Feeling weak during workouts?

K

KimDW

Cathlete
I exercise after I get home from work and usually don't eat dinner until after the workout. But sometimes I feel so weak and shakey during the workout that I have to go eat something. Like last night I ate a piece of cheese with FF Bologna but that didn't work so I ate a spoonfull of peanut butter and it helped a little but I still felt weak. I am starting to watch my diet again after 2 weeks of being really bad. Maybe my body is wanting more food. Does anyone else get like this? My food journal yesterday was this.

Breakfast: Fat Free Yoplait Yogurt
Snack: 1 cup grapes
Lunch: Ham and cheese on wheat bagel with vegetable soup
Snack: Peaches (snack cup)
Snack: FF Vanilla/Chocolate Pudding snack cup
Exercise

Am I not getting enough of something? I take a multi-vitamin and a calcium pill. Plus I drink at least 6 glasses of water before 5pm. I hate feeling this way during a workout.

Kimbra
 
I'm glad you posted this.
I seem to have weaker moments in the am as compared to the pm and I think it is because I have more energy due to more food in my body during the course of the day that peaks in the pm. My peak energy time is usually between 6 and 7pm, but this is the not the case every evening. When I feel I a surge coming...I ride the wave and workout! I just usually feel hyper/restless in the evening.
I think I need to start eating more in the am as well...maybe that would help? Looking at your menu, I can tell you that your not eating enough for breakfast, and I thought I was bad!

Charlotte~~;)
 
It looks like you're definitely not eating enough during the day to support a workout in the evening. Try eating something rich in complex carbs an hour to an hour and a half before your workout, example: 1 piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter. Your body is good at telling you when it needs glycogen from carbs and I get the same way if I haven't eaten before a workout. You could also try drinking a Gatorade if food is too inconvenient.

Just a side question, when are you taking your calcium and multivitamin? Calcium can only be absorbed 600mgs at a time so don't take it with your yogurt or with the multivitamin since you'll just urinate it out.
 
Kimbra:

I am not surprised you feel weak trying to do cathe workouts on so little food.

Your breakfast is inadequate, and the lack of food during the day may well set you up for bingeing in the evenings after the workout, am I right?

Try to have something more substantial for breakfast: the yoghurt (could you switch to a low-fat one?), the fruit and some grains of some kind (toast, cereal, whatever).

I would eat something more substantial around 5pm also, to help fuel that evening workout: perhaps some peanut butter and crackers with baby carrots, a protein bar, something with some carbs and protein mix.

Also the snack cup sounds like it isn't real fruit, just carbs, so you would be better off peeling yourself an orange and eating a handful of strawberries.

Examine carefully the iron component of your diet. Are you getting enough iron? I don't think it is coming from your foods. You need leafy vegetables, lentils, red meat, etc. Do some research on iron-bearing fods and get them into your diet through foods, not just the vitamin pill. A lack of iron will definitely make you suffer during your workouts.

What kind of things do you have for your evening meal? There seem to be no pulses, nor much dairy in your diet. You need to add some real vegetables also, and I hope you are eating a piece of fish, meat or lentil burgers or some substantial protein for the evening meal. Are you?

Clare
 
Thanks guys for the posts.

I am a lifetime weight watcher member so I count points. I'm still trying to get off about 10 pounds. I'm not getting enough sleep at night 5 to 6 hours tops and I know that will affect me.

Clare:
I take my mulit-vitamin (women's One a Day) in the morning after I eat breakfast. Sometimes my breakfast is a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter or a hard boiled egg and yogurt. Then I take my calcium pill after I eat lunch. My dinner last night was a cup of mixed vegetables (from frozen cooked in olive oil) a cup of chicken and dumplings, a cup of mashed potatoes and a salad. I need to go to the store and stock up on my fruit otherwise yesterday I wouldv'e had more fruit. I don't really like fish. I will eat shrimp but it's so expensive. I do eat veggie burgers sometimes and or veggie chicken patties just because they are low in points. I have switched to all wheat bread and bagels. Something I didn't mention. I had a headache yesterday afternoon and I took some Excedrin and I bet with the caffene in that affected me. My dinner's are usually a little bigger than lunch. It seems like when I eat a larger lunch I end up not having enough points for dinner. Roughly 1 point is 50 calories. And I am suppossed to eat 18-23 points per day. Plus I earn points if I exercise. But I try not to use them.

Kimbra
 
Kimbra,

Congrats on making Lifetime WW status :)

Remember that your workouts need fuel or you won't get everything that you can get from them. Sometimes adding a little fuel actually helps you burn MORE calories throughout. Perhaps you can try to add those workout points in for a week and see how that effects you? Or perhaps you can try to add in a handful of raisins, peanut butter on celery, etc. for some quick energy a half hour or hour before your workout? Also make sure that you drink an extra glass of water before your workout. You may consider trying a low sugar, electorlye replacement powder (I use this for very high energy cardio workouts). Sometimes it is just water that you are missing that can make you feel weak.

Christine
 
I agree with the other's, your diet isn't supporting your lifestyle. You need more nutrients, especially complex carbs and probably protein. I'm certainly not a nutritionist but try to include more of these types of foods in your daily diet.

And with that pudding cup snack, eat a healthy food with it. With just that pudding you are supplying your body with nothing but a sugar rush. I read somewhere this week that we should aim for .6 grams of protein for every pound of body weight...so say you weigh 135 lbs x .6 = 81 grams of protein needed each day for an active lifestyle.

I try to eat some form of complex carbs before I workout and then again after plus protein.

If you're protein intake is inadequate you will feel tired because you literally are running on empty in your fuel tank. This is why the low fat/no fat diets don't work. People think if they cut out meat and eggs they will be healthier. Okay, you can do that but you have to eat other sources of protein and this is where people get into trouble.

Eat a well balanced diet every single day. It's one thing if you're into fitness competition's and you're on a very regimented diet but even those people are using protein supplements to make sure they meet their bodies requirements. Now, I'm not a big proponent of protein supplements for the masses. Most of us who exercise regularly and stay fit will get along just fine eating a balanced diet with our nutrients coming from whole foods.

Real food is not going to make you gain weight...it's eating too large of portion's and eating too many refined carbs and sugar ( that pudding cup) that make us gain weight and gain body fat.
 
Good gravy girl eat some food. WW or not there is a deficit in the diet girlfriend.

I tried doing exercise in the morning without eating, doesn't workfor me. That's why we all have to find out time and combo. Others do it no problem on an empty but you're sucking air there.

can you climb steps on that little bit of food?


~~TyTbody~~
Working towards Perpetual Motion
 
Wow, am I really not eating that much? You guys make it sound like I'm starving myself. I know that I'm spending my points on some stuff that isn't doing me any good but what about the whole wheat bagels I'm eating and today I had a hard boiled egg with a sausage link for breakfast. That's protein but it cost me 5 points. I'm stuck in a rut with my meals and snacks. Yesterday I ate 24 points of my 18-23 so I used 1 of my exercise points. I wish I had a nutritionist at my disposal 24 hours a day to tell me what to eat. I know I'm whining but it's 4:15 and I'm hungry and ready to go home. I have 6 points left for dinner. With my Cathe exercise I'll have 9.

Kimbra
 
>Wow, am I really not eating that much? You guys make it
>sound like I'm starving myself.


Well, in fairness, I think that you need some input from some other WW users. The reason why I suggest that is b/c I had a friend that I was helping to lose some weight and coaching to eat better and while she was on WW, and I noticed that protein took a lot of points. I emember htat she had a hard time increasing her protein on the same amount of points. If you don't get a lot of input on this thread, address o a new one to WW users and maybe someone can help you out.

That being said, you aren't eating all that much food. :eek: I would never survive on that amount! That's okay though...just figure out how to make it work for you and make those changes.

:) Christine
 
Hi, I'm a WW lifetimer too. WW has changed things a little since Winning Points. If you haven't been to a meeting lately, you might want to drop into one and get the most recent materials regarding the Core and Flex plans (as a lifer you can get all that stuff free of charge). Also bring your journal so your leader can review it.

Just my thoughts from what you listed from your journal, it looks like you're not getting enough healthy fats, complex carbs, and quality protein - and don't forget those zero point veggies! For me personally, I try to avoid processed foods. For example the ham, bagel, the soup (if it's from a can) pudding snack cup, and to some extent the canned fruit and the yogurt (except for the plain fat free variety). I'm sensitive to all the sodium in processed food and will retain water terribly if I eat it. Last time I ate lunchmeat I couldn't get my shoes on the next day!

If you're reasonably active, you might be shortchanging yourself points-wise. I find I will either maintain or even gain if I don't eat enough. For me, I maintain or even lose slowly eating at a target of 25 points, eating all my weekly flex points (35) and about half my activity points (about 30). Perhaps if you added some more food to your daily intake you'll see the scale moving in the right direction and you won't feel so weak or shaky when you workout. Just my 2 cents...
 
Kimbra, I am a lifetime WW member, having lost, and kept off 90+ pounds over the last 4 years. Last fall, due to a lot of work related stress and an injury sidelining me for awhile, I gained back 25 pounds. When I had lost weight before, I followed the points plan, and it worked, but I had the same problem of running out of points, and not feeling satisfied at my evening meal. Since January I have been following the Core plan, and it has been amazing! I have lost 25 pounds since New Years, and have seen amazing results in muscle definition. I attribute this to the ample amount of foods that are considered Core, and therefore do not count as points in your weekly total. For instance, skinless chicken, lean beef are Core. If you cook them in a low fat manner, you don't count it! And no measuring a little bitty piece of steak as 4 or 5 points. Lots of other good stuff, like whole wheat pasta, is Core. You should check it out. I have been eating tons, feeling satisfied, with lots of energy for working out, with a great mix of protein and carbs. I know different things work for different folks, but maybe you should check out this new program. I was skeptical at first, having had great success with counting the points, but I am so pleased, and its great to not need to be so religious about counting every scrap. Cindy
 
I erred on my previous post. It is .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight-not .6 grams.

Sorry for any confusion and I wanted to double check that article after I posted that info. here. Good thing I did. That came from Oxygen magazine.
 
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