What a busy but fun filled weekend! Friday Craig and I up and left for his best friend's wedding six hours away in North Platte Nebraska. Ironically, the bride's colors were exactly the same as the colors I have chosen for my wedding...red and black. The reception was pretty similar to the reception I have planned out. I did take away some great ideas for tuxes and having a candy bar. When leaving on Friday, I knew that the weekend was going to be full of rich filled food and lots of drinking. When you are part of a wedding party (especially one that includes many friends of Craigs) that is what you can expect. This was going to be hard for me, for one I am not even close to working out as much as I was (only a few times a week walking and stretching) and consuming many calories is SCARY when I know I can't work it off. This is what I figured....last week I was hungry about 99% of the days...I would eat, get this washed out tired feeling (blood sugar related) and then get hungry again. So I decided to use this weekend as an experiment. If the reason my body is feeling tired, worn out, sore, etc. is because I am lacking food and calories..then this would be my weekend to eat up! So I made my mind to enjoy myself this week, not worry about calories or how much I need to consume...I usually do this often during social events but I always have the pleasure of working out alongside.
So I ate and drank and enjoyed myself this weekend. I was put face to face with a huge pork chop dinner alongside cheesy potatoes as well as a plate full of pasta with chicken and cheese. Top these meals off with more than several glasses of wine as well as chocolate cake. I don't my eating this weekend really binging...I ate till I was full at every meal and I noticed that by Sunday, my body craved huge salads and oatmeal. I also noticed on Sunday, my face was puffy, my wedding ring could barely fit around my finger and I felt swollen...water weight from increased sodium. So returning from this trip, I figured I had solved my problem. I ate well over my needs of calories for the weekend and should feel great come Monday. WRONG!
Monday morning I hit the gym for a light workout consisting of 20 min. no resistance on the elliptical, 10 min no resistance cycling, and a 10 min walk. Followed by some light chest and bicep lifts. I felt refreshed after my workout, but then once again my blood sugar begun to drop and I felt as if I had to shove my face full of food. I resumed to eating my normal breakfast but continued to feel tired and exhausted for the rest of the day. Today was no workout, and I continued to feel irritable and starving every hour. My head throbbed after lunch and the only thing that got me through my afternoon was my one Diet Coke.
So here is what I know I am doing right:
Increasing my exercise slowly
Eating TONS of veggies
Drinking TONS of water
Limiting my caffeine (just one diet coke a day, I have to live)
Getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night
I just can't pin point why my blood sugar seems to be crashing still when I have knocked down my exercise by 75% and still continue to eat every two hours...is my metabolism so fast or is my body trying to hold on to whatever is inputted??
I promise, sometime in the near future I will begin to write again about how wonderful my workouts are and how great I feel. I think for now I am just pressing time with this over training. I am watching the days go by on the calendar and thinking to myself...okay it has been 10 days now, almost two weeks I should start to feel better. I made the decision today that if things don't start to improve (fatigue) some simple blood work won't hurt to rule anything out.
I will leave you with some healthy food choices of mine today :)
oh chels! i am not even worried about reading about great or not so great workouts. i mean obviously i hope that you have some awesome workouts very soon! but i just more than anything hope that you start to feel better and get your old energy back! thinking of you! that salad looks super amazing and has so many of my favorites on it :)
ReplyDeleteglad you had fun at the wedding!
It sounds just like what you said before... overtraining. I would just take two weeks off/light exercise and let your body kind of heal itself. If you're still having problems after that, then I would see a doctor (also, if they get worse). In the meantime, get in plenty of nutrients and water to help your body heal. I know some times tracking your calories can be destructive, but it can also help show you how little calories you may be getting in comparison to how many you really need.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon (:
Two days of bigger eating isn't going to make the difference. You need to change for always. So bigger eating EVERY day CONSISTENTLY. More calories. More carbs. More energy into your body.
ReplyDeleteYou won't heal your body if you don't give it enough long-term and consistently. Otherwise you will slowly (and sneakily without being aware) burn out.
And pasta and treats will not hurt you.
Plenty of people are very sedentary and do basic exercises only and eat a lot more + eat "freely" (not perfect).
I have recently increasing my water intake and am feeling wonderful! Plus I am increasing my gym workouts too...so it's a win win situation!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with increasing your fitness and getting your nutrition in.
OK so this is my inner nurse talking....when we have patients with blood sugar problems, we usually recommend foods with longer lasting metabolism profiles that won't cause the spikes in your blood glucose levels......so for an example, I would recommend drinking a glass of milk instead of a glass or orange juice because that OJ will cause your blood sugar to spike, followed by a plummet. The milk will have a more consistent rolling wave blood sugar effect, instead of a steep mountain. So I'm sure you know this, but even if you don't love carbs, they are what will lead to a more even blood sugar level. I hope this helps!! And I am sure you know alll this stuff already, so I'm probably just being repetitive, but this is the first thing that popped into my head. Best of luck on feeling better!!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I have no idea why your blood sugar is like that either :( poor thing. I think you should get to the dr and have this checked out! get better and don't be so hard on yourself xoxoxox
ReplyDeleteI've never had blood sugar issues, but I know people who have so I can sort of understand what you're going through. They're always complaining about it and I can see why! It probably takes a bit of experimentation, but you will figure out how to deal with this. What's most important is that you eat enough and take it easy right now to let your body get into balance!! I think taking one rest day is hard.. I can't only imagine how tough it is for you right now. Hang in there!!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all.... hugs! I am sorry you are feeling this way- it must be beyond frustrating and perhaps a bit scary too. I think what you are doing right now, taking more rest, eating correctly and properly, and sleeping, will eventually make a difference. I think your body needs to heal and that will take some time
ReplyDeleteOh no...I hope you get this figured out soon! I have been doing a lot of reading about spikes and crashes in blood sugar and have since then cut my sugar intake significantly. I wasn't having any problems though, just doing it to be healthier! Make sure to eat in 2-3 hour intervals and choose the right foods that won't make your levels go crazy!
ReplyDelete