Low Energy/More headaches!

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  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    I deal with this too- turns out taking an iron supplement a couple times a week had me right as rain. More energy, less headaches, harder to bruise. I may not even know what Im talking about- but it helped me for some reason and maybe it might help you? I wondr if there is a way in the MFP diaries to check your iron content.

    Ihope it gets better soon!
  • JacqueBackhus
    JacqueBackhus Posts: 13
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    My headaches are before I work out....
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I didn't know I needed to eat back my exercise cals...so thanks guys..I really appreciate it!

    That's critical! Your BMR is what you'd burn if you did nothing today. Add in your normal activity level and you've got your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) Then add in your exercise for a total. this is all done for you by MFP. Then pick a weekly weight loss amount like 1 lb which is roughly a 500 cal deficit. That's where you should be with food intake. Youare at or close to a minimum and then using more calories without consuming more. This is not a healthy strategy. Gotta eat more and have a little patience. You'll get skinny and beautiful!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    Eat more and maybe exercise a little less.

    from Power of 10 (the book reeks of nutritional conventional wisdom which I think is crap but I'm enjoying the rest of it):

    "During exercise our bodies get temporarily weaker, not stronger. It’s during rest that we recover and make all our gains. This is a huge, unspoken problem with even the most popular weight-training and exercise programs. Whether you’re at the gym lifting or on the treadmill treading 6 days per week, you can’t possibly have time for the rest your body needs. It’s as if you were trying to grow a delicate crystal in water, but every day you come by and shake the glass. The crystal never has a chance. In the same way, too much exercise can be just as bad for you as too little. You reinjure yourself over and over, and never let your system reset itself and recover. You get muscle tears and strains, joint problems, chronic fatigue, and weakening of the immune system, so you get sick more often. Instead of building your body, you may be tearing it down. It amazes me how many dedicated exercisers hit the wall in their fitness programs and then stay there, month after months, without knowing why. They train harder and harder, when all they need is a little more rest.”

    And what you eat plays an important part. The problem with American today is we overeat because we're undernourished. If you aren't giving your body the nutrients it needs (from real, whole food and not fake processed edible foodlike substances - this is over 90% of the grocery store) then your body will keep asking for more food.

    I really don't think you need 3 liters of water a day. That's a lot. If you have to pee within 10 minutes of drinking a big glass of water than you are fully hydrated. You can throw off your sodium/water balance.
  • nikkijoshua
    nikkijoshua Posts: 85 Member
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    You need to increase your calories. If your workouts have become more intense and you're only taking in 1200-1300 calories, you will have symptoms such as low energy and headaches. I'm not sure what your settings are in MFP, but you should have your goal set to lose 1 lb/wk or less. It's not the best for your body to create a deficit more than that. If you already have your goal set at losing 1lb/wk and the resulting goal is 1200-1300 cal/day, then you need to increase your activity setting. Also, if you don't do this already, have a nutrient dense snack 30 min before your workout. I usually have a meal replacement bar like a Balance Bar or some dried fruit with nuts or something similar. You have to fuel your body to perform well during your workouts and throughout the day. Your symptoms are just an alert to you that your body is slowing down because it's not receiving the fuel it needs to do all that you're wanting it to do. Don't be afraid to eat more if you're exercising hard. You'll still lose weight.....maybe at a slower pace, but you'll still lose and you'll be more likely to maintain your weight loss if you lose slowly and are taking in a healthy amount of calories.
  • Avandel
    Avandel Posts: 283 Member
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    Everyone seems to have agreed that you should be eating back some or all of your execise calories but I'd like to add something else. Try to cut back on the sodium & especially watch the amount of sugar you consume. A sugar crash can give you really nasty headaches & low energy too. Might be a good idea to get your blood sugar tested for either hypoglycemia or diabetes if these other diet changes don't help.:smile:
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
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    Well I did not know either that you're supposed to eat back calories burnt from excersise. Since making this discovery and making the change I've increased my calorie intake and feel great. Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer the posts question.

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