Energy
 

O.K. guys, I am on week three of my 1400 calorie a day diet. Lost about 10 lbs. so far but I have no energy. As far as what my typical day of eating looks like.

Breakfast: 1 cup of special K with Skim milk and one full banana.

Lunch:Smart ones meal (Varios)

Dinner: 2 turkey sandwhiches with what bread,no fat cheese and low fat MW.


I also have a granola bar for a snack.


Stats: Starting Weight-360 (1/12/11)
Weight now -347 (1/28/11)

Age-34
Heighth-6'0"



I am taking a good multi-viatamin daily.



Any ideas??????

Firstly, what are your stats (age/ht/wt/lifestyle/exercise)?

Nextly (is that even a word? :D) that looks at first glance like a whole lot of carbs. Carbs aren't "bad", but "simple" carbs and even more complex ones tend to burn off much faster than protein (hence the success of Atkins and low-carb diets). Also, you need protein to rebuild/retain muscle, especially if you are exercising.

I've had really good luck following the "Zone Diet" calorie mix of 40/30/30 carb/fat/protein. I'm not saying it's best for everyone, just that it seems to work for me.

I've been on 1500 cals since May of last year and you can be the judge as to the effectiveness of it from my stats below. I do have a "day off" every month, and I've not been perfect by any means. I seldom am "starving" and find this calorie level pretty comfortable.

Depending upon your stats, you might find a bit more "good" calories to be helpful, but that's up to you.

Regards,
Michael

I'm no doctor; however, it would seem you have no energy because of such a drastic reduction of calories. Sure, you're dropping the weight, but also know that I can barely get through my day on 1400 calories (I'm at 1500) and need to drink a lot of herbals teas and water for fullness. To calculate my daily caloric intake, I use a combination of fitday's recommendations based on my activity level and a trainer at scoobysworkshop.com and his calorie counter at Free Fat Loss Calorie Calculator[/url], but generally stick with fitday's calorie recommendation (about 200 less/day than scooby).

as Michael mentioned carbs can be a good source on energy. Complex carbs will usually work out better, if you just need a quick burst, then simple carbs. Too many carbs seem to have the opposite effect. I can crab crash on too many or too few carbs.

You may also want to look in to vitamin b12.

You may also want to consider that your diet seems to have no significant amount of fat. Personally, if I were to go carb-heavy, I would need to eat every half an hour or so just to keep my energy level constant. The minute I stopped eating would be the minute I fall asleep.

I keep my carbs to a minimum (I also train heavy 5 days/week so it's impossible for me to go low-carb at the moment) necessary to sustain my level of activity, but most of my daily energy comes from fat, either in the form of whole dairy, eggs, nuts, or fatty meat.

Are you getting any physical activity? IMHO cardio wears me down quite a bit, but weight lifting will often give me a significant energy boost.

Just a second 'aye' vote for Scooby's site....the guy is an inspiration and he doesn't want to sell you anything.

Bluedog,

I'm glad to see that you are still around and active. How's it been going?

I am no expert, but it sounds like you are eating too little. When you do that your body thinks it starving and will start doing things to stay alive, like burning muscle for energy. It does this because muscle uses more energy and so if there is less muscle the body can survive on less calories. I would think you would do better long term eating something more like 2000 - 2500 calories a day.

Thanks Mike,I posted that just before I went away for work for a while and haven't had much of a chance to check in lately.
I'm still here, still working away at dropping the weight, still training hard and still optimistic :)

I didn't quite achieve my goal for the year, but I am happy with the weight I lost and have kept off.....hovering around the 125kg mark +/_ 1 or 2 kilo at the moment and have kept up a steady increase in the weights I can lift in sets. (added 50kg to bench 12-10-10-8 sets in 12 months)To me that means an increase in lean muscle and a drop in body fat, no matter what the scales tell me, my body is improving.
I keep running into people I haven't seen in a few years and some of the reactions I've been getting border on comical, apparently we are our own harshest critics....while I can notice some difference, I have had people refuse to believe I am actually who I say I am.
The psychological benefits of a fitter body are most definitely worth all the effort in my opinion....I am far happier, more relaxed and sleep better than I have in years. I started all this after a rather traumatic break-up with a woman.....I have a new lady friend now, which helps the self image a lot, but she is an outstanding cook and loves to spoil me......that can be a problem sometimes, I don't want to be rude and refuse the meals she prepares, but the nutritional value of some of them are horrifying! Ah well, sometimes we just have to shut up, eat up and work extra hard the next day. :)

I'm back in my home town now for a while on contract work, so I should be able to check in more often and keep a tighter reign on my diet, hopefully that will mean a more noticeable change in bodyweight and composition than has been happening for the last couple of months.

Thanks for asking mate, it is nice to know there are others out there taking an interest in our lives and progress , How's the training treating you?