Lack of Energy, Putting on Weight

Copper23

Hi,
I'll keep this short.

Looking hopefully for some motivation or some advice where I should start.

A summary:
I work long hours. I wake at 6:30am, drive over and hour to work and the same back in the evening. Get back around 7pm roughly.

I try to motive myself to exercise a little when I get back. However given the long hours it's hard to do it most days. I obviously need to try cook some dinner, cleaning, washing, etc and by the time I do that I am totally wiped out and just want to crash.

I've tried forcing myself to do a long walk or at least go on the treadmill for a little bit but as I said I'm totally wiped.

I know my eating is probably poor but not entirely sure how to fix it.
I am usually starved after driving to work. I will have a bagel. Eat lunch around 12-1, maybe a sandwich, If I'm really hungry it might be a burger.
Usually don't have much until I get home. I occasionally snack but TRY not to. Dinner is mixed, sometimes get sandwich to take away or try to cook something healthier at home.

I know thats not a great meal plan but I'm so hungry I need to eat to get through work so I'm not lagging and not so hungry I can't work.

Can anyone advise. Maybe a better meal plan would mean I have more energy when I come home but the days are long.

I've been putting on a little weight slowly, I have a small belly and just ant to lose it.

Can anyone point me in the right direction.

Thanks

cc87

It sounds like you really need to start eating properly. When you get up first it doesnt take more than a few minutes to do a bowl of porridge or scambled eggs. Something simple but enough to keep you going. I know its said a lot but a good breakfast will make a huge difference.
If your saying you dont eat much between getting to work and getting home thats about 12 hours where your eating very little? You said it yourself your diet isnt great. Admitting it is one thing, changing it is another.

You could always spend an hour or 2 cooking at the weekend in order to have food cooked for during the week that needs to be reheated. I find this takes the pressure off and frees up a lot of time for other stuff then.

Lloyd Xmas

Hi,

There's nothing worse than lacking in energy.

If you turn the eating habits around and throw in a bit of exercise twice a weekly, it would really give you a boost.

Given the length of your day, I'd say the best approach is to ditch the habit of holding out for as long as possible before having a sandwich to fill the void.

To maintain your energy levels throughout the day, consider eating 5 or 6 times daily. Have three reasonable sized portions at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In between however, have a handful of almonds and / or fruit to keep the metabolism burning and your blood suger on an even keel. This approach will stave off highs / lows in blood suger which I reckon has you tired. Maintaining your blood suger is a key factor in fighting tiredness and being at your best.

If the sandwiches your eating are made from white bread, this is adding further to the issue.
Steer clear of white bread, white pasta, biscuits, cakes, even potatoes have an effect.
Replace with wholemeal bread, brown pasta, fruit, plenty of white meat (chicken, turkey), bit of red meat, and plenty of veg.

Your may be best to cut down on your bread intake also. Not cut it out, but just cut down. Carbs are the first source of fuel for the body.
Only when the carb energy has run out, will the body then turn to fat stores to use as energy. Bread and pasta are high carb, hence eating such foods without exercise will unfortunately lead to weight-gain.

Give the below a try for a day and see how you go:

7am: 2 x poached / scrambled Eggs with 2 slices of wholemeal toast
9am: Handful of almonds & banana
11am: Apple or similiar
1pm: Soup & brown bread or a tuna / chicken salad or sandwich etc...
3pm: Banana and another fistful of almonds
5 / 6 / 7pm: Chicken, turkey, or fish based meal with lots of vegetables

Its just an example of what i'm getting at, therefore can be tweaked here and there.
Protein will provide a feeling a satiety for longer periods, therefore plenty of chicken and fish will fill you up and you won't feel the need to snack so often.
Importantly also, limit your carbs as the day goes on - You don't want to be stocking up on a load of carbs before going to sleep, hence the chicken / fish based meal in the evening.
Buy a bag of almonds and some fruit to keep at your desk or in the car or wherever so as they're always on hand.

Finally, to lose weight you should maintain this eating pattern. If you don't, your body will adapt and modify its behaviour to keep the bit of energy available. The effect of such being, you're walking around starving with no energy, but afraid to eat from the fear of weight gain.
Exercise and proper nutrition go hand in hand 100% - This is often ignored. Throw in even one evening of exercise during the week and one at the weekend and you'll be as right as rain in no time.

All the best man.

Frogeye

I can vouch for the breakfast. I'm a convert. Never ate breakie until last November when I bought a blender. Now every morning I blend up a banana , honey ,OJ or apple juice and strawberries or other berries. Takes 2 minutes to make and drink. I spent years not eating breakie but now if I don't have my smoothie before heading out I'm lost.


I work long hours too. I avoid having much to do in the evenings by getting my dinner at lunch time in nearby hotel. Leave porriage in the canteen for sus beag at 11. Have a sanger or boiled egg in the evening. something quick.I bring my gear with me. I have to drive past my gym to get home so I have no excuse.

You don't mention the weekend. You can exercise on saturdays and sundays! A few weekend session would get your energy levels up and help with the mid week sessions.

Watch your sleep as well. Get enough. You'll need a bit more if you start exercising more. Are you getting enough now? I find it hard to. I'm wound up and even with exercise its hard to sleep. Then I f**ked in the morning. Going nuts on the sauce on the weekends kills me all week too no matter how long I stay in bed on sunday. Avoid regular realy mad ones.

You can always do stuff at home yourself. Maybe go for a jog from home or body weight exercises. A few press up etc before bed. 10-15 minutes. You just need a goal. Maybe enter a 5k/10k fun run a few months away and it will give you something to aim for. and few small goals in between. Get to 30 press ups etc. you need a few small wins to give you confidence. You don't need to break world record just something for yourself. and consistency. Little and often.



Jesus i fairly rambled on there......

Frogeye.

fionav3

Hi Copper. I'm in a similar boat to yourself. I start work at 7.15am and work until 5.30pm five days a week (I'm up at 6, gone by 6.45 and not home until after 6). I also do quite a bit of volunteer work so free time isn't really something I have a lot of. The thing is, if you want something badly enough, you'll do it. I cleaned up my diet and within days had bags more energy. That was about four months ago. Two months ago, I posted on here looking for advice. I followed the advice I got and I feel fantastic. All the work I'm doing doesn't even phase me! So I can honestly say that cleaning up your diet works a treat (I too had a very small pot belly which has shrunk to nothing just by cleaning up my diet). Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and sets you up for the day. I have porridge with strawberries and a few spoons of probiotic yogurt (plain) mixed in. Absolutely delicious, only takes minutes to prepare and keeps hunger away for a couple of hours (btw, I couldn't eat porridge before this without lots of sugar). All your other meals and snacks are just about being prepared. I take time every evening to prepare my meals for the next day. It's a pain when I have so little free time but the benefits are huge. Peanut butter/turkey on dark ryvita or oat cakes make a great snack. So does fruit, nuts and raw veg. I'm not an expert and still experimenting with my own diet so I won't give more advice then that, but just wanted to let you know that the effort pays off!

PS. I walk/run three and half miles every evening (working up to running it) and I do some weight resistance exercise four evenings a week. It was tough starting off but I persisted and now I wouldn't be happy unless I got some leval of activity in every evening. It's all about looking after yourself and putting the right uel in your body. Even if you cycle for 20 minutes every evening that's something and like the tesco slogan "every little bit helps!"