Overtraining?

revadiana

For me exercise isn't just about the physical effects. It makes me feel good. I like the endorphin rush. It's kinda like an addiction.

I hear you. I did almost 700 min last week between the elliptical, crossfit and tabata. It would have been more, but my gym is transitioning to new location. LOL

secretlobster

Train smarter, not longer. 3x / week with a comprehensive strength training program and 0-3x/week doing 30-60 minutes of cardio is all you really need.

Quoted for truth.
And because I'm of the same mindset, I think you should really reduce your cardio. You are burning your body out. Endorphins feel good at the time but if you're emotionally low after a workout, that's a sure sign that you are exhausting yourself too frequently.

Here's what I would suggest for the next couple of weeks:
Move around a lot during your normal day. Don't get on a treadmill for 60 minutes - Instead, 4-5 days a week, try intervals of sprinting and rest (walking) for 20-30 minutes. This is also how you will increase your overall endurance.

If you're a marathon runner and you really enjoy running for long periods of time, then by all means continue doing it... But it's not necessary at all. If you're spending 2+ hours at the gym, you are not maximizing efficiency.

callmeBAM

I agree with the guy who said "Train smarter, not longer." As science catches up with fitness and nutrition, it's being realized that shorter more intense workouts are much more beneficial than longer cardiocentric workouts.

PLEASE at least look this up: High-intensity interval training. Info from wikipedia (so it's gotta be true! j/k) "short, intense workouts provide improved athletic capacity and condition, improved glucose metabolism, and improved fat burning."

Just my two pennies. Proud of you for opening up and asking. Most people are to prideful to ask for help!
Even Socrates is credited with saying "As for me, all I know is that I know nothing".

solpwr

Not necessarily overtraining but you could be Bonking. Runners and cyclists "bonk" usually in the second hour of maximum or even sub-maximum effort when their body exhausts all of its glycogen stores. Without adding some fuel, it is impossible to continue at the highest level past 80 minutes. It usually sets in earlier. That's why time trial races for cyclists are engineered to be about an hour long. Maximum effort, no need for fuel during the race.

taso42

I totally "get" doing cardio for pure enjoyment. I was on major kick over the summer, doing a lot more running and cycling than usual, but my food intake on those heavy cardio days went up to compensate.

I think the key - not for this problem in particular, but for calorie counter people in general - is to have a realistic and pretty accurate way to measure your expenditure and intake; and keep a sane and reasonable calorie deficit. For you at this stage, I think 500 cals/day deficit would be sane and reasonable.

Without going into any calculations, it should be pretty clear to see that eating 1300/day while doing 2 hours of cardio is pretty unreasonable If the 1300 were net calories, then maybe. But even that seems pretty low compared to what many of the fit and active women on this site take in.

callmeBAM

Without going into any calculations, it should be pretty clear to see that eating 1300/day while doing 2 hours of cardio is pretty unreasonable If the 1300 were net calories, then maybe. But even that seems pretty low compared to what many of the fit and active women on this site take in.

Def agree with that!

shockedsoshocked

In my personal opinion I'd say you were doing too much, and not eating enough. If you've only been doing this for a month you're probably "over-reaching" as opposed to "over-trained", which is usually a long term chronic condition. However I'd say you're at a serious risk of going down that road if you don't scale it back a bit, and that will potentially take months to get over.

1500kcal or whatever you've said your personal trainer has you on is insanely low for your activity level.