Low Carb/Exercising Starting to Feel Bad Overall

tdegidio

My wife and I started about 5 weeks ago with a pretty simple plan. We would try to keep carbs less than 50g per day (not including fiber, vegetable carbs, or fruit carbs), calories under 2000 per day, and going to the gym 3 times per week. We go to Planet Fitness and do their 30 minute circuit, as well as 20 minutes of cardi0 (bike, eliptical, treadmill).

I started at 378, she started at 320, i'm down to 356, she's down to 304, so what we're doing is working, BUT, lately we've starting feeling really run down. We work out tuesdays, thursday and saturdays, and the thursday and saturday workout days, we both feel like we can't do the same intensity we were doing on that tuesday. What i mean by that, is i will throw the same weight as i did tuesday on all the weight machines, and i will get to my painful point far quicker than i would on tuesday, or 20 minutes on elliptical will absolutely kill my legs, compared to tuesday where they have their normal soreness.

I'm wondering if we're not eating well for this type of workout regiment? Or of our bodies are still getting used to this kind of exercise, or if maybe we're trying to do too much weight too quickly, or maybe there's something missing from our diet, it's pretty heavy in protein as we try to eat a lot of lean meats(chicken, turkey), and try very hard not to over do it on fat like cheeses, and dairy.

When we first started going I'd get that workout high, and love myself after working out, but this last week i just felt dead after each workout.

wftiger

Are you getting enough vitamins? Take a multi and at least 2000 IU Vitamin D every day that should help.

I keep my carbs about 75 per day and have for 9 months. I didn't work out the first 4-5 months so maybe that is why I didn't struggle with being tired to begin with. I have tons of energy now and I work out 40+ minutes on the elliptical and 20 resistance 6 days a week.

jones137

How much protein are you getting? Protein helps substantially in the recovery process.

asticoral

Can't see what your diet is like, but on the offset I'd suggest dropping 2 or 3 days at the gym and go for good lengthy walks, scenic hikes, swimming or biking for a month or two.
Reshaping your healthy eating habits and getting moving in the right direction as you both are will net you both a positive outlook.

magj0y

I would suggest going to a 'maintenance' diet for a few weeks.

exactly what your body needs for now. and then go back.

-slowly introduce your body back to carbs, do it full on a few weeks, and the reduce again.

fjrandol

Wow congratulations to you both on starting your weightloss journey together. Looks like you're off to a roaring start!:happy:

It's entirely possible that you might simply need more food overall. It does seem counterintuitive, but especially when you're working out you'll want to make sure you're doing as much as possible to help yourself along. Check out this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Hope you find it helpful!

Lyssa62

Can't see what your diet is like, but on the offset I'd suggest dropping 2 or 3 days at the gym and go for good lengthy walks, scenic hikes, swimming or biking for a month or two.
Reshaping your healthy eating habits and getting moving in the right direction as you both are will net you both a positive outlook.

this was a GREAT response. Sometimes a "body" just needs to do something different!

JustMagpie

I would believe not enough carbs. I think just tracking is good but really mix it up. Maybe do a day of higher carbs, have a rice or a patato to through in the mix. We eat really low carbs, low sodium. I find when I am tired I am eating not enough protien. Carbs makes me sleepy so I try to stay away!

AnvilHead

Can't see what your diet is like, but on the offset I'd suggest dropping 2 or 3 days at the gym and go for good lengthy walks, scenic hikes, swimming or biking for a month or two.

Dropping 2 or 3 (of their 3 days a week) at the gym? Definitely not the advice I'd give. Strength training (along with adequate protein intake) helps spare lean body mass (i.e. muscle) as you lose weight - much more effectively than cardio. See the study linked here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10204826

I'd also second the link fjrandol posted - Dan's "roadmap" has helped many people get on the right path.

shar140

Could also be your electrolytes out of balance, I know I get fatigued when mine are out of whack. Or like someone else mentioned, maybe you do need more food. This has happened to me as well.

omma_to_3

I'm wondering if you're just pushing too hard on your workouts. I'm not a fan of low-carbing, but, 50 g of carbs may be reasonable if you're not counting fiber, fruits, or veggies. What if your actual carb intake a day?

Nessiechickie

I'm the same eater, also i just don't really crave bread or pasta.
But I eat very low carbs, but I go almost 30-60 over my protein goal intake just to have that energy.
Also maybe if your into this stuff try EnergyMio or Mio in general great for energy for not calories or those lil 5hr energy.

Maybe your also just getting bored of the workouts, try something that puts a kick into it.... kickboxing?

MTBrob

Your body is still adjusting to the change.. Going from a Carb rich diet to a lower carb in take can take its toll over time.. However its just a adjustment period.. Keep pushing.. through I would probably shoot for 30% carbs in your diet... 50g carb is crazy low..

Lets see your diary

eyebex

Get on a good lifting program. If you're working the same muscles on Thursday as you did on Tuesday they WILL be tired. They need time to repair after each workout.

Congrats on your progress so far!


edit: oops, just noticed that you're only doing cardio, not weights. Please disregard my reply (except the congrats part)

mnlght535

Seeing your diary would definitely be helpful to get a better understanding of what your diet is like. I don't think that exercising 2-3 times a week is overdoing it but I think it is probably something maybe lacking in your diet and your bodies are adjusting to the difference in diet and exercise. Both will take time for your body to become accustomed too. But, definitely seeing your food diaries would help

toaster6

Less carbs means less energy so I'd suggest trying to get more carbs-- just watch what kind of carbs you get. I think you have the right idea getting your carbs from whole grains and veggies but you might be taking in too little for your body. I'm not your doctor so obviously, I couldn't say for sure. I know that for myself, if I try to work out on days I've consumed only a small amount of carbs I can't work out for as long or as hard. Also, I would suggest maybe lightening you workouts; maybe try 2 days of intense workouts with a couple of days of lighter workouts for awhile and slowly work up to more intense work outs. You might be burning out by jumping in too quickly.

meeka472

If you are going to be doing high intensity exercise, you've got to add more carbs. Protein is good for strength training but as soon as you add in a lot of cardio you've got to up the carbs. They are what fuel you during intensive exercise. Even if you read the Adkin's Diet book they warn about doing too much high intensity exercise on the diet.

I started out doing a low carb diet when I first decided to lose weight...keeping my carbs below 50mg per day. Like you and your wife I found that I did not have energy for cardio workouts when I went to the gym. When I increased my carbs, I still lost weight but I also found I had more energy to exercise.

On the days that you are going to be working out, try to increase your carb intake in the meal before you go to the gym.

kjw1031

Do you get enough sleep during the work week?

Lots of people feel very energetic at the beginning of the week because they just spent the weekend "catching up" on their sleep, then they don't get enough throughout the work week and become tired by Thursday and Friday.

tdegidio

Wow, thank you for all the replys, they are very helpful. I have made my food diary public, I'm kind of embarrassed at some of it, we do take 1 meal a week as a high calorie 'cheat' meal, otherwise we may go a little crazy. As far as my percentages, i try to keep it at 10% carb, 45% protein 45% fat.. i've also been thinking that maybe we're dropping carbs too much, so on tuesday we decided to add 1 complex carb serving at least once a day, twice a day on a workout day.

I kind of feel like i'm not compensating for the low carb with enough protien, so this week when I went grocery shopping i got a lot more turkey substitutes for beef. We definitely still want to stay away from simple carbs and sugars still for the general week, but for instance, added whole grain wheat bread.

We had decided a few weeks ago to have a carb serving on gym days before we went, but for me it was some plain cheerios, and for my wife it was plain oatmeal. So maybe not enough?

As far as sleep goes, we have a 3 month old baby, and, sometimes we can get a good 5-6 hours of sleep in, but, more often than not we'll be up 4 times every night, and be snagging naps whenever we get a good chance. It's still rare that i genuinely feel like I haven't gotten enough sleep during the week.

I really don't want to cut out a day at the gym, we were forced to do that this week due to a sick baby, and we paid for it the following gym day feeling like we hadn't been to the gym in years.

lhergenr

I've been doing the "low carb" thing but I'm trying to stay below 150 g and I'm still seeing good results. Not sure if that even counts as low carb but I think compared to the average American diet, it indeed is. I'd suggest upping the carbs a bit but still keeping an eye on them.

BigGuy47

I do "lower carb" or "less carbs" (150 g /day) instead of low carb. It works for me. Low carb (50 g / day) is too low for me.

wswing

You are not eating enough carbs. Try to keep your macros at 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat. Make sure your carbs are high quality, low glycemic...no white flour or white potatoes.