Exhausted and lacking motivation in evenings, any diet advice?

Wanderer2010

Im a 30 yr old male who could stand to lose about 2-3 stone truth be told and although Im trying to make small changes in my diet and when I have the motivation I can usually fit in 5 3km walks a week but my big issue is trying to find even a scrap of energy and motivation for the evenings after work to exercise. I live near a park so I have no excuse but most days I just am too tired or lazy after work to push myself to do a thing and I know there is probably some connection to diet, here is a typical day, any advice on what to add or cut to increase energy levels so I can get back out there and get active for the good of my body.

Breakfast: A bowl of Bran Flakes with heated full fat milk OR 2 slices white toast with butter/packet of crisps.

Mid Morning: Orange Juice and Oatmeal with honey, coffee.

Lunch: Either a sandwich of lean white meat (turkey, chicken), lettuce and cheese plus onion or the same in a wrap with mayo.

Dinner: 6 slices bread, white or brown, cheese spread, some hot deli I pick up en route to home like sausage rolls or pudding, large packet of crisps and a Lucozade. OR Plate of mince with tomato sauce and 4 slices of wholemeal bread plus Lucozade.

Snacks: Toast, chocolate, crisps.

Drinks: Water, soft drinks. Coffee.

Just typing that dinner it looks fairly bad on paper and I could stand to change it but for energy levels alone is there anything I can do now?

silverharp

I'd drop all the bread. breakfast should be protein based, some kind of scrambled eggs for breakfast or 2 boiled eggs, no need to snack til lunch. Lunch salad based, tin fish yada yada. Dinner "meat and 2 veg", healthy casseroles etc no potatoes no pasta. Nothing with processed sugar/carbs in it. You should see your weight drop and you can tweak things as you go.

Typer Monkey

Hard to tell if this is a serious post or a p*ss-take. I'll answer as if it was serious anyway...

You could walk to the moon and back and it won't make a jot of difference if you don't completely overhaul your diet. You really don't need anyone to tell you that lucozade, crisps and most of a sliced pan a day need to go now do you?

Crisps sandwich for breakfast is beyond terrible. Have a bowl of porridge or scrambled eggs.

Your morning snack is really another breakfast so you should cut that out.

Your lunch is yet more bread. Try salad, dinner left overs, soup. Having a sandwich isn't the end of the world if it's the only bread you're eating but that doesn't apply in your case.

Your dinner is really awful too. Bread and sausage rolls and lucozade is just not in any way nutritious as a dinner. Try stir fry with lots of veg and chicken or fish, omlette and salad, fish and veg etc.

I think you should concentrate on making some major changes to your diet and stop focussing on walking for now

Wanderer2010

Sadly it is a serious post! There was no point in being dishonest about my diet so I posted it as it was and in fairness the dinner I put up is probably only every third day the other days is mince or cheese pizza and I generally don't eat in the evenings late.

On reflection it does seem quite a lot of bread but would that alone cause you to have such low energy and want to just hibernate every evening ? That's the crux of my problem trying to increase my energy and hence exercise more

silverharp

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Sadly it is a serious post! There was no point in being dishonest about my diet so I posted it as it was and in fairness the dinner I put up is probably only every third day the other days is mince or cheese pizza and I generally don't eat in the evenings late.

On reflection it does seem quite a lot of bread but would that alone cause you to have such low energy and want to just hibernate every evening ? That's the crux of my problem trying to increase my energy and hence exercise more

just remember losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise and as you get older the diet part probably becomes more important again. in another decade you will have 4-5 stone to lose. you also dont seem to eat any veg worth talking about, you are setting yourself up for all kinds of health issues in the future. Look into juicing maybe it time is an issue.

Typer Monkey

You've no energy because you are not fuelling your body properly. You must be deficient in most vitamins and minerals, you have hardly any protein and seem to be existing on sugar. Sort this out first and the energy to exercise will come.

Are you focussing on the walking as a distraction from your diet maybe in a 'I would loose weight if I could find the energy to exercise' kind of a way? Your diet is the problem and sorting it out is where your major fat loss will come from. And you'll feel immeasurably better. Get the myfitnesspal app for your phone and use it to track what you're eating. I bet if you put in honestly what you're currently eating you'd be appalled.

Forget the walking. Overhaul your diet completely. You don't have to do anything crazy just read the stickies on the top of this forum and educate yourself a bit about nutrition. Get shopping and cooking food, try new things.

When that's done have a think about exercise that interests or excites you. Are you interested in any sport? A martial art? Weight training? Running or cycling? Walking is for middle age women out for a gossip. Stop making it the barrier and imagined saviour

Precious flower

Exercise wise, is there any way you could exercise in the mornings, even a 15-10 minute high intense workout? I always find it easier to eat healthier and stick to it if I exercise early in the morning.
Your diet is definitely a serious problem though, foods like you are eating give short bouts of energy and then cause you to crash, get hungry and eat more which is probably why you are eating so much.

Personally, white bread does that to me so I avoid it, the crisps and energy drinks (which have a feck load amount of sugar in them and caffeine, as well as the coffees (do you put sugar in your coffee, cut it out)( will cause you to crash too) and deli food is a big no no too which should be obvious. Those bran flakes are probably aren't the best either. Check, check, checks the labels of what you are eating!! You'd be surprised about the amounts sugar/salt/bad fats in some things. Eat porridge or eggs(good fats).

If you start eating foods that stabilise your blood sugar levels and don't have them bouncing all over the place, you will feel better.

Another question, do you get enough sleep?
If your sleep is bad your appetite and energy will be zero.

In conclusion: You must deal with your diet before you tackle exercise as it is wasting your time making an effort to exercise when you are eating back and more all the calories you lost.

Mr. CooL ICE

I get the feeling that you have misconceptions about sugar/carbs and how they fuel your body. Just because sugar/carbs technically provide your body with energy, eating just sugar and carbs will not make you energetic.

It's much more complex than that. Read the stickies at the top of the forum.