I am on a direct trainer (Elite Suito T) for round about 8 weeks now an I love it. I am on the second beginners plan now. 3 trainings a week. I need to lose a couple of kilos. I am not extremely obeese but my liver is faty because of a condition with my metabolism and the doctor said I need to do something.
Now i am facing extreme tirednes during the day for a week now. coffee alone does not help anymore and I start to fall a sleep during the day. It also got almost impossible to get up in the morning.
Could this be some slight form of overtrainig? Since I am not realy used to this? The other thing I am thinking about is, that I spend a lot of time infront of my PC working. Usualy i do my training and then sit the rest of the day with not much movement. occasionaly I go fishing so I walk a bit to get to my spot, but thats it.
Does maybee someone see a connection or has a sugestion? Should I slow down or is the overtime infront of my PC with no movement worse for my health than I think?
Oh… and I usualy get great sleep during the night. full 7-8 hours with no disturbances and my alarm goes at the same time every day also during weekends.
Hope someone has a idea and is willing to share. Something is wrong and I would like to see some ideas before I take training break.
My first thought would be to look at your nutrition… you mentioned you need to lose some kilos… are you feeding yourself properly given the added stress you are now putting yourself through? If you are “dieting” to lose the kilos, it could definitely lead to some tiredness…
Hmm… I am eating less yes. But I was eating to much before. Now usualy i start the day with a good bowl of poridge. I cook it with coco milk and mix it with peanutmouse (not peanut butter. its pure peanuts no added fat) and fruits like banana or blueberries. During workout i usualy drink 600ml of a hypotonic sport drink and then 500ml of protein shake after workout. I usualy finish my workout arround 12-13:00. So I skip lunch. maybee a small snack in the afternoon and then I go for a healthy full meal with dessert in the evening.
Is it mid afternoon (post workout) where you start to fall asleep? Given what you mentioned above with your diet, i suspect you may not be getting enough carbs during/post workout to keep you well fueled through the afternoon… Between the hypotonic drinks (which as I understand them are fairly LOW carb), the protein shake (carb count on that?) and a small snack (what kind of snack?) it may just not be enough to push you through.
Do you keep any sort of food diary/journal? For your own benefit, it might be good to know HOW many FEWER calories (and what macros those calories are from) you are taking in on a given day in your quest to lose those kilos. If you are severely under consuming (especially carbs), it will have a profound effect on your energy levels. I will keep one from time to time (doesn’t have to be a permanent thing) just to keep myself in check.
Its usualy the entire day I am tired. Starting in the morning. Its absolute brutal to get out of bed and it takes me a good 2 hours to get fully awake. Usualy I eat breakfast and do some easy tasks on my pc during this 2 hours before I then go to my bike for a hour. after workout on workout days the tiredness is usualy not a big deal. I just need to avoid the couch otherwise I would fall asleep in minutes. Its usualy harder on days with no trainig scheduled. Like today… it was impossible to stay awake. I was lucky it is sunday and I had the house to myself so I took a nap infront of the TV.
The snacks vari. Sometimes there is no snack at all because I am not hungry or its just some cheese, Eggs, maybee some whole grain bread and some landjäger (some sort of beef jerky but with more meat on) something like that.
No I dont keep a food journal. My wife also told me to do this. She is a nutrinionist (I should of lead with that I guess). I might start with that. it just feels like a pain to document everthing I eat but I guess I see the benefit of it.
I will check for the carb counts of my drinks tomorrow. Now its time for bed. thanks Will. I will follow up tomorrow
Honestly mate go talk to your wife about it! Sounds like you have someone with the right experience right there.
Also agree that sitting in front of the computer for hours can’t be good. Maybe you can go for a short walk when you’re having your snack, or try a some stretching?
Given what you’ve mentioned so far regarding your diet, it sounds to me (and my “non expert” opinion) like you are very much carb deprived and quite possibly undernourishing your body given the new calorie restriction as well as the new stressors of the workouts on top of it.
As @splash suggests… talk to your wife about your diet. she should surely be a subject matter expert on it (that’s her job after all)!
That said… you made a comment in your first post about a condition and your doctor said you needed to do something (apologies for glossing over that initially). I would strongly suggest getting further input from them and definitely discuss the lethargy/new workout regime with them if you haven’t already…
I too say lack of food plus the added amount of calories you are burning by exercising. When I was overweight, I starved my self for a few months, to drop those pounds. Like 50+ lbs in 6 months. While this is not for everyone, it worked for me as I’m a bit impatient. While in starvation mode I was tired and sleepy. Riding was hard. It took about 2 months for my body to adapt to burning what was available( prob fat ). I think over time your body will adapt. I did add some extra caffeine durning this time to help compensate for lack of sugars. Ate mostly salads every meal. Plus some supplements for calcium etc.
+1 for the food diary. Sometimes for a few days or weeks i’ll track everything on MyFitnessPal as it allows me to re-calibrate and make sure that i’m eating enough. I generally need 3800-4000 calories per day to keep me going (74kg, 1.85cm). If you’re banging out solid bike workouts you can find yourself 800 calories down pretty easily and you’ll feel that for sure.
Nutrition takes a while to work out. Just use the tools and expertise available (like your wife) but keep it simple…
Hey guys. Sorry for catching up so late. it got a bit busy here.
I had the chance to sit down with my wife and detailed talk about my nutrition. She said, that even with the extra stress of the workout it is unlikely that i am experiencing a carbohydrate deficiency.
See, I usualy eat very well at the evenings and its mostly packed with rice, homemade pasta or other carbs like bread and stuff. We do have some cheat days/meals in our week. Just because I dont want to feel like I am on a diet and I frickn love rice wich is a part of a lot of meals. Generaly there is no attempt to cut carbs in our diet. at least not consciously. Also my breakfasts have a good portion of carbs. Usualy MĂĽsli (I hope you know what that is. i dont know a international term for this ) or like I allready mentioned a good poridge.
The protein shake mix is from “Designer Protein” and its not low carb. and when I have workouts longer than 1 hour I usualy refuel during the ride with gel… lots of sugar that means.
but…
She also said, that there is no way to be shure. Every body is diferent and every body does need a other focus. at the end it allways comes to trying out what works for you. And of course that food diary…
@TrekCentury thank you for your insight here. 50lbs in 6 months is big. thats realy hard. Respect for that. I am now losing about 0.5Kilos( +/- 1 pound) a month and i am very happy with that. I also only need to loose about 5 Kilos (11 Pounds) in total. But my symptoms allready got way bether. what I also see on your comment is, that it takes a while for the body to get used to it. So I will consider of eating a bit more in the afternoon and whait a little more to see how my fatigue goes. I will also start to do this garmin stress test thing every morning. Maybee it helps in the future as an indicator.
Also @splash yea! You are totaly right. I do stretching occasionaly but having a walk during a break in the afternoon will be the next thing I change in my daylie routine. thanks for pointing that out.
@RCC MyFitnessPal is allready installed… i should just use it. this week will stay turbulent anyways and my nutrition is not very representive but I allready put it in my planer to remind me next monday to start with this
@Will_Peters I dont think I will revisit my doctor now. I see why you think its a good idea but i guess i will try some sugestions like yours or from the other commenters first. My condition with my liver is (or was ) not so dramatic. It was just clear, that it wont end well if I dont change something. My dad was a bad excample but a very good motivation, since he then had some seveere issues with his health because of not changing his diet and he messed up his liver and some other stuff.
Again! Thank you all so much for your inputs. I feel blessed to have so many experts or professionals at hand.
I would highly recommend a desk that you can switch from sitting to standing, OR just a standing height desk with a matching height chair. Sitting all day is terrible. Going for a short walk 2-3 times a day helps invigorate me as well.
Not sure it will do anything for tiredness, but your back and shoulders will feel much better.
You are so right. The funny thing is, I had one. A very good one with electric motor and programmable hights and all that but I gave it away to replace it with a fancy one that looks bether stupid me. Ive been thinking of this mistake allready. maybee i will swap back this year but its still money i dont want to spend right now
At least i still have my very good and somewhat healty Vitra chair
) or like I allready mentioned a good poridge.
