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?
Go hard or go home.
Came across your blog through another and have been obsessed all morning reading! I love your honesty, and feel like we could be friends. It’s weird. I’ve gone through SO many of the same things, my ED, recovery, therapy, gaining perspective, healthy eating, and exercising…it’s amazing to see women who’ve cone through on the other end. I’m truly happy for you because I know how long and hard it is to finally make sense an eating disorder. I know how good I feel now, and I just hope that you feel the same.
I’m a lover of weight lifting and nothing revs my metabolism more, maybe running, but I just up the protein, and the healthy fats. The more calories you take in while lifting, the more muscle tone. I know this is an older post, I’m sure you’ve figured things out my now, but I had to reply to something! Thanks for the good reading this morning!
A week ago my body was SO exhausted I ended up having to take a random rest day (which are usually saved for Sundays) and I felt so guilty about it at first. But after realizing that the rest day was what helped me to start feeling better the next couple days the guilt kinda subsided. Sometimes it’s really hard for me to listen to my body especially when I have a set workout schedule. Thanks for your honesty! It makes me feel better about taking extra rest days 🙂
Oh my gosh! I think that’s been happening with me!! For the last couple of weeks, I’ve felt a bit off. Some mornings I wake up ready to chew my arm off and other mornings, I don’t even want to think about food…then 2-3 hours later STARVATION comes out of nowhere! I’ve also noticed that sometimes after a workout, the thought of food makes me feel queasy. When that happens, I try to just drink a protein shake, but even sometimes that feels like too much on my stomach. I know I’ve upped the amount of cardio I’m doing these days, but I never thought I was overdoing it. I don’t FEEL like I’m overdoing it. I’m just having fun with new forms of exercise. Dude, now you’ve got me thinking!
I took an unplanned rest day today. I went to bed waaaay too late because I just HAD to get my WIAW post up before crashing and 5am came much quicker than I would have preferred. I thought about hitting the gym for some yoga after work, but I got stuck late at the hospital so I just said what the heck and went home. I don’t usually feel guilty about rest days unless I take more than one in a row…then whenever I get back into my workouts I feel like a slug because I’ve lost so much of my endurance!
The same thing happens to me sometimes!
I won’t even mean to, but I run so much that I find my body just NEEDS more.
Unfortunately for me, that usually means a binge is bound to occur.
But I’ve been trying really hard to make sure that I am getting enough so that I don’t have to resort to that option to get in my calories!!
Anyway, I love how honest you are.
Your blog is an inspiration, and I just love you 🙂
ha, don’t think I’m creepy!
<3 Haley
I normally feel the same way when I’m over training! For me, the big signal is sleep. If I don’t sleep well, there is usually something wrong. I normally sleep like a baby 😉
Just remember to fuel the tank and honor your body.
I think its amazing that you’re able to listen to your body and know intuitively what the right thing for it is 🙂
The mexican scramble looks awesome too.
You rock! I admire you for admitting this, it’s very honest of you.
I have definitely overtrained / undereaten in the past – I think that’s what I did in Jan this year, and got injured (unintentional). Sometimes it’s hard to eat more when you’re not hungry or don’t FEEL like you need it, but I’m learning to recognise the signs now too. I’ve worked out I have a ‘warning’ sign that I might have undereaten – ifI find myself wanting food, despite being full, or thinking about food when I’m not hungry, I know I probably need a bit more, so I’ll just have a tbsp of PB and some cereal or something before bed 🙂
I don’t often have unplanned rest days – it’s something I need to work on!
omg that fluffy pup is soo beautiful!!.. i wish i could hug’em..lol
TravelDesignery.com
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Overtraining while under eating is such a hard thing to recognize because exercise can supress your appitite. So you may think, “well im honoring my hunger and only eating x calories” but in reality you might need much more. I know i’ve fallen into that trap A LOT when im exercising. When im not working out intuitive eating is VERY EASY for me but mix exercise up in there and my body just goes all frickin NUTS on me. I think that it can be helpful to count/be aware of your intake when your working out regardless of “how you feel”. For instance, if you came back for a run and werent hungry or only wanted a small snack I think its good to over ride that and understand that your body NEEDS to be replenished because of how much you just worked out, regardless of how you “feel”…Obviously, easier said then done!
Oh and 7 days a week is a bit overkill my dear! You should try 5. Really, our bodies NEED to rest and repair 😛
Dana xoxo
It’s only 6 days 🙂 And a lot of the time I take Saturday off, too, so it ends up being only 5.
Kuddos for listening to your body! I’m also going trough a period of listening to my body when it comes to excersizing, but I still find it so hard to take rest extra days. Sunday is my permanent rest day, but if I don’t feel like exersizing during the week or just feel plain tired, I take an extra rest day. Weight training definitely increases my appetite! Honouring your hunger and listening to your body is going to benifit you in the long run.
Hope you feel better soon!
Good for honoring your body. I’m currently trying to deal with the opposite problem… coming out of so long a period of overtraining and undereating. Its really weird/uncomfortable/stressful not to feel tired and sore all the time. I don’t like it all. I know it sounds crazy… but I guess its what I’ve been used to for so long, that feeling “normal” feels like I’m overeating and being lazy (even though I haven’t altered my exercise a bit–if anything, I’m putting more effort into my strength training now that I DO have this extra energy!) *sigh* Just another confusing, unpleasant part of recovery, I guess. Hope I can be as smart as you are some day!
Good for you!! I actually kind of took a mini rest day yesterday, too even though I did Zumba since that’s not nearly as intense as my Tuesday workouts usually are with cardio & weights. But I felt the same way kind of for the same reasons..so it felt important to give my body a bit of rest. There’s no reason we really have to go hard most days anyway. So if are bodies are talking back to us, we should definitely listen! It’s great you did 🙂 I know how hard taking rest days can be..especially if they’re unplanned!
Go you for working that out and doing something about it!! In the past I have overtrained and underfueled and I just got so used to it that I didn’t notice it wasn’t normal.
Now, I’m always taking random rest days!! If I wake up in the morning and really feel too tired, I give myself extra time to sleep and I always feel so much better for it!
Hope you feel alot better sooon!! 😀
I have had a lot of these feelings when I take an unplanned rest day. A lot of times, I have to take a rest day because of work, or school or something. But even if it is inevitable, it still makes me feel guilty. It is stupid though, because each and every time I take that rest, I feel so much stronger the next day! Seeing you listen to your body and give it rest and nutrition, is truly inspiring 🙂 You’re amazing Amanda <3
I was overtraining the last few weeks, at first I was REALLY hungry all the time and I worried I was overeating….then I lost my appetite.
That had me worried. So I cut back on exercise (not food), took some much needed rest and ate more than normal. Last weekend I took a rest weekend and ate chocolate cake and pizza and relaxed, it was a bit uncomfortable for me and I am still taking it easy this week.
I really appreciate you writing this post, it definitely got me thinking. I need to be kind and listen to my body!
I hugely admire you for being able to realize what you are doing and admit it to yourself – and do something about it. I’m still working very hard to try and learn to listen to my body, to not over work and under eat, and your blog is absolutely huge motivation for me to remember to treat myself well 🙂 Thank you!
Hope you feel better soon!
Sorry to hear you’ve been feeling off lately. I was feeling that way myself so I upped what I was eating and changed up a few things and felt a lot better. Great on listening to your body. Sometimes I won’t feel hungry after a workout, but I know from experience, not fueling makes my body sluggish and I get really tired. Sometimes you need those extra rest days 🙂
I’m glad you decided to take a rest day!!!! Overtraining actually doesn’t make you stronger cause you’re so tired that you might not be doing your workouts properly. Sorry you’re not feeling so well and it’s great that you’ve noticed symptoms and stopped them before they get worse.
Love ya gurl!!!!! 🙂 Feel better ASAP!!!! Watching Pretty Little Liars helps. It does!
You shouldn’t blame yourself for this. It’s hard to balance everything when you suddenly change something in your lifestyle because your body is sending you mixed signals that can be quite confusing. When I started cycling, at first I refused to accept my huge appetite as something normal but at some point I just stopped fighting it and I’m glad I did because being on the bicycle for at least an hour everyday would be a nightmare without enough fuel. So see what works best for your body and if it wants a rest day, listen to it.
I never take rest days. Even when I really needed them, I never allowed myself to have them. Now it is fine, but back in the day when I was religiously following the “eat less, exercise more” rule it was hell. I often felt dizzy, had shaking hands and wobbly knees (because my legs didn’t have any energy to keep me in a vertical position, let alone to walk “just a few more kilometers”). It sucked big time. Nobody should ever do this to themselves.
I hope you feel better soon!
I am in awe of your degree of self-awareness Amanda. For some reason I have a feeling that a LOT of bloggers would ignore the changes they’ve been seeing in their bodies and moods as an excuse to start exercising MORE and eating LESS. It seems as though when a lot of other bloggers complain about feeling tired and anxious, they resort to exercise so that they don’t feel “lazy”. Perhaps the reason that they are feeling tired and anxious, though, is because – well – they resort to exercise so that they don’t feel lazy. It’s a viscous cycle, huh? One that you should be SO THRILLED to be able to say you’re no longer consumed by.
YOU ROCK MY FAAAAAAAAACE <3!!!!
You are a truely a great person, Amanda.
It takes strength to admit to oneself that change is necessary, especially when the changes involved are uncomfortable and challenging.
I would never think less of you for making “mistakes”, my friend – it is called living.
Life is a long learning process, also when it comes to finding the balance between excercise and nutrition. You have come a long way, and by doing these changes you took further steps in the right direction. It is from the times we stumble we learn, right?
This experience made you wiser, and it will also make your body and mind even stronger.
I am very proud of you for listening to your precious body and to keep comitting to health and life. Too many people are not aware of what their body needs on a daily basis, we can not push our bodies to run around without proper fuel. We treat our bodies right and it will give us so much good in return. Enough food is what enables us to explore the world 🙂
Take care my friend – never forget how awesome and beautiful you are.
<3
I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks but this is the first time I’ve commented…so hello 🙂 I love your approach to eating/exercise and your foodie photos are just gorgeous… yours is definitely one of my most favourite blogs to read.
I also just wanted to say how awesome I think this post is! I can really relate to the over-training feeling you describe – it’s something I’ve definitely experienced in the past. I actually still feel like I have a few issues around how much I exercise versus how much I eat (and ofcourse the associated guilt that comes with trying to adjust the balance), but reading blog posts like this is helping me to see that a) I’m not alone in having these issues and b) I can take inspiration from people like you to work on my issues and overcome them once and for all. You’re an inspiration 🙂
Aww thank you, Bronagh, and thank you for taking the time to say hello 😀
*throws rotten eggplants and walks off in a huff at you not being perfect afterall*
Hehe joking!! Can I also just say how much I love you too? That is all. You are simply amazing.
You know, it takes so much courage to actually be honest and admit to readers but more importantly, yourself, that you’re overdoing it when the power of the endorphins from exercise are so strong. It’s crazy how we struggle with rest days once we have started exercising because there was a time when all us bloggers who exercise now, didn’t. And it wasn’t a problem then! Many people are in denial about how much they’re overdoing it and force themselves to keep on going when their bodies are quite clearly screaming out for rest and until they admit to themselves that what they are doing is wrong, they are slowly punishing their bodies and eventually, they will burn out and something bad will happen. I am so amazingly proud of you for resting and listening to your body because I know how hard it is. Not too long ago I was definitely overtraining and I’d force myself to go to the gym even when I was really injured for god’s sake because I couldn’t live with the guilt of not going. I ended up getting so depressed and tired from my overtraining that I knew something had to be done. I started to slowly cut back bit by bit and now I can honestly say, I have no idea how I was doing so much. I feel so much happier now doing less and eating more!
You are so in tune with your body it’s awesome! Glad you listened and took a random rest day. It’s better to catch it early than let it go on for too long and ignore which most of us tend to do. I think it’s really easy to overtrain without realizing it. I know I’m a victim of over-training and under-eating some days (especially lifting days). I’ve been trying to work on listening to my body more.
Hope you’re feeling better today!
Hope you start feeling 100% again soon! I love your honesty in this post, I have really suffered from similar issues and in fact I’m dealing with them again now – for me its a continued weight loss even though I’m trying to maintain. Its incredibly frustrating as I eat when I’m hungry, listen to my body etc, and generally I feel really good – no signs of over training for example, but I obviously need to eat more and I find that really difficult. Good for you listening to those signals and taking a rest day!
Im so sorry you havent felt well lately, but so HAPPY that you can actually find what is wrong all by yourself. And that you are doing something about it! And that, even though you might feel a bit of guilt, you care enoungh about your health to do what you really need to : rest and eat!
I can relate to waking up too early (like4 or 5), and being super tired. Im the same way, and many weeks I only have 3 or 4 hours of sleep every night. I didnt know this could come from undereating/overtraining though. But it does make sence!
Thank you for your honesty! I wish you the very very best <3 Hope you feel better soon!
This post helped me realize/accept that I’ve been making A LOT of mistakes here in France where eating is concerned. Haven’t been “exercising” like I do at home, but lots of walking . . . and not enough eating, sort of on purpose sometimes because, when everything else was out of control, the one thing I could control was meals–typical story. France has really set me back in some ways. I was in such a good mindset before I came, but the stress here re-invoked some negative thinking and behaviours, especially after one girl, upon seeing me eat a morning and afternoon snack one day, commented, “I think you are too dependent on food. You must be careful, you know; only 1200 calories a day!” I knew how SILLY this was, but oh, it has messed with my mind like no other. She didn’t know my history, so she couldn’t know that you NEVER say something like that to someone who has suffered from disordered eating. But then again, I am partially to blame, too–I was weak, and I caved. I should have been stronger; I want to be strong again. I’m hoping things will return to normal when I arrive home again next Tuesday . . . or even today. Yes, today. I can start now.
Thank you for being such an inspiration always. <3
Some people just say the dumbest things. Too dependent on food? Uhm. Because we don’t need to eat to live or anything, right? Don’t let it get to you, hun. I know it’s hard, but you know what’s right, and you know that living on such a measly amount of calories doesn’t lead to a happy or healthy life. Be strong <3
Today was an unplanned rest day for me too! I had planned a run but when my alarm went off, my body was begging for more sleep so I rolled with it- clearly yesterday’s strength training exhausted me more than I thought. I am so glad that I listened to my body signals as in the past I would have definitely run and then ended up feeling exhausted!
I have suffered from overtraining and under-fueling and it’s not a fun place to be! I was exhausted all.the.time. It shouldn’t be like that, exercise is meant to be energizing and rejuvenating, not draining! I don’t even know whether it was intentional but I know that I definitely was eating too little despite ‘feeling’ full! Since I started lifting, my hunger has definitely increased which I now view as a great thing and I just eat- obviously my body is telling me something!