Can consistently eating 1500 calories less a day that what you are burning...........
eventually make you feel worn down? I've been doing this for 2 weeks now, and getting enough sleep, doing cardio every day, but I feel run down. Didn't know if maybe I'm fighting off something or if this is just the way you feel while you're losing weight. Or am I just in a slump that will pick up? Mentally I'm fine, I just feel draggy when I wake up and exhausted when I go to bed.
FitDay says I burn 3100 - 3500 cals a day when my lifestyle, basal, and activities (the days I lift it's the higher number, the 3100 is just a cardio day). I'm eating an average of 1500 cals a day. That's where I get the 1500 deficit from. That's about 3 lbs a week of weightloss which is in the safe range.
Fran, Fitday is notoriously unreliable in its estimations of calories burned - way, way high. I seriously doubt that any of us here are burning anywhere close to 3000 calories per day, even if we do an hour of cardio plus lift for an hour every day. If you were actually burning 3100 - 3500 calories a day, that means it would be your maintenance (break-even) calorie level. Does that seem possible to you based on your past weight loss/gain? Can you eat 3500 calories per day and still stay the same? (if so, you are incredibly lucky!! )
Putting aside theoretical calories burned, 1500 calories per day is a reasonable, sustainable level for most people. If you're feeling burned out and run down, could you be overtraining? Or could it be the quality of what you're eating in those 1500 calories? Do you take a vitamin? Have you ever been anemic or checked for thyroid functions? Just a few thoughts ...
I don't know why Fitday hasn't been changed to be more accurate, but I guess you can't really complain too much about something that's free
Most of the posts I've read suggest keeping your lifestyle set to sedentary, even though you are obviously pretty active, just because that number is alot closer to what you are actually burning. It makes a difference of several hundred calories a day just changing it from seated work to sedentary, which is ridiculous. If I burned over 3000 calories a day, I would be THE HAPPIEST WOMAN ALIVE Just to compare, a nutritionist told my dh a long time ago that he had to have 2600-2800 calories a day to stay at the same weight (190, 6 ft 1 in), and that was a decade ago. The younger you are the more you need, plus men burn a good bit more per day than we do. It's not like he cares anyway, he makes me sick! Eats whatever he wants! Sorry-off topic-that's the deprived chocoholic talking.....
It's not normal to feel draggy and run down just from losing weight. As a matter of fact, most people say they have more energy. I second Meg on the idea that maybe you are training too hard, or may need a multivitamin. You may have inadvertently omitted something important from your diet.
Thanks guys. My thyroid is fine (just went to doc and she examined my neck for this as part of a physical), I take a good strong multivite as well. Overtraining? Well, just doing what BFL-W calls for, with cardio on 6 days instead. TOM is coming next Tuesday'ish, so it could be related, I could be in my downslide on estrogen I guess. Maybe I am eating to many regular meals and not enough snacks. I thought about going back to my protein smoothie shakes for a few days as well.
I am also really bothered by dd's swimming that started this week. Sitting for an hour in the indoor pool is killing my eyes and messing with my sense of smell (overcharging it, not subduing it) for the rest of the nite after we get home. I just wonder if it's affecting me this much in my eyes, nose, if it may also be causing something else in my body since I obviously have a sensitivity to it. Drops applied at the pool actually made my eyes hurt worse. The aquatics director said it was a rare problem that only one lifeguard has had, as far as she knew.
I second setting the lifestlye to sedentary on the FITDAY.com. My calories burn seem to be more reasonable and in line with other sources. You could be worn out for the new routine. There is nothing like an off on switch to get you feeling reved up on the new routine. I would say that three plus weeks would be a better indicator of your new routine.
Could be that you are allergic to the chlorine in the pool, and therefore also not feeling all that well. Is it mandatory that you sit there and breathe that air? Could you swing it to go for a walk outside while DD is having swimming lessons?
Does DD swim at a Y or other gym-type place? I used to go do my cardio when my kids were swimming if I wasn't in the next pool doing laps (that doesn't sound like a good option for you!).
Also, the "feel the neck" test is hardly definitive for thyroid problems. Only way to really tell is by testing for TSH, T3 and free T4 in a blood test. My neck felt fine, but my thyroid was completely out of whack.
Hi all, some googling research indicated that indoor pools are a basic environmental hazard. There are many documented cases of occupational enduced asthma among pool workers. Since I am already susceptible to asthma (colds and soy bring it out), this is surely a place for me to avoid. They say that the air around the pool can be very toxic with chlorine gas and chloroform, which is a byproduct of chlorine and skin/humans. Great, huh? Mel, it is a Y and I'm a little more surprised the Y has not made a bigger issue of it and informed their aquatic directors. But they likely don't want to open a big can of worms and get sucked into being required to install an expensive ventilation system they cannot afford. This is actually the swim team, so we are not members of the Y, I just signed her up individually. I doubt anyone would notice if I slipped in and worked out or got on a treadmill, but I have 4 yo dd with me who would need childcare, and then they might catch us. Besides, I just have no desire to be dishonest at the Y of all places! Yesterday we walked around outside a bit, but there is no real walking area other than the parking lot. I just feel bad having dd in there if the air is so toxic! I wonder if I should email the article to the aquatics director, or if that is too much a risk of being the nudge of the swim team so early on. I have decided we will likely not do more than one year, since I have to be the ones to do practice, it's going to be a burden. And, how will I handle the meets, short of having dh call me when her event comes up and I come out from the lobby. Oh fun!
Anyway, I am now more sure that I am fighting something off as well. Feel stuffy and a little draggy. I have reset my fit day down another level, thanks for the heads up on that error on the activity levels.
Mentally I'm fine, I just feel draggy when I wake up and exhausted when I go to bed.
That doesn't sound good. When I am severely dieting, I feel great when I first wake up, but mentally fogged later in the day. Maybe you are overtraining.
Hey guys, just to update, I ended up weighing in on Friday and lost 6.8 lbs over the last 2 weeks when I was really watching my intake and doing cardio 6x/wk. I loosened up over the weekend and realized I had been fighting a cold; I had a few sneezies over the weekend. I feel much better now from loosening up my eating, but keeping WITH the cardio and weights!
Can consistently eating 1500 calories less a day that what you are burning...........
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Just to compare, a nutritionist told my dh a long time ago that he had to have 2600-2800 calories a day to stay at the same weight (190, 6 ft 1 in), and that was a decade ago. The younger you are the more you need, plus men burn a good bit more per day than we do. It's not like he cares anyway, he makes me sick! Eats whatever he wants! Sorry-off topic-that's the deprived chocoholic talking.....
