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Is my body broken?

KLELifts
KLELifts Posts: 23 Member
edited December 2024 in Motivation and Support
I’ll try to keep this short.

After my third baby in 4 years, I started working with a pelvic floor therapist and made great progress.
I was doing hinge movements, lunges and squats with almost zero pain. Originally I couldn’t do any of those movements without feeling intense ache/discomfort in my lower back.
I worked with her for about 6 months and since then I’ve been trying to follow Bret Contreras’ monthly program.
I’ve still been implementing the tools (exercises/stretches/etc) my PT had given me, but I feel like I’ve slowly started to regress.

My body feels beat up. My back is more achy again. My hips are super tight and sore. During this time, about 2-3 months, I’ve been trying to start a deficit and was successful for a couple weeks in which I lost about 8 lbs, but I’ve almost gained all that back.
I feel exhausted.
I’m feeling way more hungry.
It takes me 3-4 days to feel like I’ve recovered decently from a workout.
I’m barely lifting over 15ish lbs for most movements. I’ve been stuck at that weight for so long and I don’t feel strong enough to progress.

What am I doing wrong?

I’m taking vitamins, I’m trying to get better at eating protein and nutrient dense foods.

Should I not weight lift? Should I just do Pilates? Yoga? Walking?
I don’t even know how to workout anymore because I constantly feel drained.
I haven’t been dieting for this reason but that’s also discouraging because I want to lose weight.

Replies

  • pridesabtch
    pridesabtch Posts: 2,533 Member
    It sounds like something metabolic is going on. Or you have too high a deficit. Id see a medical doctor to make sure your endocrine system, hormones and thyroid are in line.

    Good luck.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 4,327 Member
    Do you still live near that PT? Sounds like time for another visit.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,813 Member
    KLELifts wrote: »
    I’ll try to keep this short.

    After my third baby in 4 years, I started working with a pelvic floor therapist and made great progress.
    I was doing hinge movements, lunges and squats with almost zero pain. Originally I couldn’t do any of those movements without feeling intense ache/discomfort in my lower back.
    I worked with her for about 6 months and since then I’ve been trying to follow Bret Contreras’ monthly program.
    I’ve still been implementing the tools (exercises/stretches/etc) my PT had given me, but I feel like I’ve slowly started to regress.

    My body feels beat up. My back is more achy again. My hips are super tight and sore. During this time, about 2-3 months, I’ve been trying to start a deficit and was successful for a couple weeks in which I lost about 8 lbs, but I’ve almost gained all that back.
    I feel exhausted.
    I’m feeling way more hungry.
    It takes me 3-4 days to feel like I’ve recovered decently from a workout.
    I’m barely lifting over 15ish lbs for most movements. I’ve been stuck at that weight for so long and I don’t feel strong enough to progress.

    What am I doing wrong?

    I’m taking vitamins, I’m trying to get better at eating protein and nutrient dense foods.

    Should I not weight lift? Should I just do Pilates? Yoga? Walking?
    I don’t even know how to workout anymore because I constantly feel drained.
    I haven’t been dieting for this reason but that’s also discouraging because I want to lose weight.

    OK, so the two bold bits stick out to me.

    8lbs in a couple of weeks is an enormous amount of weight, indicating a VERY aggressive deficit.

    And vitamins won't compensate for a lack of protein and nutritious foods.

    Adding to the advice above to take your concerns to a doctor and getting a full work-up, it sounds like you could benefit from refocusing on eating for health rather than weight loss. A lot of what you're describing sounds like a body that's being asked to do hard work on insufficient and/or inefficient fuel.
  • KLELifts
    KLELifts Posts: 23 Member
    KLELifts wrote: »
    I’ll try to keep this short.

    After my third baby in 4 years, I started working with a pelvic floor therapist and made great progress.
    I was doing hinge movements, lunges and squats with almost zero pain. Originally I couldn’t do any of those movements without feeling intense ache/discomfort in my lower back.
    I worked with her for about 6 months and since then I’ve been trying to follow Bret Contreras’ monthly program.
    I’ve still been implementing the tools (exercises/stretches/etc) my PT had given me, but I feel like I’ve slowly started to regress.

    My body feels beat up. My back is more achy again. My hips are super tight and sore. During this time, about 2-3 months, I’ve been trying to start a deficit and was successful for a couple weeks in which I lost about 8 lbs, but I’ve almost gained all that back.
    I feel exhausted.
    I’m feeling way more hungry.
    It takes me 3-4 days to feel like I’ve recovered decently from a workout.
    I’m barely lifting over 15ish lbs for most movements. I’ve been stuck at that weight for so long and I don’t feel strong enough to progress.

    What am I doing wrong?

    I’m taking vitamins, I’m trying to get better at eating protein and nutrient dense foods.

    Should I not weight lift? Should I just do Pilates? Yoga? Walking?
    I don’t even know how to workout anymore because I constantly feel drained.
    I haven’t been dieting for this reason but that’s also discouraging because I want to lose weight.

    OK, so the two bold bits stick out to me.

    8lbs in a couple of weeks is an enormous amount of weight, indicating a VERY aggressive deficit.

    And vitamins won't compensate for a lack of protein and nutritious foods.

    Adding to the advice above to take your concerns to a doctor and getting a full work-up, it sounds like you could benefit from refocusing on eating for health rather than weight loss. A lot of what you're describing sounds like a body that's being asked to do hard work on insufficient and/or inefficient fuel.


    The weight loss was that quick because I was doing an elimination diet (no gluten, sugar, dairy) for gut health.
    But ended up falling off the wagon because I struggled finding foods/meals that were enjoyable and I definitely was under-eating a bit.

    How do I work out though? If I have to not be in a deficit right now, I can live with that. But how do I work out and make any sort of progress still?
  • KLELifts
    KLELifts Posts: 23 Member
    Corina1143 wrote: »
    Do you still live near that PT? Sounds like time for another visit.

    Yes, but I quit working with her partly because I was starting to feel confident working out on my own and because I can’t continue to afford it.
  • I’ll speak to your lifting routine rather than diet. I found brets programmes simply too high volume to recover from. Was sore all the time. I just did his book though not the monthly stuff. Can you work to a lower intensity? Tweak the programme a bit so you don’t feel so beat up.
  • KLELifts
    KLELifts Posts: 23 Member
    I’ll speak to your lifting routine rather than diet. I found brets programmes simply too high volume to recover from. Was sore all the time. I just did his book though not the monthly stuff. Can you work to a lower intensity? Tweak the programme a bit so you don’t feel so beat up.

    So you found his book, the Glute Lab, programs too high volume?
    That’s why I got his monthly programming because he has an upper/lower option that has less volume on each day. Like 5 movements as opposed to 7-8. But even that was too much so I don’t know how else to tweak it.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,363 Member
    I'm big into my gut health and Dr. William Davis says when people give up grains and sugar they have a withdraw period that is unpleasant. Could be you eliminating grains/sugar. On top of that. you started eating at a deficit and overexercising.
    Too much at once...all the way around and your body isn't liking it at all.