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Hi boys, a months ago the doctor put me on a diet and training since I was 30 lbs over weight, I already lost about 7 pounds but I'm feeling some weakness and lack of energy that never felt before, I thought you were supposed to feel heathier when you diet and exercise but it's not my case, I'm eating low carbs and high protein and not taking any supplements like protein shakes and vitamins, do you think that is the reason why?
It's perfectly normal for your strength to decrease slightly when on a calorie restricted diet.
You aren't loosing muscle or anything like that, you are just simply going into your workouts with your tank half full. You aren't going to have the same strength and endurance as if you were going into your workouts fully fuelled.
It's the price you have to pay to loose body fat. In order to loose body fat, you can't be consuming a large amount of energy because your body will have to tap into body fat stores then to fuel your workouts.
As long as you are maintaining a high protein diet, you won't loose any muscle. A protein supplement is not essential but it's an easy and cost effective whey to meet your daily protein requirements.
For a whey protein - you want to see nothing but that in the ingredients list. Whey protein, natural flavours, a natural calorie free sweetener like stevia and then maybe some salt, soy lechitin and cocoa powder. There are a lot of good products on the market. I personally use isolation from n2bm.com. A good whey isolate should be pretty much fat and carb free. Isolation has 26g protein, 1g carb, 0g fat per 30g scoop.
You aren't loosing muscle or anything like that, you are just simply going into your workouts with your tank half full. You aren't going to have the same strength and endurance as if you were going into your workouts fully fuelled.
It's the price you have to pay to loose body fat. In order to loose body fat, you can't be consuming a large amount of energy because your body will have to tap into body fat stores then to fuel your workouts.
As long as you are maintaining a high protein diet, you won't loose any muscle. A protein supplement is not essential but it's an easy and cost effective whey to meet your daily protein requirements.
For a whey protein - you want to see nothing but that in the ingredients list. Whey protein, natural flavours, a natural calorie free sweetener like stevia and then maybe some salt, soy lechitin and cocoa powder. There are a lot of good products on the market. I personally use isolation from n2bm.com. A good whey isolate should be pretty much fat and carb free. Isolation has 26g protein, 1g carb, 0g fat per 30g scoop.
I feel like shit when I run low carb which is why I don't do it anymore. I would rather eat carbs and feel good. Sure it might take me a few more weeks to get to my target but I can stick with it and be consistent. If you feel like shit all the time that is a recipe for cheating on your diet or just falling off all together.
You mentioned low carbs and high protein in your post. How is your fat intake? There must be a fuel source that the body can react to. Low carb, high fat, high protein provides a stable base of energy throughout the day. Figure out your protein needs (i.e. 1 gram per lb). Identify how low your carbs are going to be (i.e. keto, non-keto). Fill in the balance with healthy fats. An oversimplified version for a 2,000 cal diet with 200 grams of protein, 50 grams carbs, would leave 111 grams of quality fats. Including fats each meal will stabilize your blood sugar allowing for less "weakness" from lack of fuel. Another consideration is how drastic was your calorie deficit? The more significant the cut, the more your body will respond by desiring to fight the change.
Jay Scott
Retired VIP
When you are dieting, it should come to no surprise that sometimes you will lose strength or will feel a lack of energy.
You are in caloric deficit and your body feels it immediately. Its important that your fat loss would be slow and steady, that way you will lose as little muscle and strength as possible.
You are in caloric deficit and your body feels it immediately. Its important that your fat loss would be slow and steady, that way you will lose as little muscle and strength as possible.
