Can my diet be making me sleepy?

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pfierro
pfierro Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been using myfitnesspal for the past two months. I'm a male, 5'7 at 156 pounds. My goal weight is about 148 to 150. I have been limiting my diet to 1540 calories and have been including lots of fruit and some vegetables at dinner time and some at lunch. Lately I have been running about 3 miles 2-3 days a week at lunch and doing some weight training 2 days a week at lunch. Recently I have been falling asleep at work during meetings and it is getting a bit embarrasing. I'm wondering if I'm not taking in enough fuel for my body in the form of calories. I'm just flat out of energy while at work. Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sleepy Head

Replies

  • jl622
    jl622 Posts: 104 Member
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    Try taking vitamins, they help me.
  • johnbigfella
    johnbigfella Posts: 24
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    That much Cardio and weight sessions you should be eating another 500 cals maybe more i would say. Need to keep the body fueled.

    Add me if you want i dont have the best diet but train a hell of a lot n u can see i always try to eat a minimum of 2000 cals. alwaqys have my diet public
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I would say it is the diet. You should aim for getting at least your BMR cals as net cals. So if your BMR is 1450, and you burn 400 from exercise you should be eating at least 1850 to lose weight. I would suggest upping your cals from your 1540 on days you workout and get the 1540 on days you don't workout.
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
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    I work out 6 days a week including weight training and HIIT cardio. I'm 5'11" and 175 lb (female). I eat 2400 calories. When I was eating 1700 calories I was tired and hungry. My guess is you need to increase your calories and make sure you are getting plenty of water.

    Calculate your BMR. Eat at this minimum. Calculate TDEE and eat at 10-20% less than TDEE.
  • Ahluvly
    Ahluvly Posts: 389 Member
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    Work out your TDEE using this: Then reduce it by 10%, 15% and 20% to see what those values are. Whatever your TDEE comes out at, the most you should really reduce it by is 20% but it really depends on how fast you think you need to lose this bit of weight. I would personally start at a 10% reduction, then review it in 2-4 weeks. There's a good chance you are not eating enough and possibly over training on the food you're having. I'm no doctor so I would get checked out but in the meantime, do the above

    http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/determining-your-AMR

    I hope that helps!

    :P
  • Francesca3162
    Francesca3162 Posts: 520 Member
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    I cannot see your diet but chances are you are not getting enough fuel for your body....
    Eat 80% of your workout calories back so you fuel the burn!
  • LuLuRunner1
    LuLuRunner1 Posts: 329 Member
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    I am no expert by any means, but it does sound like you are not eating enough. Since taking up running or you eating back those calories?

    On the days that I don't work out, I can barely make it through the afternoons awake and I end up trying to increase my energy with sugar laden food (bad idea, I know). When I started doing some mild weight lifting a few months ago, I realized that without the cardio, I was staying tired in the late afternoons sitting at my desk. Now, on the days that I lift, I do at least 15-20 minutes of cardio to keep me going through the afternoons.
  • LaurnWhit
    LaurnWhit Posts: 261 Member
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    I would like to know!
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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    Try this site to get your numbers...It's a great tool:


    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/


    HTH
  • ashreynolds09
    ashreynolds09 Posts: 257 Member
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    I'm dealing with the same thing. I wake up exhausted! I know a lot of my problem is that I'm not always eating the BEST foods for me. I run 4-5 miles a day during the week and then 6+ miles on the weekends as I am training for a half marathon. I just started taking a multivitamin Friday...we'll see how it goes.
  • devonette
    devonette Posts: 263 Member
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    How much sleep do you get at night? I found that eating right and getting more exercise made me feel sleepier earlier in the evening. I had trouble getting enough sleep when I was eating wrong and not exercising (stayed up til 1am, didn't fall asleep til 3, got up at 7am), but now I sleep better and longer at night, and go to bed a couple of hours earlier than I used to, which also fixed feeling so tired during the day.

    But I agree with the others, you probably need more calories and water during the day as well.
  • SAMSON25
    SAMSON25 Posts: 58 Member
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    Check your iron intake - the most common symptom of iron deficiency is fatigue. I'm not saying this is your issue, but I upped my iron and it fixed this problem for me. Men need 8 g of iron/day.

    The simplest remedy I found was to eat 1 cup of Cheerios (dry) with breakfast. At only 100 cals, it doesn't interfere with your calorie count too much either, but gives you 45% of your Daily Value. Also know that Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron, but with your high fruit/veggie intake you're probably covered.
  • LaurnWhit
    LaurnWhit Posts: 261 Member
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    Could it be carbs?? Lots of veggies and fruit and not enough real carbs? I am tired some days without whole grains
  • ajostraat
    ajostraat Posts: 101
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    Check your iron intake - the most common symptom of iron deficiency is fatigue. I'm not saying this is your issue, but I upped my iron and it fixed this problem for me. Men need 8 g of iron/day.

    The simplest remedy I found was to eat 1 cup of Cheerios (dry) with breakfast. At only 100 cals, it doesn't interfere with your calorie count too much either, but gives you 45% of your Daily Value. Also know that Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron, but with your high fruit/veggie intake you're probably covered.

    I have to agree with this statement. If you're eating mostly fruit and veggies you could be suffering from a deficiency in Iron. Make sure you're getting all of your essential vitamins and minerals. I take an Iron supplement to help with my intake.

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