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Afternoon Crash


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I started noticing an afternoon slump while doing my W30 last month. I kind of hoped it would go away when the 30 days was done. It has not. I am eating a good amount of protein and vegies at breakfast and lunch, but right around 2-3pm I just want to take a nap!! When I've given in, 20-30 minutes seems to help, but I don't think I should really need a nap! I'm waking up on my own most days around 6am feeling great(less great on the days I work and have to wake at 5am). I have 2c(I actually measure it) of coffee with some pastured butter most mornings. I've tried having a snack instead of the nap, but that seems to make the sleepiness worse. I've also tried limiting carbs at lunch thinking maybe it was a "sugar" crash from the fruit or sweet potatoes.

Any ideas on what would cause me to be so darn sleepy in the afternoon??

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what's a days worth of eating look like for you? How often, for how long, and how intensely are you working out?

I had something similar happening to me and I narrowed it down to 2 things...lack of carbs and too much coffee. I was working out 3 times a week and had inadvertently gone very low carb (was not eating much fruit or any starches). Melissa explained to my that my limited glycogen stores were being depleted by my workouts and with such low carb intake, I was not repleting them which is bad news for the brain causing fogginess and tiredness. I added some sweet potato to my diet and it helped but didn't solve my issue.

I was drinking 2 cups of coffee in the AM too...two HUGE cups...and didn't realize it. My afternoon crash was a caffeine withdrawal. When I limited my coffee to 1 8 ounce cup in the AM...the afternoon crash went away completely.

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Johnny~Thanks so much for your insight! I always find your comments so helpful(on my posts and others!)

I'm eating 2 eggs with cooked vegies, whatever I have on hand for breakfast. The last few days that was zucchini, spinach and onions

I snacked on a handful of almonds while I was prepping lunch

Lunch is usually either leftovers from dinner or, like yesterday, a big salad with some steak(and 1T of non compliant dressing because I don't like the Whole30 approved stuff) and a bit of fruit.

Today is a typical dinner ~stew with carrots and onions served with roasted sweet potatoes and some sliced up cucumber.

I don't really like to "workout", but I'm pretty active. I have a huge garden, so yesterday I spent over an hour lugging 50 gallons (1 gal=8#) of water 100 feet from the car to my plot(community garden), then another half hour weeding. Did some chores at the house then went to a Zumba class after dinner.(I don't really consider it a workout because it's way too fun!!)

On a day that I'm "working" I bike to work(1.5 miles). I'm a baker(oh, the irony!!) so I'm on my feet for my 4 hours, lugging 25# bags of flour and such, then I bike home and do my chores(feeding the chickens and cleaning the coop, laundry... the usual)

I'm hoping to start working in a more regular kettlebell workout soon.

Currently, I'm very carb leary because my weightloss has stalled. Since I don't do an actual "workout" do you think it's likely I'm using up my glycogen stores? I thought that was only a concern for high intensity training, which I'm definitely not doing. :(

I really hope it's not my coffee!! I will trying easing down to 1 cup and see if that helps.

Emily, I really TRY to get 8 hours! However, going to bed @9pm when I have to get up @ 5am just does not happen. So, I'm usually getting about 7 hours. Interestingly, when I don't have to work, I wake up at 6am after going to bed between 10-11pm, so I'm still getting around hours. I think this must be what my body needs because pre-Paleo I could not function on less than 9 hours!! Luckily, I switched to paleo before starting my job that requires a 5am wakeup!

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I'm no expert but I don't think you are eating enough for breakfast or enough fat. I'm sure the experts will weigh in though! I had to up my breakfast intake to 3 eggs + sometimes more protein and veggies. Plus some fat like avocado or some coconut milk to keep from being hungry or crashing out later in the day.

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Jonalynn I'm glad to help!

So in general I agree with above in making sure your meals are big enough and you're getting appropriate amounts of fat and protein and carbs. You do sound pretty active and a zumba class is enough to wear you out and require some glycogen replenishment (not to mention some nourishing plentiful meals!) and that workout is ontop of all your gardening and moving and such. This could be a carb problem. You can do a relatively simple experiment....start adding a small sweet potato (watch size...i've seen large ones that are easily 3 or so servings) to breakfast. I grate them and make a hash or fritters. See if that helps after a couple days. For me the difference was noticeable on the first day. I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of carbs. That's exactly what led to my brain fog...I thought a general rule of thumb was the fewer I ate the more easily I'd lose weight. It's just not true and not necessary and if you're body is starved for carbs, theres only so much it can do to compensate, especially if you're active.

If that's not helping, try cutting back the coffee. I found that in the context of a whole30 diet, caffeine had a much stronger effect on me than previously. I'm not sure if others have had a similar experience but it was the case for me!

Also I'm just a helper here but there are always consulting services available through whole9life.com to help personalize plans. This is just what worked for me!

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Sounds great! I will try adding in some sweet potato and a bit more fat to breakfast tomorrow. Limejuicy, I agree that another egg would probably be beneficial, and I've tried, but at 5am I just don't have much of an appetite. I'll have to try that on a day off and see if I can muster the extra one after a little more sleep. ;) You make a great point about the fat. Nuts have been my main fat source, but I've been trying not to eat them because I'm really bad at portion control. In the process, I'm sure my fat consumption has dropped significantly.

I just realized that after dinner, I once again have plenty of energy to tackle projects. If I'm going to have sweet potatoes, I have them for dinner and sometimes a sweet treat. Tonight it was a frozen banana "fudgecicle". I had plenty of energy for another garden watering! Gosh I hope it rains soon!!

Maybe in my attempt to speed up the weightloss I've cut too much out and am actually hampering my efforts!

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My husband and I are on day 20 of our first Whole 30. He is a stubborn, stubborn man and will not listen to me when I tell him that he is not eating enough. He is a roofer-out there in the hot sun, up and down ladders and lugging shingles all day. And he's a runner-though he's coming back from an injury, so his running has been reduced in the last 9-12 months. I'm not sure how much weight I've lost because I am not weighing myself till day 30, but he's been weighing himself every day-and getting frustrated if it stalls or goes up. His reaction to this is to NOT EAT. He'll skip meals. OMG. He makes me crazy. He doesn't believe me when I point out all the research that calorie cutting/restriction will not make him lose weight faster. But this is about you...not him! :P

So my advice to you would be to quit weighing yourself. And eat more fats. I have found that by adding a serving of healthy fats to every meal and eating sweet potato hash in some form or another at breakfast has really helped my energy levels and kept me satisfied throughout the day without any energy level issues. And try the home made mayo-it's a great base for all kinds of salad dressings.

Good luck!

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Yesterday I had some sweet potato hash, chugged a bit of coconut milk (eeewww, won't be doing THAT again), and had ice tea instead of coffee for breakfast with my eggs and spinach.

I got done with work a bit early, so I hit a local trail (since I had biked to work). Ended up heading out 10 miles!! All told I logged over 20 miles in a little over 2 hours! Came home and ate everything in sight, ok acually it was some stew, almonds and cucumbers and felt awesome!! Around 3pm I was a little sleepy, but it was HOT in my house, so I think that was the issue. After dinner I was fine and lugged 25 gallons of water to the garden.(really praying for rain here!!)

So, I guess my lesson here is to eat my sweet potatoes and add in more fat!!

What amazes me is that even though yesterday's ride was a lot more than I usually do, except for some mild soreness when riding to work today, my muscles are fine! I didn't think I'd be able to move today! That has to be a paleo thing because I know I'm not in very good shape!! ;)

Regarding the salad dressing, it's an organic Good Seasons type italian spice packet. It has sugar as one of it's main ingredients(thus the reason it's not compliant). I make it with a virgin olive oil. I don't eat it very often, so I don't think that's my culprit, and I have as little as possible since I know it's not a great choice. I wish I liked mayo because then I'd have a lot more options.

Colleen~I agree with everything you said except the part about giving up my scale! I did it for my Whole30(with one cheat 2 weeks in) but after a lifetime (literally! My mom had me on my first diet when I was 7!) of dieting, I feel like I need the accountability to make sure I don't start gaining again. Too many times, I've lost weight, slowly slipped into old habits, stopped getting on the scale because I didn't want to see the numbers go up and then next thing I knew I'd gained 20#(or more!!) I'm happy that I've cut my weigh ins down to once a week instead of daily(or more!!) I think the longer I stick with the program and the more it's ingrained in my lifestyle, the easier it will be to let go of my scale...but I'm not there yet. Your husband, however, needs to at least let go for his Whole30 as hard as I know it is!!! If I can do it(with only one slip up) so can he! :) You can tell your husband that MY husband skips meals ALL the time because he's "too busy" to eat and has maintained pretty much the same weight for our entire marriage, so it apparently hasn't caused him to lose(not that he needs to) LOL!!

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I am starting to feel less sleepy (day 13) but I think the sweet potato idea is a good one! I'm also trying to cut down on my coffee consumption..for me, it's always been a reason to get up in the morning. I love my morning coffee! I'd like to be less dependent on it for a mood booster.....

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Skiley~I agree that decreasing coffee consumption to a point where your life doesn't depend on it is good. I used to go through withdrawl if I skipped my morning cup, now I can take it or leave it, I just prefer to take it...with pastured butter! Good luck on the rest of your Whole30!!

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  • 1 year later...

what's a days worth of eating look like for you? How often, for how long, and how intensely are you working out?

I had something similar happening to me and I narrowed it down to 2 things...lack of carbs and too much coffee. I was working out 3 times a week and had inadvertently gone very low carb (was not eating much fruit or any starches). Melissa explained to my that my limited glycogen stores were being depleted by my workouts and with such low carb intake, I was not repleting them which is bad news for the brain causing fogginess and tiredness. I added some sweet potato to my diet and it helped but didn't solve my issue.

I was drinking 2 cups of coffee in the AM too...two HUGE cups...and didn't realize it. My afternoon crash was a caffeine withdrawal. When I limited my coffee to 1 8 ounce cup in the AM...the afternoon crash went away completely.

 

I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to let you know this worked for me too.  I've been dealing with a daily energy crash betwee 1-3 every day for longer than I can remember.  It had just become normal.  After reading this post, I cut back my caffeine from 2 cups of coffee to 2 cups of black tea, then to 1 cup of black tea.  I only noticed a hint of a slowdown at 2 cups of tea, and none at 1 cup.  I'll probably go another week and then drop the tea altogether.  Thanks for posting this, it's made a huge difference for me!

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