What Is My Body Doing?

mjnyx

For all you fitter-than-I people out there, I need some "professional" advice here.

I have officially started my second week of Turbo Fire and I feel very accomplished! I have done every single workout I was supposed to; and some days, if I didn't feel like I gave it 110%, I even did an additional ab workout or core session or 15 minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session (also to keep my activity level up as my job is a bit sedentary). In the past eight(8) days I have burned roughly 5,110 calories in 465 minutes (last Sunday through this Sunday).

In the beginning of the week, I felt awesome. I had tons of new-found energy(haven't had energy like that in a while) and I was super optimistic about this new venture. But the past few days, I have been feeling very tired and fatigued. I am thinking this may be a normal thing, but I want to make sure. I'm new to the whole working-out-at-high-intensity-6-days-a-week thing , but isn't regular exercise supposed to make you feel energized? I did do a week of power yoga and then a little over a week of Jillian Michaels before diving into Turbo Fire and I would feel sore but I would feel good. Energized, happy. I swam almost every day for the entire summer of 2011 and I felt the same way(lost 40lbs, too). Now that I'm doing Turbo Fire, I'm not exactly terribly sore and I'm not energized either. I just feel tired and a bit discouraged. Is this a normal reaction to daily high-intensity activity levels, at least at first while you're getting used to it? Or am I pushing too hard or not pushing hard enough? I'm at a complete loss here. The workouts are fun, and they're challenging, but I always feel like I probably could have given that workout a bit more. But sometimes I just don't have energy. Is this just my head telling me that or is my body just not able to keep up? Or am I doing just fine and if I push harder I'll just get burnt out or injure myself?

I have lost 3 pounds in this first week of Turbo Fire but I lost an average of 3 pounds a week doing yoga and Jillian Michaels, too. And I started out weighing 288 lbs (now down to 279) so I feel like all of these new activity levels and all of this new healthy eating should make someone of my weight lose a little quicker? (I know it slows once you get lighter but I am quite overweight and this lifestyle is new.) I thought I might be gaining muscle while losing fat but my clothes don't feel any bigger yet--wouldn't I be getting at least a little smaller with more muscle and less fat?

Am I just worrying over nothing and I'll start losing more once my body "catches up?" Is that all it needs is to catch up?

I don't know if I'm getting enough calories each day, either. Could this be part of it as well?

meshashesha2012

if you're absolutely certain that you're eating enough to fuel yourself then check to make sure you're probably hydrated.

when you work out like that you need more than water. since youre losing electrolytes in your sweat. even though i hate it, i now have 4-6 ounces of coconut water after my workout. doing that also got rid of the random muscle cramps i was getting in my feet and calves and stopped my eye twitches

are you eating back your exercise calories?

mjnyx

I get muscle cramps in my feet/legs too. I've tried coconut water and unfortunately I hate the taste of it. I have thought about getting some type of recovery drink for right after my workouts, though. Mike's Mix Recovery Drink has pretty good reviews on Amazon, has anyone used that?

No, I don't eat back my exercise calories. In fact, I worry that I don't eat enough calories as it is--making me wonder if that's the cause of my fatigue? (I recently posted "Help! Not Enough Morning/Day Calories!" under Food and Nutrition for a clearer picture of my eating habits.)

meshashesha2012

i hate the taste of it too, but it's the best thing i've found. i just drink it fast and make sure it's cold.

i also found that the zico chocolate flavor doesnt make me think that i'm drinking rat milk like i do with the regular.
also eat your exercise calories back. if you arent eating nough food then logic would dictate that you arent giving your body enough energy, right? we're not plants so it's not like we can convert energy from sunlight

jelr

As far as recovery drink just go simple. If you don't have medical reason to avoid actual milk a cup of chocolate milk is a simple, quick and easy recovery pick me up.

Also that is a huge calorie burn and you may really want to double check that you are eating enough calories, and the right types, you do need carbs fats and proteins. This can cause fatigue so if you haven't calculated your TDEE and all it may be time to look into that. Search for "in place of a roadmap 2.0" here on the forums. They lay it all out for you there.

susannahsutton1

Check your salt. If you do lots of exercise and eat healthily, you will be sweating which is a combo of salt and water, then drinking lots of water and probably not eating salt because it's not healthy. So far so good.

Except, your body needs a certain level of salt to absorb the water. If you don't have enough salt in your system, you get cramp. If you get it really wrong like I once did when I was a competitive athlete, you faint and cause the competition to come to a grinding halt... Ahem.

Check your pee colour - if it is pretty much clear, all the water you are drinking to rehydrate is probably going straight through you and not actually rehydrating you.

Also eat your exercise calories back or you will not have enough fuel a couple of days down the line and your body and muscles will just turn on you and go "no thanks"

mjnyx

Except, your body needs a certain level of salt to absorb the water. If you don't have enough salt in your system, you get cramp. If you get it really wrong like I once did when I was a competitive athlete, you faint and cause the competition to come to a grinding halt... Ahem.

Facepalm. LOL

jzammetti

Lack of energy is most typically a lack of fuel response - I cannot see your diary, but are you sure you are eating enough?

DopeItUp

You don't have your diary open. If you're losing 3lbs a week you're probably in a very significant deficit.

Eat enough calories to support your activity. No idea how much you're eating but it's probably too little. Get enough protein - lean body mass in grams of protein I would recommend. Make sure you're eating your exercise calories back if you're exercising intensely.

Drink enough to stay hydrated.

Rest enough to recover properly. This means sleep and also means rest days.

It sounds like you did 6 days of intense activity in a row, probably on too little calories. That would crush anyone. Being in a deficit will hurt recovery, being in too big of a deficit will run you into a wall in no time. Depending on the intensity of exercise, you may need rest days between workouts (or at least, lower activity exercise like low intensity cardio - walking, elliptical, etc).

Weight loss while exercising is a delicate balance. You want to eat at a decent deficit to ensure weight loss but not SO low that you can't fuel your workouts. A little trial-and-error is probably your best bet here.