Tuesdays are running days…
… at least, according to the plan they are…
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – I lift.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays – I run.
Today was a Tuesday, but today wasn’t a running day…
… it was a random rest day.
Why?
To be honest, I’ve been feeling a bit off lately – nothing too major, but I’ve definitely been experiencing some subtle annoyances…
I haven’t been sleeping well…
Some nights, I have a pretty hard time falling asleep, even though I roll into bed exhausted. And lately I’ve been waking up around 4 or 5, which is pretty early… even for me. The worst part is that I wake up feeling like I could use a bit more sleep, but I can’t get myself to actually fall back asleep so I usually end up just rolling out of bed and starting my day anyways.
I feel shaky and anxious in the mornings…
I usually wake up hungry enough to chew off my own arm, but lately the hunger’s been absent and replaced by this general feeling of malaise that doesn’t go away until about 30 minutes after I finish eating breakfast – it actually reminds me of the feeling of low blood sugar…
I ran out of caramel pudding 🙁 But at least I have my chocolate.
I’ve been more irritable/moody…
Nothing extreme, but definitely a bit more snappy than usual, and less like my normal happy self.
I’ve been experiencing minor headaches…
Headaches are a pretty rare thing for me. I almost never get them, so I definitely know that something is up when they do come around. That and a bit more vertigo and a randomly increasing resting heart rate.
Vanilla Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries, a sliced banana, and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
My digestion has been off…
I haven’t changed anything in my diet, but my stomach isn’t taking kindly to the same foods that it normally tolerates without a problem. This is something that usually happens when I’m stressed out, but since I haven’t been feeling any stress, the only other thing that I can attribute this to is being over-tired… which results in my body not having enough energy to devote to proper digestion.
. – . – . – .
At first, I thought that I might be coming down with something – which would have been a bit odd considering I haven’t been sick in years – but the more that I thought about my symptoms, the more little alarm bells started going off in my head…
This is exactly how I felt when I was undereating & overtraining in the past.
Not to the same degree, of course, but the similarities are impossible to ignore.
Pumpkin Chili Mexican Scramble
Now, before you start scolding and throwing rotten eggplants at me (please don’t… I hate eggplants, even when they’re not moldy), please know that this was in no way intentional. I haven’t been cutting back on how much I eat, and I haven’t been upping how much I exercise – the only thing I changed recently was cutting back on how much running I do, and replacing that with more lifting… which amounts to pretty much the same amount of overall exercise in the end.
I think the problem is that I underestimated how much extra effort my body has to exert when I lift. I’ve mentioned that my appetite has been a lot more out of control since I started getting more serious about strength training, and while I’ve been doing my best to honor my hunger, maybe it wasn’t enough – maybe I need to pay a lot more attention to making sure that I eat more than usual, especially because one of the symptoms of overtraining is a loss of appetite… so relying on hunger cues isn’t the safest bet.
Harney & Sons Paris tea (thanks Natalie!) and a bowl of yogurt mess.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, I’m nothing if not honest with you guys, and although I pride myself in my desire to treat my body well, I’ll be the first to admit when I make a mistake… and I made a mistake. I didn’t take enough care, and it’s come back to bite me in the ass butt. But at least now that I recognize it, I can do something to fix it – and maybe someone can learn from my mistake in the process.
So today I rested… and ate, and ate, and ate. Yes, it felt a bit uncomfortable – I won’t lie and say that I’m completely immune to feelings of guilt – but I also know that continuing along this path will lead me to a place that’s even more uncomfortable, and I’d rather not end up there again, thank you very much.
See you guys tomorrow for WIAW!
. – . – . – .
Have you ever suffered from overtraining? What did you do to fix it?
Do you ever take unplanned rest days? Do you feel guilty for it?
It’s SO awesome that you took control of the way your body was feeling and took a rest day when you needed it. Just doing that tells me that your super in-tune with your body, and you’ll do exactly what YOU need. 🙂
and whoohoo paris tea!!!! =) so glad youre on the paris tea bandwagon
wwhoooaah, those symptoms you listed are EXACTLY the things that chinese doctor/acupuncturist i went to yesterday said about me (and i didn’t even realize that about myself) – she said that those symptoms are a sign that my body is fatigued/tired/overworked and points to hormonal irregularities (at least for me) – so she told me to be especially sure to listen to my body – to NOT exercise when i’m tired (she really stressed that over-exercise can be so bad for the body) and to sleep + eat a LOT. so i think you did the right thing. i know it can be uncomfortable and i can (obviously) totally relate, at this EXACT moment – totally uncanny. i would love to chat with you sometime about this! it seems like we might be having similar problems? (and i totally didn’t REALIZE any of this about myself until i went to the chinese doctor yesterday!!!)
Hi girl, hope you´ll feel better soon! We are human and we make mistakes pretty regulary so no need for the rotten eggplants here! 🙂 I can relate to your symptoms a bit lately – I am waking up at 4 a.m. every morning feeling like I could sleep a nice few hours more but I jast can´t. My apetite is just strange and my mood is jumping up and down… and I can probably “blame” the weight lifting as well. It is really hard to estimate the amount of energy you need when you switch from one type of exercise to another. It is great that you are listening to your body and you realize what´s going on and act according to that. Feeling of guilt come and go, but we have only one health – so let´s enjoy rest days with eating a lot of good food!
If you’ve been feeling the same thing, maybe experiment and start taking it easy to see if it helps. If you feel better, you’ll know you have to adjust something 🙂
I know, I had 2 rest days in a row, which is uncommon for me, to let my muscles repair more deeply and today I already feel better. Sometimes a good relaxation hits the right spot 🙂
This is awesome, I really admire the level of control you have over your body. I have probably suffered from overtraining, but have not yet learned the signs that my body would give me when that happens. I’m still really bad with guilt, especially when it comes to rest days. I MAKE SURE to take at least one a week – and enjoy it.
I’m sorry you’re feeling “off”, love. But it really sounds like you know how to take good care of yourself. I think you’re amazing for trusting your body and honoring your needs. I always seem to finish reading your posts feeling inspired. Thank you for sharing <3
You’re amazing. You are the one person in the whole entire world that inspires me like you do. You rock my socks!!! (I assure you that my socks are rocking.)
xxx
I’ve experienced those same symptoms from overtraining. When that happens, I throw any “workout plans” to the wind and just do whatever my body feels like it wants to do. If I’m only in the mood to do cardio, then I only do cardio. If I feel like lifting weights, then that’s what I do. Feeling as if I need to stick to a “plan” goes against my belief that we should always listen to our bodies. So yes, I take unplanned rest days sometimes. Although, usually I decide the night before, already knowing that my body won’t have enough “oomph” to do a strenuous workout the next morning. We’re all prone to feelings of guilt at times, but abusing my body makes me feel more guilty than nurturing it when it wants to rest. Good for you for realizing that you needed a rest day today. Exercise should make us stronger, not weaker. That’s what I always say. If you’re feeling weak from the exercise you’re doing, then something is wrong! The whole point is to make ourselves feel strong and healthy…not the opposite!
I definitely agree that exercise should make us feel good. There were too many times where I abused it in the past and it just made me feel crappy – I don’t want to go back to that!
AMENNNNN girl seriously, you have to eat WAY more than you think when youre lifting weights! and it is going straight to your muscles! you will figure it out.. the more you eat, the more energy you will have, especially w. weights! muscle eats A LOT!
Think about it this way…you thought you knew how to read. You did it for years! You read tons of “chapter books” and bugged your parents to take you to the library. You were on BOARD! Yet…when you thought that (phonetic font) HORSE DEVOURS (aka hors d’oeuvres) were a type of appetizer served at a party.
You got the context. You were an excellent reader. But maybe the experience of someone saying “hors d’oeuvres” did not click. It should be spelled ourderves, right?
Then one day it clicks. You laugh. You learn. You’re better for it.
NO MISTAKES!! You are simply continuing to explore your bodies amazing clues! A mistake would be not listening and learning from them. And thank goodness you are in a place to respect them!
No stupid questions, No stupid mistakes?
You’ll find your balance. That book should help.
Chocolate milk?
Brilliantly put, girl! I’m definitely still learning.
Good thing you realized what was going on! Good luck feeling better and it sounds like you are on the right track 🙂 I do sometimes take extra rest days if i feel like I need it. And I already take 2 per week usually hehe.
I am so proud that you were able to recognize this, and actually fix it!
I’m so glad you posted this! A lot of people in the blog world are hesitant to take random rest days, but they are so necessary. It’s really important to listen to your body when it’s screaming for attention, and you are setting a great example here. There are times when you’re body can handle lots of exercise and you feel great, but if you don’t listen to your body when it’s feeling awful then you’re never going to have those weeks where you are full of energy! Thank you so so so much for showing that it’s OKAY and actually quite necessary to rest!!
I’ve definitely overtrained in the past and wound up injured, and but I used to have a lot of trouble resting. Now I’m like “2 rest days in a week?! SIGN ME UP!” and my performance has not suffered. All of a sudden something clicked and I started to really love the days of rest!
Maybe that’s why. I blogged about how I’ve been severely sick and I haven’t been out of the house for the last 4 days. Today I tried to at least walk…all I could do was 2.0mph for 30 minutes max. Good for you to know when to rest and when to work hard. I think I did a good job listening to my body for the last few days. I just hope I get my energy back asap.
I absolutely applaud you for being able to figure out that this is what’s going on with your body! I think it’s hard (for me anyways) to fathom not eating enough since I eat so frequently, but I definitely am guilty of it sometimes! I find that when I’m “not hungry” some days, it’s because I haven’t eaten enough in the past few days. My metabolism has slowed down and my appetite is nowhere to be seen! I love hunger (weird?) because it is showing me my metabolism is up and running!
Exactly! I feel like I eat a good amount already, so being able to grasp the fact that I might need more is tricky. Gotta get over it and do what’s right, though.
Amanda, so proud of you for recognizing that you aren’t eating enough and doing something about it. You’ve come so far. Unfortunately, I overtrain often…I try not to, but it happens before I even realize…it’s been years and I’m not immune to feelings of guilt either 🙁
Hey, nobody is perfect!(Although I kinda think you are perfect for inventing protein cookie dough balls- I am ADDICTED).
Exercising is such an individual thing I think- what is too much for some can be fine for others. I struggle BADLY with over training- so I hope you can get yourself out of it- its good that you have recognised the problem and are taking steps to being healthier about your training- you are inspirational! Feeling drained and unwell just sucks.
I am psyched for your WIAW!
Xxx
I seem to be the queen of overtraining. I have trained for two halfs and 1 marathon and never made it to any of them due to overtraining. Sometimes I just don’t know when to quit and I just want to keep going.
This week I have been kind of feeling the same way. I ran a 10k on Sunday and yesterday did 55 min of x training and today ran four miles and lifted. I just feel sore, worn out and moody. It is so hard for me to take rest days, I try to give myself at least two a week but sometimes it comes down to just one.
Remember, your body can only get stronger through rest and recovery. This is something I always have to tell myself.
Go you!!! I distinctly remember my days of over training and under fueling and how AWFUL it made me feel. If I even feel an inkling of that again, I know I’m not fueling properly!
I have similar feelings when I over train and not eat enough! glad you caught it yo. When I take rest days I try not to feel guilty, but its hard. I just keep telling myself that my body needs the rest, and it will thank me in the end 🙂
Way to go! – not on feeling lousy, but for recognizing it. I am so glad you posted about this because sometime I read blogs where the person is trying to be so healthy, not eating “Bad” food, and exercising tons. Sometimes too much is just just too much, even of a good thing. Once a healthy thing becomes too much is can become unhealthy – not that you are of course, just saying that on other blogs I feel this is often the case. It takes a lot to realize whats up/ not feeling right and honor your body. I often catch myself making a workout plan and following is because that was “planned”, but then I realize we cannot plan exactly what our body needs in advance, sometimes its more stretching, more lifting, or more rest- we aren’t machines thank goodness 🙂
I’m sorry to hear you are feeling under the weather but I totally admire how open and honest you are in all of your posts! I think its great you listened to your body and took a rest day today. We all need a rest day once in a while – I know I do!
When I started exercising again I too noticed how much more I needed to eat. I’m sure this day of rest was exactly what your body needed! Hope your feeling better tomorrow!
Keep smiling!
:)aimee
You’re awesome for being so honest and for just completely listening to your body 🙂 I admire you so much for that!
I never plan my rest days, they usually just kind of pop up whenever I feel I need one. I don’t usually feel guilty cause I know if I’m tired enough for my body to ask for a rest day then I must have been giving my workouts my all.
I’ve overtrained a lot. I’m not proud of it. This happened to me my last year of high school where would have 2+ hours of intense dance practice followed by a lousy dinner and 45 minutes of cardio at the gym. My body hated me, but I kept doing it. Now I workout a decent amount each day, and rest when I feel extremely sore or tired out.
Kudos to you for staying true to your body 🙂 This rest day won’t throw off your workout routine. In fact, it will make you more motivated and ready to give working out your full effort tomorrow and the days after that.
AND, that pumpkin mexican scramble looks crazy delicious. I’m kind of drooling.
– Nicole
I’m not sure if I’ve ever suffered from overtraining. I’ve been feeling exhausted lately though – that’s for sure! It’s 8:18 p.m. right now, and I think I’m going to hit the hay soon. Hopefully that will help. I hope your rest day and good eats helped you. You can always get back into it tomorrow if you’re feeling better.
Love this!!! I’m so glad you realized what was wrong and are taking the necessary steps to treat your body right. I pride myself on being honest so I appreciate you being the same way. I think you know how I feel about unplanned rest days — totally okay with it! I definitely read a lot of blogs where I feel like the person is overtraining and not upping the amount they eat. Drives me INSANE!
Good for you amanda…..I honestly love reading your posts because you are so darn honest and uplifting! I sort of made the same mistake recently and have had to step back and reevaluate my refueling process. Like you said it was not intentional at all….and as soon as I started noticing a difference in my energy when working out…I knew it was time for a change.
Thank you for being a constant source of positive energy and a great role model.
When I first started running I definitely was surprised at how much more I needed to eat. It wasn’t much of a change at first – I figured, oh, a mile or two, big deal – but like you mentioned, I started feeling a little more lethargic and tired. That definitely made me snap to! Like you said, sometimes it IS hard to notice, because noticeable hunger signs really do diminish. Once I started upping my intake is when they came back and I started feeling more energetic!
Similar thing happened to me the other morning, I went for my usual 3 mile run and I could barely get through mile 2. I was exhausted, nauseous and dizzy. Weird, right?
Dude this is awesome. I’m so amazed at how in tune with your body you are. I think it’s fabulous you can pinpoint why you were feeling off, I’ve experienced that same overtraining feeling and it took me the longest time to figure it out. When I go through symptoms of overtraining, I do just like you and rest up with lots of tasty fuel! 🙂
I am so amazed at how in tune you are with your body! Kudos for recognizing these symptoms and making sure to fix the problem. 😀 I think it can be really easy to overtrain without realizing it, especially with weight training. Your metabolism has probably increased so much now that you’re lifting more and (most likely) gaining more muscle mass. Hopefully you’ll be able to settle into a new groove as you start to figure out how much food you need now.
Also, I’ve been feeling super off lately too and I’ve had some of the same symptoms as you – headaches, weird appetite, digestive problems, plus dizziness, nausea and GI upset. I doubt it’s because of over training though because I’ve actually drastically decreased my workouts since starting my summer job. 😛
Your job is pretty physically demanding, though! So that might be it… or more time in the heat, maybe?
Good for you for recognizing the signs your body was sending you. Really. I do think it’s hard not to feel guilty when you have to get off of your normal schedule, but it’ll all end up balancing itself out. No need to feel guilty at all! Lifting is something new to you, and you’re just in the process of figuring out how to adjust your other habits along with your adjusted exercise!
Can’t wait to see your WIAW! I’ll be posting one too 🙂
As you know, I had to take an unplanned rest day on Saturday, since I felt sick during competition week. Since Suave Slav and I did so well, we didn’t feel guilty taking a rest day. It was much needed.
Hope you feel better, dear Amanda!
It’s great that you’ve caught this in the beginning and are ready to turn it around, it can turn for the worse so quickly, and I wouldn’t want you to be on that horrible path again.
I have trouble with rest days/not exersizing, but that’s all ed related.
& I have had low blood sugars and had fainting spills as a result, be careful!
I’m so glad that you rested today and realized what your body is truly needing! I haven’t ever overtrained before, but I have taken unplanned rest days. I sometimes feel guilty about it that day, but then when I get back to exercise I feel much more “fresh” and my workouts feel so much better so I get over it. Good for you though for recognizing what is going on! I don’t know if I would have.
I read your posts since the beginning of May and I sincerely admire you very much!
I’m glad you found and solve your problems easily as you do. I did not even comment on any of your posts but I think that perhaps someone among the people who reading your posts could help me. I would like to listen to my body as you do, but I can’t. I train a lot, 3-4x week jogging, cycling, interval trainning 5-6 days … but I am not able to lose weight and I never see evolution on my body… I’m a bit desperate. I eat about 1500-1800 kcal per day, but if I eat a little more, I gain weight…
So, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I too hope to find my balance as many of you!
(Sorry for my english, I’m french !)
So you’re not perfect after all? lol…it happens to the best of us. The greatest thing is that you recognized this and are getting the rest and nutrition that your body needs! I totally have over-trained before and it’s so draining. I always get headaches and feel completely drowsy (almost like a constant state of dehydration even when I drink all day). I am not immune to guilt when I take days off/eat more too, however, I am starting to realize through posts by lovely ladies like yourself, that your body will tell you how to treat it and if you listen everything will work out in the end and happiness will come soon! Feel better girl!! I’m always here if you needa vent 🙂
Definitely not perfect, but always trying to do better 😀
I definitely take some unplanned resting days but it’s good for the body and the soul. It’s normal to feel a little off. I don’t run so my body doesn’t usually get too overworked. I can’t even imagine weight training and running! You are a machine girl 😀
Are we the same person!? Last night I tweeted that I was feeling funny, and I ended up cancelling my regular tuesday morning run and took an extra rest day! I have had the same “this feels like low blood sugar” feeling especially in the mornings, which I experienced way-back-when. I am totally confused because I’ve been upping my eats and last week I had a sudden fear that maybe I had diabetes..my imagination really does run wild! Either way I’m going to try to take better care because I just hate that “I-feel-funky” feeling!
Yeah I hate it >.< Nothing is worth feeling this way…
Can I just say that I admire you so much for listening to your body, recognizing a problem, and then actually doing something to fix it rather than continuing on a destructive path. That takes a lot of strength! I definitely had a good period of 8-12 months where I overtrained and underate.. and my body was not happy with me at all. I couldn’t sleep, felt groggy and crabby all the time, my joints ached, and my hair was falling out. Now I train just as much and eat about 5x more. The difference? I feel and look great rather than like I am on my deathbed! Granted I still sometimes feel very guilty if I take more rest days than usual one week or if a “planned” gym day turns into a rest day because of my busy schedule. But I’ve come to realize that it’s just not worth stressing over! I’m active and healthy enough that it really has such a minimal impact, and when I do have a rest day I know it’s helping my body recover or that I’m accomplishing some other important task instead. 🙂