- This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
A bit of history, then present day… I’m a former runner/triathlete, someone who exercised 5-6 days per week for probably 20 years except during pregnancies. I’ve been on and off gobs of restrictive diets, from calorie-restricted to sugar/carb-restricted, and have been gluten-free for 2.5 years. Throughout all of that, I’ve never been “skinny,” but never really heavy, either (5’3″ tall, lowest adult weight 120 lbs, highest outside of pregnancy 135, which is what I weight now). I stopped running and over-exercising several months ago and began re-feeding about 7 weeks ago. Last week, I “glutened” myself somehow (not sure what I ate that had gluten, but the symptoms I experience are always the same). This week, my stomach is better, but I still feel like crap. I have a cold/sinus junk, I’m tired, headachy. I’ve gained enough weight that I feel like a butterball and still don’t have energy to exercise. I have learned too much about metabolism to turn back to dietary restriction and over exercise, but I need some encouragement. Because, right now, I don’t feel healthy at all! I feel like shit! Ugh. Me no likey this part. :-(
On a side note, my running really was kind of over as of June 2012 when I injured a knee (I’d had trouble with both for many years…go figure…ha!). After months of several goes at different therapies, I ended up having surgery on both knees. So, the only running I had been doing prior to re-feeding was on a treadmill at PT sessions. I miss it terribly. Still haven’t found anything to replace what running gave me, which was probably unhealthy boosts of adrenaline and cortisol. But, man I sure loved running… Yes, I’m feeling sorry for myself today.
Try and focus on the positives! Im about 6 weeks in and my symptoms/temps are up and down. But Im noticing things like my hair and nails growing like never before. Im not reacting to gluten like I initially did. Im sleeping a bit better through the night. Im not as constipated as I initially was. Im not getting muscle tingling/spasms like I was. My body seems to be rising to the challenge. Try and find the positives and make a list or something.
This stuff is really hard but we have to remember how long it took for us to get into this deep dark hypo metabolic place. Unfortunately I don’t think we will feel amazing over night, but just take each day at a time and try to be positive.
I feel for you. Good luck! Stay positive!
@OldMate, thank you for the reminder to focus on positives. I sleep HARD through the night, my hair and nails are growing well, I’m not agonizing over eating “junk food,” I don’t have muscle aches and pains from too much exercise, I haven’t put lotion on my hands in weeks (I used to slather them several times per day). Definitely some positives! My temps are up and down a lot, I keep getting headaches (though, I did go 2 months without one, which was the longest in years), my skin broke out pretty badly last week, but seems to be clearing this week.
I have no clue how many calories I’m eating. I may still be short-changing myself some calories.
Thanks for the encouragement. :-) Good luck to you, too!
You should feel really tired and sluggish. That’s just what repair mode feels like. It can be an uncomfortable place to be for an obsessive exerciser. I think you should do some exercise, but only light exercise where you can breathe easily through your nose while performing it.
But the goal in your mind should switch to trying to feel as tired as you can. Not energetic. Think of all this as a battery re-charge.
Matt, that completely makes sense. I can compare the exhaustion of “repair mode” to the exhaustion during my pregnancies. Each time I was pregnant, it would amaze me how tired I’d get, and a friend helped me mentally deal with it by telling me, “Give yourself a break. You’re growing a human!” So, I can give myself a break during this process by reminding myself that I’m re-building atrophied tissues, organs, and muscles…even though the weight gain I’m seeing in the mirror right now appears to be FAT rather than healthy tissue. Yoga and walks in the fresh air both feel good to me and relax/refresh my mind, so I can keep that up even while I’m feeling tired and sluggish. Thanks, Matt!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.