No energy at the gym?

katielee83858
katielee83858 Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently had a traumatic accident and spent upwards of 3 weeks in the hospital. I returned to the gym last week and had a great first week! Super sore to boot, but pushed through and was able to work my way up to 25 minutes on the rowing machine. May not seem like much, but it's a huge accomplishment for me after my accident.

Since then, my energy has taken a total dive at the gym. I'm motivated and happy to be there, but my energy is nowhere to be found! Has anyone had a similar fall-off after a week or so of working out hard, and what may be the cause of this? I aim to be around 1200 calories per day through exercise and portion control, is that enough?

Replies

  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Are your eating back your exercise calories?
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    You just spent three weeks in the hospital after a traumatic accident.

    Try taking a few days off and then easing back into the routine. Eat maintenance calories for a bit so your body has enough food energy to recover.
  • katielee83858
    katielee83858 Posts: 9 Member
    I'm eating the exercise calories back, but it still equals about 1200. I've been out of the hospital for about two months at this point, so I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,740 Member
    Good for you for trying to get back into shape right away, but definitely give your body time to heal. It takes quite a while for it to fully recover from something as traumatic as you went through. Obviously, I don't know exactly what happened but the fact that you were in the hospital for 3 weeks tells me it was severe.

    Eat a few more calories if you need more energy and be kind to yourself. Physical exertion is great but you also still need rest and recovery time, too.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    what are you eating pre/post workout? are you getting a good ratio of carbs to protein
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    katielee83858 wrote: »
    I'm eating the exercise calories back, but it still equals about 1200. I've been out of the hospital for about two months at this point, so I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.

    If your calories plus exercise calories equals 1200, you aren't eating enough. Please clarify for the thread. No wonder you would be tired. Not to mention you'd be in such a severe deficit that healing may slow as well. If MFP has you set at 1200 because you are choosing to lose 2 lb per week, try bumping it up to 1 lb per week instead, then add in your exercise calories and eat those back. I'd think that in the gym you'd at least burn 250 or more calories (likely more than that) if you spend any time at all, so you should be eating 1450 (these are just examples) or more at that high deficit, and likely more than that at a lower deficit. A lower deficit will aid healing as well, and some people (myself included) will eat at maintenance levels when injured to help speed healing.
  • katielee83858
    katielee83858 Posts: 9 Member
    I try to stay right around the 1200 mark, so on days I go to the gym is usually burn right around 250, and generally speaking I eat an additional 250 those days and it cancels back out between exercise to equal 1200. From the responses, it sounds like I'm not eating enough perhaps. I calculate my BMR to be right around 1450/1500. I don't necessarily care about losing weight, although that's usually an added benefit of a healthy lifestyle. I'm 510" and 138 so I'm in a good range. Mainly looking to build muscle and get back into shape. I generally have a scrambled egg and a low-fat Greek yogurt before I work out.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    katielee83858 wrote: »
    I try to stay right around the 1200 mark, so on days I go to the gym is usually burn right around 250, and generally speaking I eat an additional 250 those days and it cancels back out between exercise to equal 1200. From the responses, it sounds like I'm not eating enough perhaps. I calculate my BMR to be right around 1450/1500. I don't necessarily care about losing weight, although that's usually an added benefit of a healthy lifestyle. I'm 510" and 138 so I'm in a good range. Mainly looking to build muscle and get back into shape. I generally have a scrambled egg and a low-fat Greek yogurt before I work out.

    So your reduction to calories is not supposed to be against your BMR. It's supposed to be against your TDEE. TDEE includes BMR + Thermal effect of food (TEF = calories burned during digestion) + Thermal Effect of Activity (TEA = exercise calories) + Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT = calories burnt from daily activities).

    So eating 1200 or even 1400 is probably way too little for you. You probably have a TDEE around 2100 based on your stats. So not really surprised you have no energy. And if your goal is to build muscle, your should be looking to follow a progressive overload lifting program (or some kind of progressive resistance program), eating around maintenance and getting around 130g of protein. In fact, you would be lucky to maintain muscle at 1200 calories or about that.
  • katielee83858
    katielee83858 Posts: 9 Member
    Yikes! Okay, so I'm way low. Thanks for all the feedback!!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Yes, you should increase your calories. Why would you be in a deficit if you don't even want to lose weight? You need a calorie surplus along with a progressive lifting routine to build muscle, or eat at maintenance and follow a strength program if you don't actually want to build. You might try some carbs before working out instead of high protein.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    what are you eating pre/post workout? are you getting a good ratio of carbs to protein

    Meal timing around a workout is pretty irrelevant.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    katielee83858 wrote: »
    Yikes! Okay, so I'm way low. Thanks for all the feedback!!

    I highly recommend you come join us in: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1


    That thread is what you really should be looking at. It's called a recomposition. During this, you eat around your average maintenance, eat adequate protein and follow a progressive overload lifting program. This in turn will help improve body composition (fat loss + muscle gain) and improve how you look.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    what are you eating pre/post workout? are you getting a good ratio of carbs to protein

    Meal timing around a workout is pretty irrelevant.

    I think it was related towards energy levels.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    katielee83858 wrote: »
    I'm eating the exercise calories back, but it still equals about 1200. I've been out of the hospital for about two months at this point, so I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.

    then 1200 is not enough, you are lacking energy because you are not fuelling your body properly.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    what are you eating pre/post workout? are you getting a good ratio of carbs to protein

    Meal timing around a workout is pretty irrelevant.

    maybe for you - but I find if i do a 2:1 carb/protein ration about an hour pre-workout and an hour post workout - I feel better at the gym (more energy), recover better/feel less sore and sleep better at night

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