Help, what am I doing wrong?

[radgirl]

I am not sure if any one else is experiencing my same problem, but here it goes. I will be doing cardio and 15-20 minutes into the exercise, my entire body goes limp and I cannot keep moving and doing my workout. I get very weak and need to stop and sit down. I am not sure how else to explain it, but I wonder if this is normal and what I can do to keep this problem in check (actually keep it from happening). It is very disappointing when you are doing your cardio and all of a sudden, BONK, you feel like you are ready to pass out. Has anyone experienced something similar? Is there a name for this? What am I doing wrong and how do I correct the problem?

Thanks for you help and suggestions.

[cursor]

It sounds like a nutrition problem to me. What is your size (height, weight & body fat %) and what do you eat?

[stencil]

Yup, sounds like you're not eating / drinking enough.

[abarlament]

Dehydration I'd say. Drink tons of water.

[2Scoops]

Interesting problem.

The feeling of weakness or "jelly legs" is associated with hypoglycaemia. Do you drink a sports drink directly before exercise? It's possible this may be the cause though I would expect the symptoms to manifest before 10-15min.

Otherwise, I'd have to agree with other posts in thinking it's caused by bad nutritional habits. Are you on any caloric restriction diets or fad diets like Atkins?

[Wolfnatas]

That sounds exactly how hypoglycemia feels. You might want to get some more food pre-workout.

[PoorBoyTek]

*nod* sounds like a sugar level...glycemia...do you drink or maintain your sugar levels?

[2Scoops]

Originally Posted by Wolfnatas

That sounds exactly how hypoglycemia feels. You might want to get some more food pre-workout.

Timing of the pre-workout meal and not the actual amount of food is key here.
For hypoglycemia to occur, high GI CHOs would have to be consumed very close to the initiation of exercise. The most likely scenario is a sports drink just before you start running.

Pre-exercise (cardio) meals should be CHO rich and taken about 3h before exercise. The closer to the exercise, the less should be eaten: eg: With 1h to go, only a small snack is really suitable. In fact, 1h before is the ideal time to drink a sports drink as it is soluble CHO and is digested quickly. Unfortunately, many people are unaware that drinking them directly before exercise may be counter-productive.

In general, significant benefits of sports drinks are limited and they can be quite expensive. But for some reason they are still widely (mis)used and a lot of ignorance is out there regarding how and why they should be used.

[radgirl]

Thank you so much everyone for you help. I do have a little snack about an hour before my work out. Should I carry a sports drink with me? I try to drink enough water. I have it there with me and I try to drink before hand. I'm just not very good at getting the water down. I feel bloated and heavy. I do notice that when I eat a more filling lunch, I have much more energy for my workout. My issue is that I don't want to gain any weight. I'm trying to lose weight. Any other suggestions would be great.

Again, a big thanks to everyone!

[Lady C]

Throw the scale in the trash! Your goal should be to reduce 'body fat' regardless of what the scale says. It sounds like you are on the right track.

What is your diet like? Post an example, we'll make recommendations.

[radgirl]

Sample day of food:

meal 1 - 1.5 cup of cereal
meal 2 - .5 cup cottage cheese
meal 3 - sandwich, fruit, rice cakes
meal 4 - nutrigrain bar
meal 5 - 1 cup rice, .5 cup beans, 4 oz meat

What do you all think?

[Octagon]

Originally Posted by radgirl

Sample day of food:

meal 1 - 1.5 cup of cereal
meal 2 - .5 cup cottage cheese
meal 3 - sandwich, fruit, rice cakes
meal 4 - nutrigrain bar
meal 5 - 1 cup rice, .5 cup beans, 4 oz meat

What do you all think?

We think the devil is, as always, in the details

What kind of cereal? What kind of cottage cheese? What kind of rice, beans, fruit and meat? What goes into that sandwich? What kind of milk (and how much) do you pour over that cereal? What's the label on the nutrigrain bar say?

And where the hell are your vegetables???

There are no 'right' answers to any of those questions but they're the kind of questions you should be asking because the answers will let you make informed choices about what you want to change and what you want to keep the same.

Take meal 5 for example. There's probably nothing wrong with a meal like that but maybe you'd be happier and healthier replacing either the beans or the rice with larger portions of more filling, nutrient-rich but less calorically dense vegetables like, well, pretty much anything. Same for the nutrigrain bar. I don't know a lot about that particular product but compare labels. Maybe there's a better choice out there or maybe your circumstances allow you to make your own meal replacement type shake without the sugars and whatnot that often get slipped into bars like that.

Anyhoo, just thinking out loud

[2Scoops]

Originally Posted by radgirl

Sample day of food:

meal 1 - 1.5 cup of cereal
meal 2 - .5 cup cottage cheese
meal 3 - sandwich, fruit, rice cakes
meal 4 - nutrigrain bar
meal 5 - 1 cup rice, .5 cup beans, 4 oz meat

Doesn't look great to be honest.
It looks a bit spartan to me - I understand that you are trying to lose weight but I don't think this kind of caloric restriction diet is the answer.

As Lady C said, the actual weight is not the problem it's how you look (eg: would you be happy if you lost say 3 stone and looked exactly the same??).

Increasing your exercise capacity will make you feel and look better. Eating minimal amounts of food will decrease your ability to exercise, decrease your metabolic rate and ultimately be counterproductive.

Yes, you will have to consume less energy than you expend to lose weight but drastic or unbalanced diets are not the solution.

There are few green vegetables in your diet and hardly any fat. This is not "healthy". The high CHO content is good for exercise but I suspect you aren't eating enough of it and are missing valuable nutrients with the exclusivity of your diet.

A quick guide:
60% energy from CHO
15% from protein
~25% from fat

4kcal of energy from CHO and protein
9kcal from fat

Aim for about 1600-2000 kcal per day depending on your body size

Finally: a nutrigrain bar is not a "meal"!!

[radgirl]

I know you guys, my diet sucks. See, I'm in a psychological bind that I fear what I eat will make me gain weight. I know, the whole thing is stupid, but I'm terrified that if I eat too much, I'll put on weight. I guess I go by the ignorant stand-by thinking that if I eat less and exercise more, it'll come off.

Any better food suggestions, especially for snacks? Anything would be helpful. Again, thank you all for all your input. I appreciate it.

[sillygirl]

These guys are giving awesome advice. Believe me radgirl, I've been there with the drastically cutting calories while doing WAY too much cardio. It got me nowhere. It's so easy to do, too. Even though I knew I was losing the muscle I was working so hard to put on, I kept chugging right along- doing about an hour of cardio a day along with eating maybe 1500 calories.

You'll learn. I had people also telling me I wasn't eating enough. It wasn't until I finally got fed up with seeing NO results [I'm trying to build some muscle!] that it finally clicked.

Anyway. Some great snack ideas are: Gala apples, La Tortilla Factory Garlic & Herb Low Carb Tortillas, a baggie full of high fiber cereal [kashi good friends, fiber one, etc], mixed veggies, canned carrots or green beans and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, any type of fruit, soy crisps, etc. There's lots to choose from, you just need to get creative.