Calorie deficit and feeling awful- why am I stuck?

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Bulldogs1717
Bulldogs1717 Posts: 47 Member
in Getting Started
Hello

I’ve been trying to lose a modest amount of weight (about 5 lbs) and mostly concerned with body recomp. I’m working out daily at a modest calorie deficit and I’m feeling very tired often - not just in workouts, but also in my everyday life- feel like I don’t have energy. Has anyone else encountered this and have any tips to overcome? I just feel very stuck on the scale and mentally.

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  • Katelookingreat
    Katelookingreat Posts: 10 Member
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    I’m going through the same thing right now. I read about feeling awful while dieting and several nutritionists said that’s just your body adjusting to a new healthier diet. Basically, your body gets used to eating junk and when you try to switch easy fast sugars for more slow burning fruits and vegetables your body sorta freaks out. All the articles said to make changes slowly and bear with the discomfort until your body adjusts to healthier food. That should take a couple weeks. If it helps, almost everyone who starts a diet goes through this. Good luck!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Could be very mild COVID symptoms, too. Just a thought.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    Are you eating back enough of your exercise calories?

    Have you been to the doctor recently for comprehensive blood tests?

    What do you consider a 'modest' deficit?
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
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    Maybe an obvious question, but what is your sleep like? Are you getting a solid 8 hours at night?
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    Cassandraw3 wrote: »
    Maybe an obvious question, but what is your sleep like? Are you getting a solid 8 hours at night?

    Studies show most people do not require 8 hrs of sleep a night. Just putting that out there.

    Also, unless the OPs sleep schedule suddenly changed at the same time as changing their diet, I would find it highly unlikely to cause this issue.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    edited August 2020
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    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    Cassandraw3 wrote: »
    Maybe an obvious question, but what is your sleep like? Are you getting a solid 8 hours at night?

    Studies show most people do not require 8 hrs of sleep a night. Just putting that out there.

    Also, unless the OPs sleep schedule suddenly changed at the same time as changing their diet, I would find it highly unlikely to cause this issue.

    Link to these studies? Nearly every study I've seen states the average adult requires 7-9 hours of sleep. Sleep is when our bodies recover and repair. The sleep schedule may not have changed, but when you add a workout routine to an already existing poor sleep pattern, it can cause this issue.

    ETA: I would also like to add we don't "need" 8 hour of sleep, but our bodies perform best getting that amount.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    edited August 2020
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    My point was that the OP didn’t suddenly cut calories AND start sleeping less and therefore it’s a lack of sleep causing the problem.

    7 hrs of sleep is enough for most adults FYI.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
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    Are you staying well hydrated? Getting lots of protein and enough carbs?
    I don't exercise(lazy that way) and take in about 1200 calories a day; sometimes I lack energy but up the water, increase protein and veggies, day or 2 later I'm feeling a bit more energized. Could be the heat; I have no clue where you are but I do know the heats zaps any energy I have and it's a hot day here today. Are you depressed or stressed; could be a mental fatigue that's causing lack of energy? Maybe? Just a thought.
    Hope you're feeling more energetic soon!!
  • pourmonsoleil
    pourmonsoleil Posts: 15 Member
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    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    My point was that the OP didn’t suddenly cut calories AND start sleeping less and therefore it’s a lack of sleep causing the problem.

    7 hrs of sleep is enough for most adults FYI.

    It is possible that they did both cut calories and start sleeping less. People often change more than one thing at a time in their life. For example, someone who is trying to "get healthy" may quit smoking and eat more fruits and vegetables at the same time. Or they may decide to cut calories and get up early each morning to exercise cutting into their sleep time.

    The following peer-reviewed systematic review on sleep articles may interest you:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6267703/

    I will point out that, while the article states that there is no ideal sleep time, no known authority on sleep recommends under 7 hours sleep for adults and some recommend more. The ideal amount of sleep is also reason specific, so, the ideal amount of sleep for cognitive function may be different than the ideal amount of sleep for losing weight. From same article:

    Optimal sleep should be conceptualized as the amount of sleep needed to optimize outcomes (eg, performance, cognitive function, mental health, physical health, quality of life, etc). This implies that there might be many dose–response curves that may differ in shape between outcomes.54 Typically, the peaks of each health outcome should fall somewhere within the recommended sleep duration range. However, the exact amount of sleep to get each night for optimizing all relevant health outcomes is not straightforward or ubiquitous as the optimal amount for one outcome may not be the same for another outcome (eg, 9 hours of sleep per night could be the ideal for athletic performance, while 7 hours could be the best for academic achievement). Also, determining the causal effects of sleep need on health is not an easy task and requires experiments (eg, interventional study designs with improved vs reduced sleep, both acutely and chronically applied, and then assessing outcomes on physiology, well-being, health, and behavior).

    Very interesting stuff! Thank you for inciting me to look it up!
  • MarieBuch10
    MarieBuch10 Posts: 24 Member
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    Have your iron and ferritin levels checked. I have problems with such extreme fatigue I literally crawl upstairs and have had to use the wall for support while I’m walking. I’m 26 and otherwise in good health but my recent blood tests showed EXTREMELY low ferritin levels. I’ve since been prescribed ferrous sulfate and without changing anything else feel a million times better. Idk if you’re female but especially if you are a menstruating female I’d get this checked!
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    edited August 2020
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    Bulldogs1717 wrote: »
    Hello

    I’ve been trying to lose a modest amount of weight (about 5 lbs) and mostly concerned with body recomp. I’m working out daily at a modest calorie deficit and I’m feeling very tired often - not just in workouts, but also in my everyday life- feel like I don’t have energy. Has anyone else encountered this and have any tips to overcome? I just feel very stuck on the scale and mentally.

    Not sure; you're a little vague and without an open diary? At this point we would be guessing....
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    What does your daily exercise consist of: What type of exercise, at what intensity, for what time period, with what daily/weekly schedule? Over-exercising (in a variety of forms) can result in fatigue, after a period of time.

    Also, on the sleep/calorie deficit question, I'd make one observation: Stress accumulates. Sleep that was just barely adequate may be a tiny stressor, or not a stressor at all. Add a calorie deficit (even a small one), that's another stressor. Add new exercise, or increased intensity, another stressor. Maybe sub-optimize some aspect of nutrition**, another stressor. Stress from job/family/pandemic/politics/whatever, that counts, too.

    Maybe no one of those things is a problem . . . all of them, stacked up, can be a problem. Maybe even all of those stacked up are OK, for a while, but doing it for a long time can catch up with us eventually. Fatigue is one possible result.

    ** That's not intended as an accusation. 🙂 Nutrition is a learning process. With reduced calories, it's pretty easy to aggravate an almost-deficiency (vitamin D and magnesium sub-optimum intake are statistically common, for example). Have you had blood tests? Also, some change that's seen as positive can maybe have unrealized implications at first (vegan need for B12 supplementation, essential amino acid issues for new vegetarian/vegan, low fat diet taken too far, low carb diet in someone whose body doesn't handle that as well, etc.).

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