General energy boost

mo2go
mo2go Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been recording and using my app accurately for the last 7 days and have hit my calorie target most of the time. Enjoying the food and not missing too much. I have cut out most of the carbs, not all. But as the week has gone on I have felt lifeless and have no real energy. I am 63 and working from home so fairly inactive sitting at a desk all day.

What I am wondering is, if any, which vitamins would you recommend to boost just my mood and a little more energy to feel motivated. Thanks

Replies

  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    H20. Not a vitamin but see solid suggestions above or - better yet - check in with your healthcare team.

    Stay safe and best of health to you!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    You are probably feeling weak from lack of sodium (probably close to keto flu). When carbs get real low, you need to increase sodium content. Cutting carbs reduces water, which flushes electrolytes. This can lead to headaches, lethagy, cramps, etc...

    So either increase carbs or add a bunch of salt. While i am doing keto, i find i need 5000-7000mg of salt. And before anyone freaks out that its a lot of salt, your body is flushes most of those nutrients. Its different than consuming high sodium while fighting high blood pressure. Ironically, the moment i keto, my BP drops 10 points and so does my heart rate.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,255 Member
    With carbs around 100 or so, according to your food log, I guess electolyte imbalance is still possible, or if you're especially sensitive to carbs (in the sense that you are one of the people who has better energy eating some), that could be part of the energy level issue. Still, that's not an *extreme* low carb level, IMO.

    You seem to be eating in a pretty balanced way, actually - some protein, veggies, fats. That's good!

    I do wonder if you're undereating, though: If you're just starting out, until you have a month or so of experience-based personal data, I'd strongly encourage you to avoid undereating (trying to lose extra fast). I don't know about you, but I'm not as resilient to physical stressors as I was at age 20 (I'm 65 now, was 59-60 when losing weight). I ate too few calories for a while at first, got weak and fatigued: It turned out I was losing too fast. (MFP underestimates my calorie needs, which is rare, but it can happen.)

    No one needs weak and fatigued, and worse is possible. I have no way too be sure, but low energy could be a warning sign in your case. (It's possible to be not hungry, but still be undereating - in my case, I felt satisfied, and fine . . . until suddenly I was weak & fatigued.)

    I'd encourage you to set a target weight loss rate that's in the range of 0.5%-1% of your current body weight per week (with a bias toward the lower end of that range at first or if relatively little total weight to lose), not more. Then, eat every calorie the MFP estimates suggest you should to lose at that rate, *plus* a reasonable estimate of your exercise calories. I see that you have your Fitbit linked, to record your exercise calories (well, really activity calories - it will recognize types of activity that aren't formal exercise, as it should). For most people, Fitbit estimates will be fairly reasonable, as a starting point.

    Fast loss is tempting, but it can create health risks, reduce energy level (thus reduce calorie expenditure in daily life via fatigue, which is counter-productive), and be difficult to sustain consistently for long enough to lose a meaningful total amount of weight.

    If your goal from MFP is 1280 (as it looks like), I'd strongly encourage you to eat very close to that daily, *plus* your Fitbit adjustment calories . . . say, within +/- 50 calories of goal.

    Once you have a month of logging & weight loss data, if you find you're losing slower than predicted, and it would be safe to lose a little faster, you can always cut calories down a bit, such as by eating less of the Fitbit adjustment.

    P.S. Carbs are not some kind of special weight-loss doom. I ate 150g+ of carbs most days while losing weight, and lost weight just fine (too fast for a while, even, like I said). Obviously, if you have diabetes or insulin resistance or some such health condition, you may need to manage carbs carefully. Also, some people find that reducing carbs reduces cravings/appetite, and is useful for that reason. Other than that sort of thing, carb level isn't a big deal. Getting enough protein and fats is important for good nutrition, but carbs are more flexible, nutritionally.

    P.P.S. Thank you for opening your diary. That makes it easier to make suggestions, since we can look & see whether there are any significant nutritional issues, for example.

    Wishing you success!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Few questions:
    1. How tall are you?
    2. How many pounds do you have to lose before you hit your goal weight?
    3. What weekly weight loss goal did you select?

    1280 calories may not be enough for you, and you under ate (or did not complete your diary) some days.

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  • mo2go
    mo2go Posts: 30 Member
    @kshama2001 I am carrying a lot of excess weight. I want to lose around 30-35 lbs. I am 5ft 3ins and 243lbs. Size 20-22. I have been active until I hit 60 and life just got quieter. I have been a "Munro bagger" in the past so I have muscles in my legs and arms but the body is a bit wibbly now. I am not bothered in the pace I lose as long as I lose and my energy increases.
  • thisvickyruns
    thisvickyruns Posts: 193 Member
    eat some more carbs, set your calorie goal to a more appropriate number.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    At that weight 2lbs/week could be appropriate (for a while) but beware that rate of loss comes at a price of making the process much harder, makes getting optimal nutrition harder and can make a hard job even tougher.

    The #1 thing to avoid is giving up, it's far more important that you get to a healthy weight rather than the speed at which you get there. You need a serious think about sustainability both in overall calorie allowance and also in food/macro choices. Neither fast loss or drastically cutting carbs is compulsory.

    Is that 30 - 35lbs just an intermediate weight loss goal as I would have assumed losing 100lbs would be more likely as an ultimate goal?
  • mo2go
    mo2go Posts: 30 Member
    @sijomial you're going by what is expected. When I am around 14.5st i am a size 12 so size of clothing is my goal not weight. If I get there and feel i have to do more then i might but walking Scottish mountains and skiing again is my aim and being too slim is not my goal.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    mo2go wrote: »
    @kshama2001 I am carrying a lot of excess weight. I want to lose around 30-35 lbs. I am 5ft 3ins and 243lbs. Size 20-22. I have been active until I hit 60 and life just got quieter. I have been a "Munro bagger" in the past so I have muscles in my legs and arms but the body is a bit wibbly now. I am not bothered in the pace I lose as long as I lose and my energy increases.

    If you change your weekly weight loss goal to a pound a week, you will get 1,570 calories, which is a lot more doable.

    If you change your weekly weight loss goal to 1.5 pounds per week, you will get 1,320 calories before exercise, and those exercise calories might be enough to make this sustainable.

    From the post above this, I am wondering if you are eating back your exercise calories.

    On https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided the question "How many times a week do you plan on exercising?" just helps you set an exercise goal - this is not factored in to your calorie budget, so if you tell MFP you are Sedentary, but exercise, you are supposed to eat those calories back.

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