low volume, high impact

[galya]

Thank you Espi You are smarter than I'll ever be about preplanning.
I eat whatever and as much as I want, I haven't overeaten, and I keep fat low just in case. I think carbs will help my body just because it takes no effort to digest them, however, I've had some stomach discomfort. I forget how digestive friendly low carb is. Food was mixed again today:
1. orange
2. ezekiel type bread with fresh low fat cheese
3. orange and dry curd
4. veggies soup, spinach and egg
5. yogy and homemade pineapple upside down cake
6. some broccoli for dinner and some yogy

The next few days will be mostly veggies and fruit and yogy, since I feel slightly off about grains and other carbies now.
I've been drinking water, a bit of herbal tea and I've only had one green tea the whole three days, no caffeine and I nap for 15 minutes when I can. I just took a 30 minute nap at 8 p.m. I've had a lot of things happening this week and some of it might become good news in the future, so my mind is restless.
Walked around and foam rolled a bit today, but no other exercise.
Seems like I am doing better, not as weepy and no major sadness attacks as of yet today. I might be bouncing back.

[gregl515]

Originally Posted by UConnJulie

Thanks Galya, just put them on my "wishlist" at Perform Better!

Dragon door has red ones for Valentines Day!

[gregl515]

Sorry to see you down. I know the blues are disabling. It's hard to do the things you need to for yourself when balancing the needs of business and clients, family and home. You can get lost. Take the time and you will be better for yourself and everyone else.

[galya]

Thank you, it's great that you can empathize.
Well, it seems like I am digging myself out of the whole. I feel okay without coffee. I made a pot of decaf last night and didn't drink it. That shows my body doesn't want it, doesn't it
I woke up with glute medius inflammation, weird. Most of the day I was in bad pain and started on some B vitamins. Foam rolled and wrote Mike R. to ask for advice.
Food has been only yogurt, veggies and some fruit.
1. yogy/apple
2. broccoli, peas and yogy
3. broccoli, hot natural chocolate
4. apple/yogy
5. yogy
6. green beans and some butter for taste, hot natural chocolate

I feel okay, if a tad hungry.
Two days with no breakdowns and I seem to enjoy life again.

[Blackjack]

Keep your chin up Galya...things are starting to pick up for me as well. Hang in there, spring is just around the corner - the daylight is getting longer every day!

[Espi]

Good to hear you're in high spirits again.
It'd be nice to see you working on a low volume (high intensity) program again. EDT was a bit too draining, esp. combined with your low cal intake, isn't it?

[galya]

I really don't know.
I think I did too long with no break but the main reason I fried myself is because I had no concept of being tired. I was drinking a lot of coffee and taking fahrenheit to keep me awake on the really hard days. Now that I have a sleep log I see the most I sleep is 6-7 hours and I know I need more. Now that I am not taking wake me up stuff I often just doze off during the day.
I have a plan to work out three weeks in a row, then do 1 week of just cardio (active rest sort of) and incorporate more relaxation and recuperation. I am a dumbass for how much I put energy in everything I do (work, workouts, etc). I am an overachiever in every sense and then I end up underachieving. Funny. Espi, I seriously don't know if my cal intake is too low. I am eating around 1600 if I let it self regulate. I am eating more veggies and fruit now and I think I will keep it this way. I will eat lots of veggies, some fruit and some meat and eggs, but nothing too extreme.
Ted, we have birds singing outside, yey

[Espi]

Birds! Yay. Oh well, we had pigeons calling out a month earlier when it was so warm, but that doesn't count as they are house pigeons (someone elses).

You're describing the exact same problem I was experiencing when using EC. It makes you go on while the body is actually overworking and undereating. This set me up for being very vulnerable for diseases as the combination of very low carbing , overexercising and undereating suppresses the immune system. Back then in 2004 it frightened the hell out of me.
So, while EC on its' own (or Fahrenheit or any other heavy stimulant) may be good for an occasional short stint of dieting a la PSMF (which actually can even work without a suppressant because you are so not hungry), it makes it hard to gauge tiredness.
Especially because somehow lowcarbing and to an extent fasting, has that capacity of making you feel less tired than when eating more normally (higher calories and carbs). It really doesn't seem to make sense when you think of it. But probably just Mother Nature's way to make human beings survive long periods of starvation while still functioning reasonably well.

The downside is that when this is a very long habit , it's a hard habit to break. I honestly really thought that eating food was an overrated thing. I just never was really hungry, until I ate. And upon eating, would binge massively.

This means that I (and perhaps you as well) cannot rely on appetite for appropriate food intake. It has got to be weighed /measured, even when it's a PITA.

Normal-sized women who are decently active and have no thyroid problem or a history of undereating (see all the caveats) need approx. 2000 kcal. A normal brain needs 100g of glucose to function or it will take it from (msucle/food) protein. When exercising vigorously you need more. You can eat far less for prolonged periods, but then you run into problems with overtraining and suppressed immunity. I know it's hard to believe because I was utterly convinced a ketodiet was the only way to go. But when as active as you and I (I'm a lazy bum compared to you) you just need to eat more if long-term health is your goal. That should always be a priority before ideal bf%.
What is nicer than be able to eat more calories while staying at the same body weight?

My only problem is that I have to be extremely selective about the carb sources because of allergies for gluten/dairy and sensitivity to very high glycemic carbs. Leaves lots of fruit, rice, corn, quinoa and some other esoteric non-wheat sources as well as .. potatoes. No biggie actually.

Hugs!

[Blackjack]

It's funny you mention the birds, I heard some the other morning here as well. But it was about -5 degrees F at the time...not a strong indicator for Spring...but it was nice to hear.

Glad things are looking up for you.

[sona]

Glad things are looking up for you.

Me too, Galya. You seem to have a pretty good handle on what goes wrong when it goes wrong--in time to turn it all back around. That's a good quality.

Hope you have a pleasant weekend planned!

[galya]

Thank you all, you are very kind and supportive as usual
Espi, you've been there and understand how tired feels perfectly.
The whole appetite thing...I don't know. I seem to have perfectly normal reactions, I just don't like sweets and I have no cravings. It's been like that for a while. I think my appetite works normally because being on a higher carb diet I've been hungrier more often and I've been eating more often. On lower carb I can go hours without food, which is normal. The lack of appetite on low carb is mainly a result of lower insulin and leptin, lower thyroid hormones and availability of ketones and FFAs; also the foods themselves are nutrient dense and show the body you don't need much to survive.
I think we should make a distinction between survival and optimal health and performance though. I think rest, adequate caloric intake and hydration in the end play a bigger role than macros. What do you think?
No physical activity today, the glute inflammation is dying off, thank god. I had a massage. Ate veggies, some fruit and yogy all day and had some indian food for dinner (chickpeas, rice, spinach and nan). I am going back to lower carbs but not keto tomorrow. I feel ready I might start adding green tea and see how this goes. The thought of coffee makes me nauseous still so I won't introduce it soon.
The weekend is planned for studying and work. We'll be on a morning show live on TV on Sunday, that will be interesting

[L'ilJ]

Good to see you're doing better Galya. Be careful not to burn yourself out. I ended up with adrenal burnout about a year ago and it was difficult to recover from it. It took me about 8 months to climb out of the hole. You don't want to be there, so take care of yourself.

[cappuccino]

great things are looking up. I do think your introspectiveness is pretty accurate...you know what's going on with you. It's great you can step back and recognize and then develop a new plan. Your 3wks on and then 1wk of cardio is probably pretty sound. You hit it hard at each workout, so you probably need a break rather regularly. Interesting how you noticed that the coffee was keeping you going, not necessarily the energy.

keep it up and looking forward to more happy galya posts and insights

[Espi]

That show sounds really exciting Galya.

Good for you to not get so many cravings, must be from eating the right foods. I'm still eating too much crap myself. Should stop that without getting obsessive about it.

[galya]

I don't know what it's from, apart from the occasional desire for oranges or pineapples I really don't get any desire to eat sweets, nuts, whatever.

Well, to recap, the week started at the bottom and I seem to have dug myself out.
I think Thursday at some point I realised I am not depressed anymore. The scary part is this was not your usual blues, I was weak, discouraged, sad and unable to do anything. 99% of it was overtraining and not knowing when and whether I was tired. Without coffee it was hard in the beginning but it seems like it's better now. I had some green tea in the morning and a few cups of natural cocoa later on (fat and fiber, mmmm). I am back to eating lower carb and feel good. I started getting thirsty immediately.

Food today:
1. drinkable yogy
2. spinach and homemade cheese (indian, yum) and lettuce
3. lettuce, yogy and pineapple salad
4. chickpeas and eggs, butter
5. coconut milk
6. drinkable yogy

I am planning some more food before I go to be, either cottage or some meat.
Cool day tomorrow, will let you know how it went

[Lost Dog]

Quitting coffee can leave you depressed and sleepy. It's not just the caffeine. Coffee has all sorts of little teeny tiny things in there that do all sorts of stuff to the things in your brainish areas. Plus, we love coffee. It's a loss. A heartbreak.