Fitness Instructor Needing Advice!

[Frickfeedingfrenzy]

Hello! I never post things, so this is a BIG step for me... But I've been all over this forum and can't seem to find a problem similar to mine.

This is my day with Instructing, training, & my Whole30 ( still fighting on day 21)...

I wake up at 4am to get ready to be at the gym to teach a class or clients until 8. I have a protein and fat at 4:30am. (Chicken & Avacado)

I come home to take kids to school at 8:30am. I grab a container of premade roasted Sweet Potatoes and Egg Whites on the way out.

I go BACK to the gym to train people from 9 to noon.

I come home to put my son down for nap. By this time I am WIPED OUT! I'll usually eat my Meal1 before I lay down to nap. It is usually A Chicken "Fried Rice" and then Ill eat some more roasted sweet potato. When I lay down to nap, it just SITS in my stomach and its hard to nap. I take a 2 hour nap with my son, and when I wake up, it feels like I have been hit with a tranquilizer... And I'm STARVING again. Ill eat Meal2 after, like a bone broth chicken Veggie soup. I'm training for a marathon, so I have to get my miles in as well... I usually do this after I pick my daughter up from school at 3. I have chicken mixed with Paleo Mayo before I load up the jogging stroller with my son and get my daughter situated on her bike. We do around 5 miles.

I eat tuna and speghetti squash after. Then... BOOM MEAL 3 TIME! What happened to my day?!?! I will do a Beanless Paleo chili and more roasted sweet potatoes.

Exhausted and asleep by 8:30pm.

If there are any gaps in my nutrition please help with ideas. I feel just fried.

I take amino acids Glutamine, Tyrosine & Arginine

I do a Catalyn MultiVitamin, Cod liver Oil, Drenamin, and A hormone/ thyroid support. I also do Progesterone cream at night. I have PCOS.

EEEEKKKKK that was a lot of info. If you take the time to read it, God bless you! I love this way of eating and this forum!

[melbournegirl]

Wow, what a schedule, I don't know how you manage.....

My suggestion is to try to come up with some different options for meal and sleep times to try, as it seems like you are struggling to fit it all in. You are very active so I understand the snacks, but sometimes eating so often ( 7 times? ) can make life harder not easier, especially re tying to nap after eating, all that food planning and prep and the load on your digestive system. Can you work out three main meal times? Eg 4am, 12 pm and 7 pm, with snacks at 830 and 4? Can you have your nap at 1 pm after you have digested a bit?

Not enough fat can make you tired, are you having enough? Or what about meals at 830 and 2 pm and 6/7 pm with a pre WO snack at 430am and a post WO snack at 430 pm?

I've been doing this for nearly a year now and have experimented a lot with meal times but have found 7am, 1pm and 7pm to be my favourite pattern. I exercise at 530am, 12 pm or 730pm mainly. I know you dont have a lot of flexibility but I am sure you can experiment to see what works better or worse for you.

Good luck!

[Tom Denham]

I am concerned that you seem to be eating light in the early part of the day and then loading your main meals into the last part of the day. I do better when I eat heavy at my first meal and then a little lighter at later meals. And speaking of your food, I am concerned that you are eating too light all day. Someone who is as active as you can hardly call soup a main meal. 

 

It sounds like you get 7.5 hours of sleep at night and then a nap of 2 hours. That sounds good, but if you ever don't get that nap, you are living with a deficit. Given the volume of activity you have, you cannot afford a sleep deficit. 

[Bethany Lannon]

Among other suggestions, I would suggest trying some BCAA's such as by this brand:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000SOXALE

Only the capsules, don't get the powder.

I am in marathon training myself. My schedule is not as hectic as yours but I found myself dragging and so exhausted almost to the point of crying during my peak weeks with my highest mileage. I'd been taking BCAA's pre & post-WO (4 capsules each time), but my husband had me start taking 3-4 with each meal as well (this was on a day where I only ran 5 miles, was supposed to run 12, but felt like I had run 30). It was honestly like I felt alive again. I wasn't dragging, I wasn't wishing my day away, I wasn't thinking about when I could brew my next pot of coffee. They made the biggest difference in my energy levels. I have a 3.5yo son and a 5.5 month old daughter who I am breastfeeding. So when my energy plummeted, it was miserable trying to function with an active toddler and an infant, all while trying to get my miles in.

So, for energy levels, definitely try the BCAA's. I'm betting you will notice a huge difference as soon as you start taking them. Good luck with your training!! I'm tapering now, so its all downhill from here.

[LRM]

I'm going to chime in with one small suggestion.  I notice your 8:30 am meal is only egg whites.  Please consider eating the yoke as well. They have so many nutrients.   Maybe 2-3 hard boiled eggs at that time? Eggs really give me an energy boost and sustain me for a long time.  And Tom's advice about eating more in the morning is spot on.  I have more energy, am less hungry, and actually sleep better when I have a much bigger meal in the morning (3 eggs, 1/2 avocado, veggies).  And I never crash during workouts.  Good luck. 

[missmary]

I think the OP is trying to follow suggestions for no fat post WO with the egg whites. Egg whites and sweet potato are great for post-WO. That said, meal #1 should be happening much sooner, either in that 8:30-9am window, or at 4:30am if you can stomach it. That's a change you could try, but really these are minor tweaks that may or may not help. Bigger picture, I would be looking at why you are pursuing this schedule, not how to do it better.

 

Is now the right time in your life to be training for a marathon? even if it means potential adrenal fatigue and long-term issues? Maybe your health and fitness would improve if you were to back off a bit. It is not a failure to slow down. Slowing down to the point that you can enjoy your life and feel energetic and strong is a victory.

 

good luck with whatever path you choose.

[Robin Strathdee]

Tom (and other posters) have nailed it. Your eating looks more like snacking (volume and timing wise) than it does like full meals. You sould be eating to the very high side of the template at each meal.

 

-Your Pre-WO (early morning) looks okay, if it carries you through.

-Try to plan something more substantial for when you come home and make that your meal one. Maybe a bake-ahead casserole, premade SP hash, a meal's worth of leftovers. Something with more volume and more balance than a PWO snack. 

-Make your M1 your M2, make sure it's a little more balanced, and perhaps put off your nap for 30 min to an hour. With more food volume, you should see your energy pick up a bit more.

 -Again, make sure your M3 fits all the components (protein, veggies, fat) and is quite substantial 

[Psirene]

Echoing what the others have said - omg eat more! No wonder you're exhausted!

Also, while I know it's for convenience (easy to grab), your meals look unbalanced. Granted, some of them are more pre/post-WO meals, but chicken and avocado (how much chicken, by the way?) is laaaaacking in veggies. Your egg whites and sweet potato should be whole eggs, plus fat, plus veggies. You could probably stand to do a lot more starchy carb veggies, since you're training, and have PCOS. I've been reading some stuff (I'll see if I can find links) that especially for hormonally-imbalanced women, they NEED carbs. And you're probably burning all yours up doing your training (of three million sorts). 

 

Also, are your amounts (excluding veggies, because we know you haven't been including them much, at least in what you've told us) tight to the template? Are you even _getting_ enough protein, before taking into consideration your training? I am concerned because you're eating egg whites (and how many eggs, anyhow? You should be eating at least four at a sitting, especially with all you do. 

 

Also, I don't know if this is feasible, and maybe things will calm down when you're not training up for a marathon - can you take time for you, and actually sit down and _eat_? It sounds like you're just eating this stuff on the go (which, for me, always ends up being not enough food, because I think time is more important than me), and never taking time for yourself to stop, and give YOURSELF time. To eat, to breathe. 

[Frickfeedingfrenzy]

Oh my gosh THANK YOU for all of the in depth advice. I knew once I wrote out my schedule I'd get a " Holy Cow Lady! You're nuts." & Looking over it written out... It DOES look nuts. I wanted to do Whole30 to gain energy and get off the coffee... And no wonder I was on the coffee. I'm going to do my morning schedule to 4:30 Eating Meal1. Ill do a big Sweetpotato chicken egg Breakfast hash with a lot of Veggies! I also have been thinking of canceling my 7:00 client permanently so I can come home and have more time getting kids ready. Ill do a couple of hard boiled eggs with sweet potatoes or a mini meal of Breakfast hash.

Meal 2 I'll do a larger amount of protein with my soup and add a big salad with homepage Avacado dressing- at 12. That means canceling my 11:00 client. That way I can rest, breathe and eat, digest, and nap.

I'll keep my running to 3 times, only 3 mile runs, with a long run on Saturday. It's almost time to race, and ill cut WAY BACK after. I'll do more protein after.

Meal 3- I'll do MORE protein & lots of veggie but less starch so I can fall asleep better. 6:00 pm.

Okay so does this sound better? I will cut my activity down by 2 or 3 hours, & eat MORE protein and carb in form of veggies, less snacking, and eating MORE earlier in the day. I really appreciate it so much. Thank you for bringing my craziness into the light. Ill have a couple of not happy clients, but they can join a class. maybe ill get a mani-pedi this week too!

[Robin Strathdee]

I LOVE your response. I think that sounds great, and I think you will start to see a HUGE difference in the next week.

You are putting personal health and family first, and that's fantastic.

[Robin Strathdee]

Check in! How's it working for you??

[Frickfeedingfrenzy]

I'm so glad I posted and everyone spoke up! So I WASN'T EATING ENOUGH! Crazy huh? Lol.

I've added double the protein and Veggies to my meals... Have cut out the snacking and AM FEELING SO MUCH BETTER! My energy has increased significantly. I think the no carbs before bed was key as well. I rest on a much deeper level! I also don't do a carb before the nap with my son. This week I am slowing my schedule down... And I'm looking forward to it! Thank you all for your feedback! I have the "sweet spot" nutritionally! Also... I know it's vain, but magically, my pants are falling off of me! That was a nice treat. My cortisol must be adjusting to normal levels.

[Robin Strathdee]

YAY! So glad to hear it!!