It was hard today.

MusicalMelanie11
MusicalMelanie11 Posts: 71 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
My energy level has been pretty low for the past couple of days. I don't know if I'm not getting enough sleep, or enough nourishment, or what. I'm on 1200 calories, and doing C25k. I do some body weight exercises on the days I don't jog. Today I mostly just did some squats, lunges, and some leg lifts. I just didn't have the energy to do much more, and I've been tired all day. Also, I've been hungry all day! I don't understand, I've been doing this for about a month and I have been able to satisfy my hunger by making good choices. I've met my protein goal for the day (90g), so shouldn't I feel full? Usually when I meet my protein goal by the end of the day, I feel like I couldn't eat another bite. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Maybe I should up my calorie intake just a bit? Maybe I should let myself go over 1200? I've been trying not to eat back exercise calories, but still get close to 1200 calories. I'm taking a multivitamin every morning. I'm supposed to jog again tomorrow, but I'm just so tired. Any tips please? Have any of you had days where you just feel drained?

Edited to add: I'm not sure I trust my digital scale, it's been known to give quite different numbers just by stepping off and back on. I'm weighing about a pound less this week than last week (125-126). Of course, my waist isn't seeing any benefit, but that's a different story. Maybe that has something to do with it? I'm in a healthy range for my height and age, so maybe I should slow down?

Replies

  • _incogNEATo_
    _incogNEATo_ Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited July 2015
    A few questions:
    Did you set 1200 or did MFP calculate that for you?
    What is your weekly loss rate set at (.5, 1, 1.5, or 2lbs)?
    Are you eating back some of those exercise calories?

    Depending on your level of patience, you could play with upping your calories a bit over time and see if you continue to lose. I see that you only have 15 pounds to lose. If that's a healthy weight, your diet will need to be dialed in pretty good to see results.

    ETA: I did not see your weight in the original post before editing. What is your height?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    _incogNEATo_ wrote: »
    A few questions:
    Did you set 1200 or did MFP calculate that for you?
    What is your weekly loss rate set at (.5, 1, 1.5, or 2lbs)?
    Are you eating back some of those exercise calories?

    Depending on your level of patience, you could play with upping your calories a bit over time and see if you continue to lose. I see that you only have 15 pounds to lose. If that's a healthy weight, your diet will need to be dialed in pretty good to see results.

    ETA: I did not see your weight in the original post before editing. What is your height?


    In to know as well. You might want to shoot for .5 lbs per week if you aren't already.
  • MusicalMelanie11
    MusicalMelanie11 Posts: 71 Member
    edited July 2015
    _incogNEATo_ wrote: »
    A few questions:
    Did you set 1200 or did MFP calculate that for you?
    What is your weekly loss rate set at (.5, 1, 1.5, or 2lbs)?
    Are you eating back some of those exercise calories?

    Depending on your level of patience, you could play with upping your calories a bit over time and see if you continue to lose. I see that you only have 15 pounds to lose. If that's a healthy weight, your diet will need to be dialed in pretty good to see results.

    ETA: I did not see your weight in the original post before editing. What is your height?

    MFP calculated that for me, my loss rate is set at 1/week, but I haven't been losing at that rate. It's actually not budged for the past 2 weeks until now. If I set it to .5/week, it would give me a little more than 1300. I've thought about setting it to that, but I chicken out every time because I'm scared that would stall my loss entirely and I'll lose motivation because I'm seeing even less of a result (I know it's silly since it's not that big of a calorie difference, but that's how my mind works, lol) I do eat back some of the exercise calories, just not all. I usually try to half it.

    My height is 5' 2.5". Yeah, I've meant to edit that 15 pound goal actually, as I think that could actually land me underweight, or almost (115). I've seen where people have started trying to recomp when they reach a healthy weight but still want to see results. My goal is really more about my waistline and general physique than how many pounds I weigh. Is it possible to do that at a deficit? Or maybe I should keep going with what I'm doing and push through whatever this is. All good things worth fighting for, and all that jazz.
  • _incogNEATo_
    _incogNEATo_ Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited July 2015
    Seems like you're going about this the right way. If you're truly hungry and feeling weak, you should probably eat. I'm not sure how much you're burning for your exercises, but it goes back to patience. I'm also not sure of a reasonable amount of calories to try and add to your daily intake but it's experimental. Maybe some users will come along that can recommend an amount to up your calories. For some reason, I feel like I've read something like a hundred more per day for a week at a time.

    It also sounds like measurements and the mirror would be better indicators of your success from here on out.
  • MusicalMelanie11
    MusicalMelanie11 Posts: 71 Member
    _incogNEATo_ wrote: »
    Seems like you're going about this the right way. If you're truly hungry and feeling weak, you should probably eat. I'm not sure how much you're burning for your exercises, but it goes back to patience. I'm also not sure of a reasonable amount of calories to try and add to your daily intake but it's experimental. Maybe some users will come along that can recommend an amount to up your calories. For some reason, I feel like I've read something like a hundred more per day for a week at a time.

    It also sounds like measurements and the mirror would be better indicators of your success from here on out.

    Thanks. I'll see how I feel after a few more days before I change anything. Maybe I'm just having an off day. I'm not weak per se, just tired and more hungry for whatever reason. I have a sinking feeling that I'm losing from everywhere except my waist, but I'll start measuring everything. Thanks for your help!
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