No energy to workout

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youmnahm96
youmnahm96 Posts: 36
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've reached my goal of 120 pounds a while ago ( i may have dipped below by a pound or two) and now I'm on maintenance. I work out about 5 times a week for about 30 minutes, mainly from FitnessBlender videos. I regard myself as sedentary or lightly active because I am a student and aside from my 30 minutes of exercise I mostly find myself sitting or sleeping. Most calculators say my maintenance calories are about 1600 to 1650; I've been eating at about 1400 because i still hope to reduce body fat. However, I feel like I'm really low on energy by the middle of the day but I can't eat more because I know I can't fit in any more exercise. Any suggestions?
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  • youmnahm96
    youmnahm96 Posts: 36
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    bump*
  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
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    you need strength training / lifting to reduce body fat.
  • bobbilum
    bobbilum Posts: 55
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    Have you checked your iron levels?
  • say_pocket
    say_pocket Posts: 54 Member
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    Maybe 1400 really isn't enough food for you. I work out for 30 mins 6 days a week and am 124lbs. My maintenance calories are 1670 AND I try to eat back the calories I work off. And my body fat levels are STILL dropping. I've even lost a couple pounds since I started maintenance. On top of all of that, you are younger than me by a few years, so you most likely just naturally burn more calories. You really need to eat enough to fuel yourself for those workouts.

    And I agree with chasetwins, you should try strength training if you haven't already. Building muscle is a great way to trim the fat and improve your overall body shape. You can only lose so much fat; you need that muscle to get a lean look.
  • lifeskittles
    lifeskittles Posts: 438 Member
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    Besides eating more food try Amino Energy. I buy it at a nutrition store but you can find it online Its phenomenal and really gives me energy to work out! Im a nursing studeny so I know the struggle.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
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    Kcal is fuel. Eat more!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Eat more. Have you put your numbers into MFP for maintenance and see what it recommends? Then log your exercise and eat that too?

    You can't add muscle without the tools your body needs to do it.
  • soundtrack
    soundtrack Posts: 57 Member
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    If adding weight training/muscle does not help, ask you doctor to check your thyroid levels. If you have hypothyroidism it can make you very tired. And it's pretty common... Daily dose of thyroid hormone and you're as good as gold!

    -Hoping adding muscle does the trick though!
  • farfromthetree
    farfromthetree Posts: 982 Member
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    Be sure you take your multi vitamin and I have found drinking Emergen c helps!
  • Kati3Mari3
    Kati3Mari3 Posts: 22 Member
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    Sometimes an hour before I head to the gym (and my energy is lacking) il grab a cup of coffee, and it helps put a pep in my step
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    You'll get the max benefit from your exercise when NOT in a deficit but eating at maintenance. Actually, body with lifting would like a surplus, but that's down the road.

    If you've reached healthy weight but still skinny fat, just means you did the loss wrong and likely had little or lost some muscle mass.

    So increase calories to maintenance level and as suggested, eat back those exercise calories.
    As you truthfully indicated, Lightly Active takes in to account your student life - but not exercise.

    Eating 150 extra calories daily (plus exercise calories), would only cause a 1 lb gain in weight if you were really eating over maintenance - in 23 days.

    So just be mentally prepared that if you gain fast water weight - you were NOT eating at maintenance.

    And ya, workouts suffer, especially if, I'm guessing here, you are grossly undereating, which I'll bet you are since no comment about eating more on exercise days.

    And indeed, if you ended up in this state because of doing the program wrong, warn others not to repeat your mistake. Wouldn't you have loved to have heard that awhile back?
  • youmnahm96
    youmnahm96 Posts: 36
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    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess the biggest thing that stops me from eating more is the fact that my workouts are not that intense. Body weight exercises are too difficult for me and my strength training background is very weak; I've tried to slowly build my strength but my athleticism always seems to fail me. Knowing this, I tend not to eat back my exercise calories because I suspect i haven't burned enough
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess the biggest thing that stops me from eating more is the fact that my workouts are not that intense. Body weight exercises are too difficult for me and my strength training background is very weak; I've tried to slowly build my strength but my athleticism always seems to fail me. Knowing this, I tend not to eat back my exercise calories because I suspect i haven't burned enough

    When you eat in a diet, your body does not recover as well as it could otherwise.

    When your body doesn't recover, it can't push as hard because it's usually tired, as well as not getting stronger.

    That would be one big reason why.

    But what are you doing exactly that you think isn't that intense compared to the MFP entry for calorie burn.

    Anything walking and jogging, if you really go that speed, is going to be very accurate. Strength training may appear low, but it is actually. And that's for you lifting your weight, not compared to what others can lift.
  • Lonestar5775
    Lonestar5775 Posts: 740 Member
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    I took a glance at your diary and it seems most days you are over on carbs but behind on proteins. So, it may be more a matter of the kind of calories you are eating rather than the quantity.

    Carb calories tend to not last very long while protein calories take longer to burn. I am not a nutritionist but you can search some forum threads and see which foods are higher in protein and lower in carbs. Maybe experimenting some while staying within your calorie limits will help.
  • idontcarroll
    idontcarroll Posts: 216 Member
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    You say you can't eat more when in fact you can eat more.
    Eat when you are hungry. Listen to your body.
  • Krustpie
    Krustpie Posts: 25
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    Hi, had a quick look at your food diary and you tend to eat less in a morning than you do as a late night snack, a consideration might be to swap that around so you have more energy in the day? But if you feel exhusted on a regular basis do have a health check at the doctors.
  • allysteven880
    allysteven880 Posts: 75
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    Eat more. But take a healthy diet.
  • ibleedunionblue
    ibleedunionblue Posts: 324 Member
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    I exercise in the evenings and I have found a short nap can help. A shower or some caffeine can also help to energize the body.

    I also found B12 supplements helped.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    You're 18 according to your profile. Eat more. Eat more even if you don't exercise at all.
  • youmnahm96
    youmnahm96 Posts: 36
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    It seems the consensus is to eat more, but with little strength training, is that definitely the best idea?

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