Increased exercise days and feeling drained and exhausted

[Cottoneyed12]

Started working out a year ago to generally tone for my wedding in May.

I have stayed the same weight which I’m ok with as my bmi is on the longer side of normal.

As the wedding has approached I have increased my workouts from 3 times a week to 5 but I’m feeling absolutely awful for it.

I’m drained, moody, exhausted and not happy at all feeling like this. I’m seeing a lot of progress physically where as before I seen very little.

What can I do to feel better?

I sleep well and get between 7-8 hours each night and I eat healthy.

Average day is

b - oats, chia seeds, yoghurt, milk, frozen fruit left overnight

S- fruit and yoghurt

L - soup and roll or poached eggs and toast

S - fruit

D - fish/chicken, rice or sweet potoato fries and veg

Snack - chocolate/fruit.

I feel like I’m eating enough, any thoughts?

Thanks, I tend to have to work my workouts around childcare so sometimes they need to be back to back with little rest but I do find that when I’m on 4-5 days in a row it’s a real struggle in the gym then for the rest of the day.

What is whey and what do I do with it? Is it like a protein shake? I did see them but they were so expensive and I don’t want to bulk up and worried they would make me bulky?

Swap a workout day for a relax and look after you day? It's stressful planning a wedding. You will look lovely. But you have to make sure the relationship survives the stress! I nearly went mad in the run up to mine. You know what I used to do? I was a member of a gym and I used to go after work and just sit in the steam room and jacuzzi to destress. It saved me. I don't know maybe dial back the exercise one notch and dial up the food a tad?

What is your work out schedule? How long doing what?

I guess we don’t know what the portion size is and whether you’re choosing full fat / fat free yoghurts etc. Whole grain / brown rice? I’m also not sure what kind of workouts are you doing?

I follow my fitness pal and eat around 1700-1800 calories a day.

I also have a Fitbit and it estimates around 300-500 calorie burn for my workouts. I run 5k 2 times a week then do a mix of cardio, strength training and HIIT.

Usually I’ll spend 1 hour in the gym. Half hour for the 5k and then 25 mins on a mix of the machines.

At home I’ll do 20-40 mins HIIT routine or a strength training routine.

This has increased from 1 day at the gym and 2 HIITs to 2 days gym, 2 HIIT, 1 strength.

Why don’t you try dropping down to one hiit? They’re hard work

If you eat 1700-1800 calories and a day and burn 500 that leaves you with 1200-1300 calories. Now it will depend how tall and heavy you are but my BMR is in the region of 1300 a day, that’s how many calories it needs if it stayed in bed and did nothing. So there’s a chance that you’re under eating or close to not giving your body enough fuel.

I agree with the above poster. It sounds like you aren't eating enough, and it may also be worth dropping one HIIT session to give yourself some space to recover.

I agree with the above posters who say you aren't eating enough. 1700-1800 calories is barely enough to sustain you for just living, never mind the exercise you do. You need to eat more, and more protein in particular. Having some form of protein within 30 mins of exercising can help a lot. It could be a protein shake but real food is just as good, so nuts, a boiled egg, that kind of thing.

I don't know if posting on here will be that helpful, as we're all different. You'll get people saying it sounds like you're not eating enough for all that exercise, and you'll get others saying you're not doing that much exercise, and you're eating plenty. It really depends what you're used to, and how fit you are.

But, as you're asking... for me, it sounds like you're eating plenty for that level of exercise. FWIW, I work out significantly more than you do (I'm a distance runner) and eat a similar amount. But I've built up to that over a few years. In your shoes, I'd be wondering if you've stepped up the intensity too quickly, and perhaps ease back a bit, until you feel better.

I wonder if you are anaemic.

How many total calories/day does the fitbit say you need to consume?

I would get tested/talk to GP first, especially given your anaemia history, and when you've got the all-clear, come back here, OP. When you up intensity it can make you tired, but your regime doesn't sound extreme - tho I would cut down a bit till you've seen the doc.

Thanks,

Today I felt dreadful. I craved sugar and junk and ate sooo much junk. It may be due to my period but I felt awful until around 6pm after I’d eaten about 2500+ calories.

Then I felt much better and went to the gym this evening and felt full of energy and had the best workout I’d ever done, so maybe I do need to up my calories.

My Fitbit varies depending on my activity but usually it says around 1900 calories if I go to the gym.

Whilst I was at the gym I went on the machine to see my stats and it says I have lost weight although it doesn’t agree with my at home scales so I think I might start eating more and hopefully that’ll help.

One thing I thought was a bit strange was the machine said my body fat was 12.5% and the ideal body fat for me was 21% but I’m not sure that’s right?

12.5% is extremely low for a female. Is it just a normal set of scales or a proper body scan machine?

I concur with PP, you might not be fuelling yourself sufficiently. It’s worth reading Roar by Dr Stacy Sims. It’s a great resource for women who exercise and how/when to fuel.

Stacy Sims’s Research also looks at the way female hormones and the menstrual cycle affect training and recover. She proved it is so much harder to exercise and recover the week before but your period. She’s done a TED talk about it. It’s worth a look.

Thanks I’ll look for that book.

It’s a machine where you hold the handles to scan body fat.

My scales at how Measure body fat too apparently and it says 19% which seems more realistic.

At home *

Maybe you should think about getting your iron levels checked. That can be one of the biggest causes of fatigue. It fits in with your symptons and from your diary it does look like you might be lacking.

Whey is just a part of milk, it's not exactly steroids! It's just concentrated protein. Women don't get bulky unless they're pretty much professional bodybuilders, it's incredibly hard to do for a woman. My protein whey shake provides 25g protein for 125 calories. I have it within 30 mins of working out, as Dr Stacy Sims recommends for women. What are you training for, or what's your body goal?

I bought whey protein and have drank it (20g after a workout) and not had any exhaustion at all this week. Maybe a coincidence but really pleased and I think I feel fuller this week too with no real cravings. May not be related to the protein, could be related to my period but I’ll try it for a month and see how I feel next time.

Thanks for the suggestions.