Need to Increase energy levels

dvdfan

Ive been trying to get fit/lose weight, 1 month in and ive lost a stone leaving me just under 15 stone, 30yrs old and around 5"9

Anyway my diet went from rice crispies/pork, veg and mashed spuds/rice crispies only eating 3 times a day to:

1pm Sml bowl porridge
4pm 2 bananas,yougart, some cashew nuts
7pm 2 pork chops or breast of chicken with 2-3 roast potatoes and veg or beans
10pm 2 sml chicken fillets or 1 large one with salad, onions, tomatoes, sweetcorn

To be honest im not hungry in between meals but sometime i dont feel hungry enought to eat a chicken salad so i might have nuts/yougart and bananas again instead, i feel if i was to try and eat more then i would feel stuffed and i usually do feel overfull after having the chicken salad. Id usually hit bed around midnight-1am so i think id struggle to fit in another meal there either

Anyway i also try and workout 4-5 times a week, hour in the gym and 20-30 mins doing some swimming, just recently added some light strength training, do about 20-25 reps of the 6 main machines in my gym and 30 reps with the bumbells once for each bicep and one for each tricep, i do this twice.

Anywho for the 1st month on the bad diet my energy levels felt quite high, after a week on this new diet im feeling a lack of energy and not very motivated to exercise. When i start exercising i dont feel too bad just tired, only up 2 hours now and feel like going back for a nap and its been a long time since ive been taking naps during the day.

Monday i felt full of energy and had a great workout, Yesterday i felt a little tired, had a workout early in the day and by 6pm i felt spent and only fit for lying on the couch. This morning i feel like i didnt get much sleep even though i got in a good 8-9 hours.

Anyway is there any supplements i can take that will boost my energy, i cant take anything like caffeine as it gives me palpitations, cant even drink tea without getting mild ones so something more natural would be better or is it something to do with my diet that brought this on. Its being a long time since i felt this fit (even though im still a long way from proper fitness) so its surprising that i dont have more energy.

Wasnt sure if this was more for nutrition or here so feel free to move if you think its better suited somewhere else

Puddleduck

Can you get to bed any earlier than 12 or 1?

Other than that Id say give yourself time to adjust. Youve just dramatically changed your diet.

billyhead

Snack on more fruit throughout the day. Also drink plenty of water

rubadub

dvdfan wrote: »

just recently added some light strength training, do about 20-25 reps of the 6 main machines in my gym and 30 reps with the bumbells once for each bicep and one for each tricep, i do this twice.

Thats not going to do a lot for you. Leave the machines alone, stick with free weights- barbells & dumbbells. Check out www.exrx.net and www.stronglifts.com

I would suggest, deadlifts, squats, standing military press, pressups, chinups, pullups, dips, bench press.

You will probably not manage a chin/pullup or dips yet, you might have assisted machines in the gym though.

Increasing muscle mass will increase your metabolism, increasing strength will in effect give you more energy as you will find daily tasks much easier, when I was ~14.5 stone I used to have to haul myself up the stairs and be panting after it, now I bound up stairs.

Do the weights before the swimming, you have more energy and can lift more and so stimulate more muscle growth.

As you are overwieght already some of that weight will be muscle mass, so do not lose it! it will help with fat loss, and allow you to eat more since the muscle needs calories to maintain it.

And what is up with your eating hours? you are eating 2 hours before bed and not till 1pm? -thats your problem right there! have a big breakfast, the porridge is the best choice. Try eating 6 equally sized meals at evenly spaced times throughout the day.

dvdfan

Well i get up around 11-12 in the morning, depends sometimes its later sometimes its earlier so i usually go to bed around midnight-1am give or take an hour, might not sleep for an hour or two so i still get 8-9 hours sleep. Ive no reason to change those hours as they suit me.

You say the current workout im doing wont do much for me, in what sense, im not looking to bulk up, just to tone muscle and im being realistic, i spend about an hour in the gym and another 30-45 mins between the pool and steam room/jacuzzi so i dont have another spare hour so i dont have much time and i dont mind the exercise and the pool but i dont really have any motivation for the weights so if i was to do longer sessions id probably get bored.

I guess i could add pressups, squats, deadlifts and maybe the overhead press instead of the bench press at home because i have a barbell at home (only 1 dumbell) and to be honest the weight area is small and its usually busy so id feel a bit stupid trying these out for the 1st time there(probably collapse trying to do a pressup), so maybe keep up the ones im doing and add those that i can try at home. So were you saying my current routine isnt useful at all unless i add more, or is it that its just not very good, this is the routine recommended by one of the fitness instructors in the gym to me

Anyway thanks for all the replies, i do drink lots of water, only fruit i eat is bananas guess i could add more

rubadub

dvdfan wrote: »

Well i get up around 11-12 in the morning, depends sometimes its later sometimes its earlier so i usually go to bed around midnight-1am give or take an hour, might not sleep for an hour or two so i still get 8-9 hours sleep. Ive no reason to change those hours as they suit me.

Right, I presumed you were asleep at 12 or 1 and waking at 8 or 9.

dvdfan wrote: »

You say the current workout im doing wont do much for me, in what sense, im not looking to bulk up, just to tone muscle and im being realistic,

It is doing no harm, just time could be better spent, anything over 12 reps is really considered endurance training, it would be rare to see any workout plan suggesting over 12 reps with weights. As you are trying to lose fat I presume you are on a calorie deficit, have you worked out your calorie intake?

On a calorie deficit you will develop very little muscle, if any, as the body needs fuel to build new muscle. But as a beginner it is said you can develop some muscle on the deficit. You will certainly not get overly bulky, many guys are trying their best to, it is not easy!

The term "toned" generally means low body fat levels and some muscle development, even developing a little muscle will take a good while. If you ever did get "too big" you simply stop lifting and the muscle mass will reduce.

So to get toned you should really focus on muscle development and maintenances, lifting for 8-12reps is usually recommended for this. Any guy you see that you would call toned is probably lifting heavy weights.

dvdfan wrote: »

So were you saying my current routine isnt useful at all unless i add more,

Nope, in fact less is more! i.e. drop those endless reps which are basically just more cardio if you can do that many reps!. Some instructors might stick people on machines and light weights so they do not have to supervise them as much, really a cop out on their part. Also it gets you used to the motion and you can focus on your form, but at high reps form can get sloppy as you just go through the motions.

If working out 4-5 times a week, you can do weights and cardio on different days, many recommend splitting the 2. Best to stick to 2-3 full body workouts per week anyway. You need at least a days rest in between full body weight workouts for the muscles to recover and develop.

Say you lift 3 times a week, 60mins. Now say you burn 400kcal in those sessions. All during the week your body is trying to build new muscle, this means it uses calories!, even when sitting around the next day you are using calories to build muscle. AND you need more calories just to maintain this new muscle. Also muscle needs more calories to maintain it than fat. So a muscular 15stone man lying in bed needs more calories than a 15stone fat man.

Now you could have just ran 3 times a week for 60mins, burning maybe 500kcal in the hour. BUT on your days off you do not reap all the advantages that lifting will bring, on the calorie side. Also being stronger will help in your daily life.

Bananas are ~22% sugar so have a lot of calories, fine food before and after the gym, but I would go easy on them just as snacks if you are watching calories. Apples are around 10-11% sugar and lower GI so probably a better choice.

Pro-Nutrition

dvdfan wrote: »

Ive been trying to get fit/lose weight, 1 month in and ive lost a stone leaving me just under 15 stone, 30yrs old and around 5"9

Anyway my diet went from rice crispies/pork, veg and mashed spuds/rice crispies only eating 3 times a day to:

1pm Sml bowl porridge
4pm 2 bananas,yougart, some cashew nuts
7pm 2 pork chops or breast of chicken with 2-3 roast potatoes and veg or beans
10pm 2 sml chicken fillets or 1 large one with salad, onions, tomatoes, sweetcorn

To be honest im not hungry in between meals but sometime i dont feel hungry enought to eat a chicken salad so i might have nuts/yougart and bananas again instead, i feel if i was to try and eat more then i would feel stuffed and i usually do feel overfull after having the chicken salad. Id usually hit bed around midnight-1am so i think id struggle to fit in another meal there either

Anyway i also try and workout 4-5 times a week, hour in the gym and 20-30 mins doing some swimming, just recently added some light strength training, do about 20-25 reps of the 6 main machines in my gym and 30 reps with the bumbells once for each bicep and one for each tricep, i do this twice.

Anywho for the 1st month on the bad diet my energy levels felt quite high, after a week on this new diet im feeling a lack of energy and not very motivated to exercise. When i start exercising i dont feel too bad just tired, only up 2 hours now and feel like going back for a nap and its been a long time since ive been taking naps during the day.

Monday i felt full of energy and had a great workout, Yesterday i felt a little tired, had a workout early in the day and by 6pm i felt spent and only fit for lying on the couch. This morning i feel like i didnt get much sleep even though i got in a good 8-9 hours.

Anyway is there any supplements i can take that will boost my energy, i cant take anything like caffeine as it gives me palpitations, cant even drink tea without getting mild ones so something more natural would be better or is it something to do with my diet that brought this on. Its being a long time since i felt this fit (even though im still a long way from proper fitness) so its surprising that i dont have more energy.

Wasnt sure if this was more for nutrition or here so feel free to move if you think its better suited somewhere else

Just regarding your diet, if I was you I would be dropping out the Pork Chops and replace with either Turkey, Chicken, fish or some beef. Pork would not be the easiest of meats to digest. Your looking to drop weight so I would not be taking in so much fruit as they carry too many sugars. Is the yougurt your eating fat free? if not drop it. When it comes to taking in the carbs I would only take carbs before and directly after training, taking them before means that you have fuel to train and make sure you take them in after you train along with protein because your body at this stage is screaming out for food in order to repair the muscle and help to keep your insulin levels under control. In order for you to drop the weight with out losing any muscle, up your protein and healthy fats and of course water....