Feeling tired/rundown..more calories?

ddiestler
ddiestler Posts: 353 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been doing some great workouts this week. I've done 17 miles not including my scheduled workout days Saturday and Sunday. My average calorie burn according to my HRM ranges between 500-650 per workout. I currently eat 1200 calories..However, after doing 5.5 miles this whole week I am feeling kind of tired. I'm thinking I need to fuel my body more. Any suggestions on how I could do that without going overboard.. I have the fear of gaining by eating.. I know stupid and crazy!

Replies

  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    You think? Yeah, you're starving yourself!

    Pam
  • shovav91
    shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
    You need to be NETTING at least 1200 calories. If you burn 500, eat no less than 1700. You're on track to destroy your body. Please turn it around before it's too late!
  • ddiestler
    ddiestler Posts: 353 Member
    Honestly, I'm not doing it on purpose. I'm simply not hungry. I went from having a huge food addiction to almost having a fear of eating.. There has to be a happy medium and a balance somwhere..Would I adjust my protiens? or, how should I re-fuel my body?
  • crazybeautifulkittie
    crazybeautifulkittie Posts: 86 Member
    Protien is the way I would go. And I don't mean something like a shake or bar, I mean actual protien!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,310 Member
    Honestly, I'm not doing it on purpose. I'm simply not hungry. I went from having a huge food addiction to almost having a fear of eating.. There has to be a happy medium and a balance somwhere..Would I adjust my protiens? or, how should I re-fuel my body?

    This is called "all or nothing thinking".....You need to do some soul searching and figure out why you have this disordered thinking.

    Sometimes it is a type of perfectionism, or control, or body dymorphia.

    Regardless, start challenging this thinking before you get further into the other extreme of eating disorder.

    You should eat a balance of foods throughout the day so that you finish the day as close as possible to the 1700 - balanced macronutrients. So yes, eat enough protein. And carbohydrates. And fat.
  • greeneyedaries
    greeneyedaries Posts: 45 Member
    I hope this will help you. Today, I saw my nutritionist, she informed me that I was starving my self by only eating 1200 cal. I am a diabetic, silly me, I was scared to eat because I thought that would make my sugar up. She said by not eating enough calories I was not controlling my diabetes. So, she put me on a 1500 calorie a day diet. I also ask her about eating my calories back. She said, if you just do low intense exercise and no more than 30 to 40 minutes do not eat them back. But, if you exercise more than an hour doing high intensive exercise, then you eat them back. This helped me understand and put me on a clear path to help get healthy and control diabetes. I hope this helps.
  • jschuett12
    jschuett12 Posts: 15 Member
    I have a 1/2c black beans, chopped up chicken (from rotisserie), 1/2 c shredded cheese on a tortilla (think quesadilla) with a 100 cal pack of guac. It's like around 660 calories but loaded with protien and good fibers and fats- I teach Zumba and I need something that will carry me through the workout and is high calorie too or else I end up with a ton of calories late at night. I try to eat as close to all my calories that I get from working out or I risk going into starvation mode. MFP already set you at a deficit of calories so you need to eat back most, if not all, of your workout calories. It takes a bit to wrap your mind around that but it has been working well for me.
  • ddiestler
    ddiestler Posts: 353 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions..it all makes sense. I do think I need to fuel my body more. On days I don't exercise it would prob. be ok to eat 1200. However, I am doing well over an hour of cardio such as burst training on elliptical or treadmill running. Or sometimes both treadmill and elliptical..so it makes sense I would need to eat back some of the calories I burned during high intense workouts.

    What if I went for a leisurly walk for 40 minutes? I wouldn't necessarily have to eat those back right
  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member

    What if I went for a leisurly walk for 40 minutes? I wouldn't necessarily have to eat those back right
    Wrong, you should be eating those back as well. You really should be eating back all of your calories that you burn. I know it doesn't make sense mentally, but your body needs the fuel. You can't run your car on empty, your body is the same way.
  • ddiestler
    ddiestler Posts: 353 Member
    Do you eat them back each day or can they be spaced out during the week?
  • samuel249
    samuel249 Posts: 17
    Try aiming for 200grams of red kidney beans or butter beaNs or any kinds of beans. This will re-fill your energy level and very low on calories and fAt.
  • garnet1483
    garnet1483 Posts: 249 Member
    I had a very unhealthy relationship with food that spanned about three years, when I was a teenager. Since then, as long as I'm eating regularly (even if they're small meals or snacks--for a while I was averaging 600-750 calories a day, and didn't realize it) I don't "feel" hungry. I don't get hunger pains. What I get instead are mild headaches and a feeling of weariness or malaise, often accompanied by tension. It's taken a while, but I've had to re-teach my body to associate these feelings with being hungry. It's what my body does instead of the stomach rumbles or cramps most people get when they're hungry. It sounds like you've done something similar. Like everyone else said, you need to eat more, but you also need to learn your particular body's signals for saying "you're hungry, feed me". You should notice an immediate difference in the way you feel once you're eating the right amount of calories a couple of days in a row.
  • greeneyedaries
    greeneyedaries Posts: 45 Member
    This is what my nutrionist told me. She is a professor that teaches nutrition at a Univ. Don't eat them back with low intense work outs.

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