problem they were good 7 weeks ago . He did say to up my calories depending on how much Iam riding . Iam now off all meds for diabeties I was taking 2 diffrent pills 2 x a day and insulin got down to 1 pill now none but I have to keep a good track of my boold glucose levels 5 times a day he said !

So with the Ambien for MORE sleep I got 2 hrs last night and if nothing comes back bad I just have to eat more and sleep more and ride all I feel like riding . He thinks its mostly lack of sleep and I wasn"t eating enough of course Iam pleased . My weight is now 243 down from my orignal 371 !

Thanks everyone for all the replys and help I think all is ok and it a be fine and work out . Iam going to TRY and get a little rest today that a be 2 days off the bike then tommrow back at it with sleep and food :O)

I also think it can be beneficial to take little breaks from exercise here and there. I just took about two weeks off since I was working 14 hour days and really didn't have time or energy, but now I feel better than ever and am ready to go hard again and had three good rides, and matched my best time from last fall on my 20 mile route. Not bad considering that

a) it was on my heavy bad weather bike with fenders, mudflap, lights, rear rack, etc. and
b) it was long, hard winter and I rode past guys ice fishing on Monona Bay

This sleep thing sounds like it may be your primary issue. GF did a paper on sleep apnea for her studies and found that it was correlated to many different ailments, from heart issues to diabetes.

If I were in your boat, I would try to find out exactly why I am only sleeping a few hrs per night. I think that sleeping via drugs (Ambien) is only a short-term benefit. From all I know about sleep, drug induced sleep is still not REAL sleep. You need REM type sleep and drugs just don't get you there.

Disclaimer: I know much more about how machines work than I do the human body. :innocent:

wow, you may have tricked your body into thinking it's famine time. Boost your caloric intake and get sleep. I've found I lose more weight even if go off the diet and am properly rested. You've been are awake 20 hours a day on 12 to 1400 calories. You've exhausted yourself. Get some food and rest before you go wicky in the wacky woo.

assuming my sleep gets on track with the Ambien my problem now is I ate so little for so long Iam having a VERY hard time eating very much . The doc said to add it back in slow / I really trust my Dr so thats what I will do . Tracking my food on lifestrongs Daily Plate section is a real eye opener !!!!!:twitchy:

I really was starving myself .:o

The same thing happens in the book Heft On Wheels, incidentally.

While on the subject, for the first time since I began exercising in January 2006 I feel I'm gaining in upper body strength. The difference now is that I'm not restricting my diet.

And...this is a problem? Sure do wish I had such a concern. :rolleyes:

The more I think about it, the more I want to think your issues are sleep related.

pipes - first off CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss. I know how lack of sleep can affect your motivation and energy levels.

The only thing I can think to add is as you add a calories, I'm glad you are doing this, start to think of what your "forever" calorie level will be when you get to your goal weight. Obviously, you can't stay at 1200 -1400 calories. Weight loss will slow, but once you reach your goal, by coasting into it, you won't have a rebound of weight gain as you increase calories.

And again good job on the weight you lost.

Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words :) Well after 2 days off the bike adding afew more calories for 3 days not many but up to about 1450 just can"t eat much more right now YET. !!! I took a short 15 mile ride today my normal what i call short loop . I had 8 + hours sleep last night taking the Ambien the doc put me on :) I ended up doing the loop about 20 % faster than normal I did stop and eat a Glucerna bar when I started to feel a little bonkie .

So I think things are going to work out :thumb: IMHO and my docs it was the lack of food for energy and fuel and sleep combined just zapping my body . Atleast I caught it in time .