I've been dealing with a chronic lower abdominal pain for a few months now. (It's in the girl-stuff region) The pain started before I started working out, so exercize is not the cause, just FYI.

So far the doctors don't know what's wrong with me, but I go for more tests monday. The issue that I am worried about is that when the pain is REALLY bad I do NOT want to eat. I never, ever, starve myself. I am totally against that, but if I eat when I am not hungry it just makes me feel a lot worse because I get severly nauseated.

However, when the pain is bad, I DO want to go to the gym. It is the only thing that relieves the pain for any length of time. The harder the work out, the better. Then I can sail on blissful endorphines and have a few hours of peace. Working out also seems to make the pain less the next day too, so I get extra benefits.

Anyway, so today I did a calculator and figured I burned about 500 calories at the gym, and because I weigh 350lbs (yes, morbidly obese) my calorie burn for the day is around 3500 even when I am not doing anything other than working on the computer.

Yet today, I couldn't force myself to eat another bite if I wanted to, but I only ate about 1100 calories and 21g of fat.

I am not always this low, but I would say that my calorie average is about 1300 even tho I should get 1700 according to www.room42.com

I am worried about losing lean muscle mass, but I don't see any evidence that I have because I have almost doubled my capacity at the gym and I have loads more stamina.

Should I be worried?

One thing you don't mention is how many grams of protein you're getting per day. Calorie consumption, once you go about 1200 per day, isn't as closely tied to metabolism as is the number of fat grams and the number of protein grams consumed, along with the extent to which you engage in strength training. While calorie consumption is often a rough guide of protein consumption, certain diet regimens can skew that predictor way out of whack, so monitoring actual protein consumption to ensure you're getting a substantial amount becomes critical.

I agree that you need to look at the content of your calories (BTW, I wouldn't go less that 1400!) and the protein/carb/fat ratios and make sure that you are getting enought protein and healthy fats. But from the description of WHERE your pain is, unless you are eating a lot of sugar alcohols and it is gut related, I's suggest a visit to your primary care doc or gynocologist. Dieting and exercise shouldn't lead to pain in "the girl-stuff region". Go see a doctor!

Mel

The pain started BEFORE the diet and exercise. It's been ongoing a while. I have been to a GYN but they've not figured out the problem yet. More tests monday.