Really fatigued every night but not hungry or losing too fast...

You might want to get your Dr to check your iron levels, they could be low. Good luck

my4570 wrote: »

@harper16 that is true, I usually don’t burn 600 calories though (usually 350-450), yet will still feel fatigued. I will try to up my calories a bit more, but I don’t think exercise calories are that accurate so I’m concerned about losing any deficit.

@Nyxinu I got blood work done about 5 months ago and everything was fine; I take an iron, B-complex, and calcium supplement each day. Is it really possible to get deficient within a few months? But thank you, I might consider getting new blood work in the future.

The calorie burn can be off, many people only eat back a portion. Start with 1/3rd of your burn and see if that helps with the energy. Gradually increase as needed.

Have you majorly cut carbs recently? Sometimes severely limiting carbs will make you feel fatigue, they call it the “keto flu” I think.

my4570 wrote: »

@ALZ14 that’s a good idea; I might just up by 50-100 for now since I’m sure it’s not inaccurate by 200+ cals? Also I definitely am not keto, but does the keto flu apply to reductions in carbs in general? I used to eat like 60-65% carbs before tracking (I’m vegetarian and used to not watch protein so I’m pretty sure I’d only eat like 50g/day) but have since reduced it to 45-50%. I still eat a lot of carbs though relative to keto.

@AnnPT77 thank you for these interesting points! I eat quite balanced, 50% carb/30% fat/20% protein, I try to hit 70-80 g protein/day. Not low carb at all. I take supplements for iron, B-complex, and calcium. I eat fruit and veg daily; I pretty much eat the same types of foods every day though. I can’t tell which nutrient is missing besides maybe that I don’t tend to eat a ton of salt? My blood work was fine for all the big nutrients like calcium, iron, sodium, potassium etc about 5 months ago. I have subclinical hypothyroidism but not close to actual hypothyroidism.

I’m actually really curious about this point about sleep you make. I’ve actually recently (past 2 months) have been having bad sleep in terms of constantly waking up at night/super restless. I used to never wake up in the middle of the night (before deficit); I thought maybe I just haven’t been as tired because it’s summer. I would say I started IF for a bit longer than the deficit (for about 5 months total vs 3 months deficit) but for years I used to skip breakfast but eat snacks nearly every night. Which is related to BED so I obviously actively have been avoiding eating after 8.

The “keto flu” would apply if you greatly reduce your carb intake, you don’t have to go full keto. Not everyone experiences this and it can happen at various levels, so if you cut carbs by a decent amount that could be the problem (or a contributing factor).

This is totally, totally anecdotal but I was having the same issue. I would be exhausted by mid afternoon and couldn’t hold my head up. It was like the sofa cushion was nap-magnetic.

I increased my calories and really worked on increasing protein within that calorie increase. That seems to have helped.

I eat a ton of Greek yogurt, and started eating a simple sandwich with a good quality sliced deli chicken when I saw protein was faltering. Sometimes I’ll even just roll the deli meat up into “pirouettes” and eat them plain.

my4570 wrote: »

@ALZ14 that’s a good idea; I might just up by 50-100 for now since I’m sure it’s not inaccurate by 200+ cals? Also I definitely am not keto, but does the keto flu apply to reductions in carbs in general? I used to eat like 60-65% carbs before tracking (I’m vegetarian and used to not watch protein so I’m pretty sure I’d only eat like 50g/day) but have since reduced it to 45-50%. I still eat a lot of carbs though relative to keto.

@AnnPT77 thank you for these interesting points! I eat quite balanced, 50% carb/30% fat/20% protein, I try to hit 70-80 g protein/day. Not low carb at all. I take supplements for iron, B-complex, and calcium. I eat fruit and veg daily; I pretty much eat the same types of foods every day though. I can’t tell which nutrient is missing besides maybe that I don’t tend to eat a ton of salt? My blood work was fine for all the big nutrients like calcium, iron, sodium, potassium etc about 5 months ago. I have subclinical hypothyroidism but not close to actual hypothyroidism.

I’m actually really curious about this point about sleep you make. I’ve actually recently (past 2 months) have been having bad sleep in terms of constantly waking up at night/super restless. I used to never wake up in the middle of the night (before deficit); I thought maybe I just haven’t been as tired because it’s summer. I would say I started IF for a bit longer than the deficit (for about 5 months total vs 3 months deficit) but for years I used to skip breakfast but eat snacks nearly every night. Which is related to BED so I obviously actively have been avoiding eating after 8.

Personally, I went for a little higher protein while losing (80-90g+), but had a slightly higher calorie allowance, too, I believe. I'm also vegetarian, eating 100g+ in maintenance now, no protein powder or bars (though those can be good options). I do eat a lot of dairy, but think I could get to those targets fully plant-based. Depending on protein sources, and because you say you tend to eat the same foods, I also wonder if essential amino acid imbalance is possible.

Vitamin D is an issue for some. I agree that magnesium could be good to try.

I'm wondering whether significantly reducing carbs and sodium at the same time could be meaningful - I don't know if there's "subclinical keto flu" because I won't come within 50 yards of keto myself (not opposed to it for others, but it's not for me). How low is your sodium intake? How are your potassium intake levels? (Some of the other electrolytes were already mentioned.)

One thing to be aware of is that MFP tracks potassium poorly (not on lots of labels). If your food choices are fairly consistent, you could do what I've done a few times, which is spot-check a couple of typical days against a more comprehensive database (USDA or Self, for example).

Sure sounds like sleep quality could be a contributor here, from what you say. I won't try to diagnose why it's happening. I've seen some here say that reduced calories per se reduced their sleep quality, or that they needed to eat something shortly before bed in order to sleep well (apologies for saying that, as I understand that that's out of reach for you, but I mention it as speculatively within the realm of explanatory factors). I've just seen people post those kinds of things, I don't know whether they've accurately diagnosed themselves, of course - most of us change a number of things when we seriously undertake weight loss, and it's hard to sort out all the causes and consequences.

One potential contributor to fatigue that I think I didn't mention previously is cumulative stress. Many of us have stressful lives, even before this pandemic-related stuff entered the picture. So, that's now added. A calorie deficit, or an increased exercise load, are also stressors (they can be "good" stress or have positive benefits, but it's still an addition to the stress on each of us as complex organisms). That's just another thing to think about (just what you needed, eh? 😉). For some, managing cumulative stress helps with fatigue.

Best wishes sorting this stuff out - your thoughtful approach bodes well for you reaching a solution!

You might consider pre-adding your typical average exercise calories to your 'net' calorie allowance here if extra calories tied to exercise is a possible obsessive problem for you (ala TDEE method). (or if it's possible to change your mindset about the exercise - make it something you like and want to excel at, rather than doing it because you are supposed to for good health,.. then it might be possible to view the exercise calories as necessary to fuel your performance in the chosen sport as opposed to doing the exercise to get those calories). (to be fair, I have both of those simultaneously going on in my own head).

Especially if said exercise is in the heat and you are sweating a fair bit, then definitely add some decent electrolyte capsules. (several others above me on here have suggested the possibility of low magnesium or potassium). if any issues with muscle cramping or restlessness at night, then definitely this. (my use of the word "decent" largely applies to the fact that many brands of electrolyte capsules neglect to add magnesium, and in my experience, is a really bad one to leave out).

You've averaged a good lb or more a week. That's actually NOT slow within the normal weight range and as a percentage of your TDEE.

You're not going to get to 110lbs and then you're done and all is good. Weight management better continue past that if you plan on maintaining!

So... time to increase calories. You've been losing at an effective -500 Cal based on your logging (13lbs and 3 months) . That easily leaves you room to eat 300+ Cal more a day while dropping the last 5 lbs leading into the new year.