Am I Overtraining? Need advice on my activity level!

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peachpowertogo
peachpowertogo Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone:
(5'3)
My more normal weight is around 103-105 pounds, but I currently weigh 92 pounds. I lost the weight in a span of five months recently due to exercising more than my usual. I find it hard to believe that I lost so much weight by just walking at a fast because I know some people run for miles and don't get sore like I do. I also ate more but it seemed to cancel out. I did it compulsively due to stress, but I want to find a balance because before I didn't workout as much. I do feel sore a lot of the times, but don't understand why maybe everybody is different and it's too much for me even though it's not super rigorous. Here's an overview of my situation.

My activity level before:
98-105lbs (1,600 calories)
-Walking around house, lots of walking around university campus, taking the stairs, rarely went out for walks on the weekends
-My 15min cardio and strength/yoga routine

What made me lose crazy weight
92lbs (eating 2,100 calories)
-All of the above plus walking at 4mph for an hour daily and a twenty minute walking session

Now
92lbs (eating 2,100 calories) WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT
-Like my activity level before but still keeping an additional 20min walk

Replies

  • ndannenfelser
    ndannenfelser Posts: 5 Member
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    Sounds like you might not be giving your body enough time to recover? You may try to increase your protein intake for better recovery. I'd suggest maybe getting on some amino acids (building blocks of protein) to help the recovery process. If you want to gain weight, you may decrease the time of your walking sessions at the gym and keep foods consistant daily. Keep in mind that everyone is a little different (gender, body type, insulin sensitivity, recovery rate, genetics, etc). My biggest advice is listen to your body! If you're sore, you may need to skip the additional walk or add in some nutrition. Hope this helps! :)
  • StevefromMichigan
    StevefromMichigan Posts: 462 Member
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    If you are losing, you must be burning more calories than you are taking in. I wouldn't think you would want your weight going any lower than that, so you seem to have three options: Exercise less, Eat more, or exercise a little less and eat more.

    If you truly enjoy your exercise, and want to keep your current routine, then you need to up your daily calorie intake significantly to accommodate.

    What you didn't say was how long it took you to lose the 10 lbs or so that got you to 92 lbs.

    In just reading what you have written, you may be pushing it too hard on the exercise, since you are sore all of the time. My recommendation would be to cut back a little on exercise and eat more.
  • StevefromMichigan
    StevefromMichigan Posts: 462 Member
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    I should also mention that you are underweight for your height, and that can bring undesired health issues. If you have a hard time consuming enough calories, maybe substitute some of your foods for calorie rich foods like ice cream, peanut butter, nuts, etc. Don't have to go overboard, but enough to boost your daily calories up.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    More information on how you are sore would be useful. Are your legs feeling fatigued? Is it your shins? It might be just down to your stride and perhaps over striding when walking fast.

    If you keep losing you'll need to either way more or workout less.
  • peachpowertogo
    peachpowertogo Posts: 6 Member
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    LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »
    More information on how you are sore would be useful. Are your legs feeling fatigued? Is it your shins? It might be just down to your stride and perhaps over striding when walking fast.

    If you keep losing you'll need to either way more or workout less.

    Yes! I take long strides and walk at a really fast pace

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