Feeling down, low-energy and fatigued since passing goal weight phase.

Amber_hanson27 wrote: »

Ok just for the sake of safety go get a check up at your doc get some lab work done...the basics. Might just be lacking some iron or other nutrients for that matter if your a little under weight. Also get a new goal!! Try a fitness goal of some kind to help you change things up at the gym. Boredom is a downer for sure. I have a major goal to do x amount of chin ups. Trying to focus on fitness and health might be a better fit for you right now. Put the scale away for a bit and try to get your groove back. You may need to find a therapist to talk to also if you are really feeling off. Be honest with yourself. Best of luck to you.

I've recently increased the variety of foods I usually eat to include cooked and raw veggies.

@Amber_hanson27 and @MamaBirdBoss - yes I think its time for a new goal...but I'm not sure what goal to have! It used to be weight loss..but I've never heard of weight maintenance as a goal! Maybe muscle? But I'm not sure what kind of 'muscle' am I looking at!

RodaRose wrote: »

faithyang wrote: »

[*] Always feeling cold - I used to have a good tolerance to cold. Now cold is really getting to me. Its winter out there but its my first winter where I'm actually staying in because it's cold.
[*] Food. I will get sudden flashes of extreme craving which linger for a short period of time, then it vanishes and I completely stop being hungry. Or it may linger in the back sort of like a light haze but not enough to compel me to eat.
[*] I get full very easily. I either get full extremely easily to the point where I can't finish a small bowl of fruit. Or the one or two times I literally inhaled a very substantial amount of food which I found out wasn't actually even 2000 cal but below 1300 cal. Then I can't eat the entire day.
[*] Just overall feeling demotivated. But I'm keeping my exercise routine and my lifestyle habits still remain - meaning I still mentally watch what I eat quite naturally.
[/list]

What is the problem? I'm just feeling really low.

I'm now at my goal weight and I know it isn't a 'happy ending' but I didn't expect to drop into such a blue state.

See a doctor for an examination and blood work ~~ complete blood count (CBC), thyroid, other hormones, . . .
Here is a thread about people's experience after losing weight. Lots of folks mention feeling cold:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10087100/what-nobody-tells-you-about-losing-weight#latest

Thanks @RodaRose, I'll def have a look through.

Amber_hanson27 wrote: »

Ok still go get some labs done...we need to regardless. I've got the thyroid thing and it can get you feeling blah. But for the fun stuff think of something crazy and go for it. How about that one armed push up ect. So much work, so much fun. The sky is the limit. It's up to you how awesome you want to be!!!

Thanks @Amber_hanson27 for that spark of positivity! I've suspected I had the thyroid thing a while back but I was worried that it was an excuse I was using subconsciously to be 'lazy' so I just pushed it back.

I'll definitely look into some interesting goals to mix it up and make it interesting! You're right, if I'm blue, the world will also be blue, but if I make the effort to brighten up my world, it will be sunny and light. It's all about perception and I will try to remember this if I fear getting stuck in a rut!

deladypilot wrote: »

I agree with everyone else in that it is probably time to get a check up. There may be nothing wrong but you will now have a baseline in the drs files. As to the other part...When we finally make our minds up to go for a weight loss/fitness goal and we achieve it we are left with the feeling that we no longer have anything to do. You were on a high of sorts and now that you are no longer after that goal your body is in withdrawl. So set yourself a new goal as mentioned. It can be anything. Pick something you have always wanted to do or learn. Pick something that will take some time to work towards.

Last but not least join a maintenance group here on the boards. Sharing with others that are going through the same thing might be of some help.

You got this.

@deladypilot, thank you! You made a very strong point...that I may be going through a sort of withdrawal after the high of reaching my goal...it really seems to be the case. My exercise isn't filled this 'brimming with positivity' but more of a compulsion now that I must do, or get anxiety.

Thanks alot for pointing this out and big hugs to everyone for their encouragement.

raregem99 wrote: »

Thanks for posting this, it could very well help others to take notice if they are experiencing these things also.

Regarding the drollery of the workouts, do you think maybe you could go dancing with friends or by yourself? You'd only be cold until you got into the venue and you're burning calories and knocking out the social needs all at once. Live music? Having some food there as well? If there's anything I can do let me know, I'm more than happy to be an unjudgmental ear

@raregem99, aw *hugs* thanks for the support!

Well I tried Zumba once or twice and honestly it made me realise why Asians are notorious for karaoke and not for the good reasons either lol! Every Asian in the room including myself were stomping around like elephants on vodka - absolutely no rhythm whatsoever. Every other race were just sexing it up with great moves and great rhythm! It was hard to have fun watching myself in the mirror and then the super sultry (and complicated!) moves of the instructor. My goodness I did not know dancing was SO HARD.

I don't know any friends who go dancing...but there's an idea, maybe I can try a sport - at least I can cover up bad rhythm with just clumsy at sport using the excuse "I was trying to catch the ball, that's why!".

ndj1979 wrote: »

how many calories per day are you consuming/netting op?

@ndj1979, this is a tricky one.

I had been trying to stay within and around 1200 a day during my weight loss phase. It wasn't a strict regimental "I will die if I don't do 1200" but it did come with low to immense anxiety if I overshot my 1200 cal a day - and I would make up for it.

After I met my goal weight and went through a stressful period of about 2 weeks it was between 900-1000 a day as a guesstimate. That's when I realised I got too skinny and moved to up my calories. But the weird thing is that despite trying to up my calories I found that I would eat a meal and I would be so physically full if I ate anymore I would feel really sick, and the amounts I was eating were deceptive huge but low in calories (Example of an evening meal: Vietnamese chicken pho soup, one serving of pho noodles, maybe a small side dish or two of some cooked vegetable dish, big pile of raw beansprouts, shredded cabbage, mint, cilantro and sliced chillis. Washed down with green tea.). The calories of those would be no more than 600, max. Lunch I can only manage a bowl of fruit, most of the time I can't finish even that. I have coffee and milk (latte or greek coffee) in the morning with non-fat milk and sweetener. Sometimes a small biscuit.

I also maintain cheat days but that stressful period of eating just screwed up my stomach. I cannot take rich foods without having my stomach so bloated I cannot eat until the next day.

Yesterday I had a triple stack of home made pancakes in an effort to add more cals - 1 peanut butter stuffed pancake, 1 nutella stuffed pancake, 1 choc chip pancake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and maybe a spoonful of peanut butter ice cream, maple syrup, home-made dark chocolate ganache sauce. It was almost about 1000 cal? It was my first substantial junk food meal and also with added sugar (not counting fruit and the two biscuits I had) in weeks - literally.

I managed 2 and 1/2 pancakes and the first bite (first actual added sugar in 4 weeks) I was a woman possessed. The dopamine was amazing, the sugar rush was so intense! Immediately after I swear I could have had space to slip back into my pre-weight binge habits.

But half an hour later I was so physically stuffed and sick, my belly was distended, I was bloated. It was horrible. I couldn't eat until 12pm the next day. I then tried non-sugar high cal foods and had some Asian food. Lemongrass chicken steak with rice and egg on top. I had that with ice milk tea. Ate everything and left 1/2 the rice which was bigger than my head. I had almost forgotten how huge portions outside are after eating in for long so many weeks.

OH MY GOD. SAME STOMACH PAINS. In fact I felt dizzy, nauseated and breathless walking back home. It's a cycle. I can't eat too much because I don't really feel like to or I can't physically eat too much, but I need to gain weight. But yet I simply can't manage a balance - I don't want to slip back into binging, but I don't want to slip into an eating disorder of that other nature either.