Weight Loss Fatigue

Weight Loss Fatigue

Cleaning up your diet and starting a fitness regime may cause weight loss fatigue but don’t be alarmed. Although it may come as a surprise for you someday that even though you have been eating right and exercising you still feel so tired you don’t want to drag your butt to work.

Its not supposed to work this way – or is it?

If you, like so many people, take an all out run at weight loss and fitness you might see a pattern of a week or two full of energy and then – kaplunk – a dive right into the sludge.

It happens, and if you are concerned go get checked out by the doctor.

When you are on a slight caloric deficit and provided you are on a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables, grains, carbs and an adequate amount of protein, you will feel energized. Almost immediately after switching to a healthful diet you will feel fabulous.

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Couple this with a moderate increase in activity you will find that the energy you expel to move your body in new ways will also add to your energy level leaving you alert and awake.

However, most people don’t just make small improvements in their fitness, most often there are radical changes that take place and what happens is the body just has to catch up.

So if this is you, take a minute to figure out what you have been doing before you quit.

First ask yourself if you have been eating healthfully. If you have gone on a radical calorie reduction diet – this may not be the best way to go long term. I would suggest that some of the fad diets out there are not serving your body well, so contact a nutritionist or a dietitian to go over your diet with you. Quite frankly the reasons why these radical diets work is because they have little to no fuel in them so your body is forced to feed on the fat. But then your body also begins to feed on the muscle and in effect you begin to cannibalize yourself.

Without the proper food intake coupled with muscle breakdown you are in for days of weight loss fatigue and setting yourself up for illness since you are also compromising your immune system.

Second, are you drinking enough water? The quick guideline is to have 8 – 10 glasses a day, but if you are working out it might be more than that. For sure always drink when thirsty. Water is very important for everyday function and especially important when you are trying to lose weight. One common and predominant sign of dehydration isn’t just the feeling of thirst but the feeling of being tired. So if you find yourself yawning at work – go get a glass of water before you start another pot of coffee. Read more about water for fat loss here

Third; How much are you exercising? If you have gone from 0 to 60 overnight, your body will start to complain quickly. This doesn’t mean you have to quit, it doesn’t mean you have to slow down either, it does mean you have to pay homage to your beautiful body and give it what it needs.

Are you eating right for the amount of exercise you are doing? If you have begun to lift weights your muscles need protein as well as carbohydrates for fuel and repair. Do you know that the way muscle is developed is by tearing it down first? This is a very simplified explanation of course, but protein is absolutely necessary for muscle repair.

If you have ramped up the activities and if your muscles aren’t used to these new activities you will feel sore and sluggish for a little while – even if you are eating and drinking in a healthful way. Your body needs to get used to the new demands you are putting on it. But it will catch up quickly. Within a couple of weeks you will be feeling full of energy.

Fourth ask yourself are you getting enough rest? Sometimes when you are first starting out with a new exercise regime you could benefit from taking naps (hard to do at work – I know). But on the weekends maybe grab the cat and curl up too.

Are you warming up and cooling down appropriately? If not you could be experiencing muscle soreness (DOMS) unnecessarily.

Remember you can avoid weight loss fatigue by just changing a few things at a time – but if you opt to do more and find you are tired, go through the above list and give yourself a couple of weeks. If at the end you are still tired and you know for a fact you have a proper diet and drinking lots of water, then just cut back a little on the weights – don’t quit – and gradually re-introduce them.