Still Waking Up Groggy

Mfloyd7719 wrote: »

The past couple of nights I’ve slept over 8 hours, and have not been setting an alarm. I’m finding it hard to get moving in the morning until after my coffee and breakfast. I’m also finding myself lacking energy through the day despite my daily vitamin and an increase in my protein intake. I’m trying to balance my meals throughout the day and drink enough water.

Any tips on waking more refreshed? And maybe having more energy daily?

Is the morning grogginess a new thing, or something you experienced before attempting weight loss? (I'm assuming that's your goal, based on your intro post, though I don't think you said that explicitly.) How long have you been at this, and how much weight have you lost in that time?

If the grogginess started with your new routine, what is your calorie goal, height and current weight? (From your PP I'm suspecting your daily life is pretty active - work and home stuff, not even considering intentional exercise. If that's not right, what is the scenario?)

Have you started a new exercise routine, and if so, is that substantially intense, lengthy or challenging to your current fitness level?

If you don't want to answer these questions, that's fine . . . but others here may have better suggestions for you if you're willing to provide more information.

You can see what I'm getting at, I'm sure: We all want to drop weight like it's hot, but that can come with a fatigue penalty.

You already sound (from the other post) like you have a busy and possibly stressful life. A calorie deficit is a stress, the bigger the deficit the more the stress.

A new exercise program is also a stress, and it's a bigger stress if it's unnecessarily extreme for current fitness level. (Usually, the sweet spot is exercise that's just a manageable challenge to current fitness level, through the cumulative effect of intensity, frequency, duration, and exercise type(s). A brief "whew" feeling right after exercise is fine, but ideally you'd feel energized, not exhausted, for the rest of your day. That's going to be best, IMO, both for weight loss and fitness goals. Exercise that leaves you exhausted bleeds calorie burn out of your daily life, wiping out some of the exercise's calorie benefits. On the fitness front, recovery is where the magic happens, so constant pedal to the metal won't let that happen.)

On top of that, simply changing our routine is a psychological stress.

All of the stresses - physical and psychological - are cumulative. That matters, to the extent that any of those apply to you. Stress is fatiguing, draining. We need to manage it, for success at weight loss and fitness, rather than maximizing it. Serious improvement takes time and patience.

Maybe this isn't you, but too many people arrive here with an aggressive plan, high enthusiasm and motivation. It can include maximum weight loss rate (the 2 pounds/1kg per week thing) even when that's unsuitable to their current size. It can include punitively intense, frequent exercise (daily HIIT kind of thing, even). It can include revolutionizing eating habits, stopping eating perceived "bad foods", "junk food", "fast food", "treats"; and switching to perceived healthy foods that require new shopping and cooking habits.

Typically there's a honeymoon period, where they feel good, and feel like they're making
progress. Then, maybe suddenly, they feel tired, they drag, maybe loss slows (through a combination of slowed calorie expenditure from fatigue, plus stress-related water retention). They get discouraged, feel like the effort isn't worth all the difficulty. They maybe crave treats they've put off limits, maybe have a full regression to the temptation of old habits for a meal or day or so. Before long, it's common that we never hear from them again . . . well, maybe in a year or so with a "going to make it work this time for sure" post.

Maybe that's not what's going on with you - I hope not - but if any of those elements sound familiar (even if not all), the answer would be a more manageable, realistic plan.

Best wishes!

Mfloyd7719 wrote: »

Is the morning grogginess a new thing, or something you experienced before attempting weight loss? (I'm assuming that's your goal, based on your intro post, though I don't think you said that explicitly.) How long have you been at this, and how much weight have you lost in that time?

If the grogginess started with your new routine, what is your calorie goal, height and current weight? (From your PP I'm suspecting your daily life is pretty active - work and home stuff, not even considering intentional exercise. If that's not right, what is the scenario?)

Have you started a new exercise routine, and if so, is that substantially intense, lengthy or challenging to your current fitness level?

If you don't want to answer these questions, that's fine . . . but others here may have better suggestions for you if you're willing to provide more information.

You can see what I'm getting at, I'm sure: We all want to drop weight like it's hot, but that can come with a fatigue penalty.

You already sound (from the other post) like you have a busy and possibly stressful life. A calorie deficit is a stress, the bigger the deficit the more the stress.

A new exercise program is also a stress, and it's a bigger stress if it's unnecessarily extreme for current fitness level. (Usually, the sweet spot is exercise that's just a manageable challenge to current fitness level, through the cumulative effect of intensity, frequency, duration, and exercise type(s). A brief "whew" feeling right after exercise is fine, but ideally you'd feel energized, not exhausted, for the rest of your day. That's going to be best, IMO, both for weight loss and fitness goals. Exercise that leaves you exhausted bleeds calorie burn out of your daily life, wiping out some of the exercise's calorie benefits. On the fitness front, recovery is where the magic happens, so constant pedal to the metal won't let that happen.)

On top of that, simply changing our routine is a psychological stress.

All of the stresses - physical and psychological - are cumulative. That matters, to the extent that any of those apply to you. Stress is fatiguing, draining. We need to manage it, for success at weight loss and fitness, rather than maximizing it. Serious improvement takes time and patience.

Maybe this isn't you, but too many people arrive here with an aggressive plan, high enthusiasm and motivation. It can include maximum weight loss rate (the 2 pounds/1kg per week thing) even when that's unsuitable to their current size. It can include punitively intense, frequent exercise (daily HIIT kind of thing, even). It can include revolutionizing eating habits, stopping eating perceived "bad foods", "junk food", "fast food", "treats"; and switching to perceived healthy foods that require new shopping and cooking habits.

Typically there's a honeymoon period, where they feel good, and feel like they're making
progress. Then, maybe suddenly, they feel tired, they drag, maybe loss slows (through a combination of slowed calorie expenditure from fatigue, plus stress-related water retention). They get discouraged, feel like the effort isn't worth all the difficulty. They maybe crave treats they've put off limits, maybe have a full regression to the temptation of old habits for a meal or day or so. Before long, it's common that we never hear from them again . . . well, maybe in a year or so with a "going to make it work this time for sure" post.

Maybe that's not what's going on with you - I hope not - but if any of those elements sound familiar (even if not all), the answer would be a more manageable, realistic plan.

Best wishes!

There’s been an abrupt change in my lifestyle in the past few months twice. I started a new contract for work on day shift, which I haven’t done in quite some time, and then an immediate change back to night shift. That alone has messed with my circadian rhythms, though my sleep app says I’m sleeping well at night when I’m off, I’m waiting for more definitive data about my sleep on work days.

I did start a new program. Macros 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat. 1250 calories with an allowance of 50 in either direction. And daily movement. One walk, an assigned workout several days a week, plus one other workout daily of my choice (usually yoga or something that isn’t going to make me super sore the next day). And 10K steps a day. I can’t hit all of my goals on work days of course, but I try to at least eat and hydrate well on those days.

It feels like this is a healthier and doable thing, and maybe my body is just going through shock trying to get used to it. I spend more time walking than anything else. I don’t know if I need more time to get used to everything or if this fatigue is basically the upheaval in my schedule alone. Going back to days is not an option at this point considering the extreme stress on that shift. I’m not throwing the towel in yet though!

Thank you for your response and your support!

I'm not you - which is a really important fact in this context . . . but if it were me, I'd consider temporarily backing down some of the goals to moderated levels, and phasing them back in gradually over a period of time.

I know that some people do better if they revolutionize everything all at once, so if that's you, it might be a bad suggestion.

On the other side of things, sub-par rest/sleep - which is how I'd interpret residual grogginess if not using sleep drugs - that has implications, possibly negative ones, in several areas of health/fitness/weight loss.

Being under-rested can potentially limit recovery from exercise (and recovery's where the magic happens), bleed calorie burn out of our daily life (because we drag through the day and rest more, perhaps subtly), increase water retention (via stress/cortisol), affect willpower (so practical ability to manage calories and nutrition in the best way), lower immunity, make injuries more likely (reduced physical reflexes/coordination), etc., etc.

I don't mean to catastrophize, because the effects may not be Big Drama, but they can be real. (I'm saying this in part as someone who really struggles with sleep myself, despite trying many, many things over around 23 years now to improve the situation, getting only marginal improvement.)

It's probable that things will get better eventually as your body adapts, but I'm not sure pedal to the metal is the quickest route to that adaptation. Just my amateur opinion, though. 🙂

Mfloyd7719 wrote: »

Is the morning grogginess a new thing, or something you experienced before attempting weight loss? (I'm assuming that's your goal, based on your intro post, though I don't think you said that explicitly.) How long have you been at this, and how much weight have you lost in that time?

If the grogginess started with your new routine, what is your calorie goal, height and current weight? (From your PP I'm suspecting your daily life is pretty active - work and home stuff, not even considering intentional exercise. If that's not right, what is the scenario?)

Have you started a new exercise routine, and if so, is that substantially intense, lengthy or challenging to your current fitness level?

If you don't want to answer these questions, that's fine . . . but others here may have better suggestions for you if you're willing to provide more information.

You can see what I'm getting at, I'm sure: We all want to drop weight like it's hot, but that can come with a fatigue penalty.

You already sound (from the other post) like you have a busy and possibly stressful life. A calorie deficit is a stress, the bigger the deficit the more the stress.

A new exercise program is also a stress, and it's a bigger stress if it's unnecessarily extreme for current fitness level. (Usually, the sweet spot is exercise that's just a manageable challenge to current fitness level, through the cumulative effect of intensity, frequency, duration, and exercise type(s). A brief "whew" feeling right after exercise is fine, but ideally you'd feel energized, not exhausted, for the rest of your day. That's going to be best, IMO, both for weight loss and fitness goals. Exercise that leaves you exhausted bleeds calorie burn out of your daily life, wiping out some of the exercise's calorie benefits. On the fitness front, recovery is where the magic happens, so constant pedal to the metal won't let that happen.)

On top of that, simply changing our routine is a psychological stress.

All of the stresses - physical and psychological - are cumulative. That matters, to the extent that any of those apply to you. Stress is fatiguing, draining. We need to manage it, for success at weight loss and fitness, rather than maximizing it. Serious improvement takes time and patience.

Maybe this isn't you, but too many people arrive here with an aggressive plan, high enthusiasm and motivation. It can include maximum weight loss rate (the 2 pounds/1kg per week thing) even when that's unsuitable to their current size. It can include punitively intense, frequent exercise (daily HIIT kind of thing, even). It can include revolutionizing eating habits, stopping eating perceived "bad foods", "junk food", "fast food", "treats"; and switching to perceived healthy foods that require new shopping and cooking habits.

Typically there's a honeymoon period, where they feel good, and feel like they're making
progress. Then, maybe suddenly, they feel tired, they drag, maybe loss slows (through a combination of slowed calorie expenditure from fatigue, plus stress-related water retention). They get discouraged, feel like the effort isn't worth all the difficulty. They maybe crave treats they've put off limits, maybe have a full regression to the temptation of old habits for a meal or day or so. Before long, it's common that we never hear from them again . . . well, maybe in a year or so with a "going to make it work this time for sure" post.

Maybe that's not what's going on with you - I hope not - but if any of those elements sound familiar (even if not all), the answer would be a more manageable, realistic plan.

Best wishes!

There’s been an abrupt change in my lifestyle in the past few months twice. I started a new contract for work on day shift, which I haven’t done in quite some time, and then an immediate change back to night shift. That alone has messed with my circadian rhythms, though my sleep app says I’m sleeping well at night when I’m off, I’m waiting for more definitive data about my sleep on work days.

I did start a new program. Macros 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat. 1250 calories with an allowance of 50 in either direction. And daily movement. One walk, an assigned workout several days a week, plus one other workout daily of my choice (usually yoga or something that isn’t going to make me super sore the next day). And 10K steps a day. I can’t hit all of my goals on work days of course, but I try to at least eat and hydrate well on those days.

It feels like this is a healthier and doable thing, and maybe my body is just going through shock trying to get used to it. I spend more time walking than anything else. I don’t know if I need more time to get used to everything or if this fatigue is basically the upheaval in my schedule alone. Going back to days is not an option at this point considering the extreme stress on that shift. I’m not throwing the towel in yet though!

Thank you for your response and your support!

1250 calories is lower than most women have to go in order to lose weight. See https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

On top of that, yesterday you earned 465 extra calories from exercise and didn't eat back 415 of them.

So, you are likely fatigued from undereating, both from having a low goal to start with and from not fueling your workouts.

Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

Have you been screened for sleep apnea or had any sleep analysis done?