I used to mock the stereotypical "cheerleader" peppiness in people. Now I have so much energy, I feel like cartwheeling down the hall.
Since starting NROL4W, I'm RAVENOUS. Eating has become a joy. I'm eating around 2100 calories today (weights day), and I've gone down in pounds and millimeters (calipers) since last week. I don't remember ever having this much energy in my life - I feel so pumped up, I start thinking about what else I can do after work for FUN. Yoga? Cardio? Rock climbing with friends?
Who's with me?
I don't know how anyone could survive this program on 1400 +/- calories a day! I feel like I may need to adjust my calories UP on any given day just to feel satisfied with my meals - and they're all whole foods. Man oh man. This is great.
LisaS: I'm eating at my maintenance levels (1900 & 2200), 5-6 meals/day, 160-200 g protein/day (I'm ~130 lbs); a PWO shake and meal within 1 hr of my workout. I log my food on SparkPeople and even measure most things. I'm analyzing my night routine this week, to see what might have changed and could be interfering with my sleep, and I'm going to bed earlier, but everything seems the same.
In the section on measuring progress, Lou talked about the possibility of disrupted sleep as a side effect of starting a program like Alwyn's. That's what I was chalking it up to, for now. (Unless I remain tired, in which case I'll look at something else, such as increasing cals.)
ledove - are you drinking caffeine? I've had instances where I'll drink caffeine on a day where I work out in the afternoon and can't sleep. Caffeine is fine, training is fine, but doing both sends me into a tailspin and I find myself reaching for the OTC sleep aids. Just a thought.
Are you doing intervals at all? I'm always on an endorphin high after cardio intervals.
@rixatrix: I do drink caffeine. I work out first thing in the morning, and I have 1 cup of coffee, iced, in my PWO shake. (Protein is Mocha Cappuccino. The combo is fabulous.) I sometimes have another cup when I get to work. Those are my normal cups. I've been drinking more coffee throughout the day in the last two weeks to stay awake at work. And yes, I've been contemplating melatonin to make sure I'm really sleeping. Vicious cycle...
I am actually bright and perky after my workout for about an hour, and then it's nap time for the rest of the day. Non-workout days, there's no perky, even with extra sleep. And even with the extra caffeine each day, I never really wake up. I track my caffeine on SP, too, and it rarely gets past 400 mg/day.
I haven't done any intervals yet. I'm trying to be good and stick with the program, as written, and not add my own ideas. I can get overzealous sometimes... But I've considered them; I know they'd wake me up.
Mostly, I yawn (huge, jaw-cracking yawns) all day long. Co-workers ask me if I've had my coffee today or if I slept at all last night. I do fall asleep soon after going to bed. But if I had a pillow, I'd curl up under my desk right now and sleep. (Great, now that I have that idea in my head, it's looking more and more brilliant...) I take naps on the weekends and still sleep through the whole night.
I'll try the rest of this week and especially this weekend to see if I can catch up. Lots of sleeping, little if any caffeine, no tv/computer before bed, lots of food (maybe extra)--all those things I think I'm doing but might not be doing as well as I thought. I'm ready to start bouncing off the walls again.
Sorry bout that ledove -- I'm actually the opposite. When I'm not working out I need at least 8 hours of sleep every night. When I'm exercising hard, 6 hours is more than enough. I'm not a chick, though.
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I have to say that all of a sudden I have so much energy!!! I have been donig NROLW since the end of Dec. and lately I can just fly around my house getting all kinds of things done.I feel like I did in my 20s or 30s where I just wanted to go and go (I'm in my 50s).
I can't see much body change except for some fat loss around my middle but I feel like that will come down the road.
There must be a correlation between strength and energy levels!!!! Bobbie
Ledove: I felt the same way at the beginning. I started back with good diet and exercise about half way through Jan. I just started the program (workout 1a on Wed and HIITs yesterday), and I'm finally getting my energy back. It has taken my body almost a month to adjust to exercise and sleep and kicking caffeine (mostly) and everything that I kicked back into gear in the new year. I don't know how long you've been doing the program, but I think that a month or so would give you enough time for your body to feel better. It happened to me all of a sudden and now I feel much better. Maybe that will happen for you too
rixatrix, isn't it amazing that you can eat that much? I looked at the nutritional requirements and said NO WAY can I eat that much then I get done working out and want to eat my arm off! Of GOOD stuff! Man, that's bad when veggies start looking good to me hahahaha!
rixatrix, isn't it amazing that you can eat that much? I looked at the nutritional requirements and said NO WAY can I eat that much then I get done working out and want to eat my arm off! Of GOOD stuff! Man, that's bad when veggies start looking good to me hahahaha!
I've been way down on caffeine, too. Not that I was a junkie, but I'd have two shots of espresso or a couple Excedrin a day. (The Excedrin because I get bad allergy/sinus headaches in certain seasons.) Now I find I don't really need it in the morning, although sometimes I still like it for other reasons - ritual, boredom, socializing.
Of course, it often seems that having a bit of caffeine is enough to make me want to run a marathon, so maybe exercise and caffeine are cousins...
Supernatural energy
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