Feeling blah and off

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

Okay I know I’m fat ish (5’4” 215 lbs) so yeah over weight but I look and feel good at 150 anyways I’m always tired always feel off. Even when I fall asleep I get weird feelings of over tiredness and just weird sensations. What diet changes can and will make me feel good ? I don’t even care so much to lose weight at this point I just want to feel vibrant help please. Similar stories to success would be amazing too

Nony_Mouse · November 2020

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

Nony_Mouse · November 2020

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

Well, jumping from fad to fad and being all over the place isn't doing you any favours, which presumably you know. This is a good post to get you started on a far better strategy: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

AnnPT77 · November 2020

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

+1 to recommending you switch to consistent well rounded nutrition on average, most days, and stick with it for a while (like at least a couple of months). One day off here or there is NBD, just get back at it. Either eat at estimated maintenance calories, or a small bit under, since you don't much care about weight loss.

Are you exercising? What type, how long, how often? Exercising too much can have the symptoms you mention, either too much volume for current fitness level, or too intense too frequently (things like HIIT are extra fatiguing). On the flip side, not enough exercise can also cause the symptoms you mention. (Balance is the goal, and what balance means depends on current fitness level.)

You say "*even* when I fall asleep": How much sleep do you get on a typical night? Is it more or less the same start/end times for sleep, or extremely variable? Do you wake up during the night? If so, can you fall back asleep, or not? Do you wake up with headaches, sore-ish throat, dry mouth, or sore jaw?

You mention anxiety, think it's not a problem. What about stress? Anything stress-y going on in your life, from job - school - family or whatever?

kshama2001 · November 2020

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

You could keep a food diary and track how you feel after you eat. Doing this helped me realized my body hates stevia, even in small amounts, and to find other trigger foods.

What I eat makes a big difference in how I feel, as does regular exercise, which is crucial to my mental health, and also allows me to sleep better.

Also, you are carrying around 65 extra pounds, which is in of itself tiring.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

)

You say "*even* when I fall asleep": How much sleep do you get on a typical night? Is it more or less the same start/end times for sleep, or extremely variable? Do you wake up during the night? If so, can you fall back asleep, or not? Do you wake up with headaches, sore-ish throat, dry mouth, or sore jaw?

You mention anxiety, think it's not a problem. What about stress? Anything stress-y going on in your life, from job - school - family or whatever?
[/quote]

So my sleep pattern is also annoyingly all over the place. Every weekend I stay up very late and usually wake before 8AM during the week I stay up until about 11 and wake for 6:15 I do wake up during the nights. I just feel groggy when waking. I have a sleep test done earlier this year and she said I have very slight sleep apnea not need for a machine or anything. Maybe I’m still tired from staying up to late on the weekends.
Stress well I don’t feel stressed. I did just take on a big job at work. Training is a year with more responsibility given every so many weeks. I’m doing well but it is a lot. I enjoy it so maybe it’s stressful. My husband just lost his job (big hit with income ) but again I don’t feel very stressed. Our sons school just went full remote due to covid and now my husband gets to home school him so he sorta lost his job at a good time if there is such a thing maybe underneath I’m stressed and do not realize but I honestly don’t feel it.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

kshama2001 wrote: »

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

You could keep a food diary and track how you feel after you eat. Doing this helped me realized my body hates stevia, even in small amounts, and to find other trigger foods.

What I eat makes a big difference in how I feel, as does regular exercise, which is crucial to my mental health, and also allows me to sleep better.

Also, you are carrying around 65 extra pounds, which is in of itself tiring.

Good idea nothing ever bothered me before I know we change maybe I’m having issue with some foods and do not realize it. And I guess 65 lbs is a lot. Even though I know this I guess I have a hard time believing it makes me feel yucky but I’m sure it doesn’t help. I don’t know if I will fully realize unless I’m able to drop some weight which sometimes seems impossible

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

Oh and I walk about 30 mins a day and sometimes we trail walk/hike as a family we did today :-)

springlering62 · November 2020

I was 222, and always tired. I complained and complained to my doctor. She prescribed B12 injections but pretty much bluntly told me I needed to lose weight.

Then after yet another plaintive visit, she gave me a prescription for thyroid meds.

After reading the absolutely terrifying pharmacy handout that came with the prescription, I had a lightbulb moment. Maybe she was right about the weight.

I asked if she’d retest me in ninety days and she agreed. Three months later I was down forty pounds (too fast, in retrospect) and she told me I didn’t need the prescription. The GERD was gone, too, and I had stopped using the CPAP. I no longer felt as tired.

To put it into perspective, that was like wearing a weeks worth of groceries, 100% of the time. Or toting a giant sack of potting soil on my back everywhere. Or a having a small child clinging to me nonstop.

If I feel tired now, it’s a better feeling of tired, which I’ve earned from exercise which further contributes to my health.

It’s about as opposite of a vicious circle as you can get.

You choose. Fat and tired but enjoying those unlimited nom noms, or healthy, slimmer and tired and enjoying those same nom noms- just less of them.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

springlering62 wrote: »

I was 222, and always tired. I complained and complained to my doctor. She prescribed B12 injections but pretty much bluntly told me I needed to lose weight.

Then after yet another plaintive visit, she gave me a prescription for thyroid meds.

After reading the absolutely terrifying pharmacy handout that came with the prescription, I had a lightbulb moment. Maybe she was right about the weight.

I asked if she’d retest me in ninety days and she agreed. Three months later I was down forty pounds (too fast, in retrospect) and she told me I didn’t need the prescription. The GERD was gone, too, and I had stopped using the CPAP. I no longer felt as tired.

To put it into perspective, that was like wearing a weeks worth of groceries, 100% of the time. Or toting a giant sack of potting soil on my back everywhere. Or a having a small child clinging to me nonstop.

If I feel tired now, it’s a better feeling of tired, which I’ve earned from exercise which further contributes to my health.

It’s about as opposite of a vicious circle as you can get.

You choose. Fat and tired but enjoying those unlimited nom noms, or healthy, slimmer and tired and enjoying those same nom noms- just less of them.

Thanks. Makes me feel less alone and apparently I’m not the only stubborn one ;-) Maybe it really is the weight. I must do something geeze adulting is hard

springlering62 · November 2020

Trust me, it’s the weight.

If I can do this, you can do it. MFP is an amazing resource if you’re willing to put in the effort.

It hasn’t been hard or self-punishing or poor poor pitiful me at all. Had I known it was this easy, I would have done it years ago. Basically, it all boils down to honesty in logging, and a massive dose of patience.

gracegettingittogether · November 2020

I’m 5’4 and weighed 216 before starting to lose weight at the end of August. I too felt yucky all the time, didn’t sleep well, was sore when I stood up from sitting and always felt tired. I’ve lost 17 lbs so far, and am sleeping great, have much more energy, no more brain fog, and am not sore anymore.

You can do this! You will feel so much better !

Duck_Puddle · November 2020

I’m 5’4” and started at 233. My doc was talking to me about WLS. I had a hard time with...everything.

Once I got under 200, I had more oomph. I had gradual improvements in mobility, energy, agility, etc as I dropped more.

Around 150 I lost nearly all my exhaustion, my aches and pains and I was able to run pretty fast and life was grand.

In the 160’s, I’m still free moving and athletic-I run long distances and can carry the groceries and stuff, but I notice the extra weight. I sometimes just linger with the 50 pound bag of dog food to remember what that felt like to carry around all day (and I was dragging more than that).

Reading some of the comments here-the new diet every other week isn’t helping. Especially when they are far-type diets with shakes and juicing and things that aren’t filling, nutritionally sound or sustainable. None of those things are required to lose weight (and are likely contributing to how awful you feel).

Sticking to something you can do long term (forever) that includes all the food groups (and nutritional needs) and is stuff you like to eat - that will be much better. Plug your numbers into mfp. Tell if you want to lose a pound a week. Log your food. If you do exercise - add that in and eat (at least some of) those calories.

You don’t get bonus points for suffering through weight loss. The easier you make it (by eating more food, eating things you like, doing activities you like, etc) the more likely you will be to stick with it and be successful.

Carrying the extra weight is not easy. It’s actually pretty exhausting. Eating well and real food (consistently) will also help.

You’re definitely not even close to alone.

AnnPT77 · November 2020

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

)

You say "*even* when I fall asleep": How much sleep do you get on a typical night? Is it more or less the same start/end times for sleep, or extremely variable? Do you wake up during the night? If so, can you fall back asleep, or not? Do you wake up with headaches, sore-ish throat, dry mouth, or sore jaw?

You mention anxiety, think it's not a problem. What about stress? Anything stress-y going on in your life, from job - school - family or whatever?

So my sleep pattern is also annoyingly all over the place. Every weekend I stay up very late and usually wake before 8AM during the week I stay up until about 11 and wake for 6:15 I do wake up during the nights. I just feel groggy when waking. I have a sleep test done earlier this year and she said I have very slight sleep apnea not need for a machine or anything. Maybe I’m still tired from staying up to late on the weekends.
Stress well I don’t feel stressed. I did just take on a big job at work. Training is a year with more responsibility given every so many weeks. I’m doing well but it is a lot. I enjoy it so maybe it’s stressful. My husband just lost his job (big hit with income ) but again I don’t feel very stressed. Our sons school just went full remote due to covid and now my husband gets to home school him so he sorta lost his job at a good time if there is such a thing maybe underneath I’m stressed and do not realize but I honestly don’t feel it.

If you can make it work, try improving your "sleep hygiene" (I quote the term because it's standard; you can do an internet search on the term for tips). Basics are pre-bed rituals, controls around the sleep conditions (darkness, temps, etc.), and (especially) consistent sleep/wake times. (There's more.) For some people, just the inconsistent schedule, even with enough hours most nights, can play havoc. If inadequate sleep duration/quality, or that thing where some nights are short and you try to "make up for it" . . . well, that's Not Good.

If you have significant stressors, but don't feel stressed, consider whether it may be suppressed/internalized. (It may not be, but it's worth a thought.) Consider experimenting with some stress-reduction techniques, like a daily wind-down (aromatherapy bubblebath, a little simple yoga, prayer, meditation, . . . whatever).

To solve this, it will be necessary to analyze it as a solvable problem, not just see it as an insurmountable obstacle. Believe me, I know that's not easy (but I'm not going to go into a personal testimonial to justify saying that). Identify some experiments to try, try them for a sensible amount of time in a structured way, monitor, see what helps, and work your way through it. The sense of mastery that comes from working it can be helpful in itself.

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Oh and I walk about 30 mins a day and sometimes we trail walk/hike as a family we did today :-)

That should not be a big issue, i.e., it shouldn't be a problem. (In contrast to what I hinted at in my PP: Sometimes people go for a new high-intensity high-volume exercise routine all at once, starting from zero, and don't understand why they feel fatigued after a while. At the other extreme, some people are "too tired to exercise at all" which is a strategy that can result in digging into fatigue even deeper. Balance is somewhere in the middle, and it sounds like you're somewhere in the middle. Good show! I'm not saying there's no way a change in exercise would help, but it doesn't sound likely to be a critical part of the problem, compared to some other stuff, IMO.)

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

It's hard to advise on changes when we don't know how you currently eat. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

Have you seen a doctor recently and had blood tests run to check for deficiencies, blood sugar level, thyroid, etc?

Unless you have an underlying medical condition causing the tiredness etc, just losing weight will help considerably. For that, you can just enter your details into MFP and eat the number of calories it gives you. Eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods will give you the most bang for your calorie buck, and provide you with the most nutrients.

Yeah doctors says I’m fine. They claim it’s all anxiety (it’s not) I tend to be all over the place eating. One week I’m doing slimfast thr next I’m doing smoothies then I’m not eating meat I’m literally all over the place one week no dessert unless it’s fruit week after I’m eating Oreos. If I’m being honest

You could keep a food diary and track how you feel after you eat. Doing this helped me realized my body hates stevia, even in small amounts, and to find other trigger foods.

What I eat makes a big difference in how I feel, as does regular exercise, which is crucial to my mental health, and also allows me to sleep better.

Also, you are carrying around 65 extra pounds, which is in of itself tiring.

Good idea nothing ever bothered me before I know we change maybe I’m having issue with some foods and do not realize it. And I guess 65 lbs is a lot. Even though I know this I guess I have a hard time believing it makes me feel yucky but I’m sure it doesn’t help. I don’t know if I will fully realize unless I’m able to drop some weight which sometimes seems impossible

For sure, 65 pounds can be a lot.

I lost a bit less than that (somewhere between 50 & 60) back in 2015, when I was 59-60. By that point, I'd become pretty athletic (had been for around a decade, even while staying obese), so I thought my energy level was good. By goal weight, I noticed that I'd been lumbering through life before, and my smaller self was kinda scampering; I noticed that I'd been budgeting trips up and down the flight of stairs in my house when fat, and was running up and down multiple times daily for trivial reasons as a thin person.

It makes a difference, IMO. It comes on slowly, with the gradual loss, may not even be noticeable, but it can happen. Quite often around here you'll see someone write something like "I carried a 25 pound bag of dog food out to my car today; I can't imagine how I used to manage to carry twice that much weight around on my body every hour of every day." Yup.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

Everyone you have no idea how much these comments have meant to me :-) it has me excited and hopeful !! I truly appreciate all the time you each spent to speak with me !! I’m inspired to feel better !!

yirara · November 2020

springlering62 wrote: »

Trust me, it’s the weight.

If I can do this, you can do it. MFP is an amazing resource if you’re willing to put in the effort.

It hasn’t been hard or self-punishing or poor poor pitiful me at all. Had I known it was this easy, I would have done it years ago. Basically, it all boils down to honesty in logging, and a massive dose of patience.

If you're unlucky it might not be weight though. When I started losing weight I was super tired (I was tired for months), felt miserable, constantly sick. I lost the weight and nothing changed. Turned out my gp had no idea how to interpret thyroid and b12 bloods. Oh, your B12 of 260 is above the range; you're fine. Well, no. I wasn't. Once another doctor put me on very regular shots I started improving. Heck, I lost my work due to this. Fixing the thyroid issue later solved the last big problem and I finally felt normal again. Honestly, it was hell: I had the body I wanted, and felt half dead just because this doctor had no idea.

(ok, there are still other things ongoing, but at least I'm able to work, to concentrate, to move without crashing).

kshama2001 · November 2020

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

So my sleep pattern is also annoyingly all over the place. Every weekend I stay up very late and usually wake before 8AM during the week I stay up until about 11 and wake for 6:15 I do wake up during the nights. I just feel groggy when waking. I have a sleep test done earlier this year and she said I have very slight sleep apnea not need for a machine or anything. Maybe I’m still tired from staying up to late on the weekends.

Stress well I don’t feel stressed. I did just take on a big job at work. Training is a year with more responsibility given every so many weeks. I’m doing well but it is a lot. I enjoy it so maybe it’s stressful. My husband just lost his job (big hit with income ) but again I don’t feel very stressed. Our sons school just went full remote due to covid and now my husband gets to home school him so he sorta lost his job at a good time if there is such a thing maybe underneath I’m stressed and do not realize but I honestly don’t feel it.

Has your husband filed for unemployment?

I will take this opportunity to let anyone who might be reading know that people who are not normally eligible for UI, like independent contractors, anyone who gets paid on a 1099, the self employed, etc., are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA):

https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

(Googling "PUA + your state" will be more helpful. Anyone in MA who needs help feel free to send me a DM.)

**************

I lost my job in June and wasn't so much stressed about that, but we got a $600 weekly bonus from the feds that ran out end of July, and then there was six weeks of a $300 weekly bonus, and Congress has been unable to agree on what's going to happen next - all the uncertainty on how much I am going to receive was originally stressful, but now I am just resigned to not knowing until something happens. If not as soon as I like, I am optimistic that something will happen late Jan/early Feb.

WickedWitchy13 · November 2020

kshama2001 wrote: »

WickedWitchy13 wrote: »

So my sleep pattern is also annoyingly all over the place. Every weekend I stay up very late and usually wake before 8AM during the week I stay up until about 11 and wake for 6:15 I do wake up during the nights. I just feel groggy when waking. I have a sleep test done earlier this year and she said I have very slight sleep apnea not need for a machine or anything. Maybe I’m still tired from staying up to late on the weekends.

Stress well I don’t feel stressed. I did just take on a big job at work. Training is a year with more responsibility given every so many weeks. I’m doing well but it is a lot. I enjoy it so maybe it’s stressful. My husband just lost his job (big hit with income ) but again I don’t feel very stressed. Our sons school just went full remote due to covid and now my husband gets to home school him so he sorta lost his job at a good time if there is such a thing maybe underneath I’m stressed and do not realize but I honestly don’t feel it.

Has your husband filed for unemployment?

I will take this opportunity to let anyone who might be reading know that people who are not normally eligible for UI, like independent contractors, anyone who gets paid on a 1099, the self employed, etc., are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA):

https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

(Googling "PUA + your state" will be more helpful. Anyone in MA who needs help feel free to send me a DM.)

**************

I lost my job in June and wasn't so much stressed about that, but we got a $600 weekly bonus from the feds that ran out end of July, and then there was six weeks of a $300 weekly bonus, and Congress has been unable to agree on what's going to happen next - all the uncertainty on how much I am going to receive was originally stressful, but now I am just resigned to not knowing until something happens. If not as soon as I like, I am optimistic that something will happen late Jan/early Feb.

Yes he did apply :-) thank you. It’s pending which is weird to me it’s about as straight forward as it get. I know they’re busy. Fingers crossed something comes of it soon

Feeling blah and off

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