Feeling exhausted

AbiiReilly

Hi everyone, I a girl who goes to the gym 5 out of 7 days a week, my goal is to trim down my fat to then start gaining muscles, after around 12 weeks of working very hard at the gym taking supplements from my protein ( active woman, omega 3, CLA, thermopure, green tea extract and diet whey protein) to help with the weight loss I've started to feel very tired baring in mind that I am eating 1,400 calories per day.
Would anyone be able to give me any advice on what to do and how to regain some of my energy

shadowfax_c11

Eat more.

AbiiReilly

What do you mean by eat more..

geneticsteacher

Are you eating 1400 calories + calories burned from exercise? That is the way this is designed to work.

shadowfax_c11

AbiiReilly wrote: »

What do you mean by eat more..

Consume more calories....

Seems self explanatory.

punkrockgoth

A few thoughts.

1. Holy supplements batman! Why are you taking all of these?
2. You can reduce the frequency and/or intensity of your workouts and see if that helps your exhaustion levels.
3. You can also try bumping up your calories and see if that helps. You can try 1 or 2 hundred at a time, stay at that level a few days and see if you feel better. As long as you are eating below your maintenance level, you will lose.

If you need help finding your maintenance level, put your stats into a calorie calculator and then rather than say you want to lose, say you want to maintain. That number should be your approximate maintenance calories.

ETA:
4. Are you getting enough sleep? Getting enough sleep will do wonders for your energy levels. Also, if it is feasible, take a day off and get a bit more rest and see if it helps.

A lot of this journey will be about learning to listen to your body and what it needs, even in the face of all the madness, advice and business of the world around us.

cityruss

Eat more.

Colorscheme

what I do is if I am feeling particularly exhausted, I just take a break the next day. Seems to work. Listen to your body and don't force it if you're tired.

kshama2001

AbiiReilly wrote: »

What do you mean by eat more..

How tall are you? 1400 calories would probably be fine if you didn't exercise. Since you are, you need to fuel your workouts. Your exhaustion is because you're not eating enough.

MFP uses the NEAT system. You are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated so only eat back 50% of them.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

AbiiReilly

I am eating all of the extra calories though that's the thing, I don't starve myself at all believe me I'm a big foodie, my goal is to get from 11 stone back down to around 9 - 9 and a half stone, I've got down to 10st 10lbs over the past few weeks, I'm not looking for a "quick fix" like most people.

I didn't go to the gym today to have an extra break today to see if that helps but it could be to do with other things which are going on with me at the minuet.

Thank you for all your help guys

Colorscheme

Could it be that you're just doing too much? Like yesterday I exercised a lot and felt exhausted but I ate over 3,000 calories which is above my TDEE by a thousand. I think I just needed a break because I didn't really exercise today and I feel better.

Fursian

Top things that spring to mind... Your macros are out of wack, lack of iron, thyroid troubles. If this continues and doesn't get better, I'd say pay your doctor a visit.

Psychgrrl

I was thinking vitamin deficiency. Your doc could do blood tests for Vitamin D, B vitamins and iron/ferritin. All of those can really mess with energy. Have you looked at your nutrient breakdown to see what you might be missing?

Also sleep, not eating enough and just overdoing it without adequate recovery time.

Christine_72

Could all of those supplements you're taking be interacting with one another? By the way none of them aid in weight loss..

VividVegan

I gained more energy when I went vegan. Its high carb, moderate protein, low-fat by the way. Just saying. That's not to say it's the solution for everyone. My mother's solution was the complete opposite (low-carb, lots of meat, cheeses, dairy, etc). I'm just stating one of the many options (based on my experience). It also sounds like you aren't eating enough.
And yeah I know what my MFP name says but I can't change it again. It's from back when I was pescetarian.

nutmegoreo

FeedMeFish wrote: »

I gained more energy when I went vegan. Just saying. It also sounds like you aren't eating enough.
And yeah I know what my MFP name says but I can't change it again. It's from back when I was pescetarian.

You can PM a mod and as them to change it for you.

OP, you've received some great trouble shooting answers. Re-evaluate your supplements and your sleeping. You aren't losing at a stupid fast pace, so I doubt it's the calorie total, but vitamins, minerals (particularly iron), as mentioned can be important. Some people feel that increasing carbs increases their energy levels, so try playing with your macros a bit. Seeing your doctor for some blood work (vitamin levels, anemia, thyroid functioning, blood count, etc.) is a good idea as well, to rule out medical problems.

VividVegan

nutmegoreo wrote: »

FeedMeFish wrote: »

I gained more energy when I went vegan. Just saying. It also sounds like you aren't eating enough.
And yeah I know what my MFP name says but I can't change it again. It's from back when I was pescetarian.

You can PM a mod and as them to change it for you.

Thanks

DebSozo

This may or may not be the case, but my son started drinking too much water and his body started losing electrolytes. He got moody and fatigued. While it is important to drink adequate water, it is possible to drink too much. How many ounces of water do you consume a day?

AbiiReilly

I would drink around 200 cal or water a day sometimes less, I'll get an appointment with my GP and see what she says, maybe get bloods taken etc

AbiiReilly

I'm just under 11 stone but because of my body type people always find it had to believe that I am that weight because I would have a muscular build, I hold all my weight (fatty bits) from my knee to my hips like most woman do, it's just really ugly cellulite my work outs would be cardio at the minuet, I have noticed a big change in the few weeks that I have been doing cardio that some of the real bad bits around my bum have started to disappear and look a lot better.

AbiiReilly

☝

DebSozo

AbiiReilly wrote: »

I would drink around 200 cal or water a day sometimes less, I'll get an appointment with my GP and see what she says, maybe get bloods taken etc

Do you mean 200 ounces? Definitely visit doc and have them do a blood test and check minerals, thyroid, etc. The other thing is you could be stressed or depressed. Those things sometimes cause fatigue. I hope you find out soon.

cnbbnc

Everyone seems to have covered all the troubleshooting so I don't have anything else to add except that maybe you're just getting a little burnt out and need to take a few days off from the workouts.

I get like that once in a while too, but if I get a little extra sleep for a few days and let my body rest I feel much better. Sometimes we just need a break.

leejoyce31

kshama2001 wrote: »

AbiiReilly wrote: »

What do you mean by eat more..

How tall are you? 1400 calories would probably be fine if you didn't exercise. Since you are, you need to fuel your workouts. Your exhaustion is because you're not eating enough.

MFP uses the NEAT system. You are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated so only eat back 50% of them.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

This is helpful instead of just saying eat more and claiming its self explanatory. Lots of people ask questions because they really don't know and are seeking guidance. Thanks for your helpful response.

RoxieDawn

You could just be "burning the candle" at both ends sort of saying. You could be having a perfect storm of many things that equate to needing a break in which you may just be stressed out. Your body is telling you to slow down no matter what the reason. It can be anything as stress can be hidden for a while before it decides to pounce on you.

Me personally, I would stop the taking supplements, make sure if you are consuming caffeine, limit this, stop exercising and perhaps move into maintenance calories so that my body can start recovering. I would let everyone know around me that I am taking a break and ask for help in getting things done like chores, errands etc.

I had acute chronic fatigue and actually found out that I had low T4, and had to take about a month off and slow down. I started feeling like I was wanting to get a nasty cold (immune system I guess was in overload) It was the best thing I could have done and my hormones got back into balance. I also learned after this how to balance things in my life better.

This may not be you, but it can be something to take a look at, next thing go the doctor if not better in a few days. Blood work will tell you a great deal.

kshama2001

AbiiReilly wrote: »

I am eating all of the extra calories though that's the thing, I don't starve myself at all believe me I'm a big foodie, my goal is to get from 11 stone back down to around 9 - 9 and a half stone, I've got down to 10st 10lbs over the past few weeks, I'm not looking for a "quick fix" like most people.

I didn't go to the gym today to have an extra break today to see if that helps but it could be to do with other things which are going on with me at the minuet.

Thank you for all your help guys

So when you say you are eating 1400 calories, is that gross or net?

If net, ya, ask your doctor to check for iron and other deficiencies.

Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

cwolfman13

You're training 7 days per week and only eating 1400 calories...that would leave most people with pretty low energy. You're not feeding your training.

JeromeBarry1

You're feeling exhausted because your glycogen stores are low..

Eat 2000 calories each day for a couple of weeks and see what happens. If you're still exhausted, eat 2300.

The short answer is, "donuts".

AbiiReilly

cwolfman13 wrote: »

You're training 7 days per week and only eating 1400 calories...that would leave most people with pretty low energy. You're not feeding your training.

I train usually 5 out of the seven days, eat my 1,400 cals per day plus all of the ones I have burned off by exercise to try and prevent the tiredness but I'm starting to think that it's to do with my stress levels, I use the gym as a get away if you'd know what I mean? But I think I just need a good holiday in Ibiza for a month

nickisa28

How long have you been feeling tired for? Could it be that time of month is coming? Have you cut out or reduced your carb intake? You need Carbs for energy so maybe you could just up your carb intake on work out days?

CattOfTheGarage

I'd just try reducing the workouts - "working very hard at the gym" and "feeling very tired" just sounds like you're overdoing it to me. Look up "non-functional overreaching" and see if it fits what you're experiencing.