Workout Exhaustion

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cmh7770
cmh7770 Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been doing Jillian Michaels 90 Day Body Revolution for 2 months now and as the difficulty level increases I can feel myself getting stronger and have lost 12 lbs and many inches. Loving the diet plan as well! Problem is: when I do this workout anytime during the day I am completely shot, totally exhausted for the rest of the day. Literally, need to sleep for a while. Also, I get so hungry its ridiculous!!!! I can take the soreness but this is crazy. Anyone have any suggestions? Is there something I can do? I feel like this is sabotaging my diet efforts as I get so ravenous its just crazy. Am using this app to count my calories (sticking to 1200), I am 54 and have had total cariac checkup and blood, etc. I dont have any health issues other than hi blood pressure.
I just cant be running around exhausted all thetime...planning to put a few more carbs back into the diet.
Help?:yawn:

Replies

  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Eat back your exercise calories. Problem solved.
    Yes, it's really that simple. You need to NET a minimum of 1200 calories. Don't eat just 1200 calories and leave it at that. If you burn 200 calories during our exercise, you need to eat those 200 calories. You have to fuel your body like a car and give it gas, otherwise it'll stall out and get you a big fat nowhere.
  • FakingFitness
    FakingFitness Posts: 325 Member
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    ... and maybe add in a post workout protein drink.
  • lvnh
    lvnh Posts: 60 Member
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    Eat back your exercise calories. Problem solved.
    Yes, it's really that simple. You need to NET a minimum of 1200 calories. Don't eat just 1200 calories and leave it at that. If you burn 200 calories during our exercise, you need to eat those 200 calories. You have to fuel your body like a car and give it gas, otherwise it'll stall out and get you a big fat nowhere.

    Great advice. Thanks for the explanation
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Yes, definitely eat back exercise cals if you're not already. And are you taking rest days every week?

    Really, 1200 may not be enough for you, even if you eat back the burned cals. Do you have your goal set to lose 2lbs a week? If so, change it to .5 or 1 lb at the most - you don't have a lot to lose, so 2lbs a week is too aggressive. Changing it should up your calorie goal. Food is fuel - sounds like your workouts are intense, and you gotta fuel that machine!
  • cmh7770
    cmh7770 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thanks for the great suggestions. I've also been experiencing extreme hunger- thereby blowing my whole diet..tho I am a diehard counting these calories!
    Guess I will just k eep at it...Wondering whether this workout is just too aggressive for me to handle until I get stronger. What do u think? I am 54 almost 55... hmmm..I hate to backslide but thinking maybe I should re-do month 2 and do it strong. then try to go back to month 3...any suggestions?
    I seriously just want to get into the best shape ever..but...can't do it at the expense of feeling awful all the time...
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Thanks for the great suggestions. I've also been experiencing extreme hunger- thereby blowing my whole diet..tho I am a diehard counting these calories!
    Guess I will just k eep at it...Wondering whether this workout is just too aggressive for me to handle until I get stronger. What do u think? I am 54 almost 55... hmmm..I hate to backslide but thinking maybe I should re-do month 2 and do it strong. then try to go back to month 3...any suggestions?
    I seriously just want to get into the best shape ever..but...can't do it at the expense of feeling awful all the time...

    Your ability to recover from workouts does depend on your age. Do listen to your body, and modify the workout as necessary. You should also allow yourself enough rest *between* workouts, because as you age, it takes longer for your body to repair the microinjuries you sustain from strenuous exercise.

    How much more weight do you still have to lose, and how long have you been dieting? That will determine how big a caloric deficit you can tolerate. But if you are feeling exhausted and hungry, you definitely should be eating more.

    And perhaps have a look at this:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html
  • Pinkranger626
    Pinkranger626 Posts: 460 Member
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    I would say by your description that 1200 calories is waaay too low for you which is why you're blowing past them when you get hungry. Figure out your BMR (you can find an online calculator if you google it) and then complete the Harris Benedict's formula based on your activity level (again you can google this formula as well). Once you find that number, that is the number of calories you should be eating a day to maintain your current weight, you then want to subtract 300-500 calories from that to create your deficit, make sure it stays abover the 1200 mark though. I tried the whole eating back calories thing and it just got way too confusing and frustrating for me. Now I just shoot for a certain calorie number and don't log my exercise at all.

    Another thing I would suggest is to make sure that you're taking at least one rest day, and space your food throughout the day to keep your blood sugar from peaking and dropping, this should help with hunger as well. I space my food about every 3 hours, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.... bedtime snack if I have calories left. make sure you're eating enough protein and fiber to help keep you full too.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Listen to your body! If you're hungry, it means you're not eating enough and/or not enough of the right things. Per your ticker, you have about 20 pounds left to lose so make sure your weekly weight loss goal is set at 1 pound per week, if not 1/2 pound per week. Also, make sure you are eating back your exercise calories. As far as what foods - you need to make sure you are meeting if not exceeding the protein macro limit. Can't see your diary but as a general recommendation, eat more eggs, nuts, seeds, lean meats, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, protein bars and shakes. Legumes and some grains are also a good source of protein. This will help give you energy and help your muscles recover from the hard workouts.

    P.S. Also make sure you activity level is set correctly. Most people automatically go for sedentary but if you're fairly active in your day to day life, you may want to go with lightly active instead. This will give you more calories for your daily limit.
  • cmh7770
    cmh7770 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thanks so much for all your help! I totally need some educated and good friends here! I love Jillian's workout plan and am looking awesome but having issues with the total exhaustion. Jillian has us woking out 6 days a week with one rest day. Four strength training days with one cardio day in between. Its just half an hour and my mind is just blown that I cannot get through this. Guess thats what getting older is about but I refuse to give in to it. I'm stronger than ever - guess I just need to learn how to eat more and worry less about the whole "diet" thing but I am eating the plan which is mainly only lean proteins, healthy oils such as olive, coconut oil or avacado, lots of veggies and some whole grain carbs and fruit. Going to stop worrying about focusing on losing weight just being healthy but will continue to count my calories. I do think I'll go and eat back my calories though. But how will I lose weight if i do that consistently?

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