Why does exercise make me feel awful and dieting make me feel hungry?

[Queenybecca]

Hey there,

I recently lost 4 and half stone with Weight Watchers, now im seeing  all my hard work being undone :(. Exercise leave me feeling-

Hungry

Tired

Headache sometimes triggers my migraine

More stressed out

Feeling Angry or Deflated

Sore

But I dont have any of the good things such as elivated mood or feeling energetic...it just drains me  😞 even if I drink loads and loads of water 😞

The Dieting was going really well until i met my current partner (we are now engaged) he eats alot of Junk infront of me and does not support me one bit with my weight loss. Sometimes I cave in and other times I don't cave in....my weight either stays the same goes on , for example if i put on 3lbs i can get the 3lbs off but then it stops coming off 😞

The points never seem to be enough on Weight Watchers anymore and I really can't seem to get motivated at all...Ive just done a work out and had loads of water....

Over the weekend I did over 40,000 steps in two days but I still put on 6lbs even though I didnt eat any differently. Its really annoying and I need some help.....I wish the UK had some kind of Fat Camp I could just take meself for 6months and come out looking glam, sexy and perfect!! Please help me anybody????

Thanks

Becca

[mandababy489]

Have you heard of Plexus? It's a health and wellness company that is focused on whole body health. They have an array of supplements to help get you healthier. I was also on weight watchers for a good portion of the last couple of years. However I could no longer keep up with the meetings due to work so I quit. But ever since I stopped I have been taking Plexus products (Slim, Boost, XFactor, Bio Cleanse and ProBio5) and I am actually doing a lot better without having a strict diet like I was on weight watchers. The Plexus Slim is great for energy! If you would like to know more please feel free to email me. Plexusjourney.amanda2015 on gmail. 

[divedragon · Accepted solution]

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@Queenybecca wrote:

Hey there,

I recently lost 4 and half stone with Weight Watchers, now im seeing  all my hard work being undone :(. Exercise leave me feeling-

Hungry

Tired

Headache sometimes triggers my migraine

More stressed out

Feeling Angry or Deflated

Sore

But I dont have any of the good things such as elivated mood or feeling energetic...it just drains me  😞 even if I drink loads and loads of water 😞

Thanks

Becca

---

Hey Becca,

So hungry, tired and sore are side effects of exercise although for me, the harder I work the less hungry I feel (at least for a couple of hours).   The headache and feeling more stressed is the opposite of how you should feel and I think you may be stressing over the whole weight loss in the first place.  When we feel stress, our bodies secrete cortisol - a stress hormone that blocks all the other hormones that help us loose weight.  I can get stressed about exercise too if I'm not careful.  I have thoughts such as 'I'm not going fast enough...hard enough...longe enough."  and "What if all this work and I don't see weight come off."  These thoughts can have a huge impact on your entire program if you nurse them and let them grow and develop.  You have to consciously put them down and repalce them with positive thoughts like, "yes I can feel the fat beling released into my blood."  or for the soreness you can imagine your body taking those calories you do eat in to replair the muscle and making you stronger.

When you first start exercising, there is a lot of stress being applied.  Some stress is good, too much is bad.  It could be you're trying too hard in the beginning.  Start slower.  You can make a lot of progress is short durations rather than one long exercise period.  I used to be a decent runner back in my Army days and for several years following, but now I'm older, fatter and haven't exercised regularily in 10 years.  I've been slowly working on it all year and it started just walking.  I'm still not running again - only jogging a little during my walks.  I WANT to run, but the legs and lungs aren't there yet (plus still carrying an extra 25 lbs over my running days).  I've lost 35 this year and I have to keep reminding myself of what progress I have made and just to keep the course.

Also, be careful about drinking 'loads and loads of water".  Too much water can dilute your postassium and other blood chemicals and leaving you feeling worse than you should.  Drink enough, but not too much. 

Now to eating habits.  There was a documentary about 4 years ago about various studies being done on weight loss in the UK.  In particular, there were two young women, one very slender and the other a little chunky.  They were roommates and in interviews with them and their friends, the slender one "ate all day long anything she wanted and never gained weight" while the chunky one "hardly ate anything all day and never lost weight."  So they had them both keep a food log and they also had daily blood test that somehow could tell the  number of calories they were consuming.  Guess what!  despite a consensus from both self evalutation and friend's about their eating habits, exactly the opposite was found.  the slender one ate less than 1800 calories everyday while the other ate closer to 2500.

I tell that story because inevitably, no matter what we believe, we tend to vastly underestimate our eating.  If you're not keeping a food log, you're probably consuming too many calories.  This is even more critical if you are around someone who eats, not only a lot, but unhealthy food.

So to summarize, relax and try to turn negative feelings positive, keep a detailed, daily food log and work exercise in to shorter bouts throughout the day.  Also, make sure strenth training is part of your exercise regime.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[Raviv · Accepted solution]

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@Queenybecca wrote:

Over the weekend I did over 40,000 steps in two days but I still put on 6lbs even though I didnt eat any differently.

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A couple of things:

Are you sure you're not eating any differently when you exercise?  Are you weighing your food and logging it all?  Study after study has shown that exercise makes people hungry (for obvious reasons - your body knows it needs fuel) and also makes you tend to eat more food than you burned.  If you're measuring and logging everything, not just eyeballing it, then that doesn't apply.

The other thing is that exercising will often cause a temporary gain of water weight.  And that, of course, shows up on your scale as plain old being heavier.  Don't assume it's fat.  Your body has a protective mechanism that cushions damaged areas, and that includes muscle.  It's a good damage - micro tears that help your muscles rebuild stronger - but your body still does it.  I counter that effect by not weighing myself the day after a good workout.  If I go on a decent run Sunday morning, I know I'll likely be disappointed if I weigh myself Monday morning.  But if I wait until Tuesday morning, I'm more likely to see good results.

Which brings up a third thing.  Make sure you're weighing yourself first thing when you get up in the morning, after you go to the bathroom but before you do anything else.  Once you drink water, eat food, wash your hair, wait until later in the day, whatever... then you skew the data the scale is giving you.

[iMike]

Everyone's body is different.  If you feel you're doing everything you should be, I would recommend sitting down with a licensed nutritionist/dietician (or UK equivalent?), an actual professional.  He or she may recommend some blood panels just to make sure there's nothing off balance in your blood work.

Also, something else I suggest ... take a month and journal (to the best of your ability) everything you eat, including the portion size of what you're eating at each meal.  This would include all the food, alcohol, sugary beverages, everything.  At the end of the month sit down and chart it out.  You may actually be surprised.

[I-train-hard]

Do what iMike wrote.