feeling kind of woozy

[hkbecky]

Hi Cathe,

You may remember me from a previous post - I'm the one who needed to lean up in 3 weeks. However, I'm nowhere close to my 'leanness' goals.

The wedding is next week and I've really tried hard over the last 2 weeks to maintain a clean diet and not eat any unnecessary calories, but all this cutting back has been making me woozy. A few times i've felt faint because it seems like i just don't have enough energy.

I usually try to work out in the mornings and I start off with 1 cup of oatmeal (mixed with water) and a cup of coffee to jump-start me.

Afterwards, i eat a piece of fruit and then walk to work but i feel so light-headed that i end up eating a bowl of noodles or a sandwich just to get me feeling normal again. I see some folks out there get by with a cup of oatmeal with splenda and 1/2 a cup of OJ and that just seems waay to little for me.

And this goes on throughout the day. I tried to calculate my calorie intake and according to my body type and fitness level, i should be taking in about 1800-2000 calories. but I don't know if i'm not eating enough, or too much!

it seems like i'm not eating enough, but i'm not losing any flab and but i really don't want to eat too much to off-set all the hard work during the workout. what am i doing wrong?

 

[ldy_solana]

not cathe but if you are working very intenslty you are going to need to fuel your body with lots of protiens,veggies, and healthy unprocessed carbs which means extra calories. how often,how much, and how hard are you working?there was a period of time i was doing cardio and weights up to 2 1/2 hours a day and my calorie intake was quite high to keep up with it.but when i cut back on the exercise and varied the intensity i was able to eat under 2000 calories a day and never feel hungry. plus i eat 300-400 calorie meals 4-5 times a day. i always add a protien source(nuts,dairy,meats,fish,etc) and a veggie or fruit.

body fat is very hard to get rid off and its science to get yourself lean without starving and killing yourself in the gym. i hope you can get more of an idea of what to do b/c i don't give that kind of advice out b/c what i do only works for me and may not work for anybody else. i don't want to give my plan out then get backlashed b/c somebody gained weight or saw no results from it.but i will say i eat between 1700-2000 calories a day,do morning yoga up to 55 mins, and either cardio,weights or a mix of both for no more then an hour 15mins and varying intensity and i give myself rest days.the body can repair itself and you can see results by allowing yourself sometime with active rest(go for light walk,do yoga or pilates).


kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey

 

[kathryn]

IMO, I cup of oatmeal with water and coffee isn't a breakfast that can fill your energy needs for the morning. That's perhaps why you feel woozy (and generally not taking in enough calories?).

Add some ground flax seed to that oatmeal, and a tsp. of peanut butter or chopped raw nuts (chopped raw nuts would be better).

Don't be afraid of taking more calories in in the morning. Up to 500 calories (more than that per meal, and your body can't easily digest it, and the excess that it can't use can go to fat). It can help you make better choices at lunch (instead of noodles, a mixed salad and some form of protein and a little fat--to help the body absorb some of the fat-soluble nutrients in the salad). The sandwich might not be bad if it's on whole-grain (even better, sprouted whole grain) bread.

How many times a day are you eating? The act of eating and digestion actually helps boost the metabolism, so eating 5-6 times a day (three larger meals--again no more than around 500 calories each) and two or three snacks of around 100-300 calories, depending on your calorie needs) will help boost your metabolism a bit, keep your blood sugar steady (the "woozy" feeling could be low blood sugar), supply calories when you need them, and keep your body from going into fat-storing mode because it knows it's going to be fed soon.

Think of food as your fuel: you need to supply enough for your needs (like putting enough gas in the tank to take you to your next destination), but not overfuel (like putting too much gas in the tank and having it overflow).