I have been so sluggish lately, which has really been getting of the way of my succeeding at this week's challenge. I haven't been going to bed too late, I have been sleeping well, and for a decent amount of time. But I cannot, for the life of me, get up in the morning. When I do, I feel like I have just been dragged out of bed after sleeping a mere two hours, and my eyes take several minutes (10 to 15) just to focus. It's weird. I have to give myself ample amounts of time to wake up, and I tend to feel better once I have. But it's not long before I feel groggy again. By mid-day, I am ready for a nap. By late afternoon, I am nearly a zombie. I have never been heavily dependent on caffeine, but I am starting to feel like even if I had a coffee IV I would still be low on energy.
About three weeks ago, I started following a diet plan through ediets, in an attempt to shed a bit of weight I had put on. Shortly thereafter, I started missing runs because of traveling and other things in life, and then I got sick. The thing is, starting the diet kind of coincided with the quality of my running going way down, but I think that was due more to outside factors than anything else. I am eating a much greater variety of fruits and vegetables now, and feel pretty well-nourished. But I am tired all the time. What gives? At this point my energy level is so low that I find myself having a hard time getting to the point where I feel like I can make it through a run. Maybe the lack of exercise is the reason for the lack of energy? I don't know.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Anyone have any suggestions or solutions they would care to share?
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6 comments:
I had a problem like yours a few months ago. I changed my diet and felt like I had barely enough energy to go through the day, I still worked out, but I was really tired and in a bad mood all the time. This made me loose the weight that I wanted really fast, by I don't think it was the healthiest way to do it.
I started to feel better and with more energy the day I started eating more carbs. I was eating mostly proteins on my diet, and because of this I didn't have any energy... so, are you eating enough carbs on your new diet?
well, I can definitely share some thoughts about getting started for morning workouts. First, it can be pretty hard to get yourself in the habit of getting up early if you are not normally an early-riser. But keep trying! Here's some advice - when you first get out of bed, fix yourself something that will give you an energy boost. I always have a cup of coffee right off the bat. Then sit down and give it a couple of minutes to kick in. I usually do a few minor tasks before I go off to my workout - I go on the computer and check my bank account, sometimes I do some ironing if I need clothes ironed for work, wash some dishes from the night before, stuff like that. After a bit, I'm ready to go out and exercise. You don't have to do all of that - everyone does something different. But the idea is to get into a routine, then it's more structured and not as difficult. It's still somewhat hard - sometimes I really don't want to get up. But I do more times than not. Good luck!
I was thinking the same thing that Alien mentioned. I find that if my carb level is too low, i have absolutely NO energy for anything.
Susan is right. Once you get in the routine of getting up early, it really becomes second nature. I am usually out the door by 5:30 to workout. If I do it every day, I have no problem. Recently, my wife had surgery and I was not getting up until 7. After that passed, it was extremely difficult to get back to my 5:30 schedule. I was sluggish for the first week. Of course I adjusted and so will you.
I actually have had similiar problems. I started really cutting the "in between" snacks out of my diet (which weren't neccesarily unhealthy snacks) and I ended up really hurting. I was eating tons of fruits and veggies but those don't neccesarily have enough carbs to keep ya going. I'd agree with alien and Chris on the carb thing. Or...a great solution...go see a dietician! They are wonderful at telling you what you should use for your particular body in order to get energy.
i read this yesterday and was mulling over it, too, and the carbs thing also occured to me. also, you've been drinking more coffee lately than you used to. do you drink it before working out? because i rely on coffee to get going in the morning, no matter how much sleep i get or when i wake up, i really need a cup before working out. i'd say caffeine is one of a few culprits here.
You may want to consider keeping a solid breakfast and just alter one or two meals into your diet. You still need calories.
I added your blog to my list of New York City running blogs at RunYourCity.com. Keep us updated with the diet.
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