Post by MarkD on Feb 28, 2010 13:48:50 GMT -5
Just a word of caution to you all:
This past week I went through a very rough time. I won't bore you with all the details, but, here's a synopsis:
On Monday night, after a hour easy spin, my body completely broke down. I felt completely weak and my head began spinning. At first, I simply thought was hunger - but - food did no good. The symptoms stayed with me for several days. By Tuesday night, I was sure that I was over-trained and dealing with a chronic fatigue situation. It really didn't make sense, because, I'm very methodic in my base/build/peak training routines. The only over-the-top thing I did was cranking out 10,000 yards of swimming last Sunday in the challenge.
Over the course of the week, I noticed that the symptoms would lessen when I ate and intensify later in the day. So, I began slamming down 3,000 - 3,500 calories per day from Wednesday on. The symptoms lessened day by day until Saturday when they finally went away. Interestingly, after all that eating - I was still 2 pounds lighter than I was the previous weekend.
My un-professional opinion is that my body slipped into gluconeogensis (i.e. the body cannibalizing itself due to lack of protein and calorie consumption). For the past eight weeks, I've only been taking in 1,800 to 2,300 calories per day and probably burning 3,300 - 3,800. Because I was a bit obsessed about weight-loss this year - I over did it. I really should be taking in about 200 - 400 calories below my burn - especially now as I'm getting close to my goal racing weight.
The good news is that I've dumped 12 pounds since January 1st (only 3 to go). The bad news is that I went through a week of hell that just happened to coincide with a rough week at work. My range of thoughts last week went from overtraining to a cardiac condition to an anxiety issue. At the end of it all - I simply wasn't eating enough.
Bottom line: For those of you getting aggressive about losing weight - be careful and be smart about it.
This past week I went through a very rough time. I won't bore you with all the details, but, here's a synopsis:
On Monday night, after a hour easy spin, my body completely broke down. I felt completely weak and my head began spinning. At first, I simply thought was hunger - but - food did no good. The symptoms stayed with me for several days. By Tuesday night, I was sure that I was over-trained and dealing with a chronic fatigue situation. It really didn't make sense, because, I'm very methodic in my base/build/peak training routines. The only over-the-top thing I did was cranking out 10,000 yards of swimming last Sunday in the challenge.
Over the course of the week, I noticed that the symptoms would lessen when I ate and intensify later in the day. So, I began slamming down 3,000 - 3,500 calories per day from Wednesday on. The symptoms lessened day by day until Saturday when they finally went away. Interestingly, after all that eating - I was still 2 pounds lighter than I was the previous weekend.
My un-professional opinion is that my body slipped into gluconeogensis (i.e. the body cannibalizing itself due to lack of protein and calorie consumption). For the past eight weeks, I've only been taking in 1,800 to 2,300 calories per day and probably burning 3,300 - 3,800. Because I was a bit obsessed about weight-loss this year - I over did it. I really should be taking in about 200 - 400 calories below my burn - especially now as I'm getting close to my goal racing weight.
The good news is that I've dumped 12 pounds since January 1st (only 3 to go). The bad news is that I went through a week of hell that just happened to coincide with a rough week at work. My range of thoughts last week went from overtraining to a cardiac condition to an anxiety issue. At the end of it all - I simply wasn't eating enough.
Bottom line: For those of you getting aggressive about losing weight - be careful and be smart about it.
