Feeling Weak, It’s Your Diet

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Do you often feel weak, your energy levels are in the dumps?

How many cups of coffee do you require in order to get your day started?

After lunch, does your mind wonder around aimlessly? Do you have trouble concentrating? Would you rather not socialize in the evenings?

Have you ever felt faint while exercising vigorously, or get a stitch in your side?

Do you make lame ass excuses about why the hell you feel this way? Maybe it’s because you are too busy or you were born this way…

Let’s consider what is most likely occurring in your body, Feeling tired and fatigued can be the result of a variety of issues, ranging from stress, lack of sleep, or maybe your ass got too drunk last night. It is also possible that you may have a serious condition such as heart disease, depression or anemia. However, the reality is, your diet of sugar laden, highly processed foods may be, or likely is the culprit. Lagging energy levels create a situation that will get you all hemmed up when you are too tired to eat proper foods. Our modern society finds it easier to fill up on cheap and convenient garbage snack foods, which in turn only serve to further contribute to your increasing fatigue. It is a vicious cycle that you can and should break. No matter what your “hangry” mind may tell you, this is not an insurmountable task. Quit making excuses for yourself.

If you are feeling tired and weak most of the time, you need to check how you are fueling your body. You would never intentionally fill your car with bad gas, why would you do this to your body? Your body is a complicated machine that requires quality fuel to operate in a superior manner. A huge mistake that many people make is they will either eat nothing in the morning, or they will have a small breakfast which may or may not be nutritious. Then they will begin craving sweet treats by the middle of the day, and then end up snarfing down anything in sight. Do you recognize this trait in yourself? Do you fuel your body with bad gas sporadically and then wonder why you do not feel good?

Photo by Mark DeYoung on Unsplash

In order to operate well, your body needs a steady flow of good nutrition, a healthy mix of protein, fats and complex carbohydrates. Anything less than proper fueling is going to trash your energy levels, especially if you are not in the habit of eating healthy. Our bodies require complex carbohydrates and protein for optimal performance. Our blood sugar levels will begin getting low within four hours after we have last eaten. Therefore frequent small meals are going to be better for you than two or three large meals in order to maintain a constant energy supply. Greek yogurt, a piece of fruit and or a handful of nuts make for a perfect between meal snack in order to maintain consistent energy levels during the day. Where as cookies, chips and cakes are going to only cause your butt to want to drag when you snack on them instead. I will say again, you need healthy foods in order to keep your energy levels up. When you consume carbs, you want them to be complex carbohydrates from whole grains and starchy vegetables. Whole grain breads, rice, pasta, beans and yams are excellent sources of complex carbs as well as great sources of fiber in order to keep from having your blood stream getting a huge sugar dump. These foods are digested gradually because of their fiber content, which allows you to maintain an even blood sugar level during the day which will provide a constant fuel supply for the body and brain.

When it comes to healthy weight loss, a lack of knowledge is what hurts folks the most. People hang on to the latest trends and fad quick weight loss diets which only serve to cause them fatigue and poor moods. Cutting your calories too far will only cause you to feel drained which can and will interfere with your daily routines such as work, exercising or even just being able to enjoy life. Even if you are just trying to maintain your body weight, it is wise to figure your daily caloric needs based on your basal metabolic rate. And once you know how many calories you need each day, then make it a point to eat every bit of them with a combination of protein, carbs and fats. Yes, fats are required for proper digestion and absorption of key nutrients to fuel your body.

Too many people on diets are running essentially on fumes and will not only lose fat, but they will also lose much needed and valuable lean muscle mass. The problem with this lies in that if or when you put weight back on, even if you return to your previous weight, your body fat percentage will be higher than before your weight loss. The goal should always be a healthy body fat percentage over a random sale number!

When you decide to lose weight, you should only want your body to lose body fat and not muscle. Quit obsessing on the number on your scale and concentrate on your body fat percentage instead. The more lean muscle mass your body maintains, the higher your metabolism will be. This is a simple irrefutable fact. More muscle means more fat burning when you are working towards a healthier body. A higher metabolism also means more energy for enjoying your life. Being physically fit and healthy needs to be your life style and not a temporary diet. Weight management is not something you do for a short period in order to satisfy your mind with a random number you have decided you want to see on your bathroom scale. The approach you want to take is to eat healthy foods with zero refined sugars or anything processed, and then exercise like you mean it. Raise your heart rate! Also, if you are trying to lose weight, quit adding up fitness calories from your tracker for cleaning your house and other easy activities you might have been doing before you decided to lose weight. Remember, if that activity did not enable you to lose fat off your waist and thighs before, it is not going to now. Fitness calories not truly earned through an elevated heart rate are worthless as you are likely going to eat more calories than you are burning. Get your heart rate elevated on a regular basis through true vigorous exercise, as this will help boost your energy levels while decreasing fatigue related moods such as depression and despondency.

How do we maintain a desirable weight and stay energized? Simply eat regular, cook light, and mix fiber rich complex carbohydrates with your protein. In order to remain better satiated, divide your caloric needs to 45 to 50% protein, 30 to 35% complex carbs and 15 to 25% fats. Remember, liquid saturated fats from olive and coconut oils, avocado’s and nuts are healthy for you to consume. Fats are good for you. Refined sugars and processed foods that are quick and easy are are usually going to be the source of your fat and fatigue problems.

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10 Comments Add yours

  1. Brenda Sue says:

    This is so true. Tracking everything I eat and watching my grams of carbs and protein rack up, keeps me on track. Good stuff!

    1. davidyochim says:

      We know tracking and personal responsibility are key to good health and physical fitness.

  2. Joanna Geno says:

    Thank you David, this is so true. I track everything. I miss my cardio workout so much. Every time I try to do more to get the heart rate up the knee screams at me. Just a few more weeks and the knee gets replaced, then intensive physical therapy. I got the erythritol sweetener and can’t wait to try it out on my cranberry sauce and pumpkin custard for Thanksgiving. 👍💪💗

    1. davidyochim says:

      Hi Joanna. Under your circumstances, exercise that can raise the heart rate would be quite difficult and probably not advised by your physician. These things happen unfortunately. In the mean time, by watching what you eat and holding yourself accountable through tracking, you can still bring beneficial good to your body. It is during times of healing we have to be most patient.
      Please let us know how you enjoy the recipes and thank you for being a faithful reader. God bless you my friend, I pray you have excellent results with your knee.

    2. Brenda Sue says:

      You’re a Warrior. ♥️

  3. Karen says:

    What do you think of the Keto diet? You speak of needing a complex mix of proteins, fats and complex carbs, but the Keto-fans reckon you can basically get by on just fat.

    Lots of scientific studies on this page here that recommend it, but I don’t think I trust it!
    https://blogsurfer.wixsite.com/easyketo/post/scientific-studies

    1. David Yochim says:

      Hi Karen. I believe the Keto diet is safe and effective for getting your weight down in the short term. For the express purpose of losing weight, Keto does work.

      However, my problem with Keto is that it is unnecessarily restrictive in carbs, including complex carbs which we should consume, in our diets. A problem that can arise as a result of restricting carbs to the small amount of 50 grams or less per day is the dieter will not be consuming many other much needed nutrietnts which we need for good health. I have a family member who began losing her hair after being on Keto for several months. Her hair came back after she quit Keto. What also came back was a good portion of her weight which she had shed while on Keto.

      You can, and should eat foods that contain complex carbohydrates. Vegetables, fruit and grains are good for great sources of fiber which our body’s neeed for good health. I target 125 net grams of complex carbs per day and give myself a wiggle room of 25 grams above or below that target number. This target of 125 grams allows me to have healthy, nourishig foods that provide me with the fiber I need for good colon health. Keto does not provide you with much needed fiber.

      Where I draw the line on carbohydrates is sugar. Refined table sugar, including it’s other forms such as high fructose corn syrup among others. Simple carbs such as sugar drive cravings for more and more which too many people have no control over, thus our obesity epedemic of today. Simple sugar has no fiber component to regulate it’s absorption into our blood stream. Therefore our blood sugar and insulin levels can be all over the place, everywhere but where it should be. I have written many articles on this, you can simply enter key words on the topics of Keto, insulin, sugar and more into our search bar and you will find an abundance of well researched articles I have written on this verytopic.

      Thank you for reading and for the questions. I hope my answer was adequate. I have not had my first cup of coffee yet this morning and have a busy day ahead of me. Please if you have more questions or comments, we are more than glad to receive them.

  4. Linda Violet says:

    Another HOME RUN David! Excellent info, going to share with friends & family. They need to see this!

    1. David Yochim says:

      Grand slam out of the park! Thank you, please do share this my friend.

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