I’m not the most fit of people but I do try to do at least 30 minutes of exercise most days whether it be badminton or a fitness DVD or something else. I’m in good health, under 9 stone (5’5) and eat healthy but after playing a pre-season friendly hockey tournament over 2 days the weekend before last I still feel tired and weak and have lost motivation to do anything exercise related. Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any ideas as to why this might be?

It’s called ‘life’. Everyone is feeling crap at the mo.

Insightful….thanks

Feeling the same way myself at the moment. I put it down to fatigue brought about by trying to do too much over the last couple of months. It isn’t helped by the rubbish weather which has sapped my motivation to get out on the bike more.

I see it as a sign that my body wants to rest which is what I’m doing. Its boring but sometimes you just need to back off a bit.

You could be right Big Dave, perhaps it is other things making me feel drained. The timing of me starting to feel rubbish actually ties in with when my other half lost their job and the stressing about money began.

Getting old?

Getting much sunshine?

Been a pretty poor summer which could mean your Vitamin D levels are low, especially if you don’t get much from your diet (oily fish).

I live in Ireland, I’m not used to not seeing the sun.
I do take multi vitamins and Omega 3 amongst other things so I think I am probably getting enough vitamin D although I take your point

Restless – I’m 27

Are you under stress?

I’m under extreme work related stress at the moment which is making me feel tired and hard to focus on exercise, I can’t bring myself to go outside and ride much so I’m on the turbo even if the sun is shining.

Depression/ stress related.

Diet is everything – i noticed a massive difference in myself just by changing diet – cutting out the coffee and beer replacing it with water and lots of whole foods salads – oily fish etc…
I think its a good place to start..

My diet over the past 2 months has been very clean, probably the best it has ever been to be honest. Breakfast is always boiled eggs, lunch is usually a salad with chicken/tuna/ham or left overs from the night before and dinner is usually something salad based again. Coffee is generally limited to about 2 cups a day and I drink 1.5 to two litres of water a day.

Sounds to me like you don’t have enough pies in our life.
A steak and kidney should do the trick.

From the figures you’ve given here your Basal Metabolic Rate is roughly 1,493kcals.

That’s how many calories you need to tick over, without doing exercise.

I’m going to guess that boiled eggs and two salads a day are not providing you with the required calories, especially if you are doing 30 minutes of exercise every day.

(Note: not a doctor or dietritionalogist, so it is entirely possible I don’t know what I’m talking about)

If you’re feeling tired, it’s a lifestyle thing. Check your diet etc.

If you’re feeling sleepy, get more sleep.

🙂

so you do ~30 mins of exercise a day and feel alright.

Then you went and played a two day hockey tournament and feel tired afterwards? Might I suggest that you’re not hockey tournament fit at the moment? 😀

I’d also echo the diet comments, I only commute to/from work on the bike but found I had to up my calorie intake after getting taste for soup/salad at lunch.

I’m never hockey fit, that’s a given

My diet over the past 2 months has been very clean, probably the best it has ever been to be honest. Breakfast is always boiled eggs, lunch is usually a salad with chicken/tuna/ham or left overs from the night before and dinner is usually something salad based again.

as mentioned above a bit of chicken and salad isn’t going to be enough to feed the mice and next doors rabbit. I presume you are eating something carbohydrate based and plenty of veggies as well?

You could use the MyFitnessPal (Singletrack App du jour) to track your food and exercise to make sure you are getting the right calories and balance of carbs/protein/fat.

Not enough carbs I’d wager. Add in beans and root veg or, if you are not battling excess weight, some bread etc.

Has anyone experienced anything similar

Yes, when I first started iDieting and had an 18 mile cycle commute.

I do limit bread to maybe a few slices once or twice a week and any carbs I eat are generally from sweet potato / roasted parsnips and obviously salad (lettuce, celery, scallions, red onion, sugar snaps etc).

GrahamS, I have used MyFitnessPal in the past but I find it a bit of a faff putting in individual ingredients for homemade meals and weighing everything out.

I find it a bit of a faff putting in individual ingredients for homemade meals and weighing everything out.

Yeah it is. But it’s the only way you get an accurate measure of what’s going in.

You can create recipes for common homemade meals or part-meals – that speeds things up a lot.

Digi-scales help a lot too: Put empty plate on scales. Zero scale. Add veg 1. Note weight and zero scale. Add veg 2. Note weight and zero. Add meat. Note weight and you’re done.

Try introducing more bread or rice or something, see if that helps. You can always stop again if you start to pile on the lbs.

Or maybe just have something high GI 90 mins before exercise.

Thanks guys, I’ll try increasing my carbs and see if that does the trick