Thoughts on overtraining?

Angry_Bear

I think I might be overtraining (and maybe undereating) but I'm also worried I might be kidding myself. Just wondering if anyone could cast an eye over my week and give their opinions? This week has been pretty typical.
Friday:

FOOD: Frusli, porridge, potato and leek soup and poppy seed loaf slices, haggis, neep & tatties. Snacks hot pepperami. 1750 cals

EXERCISE: Cycled to work and home, each way is about 42 minutes of fairly fast-paced cycling.

Saturday:

FOOD: Poached eggs on toast, pizza hut lunch, salmon, carrots and new potatoes for dinner. Snacks: Cadbury mini eggs. 2090 cals
EXERCISE: Rest day

Sunday:

FOOD: Toast and peanut butter, mini garlic bread and past & pesto, HM pulled chicken roll, coleslaw & chippy chps. Snacks: chomp, fudge & giant cola bottle. 2300 cals
EXERCISE: 10k run

Monday:

FOOD: Fasting day (I do the 5:2), chicken & veg soup and porridge. Plus a couple of cups of coffee, coming in at about 400 cals.
EXERCISE: 10k run

Tuesday:

FOOD: Frusli, porridge, lentil curry soup & poppadom (microwaved) for lunch, HM chicken chilli & pilau rice for dinner. Snacks 1 creme egg, 1 xtra twix bar, 1 120g pack of cajun chicken breat. All in 1800 cals.
EXERCISE: Cycled 42 minutes to work and home. Circuit training (40 minutes) at lunch.

Wednesday:

FOOD: Frusli, porridge, lentil curry soup & poppadom (microwaved) for lunch, HM African Chicken Stew and couscous. Snacks 1 bourbon biscuit, 1 120g pack of cajun chicken breast, 1 pumkin seed bar. 1600
EXERCISE: Cycled to work and home. Would normally do Kettlebells at lunch time but couldn't make it this week.

Thursday:

FOOD: Fasting day, chicken & veg soup and porridge. Plus a couple of cups of coffee. 400 cals.
EXERCISE: Legs, Bums and Tums class at lunch.

Usually Sunday would be my rest day and I'd do a cycle/run combo on the Saturday, but the weather was too grotty this week.

I'm thinking maybe I'm overtraining as I've got the cold (again!) and my weight keeps going up by a smidge every week. I'm definitely eating less calories than I'm spending, so I'm not sure what's going on. For what it's worth, I don't think I'm getting fatter - my clothes don't feel any tighter.
Because I have a history of being lazy and overweight, I'm a little nervous about giving myself permission to take some time out .

fairy_lights

Is the running and cycling something you've only recently started doing? If so the extra weight your noticing could be water retention from the new regime. Another possibility is that you're underestimating how much you're eating, do you log on myfitnesspal or some other app?
I don't think you're doing an excessive amount of exercise and don't appear to be under eating (although again you could be overestimating your calorie intake), but maybe you could go a bit easier on yourself on fast days, try to tie them in with your rest days maybe?
I know I'd be starving if I ran 10k on a near empty stomach and couldn't have a big meal afterwards, but if you feel ok with it I don't see the harm.

Angry_Bear

fairy_lights wrote: »

Is the running and cycling something you've only recently started doing? If so the extra weight your noticing could be water retention from the new regime.

Nah, this has been my routine for close on a year now. It's only been the last month or so I've been struggling. Previously my weight was dropping very slightly or staying the same while my figure shrunk .

Another possibility is that you're underestimating how much you're eating, do you log on myfitnesspal or some other app?

I log with myfitnesspal and never skip things off. However, it's possible I've under-calculated the calories in my home-made meals.

I don't think you're doing an excessive amount of exercise and don't appear to be under eating (although again you could be overestimating your calorie intake), but maybe you could go a bit easier on yourself on fast days, try to tie them in with your rest days maybe?
I know I'd be starving if I ran 10k on a near empty stomach and couldn't have a big meal afterwards, but if you feel ok with it I don't see the harm.

Generally I'm fine with it, provided I drink enough water. Even over the last few weeks it's not the run itself that's hard going, it's more of a general "tired-out" feeling .
Maybe I've just been genuinely unlucky and caught two colds in quick succession and am just a bit run down from fighting them off!

NathanMorgan

you may be depleted of glycogen which can cause you to feel a bit run down and lethargic with all the cardio your doing and I would deffinately up the calories by 250-500 per day for a week and track you weight and the way your feeling that way.

You may also be in need of a 'Deload Week' which is when you cut your training volume by 50% for a week. An example for you would be just run 5K instead of 10K and to cycle 20 mins a day instead of 40 mins a day. You will be surprised what it does to your body and after a week of that you will come back more energised and ready to take your training to a new level.

Also look up this article about refeeding and the benefits of incorporating it effectively if your trying to lose weight that is.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

Angry_Bear

NathanMorgan wrote: »

...

^^ Very interesting and useful, thanks.
Although the problem with

cycle 20 mins a day instead of 40 mins a day.

is that I'd only get half way to work :rotfl:
And actually it works out as 80 minutes a day as it's 40 each way.

However, I take your point, and I could reduce cycling to work to two days, or even just one for a week .

Also look up this article about refeeding and the benefits of incorporating it effectively if your trying to lose weight that is.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

At this point I'm not really fussed about losing weight as I reckon I'm pretty healthy (although I'm wary of it creeping back up) - but I wouldn't object to cutting back a little more body fat .

[Deleted User]

Angry_Bear wrote: »

I wouldn't object to cutting back a little more body fat .

Would cutting out the mini eggs, chomp, creme eggs, fudge, twix, bourbon biscuits and coke help?

Maybe find some lower fat snacks?

NathanMorgan

Deleted_User wrote: »

Would cutting out the mini eggs, chomp, creme eggs, fudge, twix, bourbon biscuits and coke help?

Maybe find some lower fat snacks?

its excess calories that makes you fat not the type of food that you eat. As long as you factor in the total calories of those foods in your daily nutrition plan then there is nothing wrong in eating the foods you enjoy to eat.

if you want to lose weight eat in a calorie deficit, if you want to gain weight eat in a calorie surplus.

SIMPLE.

Feral_Moon

Deleted_User wrote: »

Would cutting out the mini eggs, chomp, creme eggs, fudge, twix, bourbon biscuits and coke help?

Maybe find some lower fat snacks?

I'd agree with this but would be looking to cut out the sugar rather than fat, so maybe a handful of nuts instead of a chocolate bar and cut out fizzy drinks completely.

Fat is healthy (as long as it isn't hydrogenated) whilst sugar isn't, and will provide all the energy you need.

Angry_Bear

Deleted_User wrote: »

Would cutting out the mini eggs, chomp, creme eggs, fudge, twix, bourbon biscuits and coke help?

Maybe find some lower fat snacks?

I don't drink coke - or any fizzy drinks, it was a single "cola bottle" sweet (pic 'n mix type, they were handing them out at the end of my 10k) (66cals).
Note one single bourbon biscuit (67 cals), one chomp (120 cals), one creme egg (185cals), one fudge (115 cals), one 45g tube of mini eggs (220 cals) and one twix (372 cals). I don't think the list you put there is excessive over a week, particularly for someone who isn't actively trying to lose weight and does a lot of exercise.

I'd be more concerned about my pizza hut, but that's hardly a regular occurrence.
It's all about having a balanced diet/lifestyle, not living on a prison-food routine!

Feral_Moon

NathanMorgan wrote: »

its excess calories that makes you fat not the type of food that you eat. As long as you factor in the total calories of those foods in your daily nutrition plan then there is nothing wrong in eating the foods you enjoy to eat.

if you want to lose weight eat in a calorie deficit, if you want to gain weight eat in a calorie surplus.

SIMPLE.

Not quite as simple as different food types are metabolised differently and can impact on fat and muscle gain or loss. An excess of sugar in the diet is converted to fat in the liver and stored in the body. Healthy fats are directly converted to energy (glycogen) and used immediately by the body rather than stored.

Obviously an excess of anything isn't healthy but being mindful of the type of food you eat is just as important, if not more so, than merely counting calories.

Angry_Bear

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Not quite as simple as different food types are metabolised differently and can impact on fat and muscle gain or loss. An excess of sugar in the diet is converted to fat in the liver and stored in the body. Healthy fats are directly converted to energy (glycogen) and used immediately by the body rather than stored.

Obviously an excess of anything isn't healthy but being mindful of the type of food you eat is just as important, if not more so, than merely counting calories.

Completely agree with this, I've only noted the calories above for simplicity but part of the reason I really like myfitness pal is because you can see all the different constituents of your food.

Generally speaking I keep a pretty good balance, but I tend to struggle to get anywhere like enough protein. You can't tell from the descriptions, but most of my homemade food is heavy on veg and very light on meat content.
It's part of the reason I've been trying to introduce higher protein snacks (chicken, peperami, seedy snack) and poached eggs. The pumpkin seed snack bar thing was a failure though, I really didn't enjoy that ... which is odd, because I usually like pumpkin seeds on their own.