Legs Feel Like Cement

[ConnieM]

Day 7 and my legs are so tired. Can hardly walk an hour without being completely exhausted. Going up hills or stairs is horrible. What might be causing this? Any way to resolve this?

Thanks

[Tom Denham]

Have you been exercising? Food alone is not likely to make your legs tired.

[Renee Lee]

Connie, what's your day look like, food and activity wise?

It sounds like you're way lower carb than you probably should be. I DRAG when I'm not getting enough carbs for my activity level.

[ConnieM]

I generally walk an hour a day at a brisk pace.

Here's a typical menu for the day (prior to starting this, I had been a vegetarian (although ate fish) for over 20 years. I decided to add a bit more meat back into my diet because the authors make a compelling argument about why it's necessary. You'll see that I have made a modification where I've combined the omnivore and vegetarian plan because I simply can't eat that much animal protein and dairy isn't an issue for me.

BREAKFAST:

Smoothie consisting of:

1 cup cream fat, plait yogurt

rasberries/blueberries/blackberries

banana

Handful of cashews

LUNCH:

Greens mixed with albacore tuna (packed in water)

1/2 avocado

Oil and Balsamic vinegar over salad

10 or so macadamian nuts

DINNER:

Chicken breast cooked in olive oil

Steamed carrots, brocolli and cauliflower

10-12 Cashews

I used to run marathons and my legs feel like they used to when I finished one. This started around day 2 and has continued. In addition, I don't sleep very well (although I didn't before) and am quite tired most of the time.

Thanks

[Robin Strathdee]

What's jumping out to me here is that you're not getting enough protein, and you're likely under on starchy veg here too. Starchy veg helps feed the energy we store in our muscles, so being under in that area could affect your legs in the way you mention.

Your breakfast is just. not. enough. First, it's a smoothie, which we generally recommend against as it's not satisfying and encourages you away from, rather than toward, the meal planning template. Do you do eggs? If so, try a couple of eggs, a serving of starchy veg, and something green for breakfast. Your lunch and dinner sound reasonable, as long as your portions look right according to the template.

Another concern I have is the amount of nuts you're eating. Nuts are very high calorie, which means they carry a lot of potential energy. However, a small amount of nuts can give your body the same amount of energy it would get from a full meal without any of the other benefits of a full meal. No micronutrients, no beneficial carbohydrates, very little protein, no real "I'm full" feeling... I'd encourage you to replace the nuts with more of your real protein source for the meal, or some more veggies, even another fat.