Am I Overtraining?

[tatandsquid]

I am 31, 5' 5", 160, 32.5% BF. I'm on my feet 8 hours a day, I walk 9 to 12 miles a day at work. But nothing that gets my heart rate up. I do cardio first thing when I get up. About 30 minutes HIIT, 4 to 5 times a week. Then after work, I hit the weights for about 45 minutes. This week I changed my caloric intake to 1600 to try and drop some weight, and I crashed. I've been getting about 130 grams of protein, 35 grams of fat, and 250 grams of carbs a day. I haven't been sleeping well this week. Am I not getting enough calories or am I overtraining? I'm not fat, I have a lot of muscle, but I still have enough fat to hide the definition. I just need to shed some BF. I also do pull-ups at work every other day. 7 to 10 pull-ups 5 to 6 times a day.

I also have a twin sister who is 20 pounds heavier than me and she seems be fine on this same program. But she isn't on her feet all day.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

First, HIIT should not be done 4-5 times a week. HIIT should be done every other day.

That is enough carbs to not crash - 250g plenty. What source are they from?

You say you dropped your cals to 1600 - what were they before? A dramatic drop will take the body some time to adjust to.

How else did the diet change? Food choices? Timing?

How many days a week do you do weights after work? Too many days of 2x a day workout may be the cause.

Stress-wise - how are things? STress can cause a mental/physical "crash"

Supplements and/or medicines - anything added, deleted, changed?

TRUE overtraining is VERY hard to do - it takes months of intense workouts. BUT, you could be overdoing it, over stressing the body. This is different from actual OVERTRAINING.

 

[Sassy69]

I'm w/ Daisy. First if you did a dramatic drop in calorie intake, that's going to be the first issue - takes time for your body to adjust to a major change. Then add in the training etc. If you dropped your calorie intake but still consuming 250 g carb -- what is your diet in the first place? Are you eating clean already? It sounds like your body has managed to stay static and has adjusted to the way you eat & the regular stress of your job. Then you add in additional daily stress from 2x training sessions and then drop the cals, yep you can crash.

Can you post up your diet? There are lots of easy ways to change up your diet to achieve results. I'm sure we can make some suggestions that will help support your required work activity, the training but also give you the energy you need while allowing you to drop some bodyfat.

 

[tatandsquid]

OK here's about how I eat it varies a bit but...
7:30 4 oz ham and bagel cal 370, pro 22, fat 3, carbs 59
11AM ham sandwich and an apple cal 386, pro 27, fat 4.5, carb 61
2 PM peanut butter protein shake cal 389, pro 27, fat 13.5, 43.5
5 PM peanut butter smoothie cal 244, pro 13, fat 11, carb 28
7PM pita taco cal 285, pro 33.5, fat 11, carb 14
I usually drink decaf tea, water or sometimes a pepsi if i have room.
I know it's a lot of peanut butter i don't always have them but they taste way better than the plain whey shakes. I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast but last week I switched to bagels for a bit of a change. I was eating about 2000 cals before but I wasn't seeing much change so I thought I should drop it down a bit. How long will it take my body to adjust and should I have dropped it down more incrementally? I ate at the same time I have been before. Oh and usually there is some kind of veggie in there but this week was kinda wierd. I usually work out 4X a week after work for about 45 min. Let me know if I missed something, I appreciate your help!

 

[*MissFit*]

The other woemn have addressed some of tyour other issues.. but in regards to the twin thing.. im an identical twin.. but we dotn train the same and our bodies respond differently..

I am 31, 5' 5", 160, 32.5% BF. I'm on my feet 8 hours a day, I walk 9 to 12 miles a day at work. But nothing that gets my heart rate up. I do cardio first thing when I get up. About 30 minutes HIIT, 4 to 5 times a week. Then after work, I hit the weights for about 45 minutes. This week I changed my caloric intake to 1600 to try and drop some weight, and I crashed. I've been getting about 130 grams of protein, 35 grams of fat, and 250 grams of carbs a day. I haven't been sleeping well this week. Am I not getting enough calories or am I overtraining? I'm not fat, I have a lot of muscle, but I still have enough fat to hide the definition. I just need to shed some BF. I also do pull-ups at work every other day. 7 to 10 pull-ups 5 to 6 times a day.

I also have a twin sister who is 20 pounds heavier than me and she seems be fine on this same program. But she isn't on her feet all day.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

It isn't the calories that is the issue - it is your food choices.

Bagel - processed, bad choice. Oatmeal was WAY better. For a change, switch to cream of wheat or cream of rice. Don;t change from a GOOD carb source to a POOR one.

Sandwich - bread, processed again.

Pita - processed

Between 11am and 7pm all you eat are shakes/smoothies. So that is EIGHT HOURS that you go without REAL food. Bad idea.

Where are your veggies? Where is the fiber? Where are your vitamins and minerals? Your GOOD carb sources? Protein?

The only carb source you are getting is PROCESSED. There are NO good carbs in there - oatmeal, potato, rice, veggies

Your protein source is mainly from ham (processed lunchmeat) and PB. How about some chicken? Fish? Meat?

Peanut butter - fine, but is it NATURAL? Or regular = full of sugar?

Between 7pm and 7:30am you eat NOTHING. That is 12 hours of catabolism. You need to change one of your daytime shakes to real food, and move a shake to a little before bedtime.

 

[tatandsquid]

Thanks for all your help. I'll have to switch things up and see how that goes. Seems like since I started this job my body is just reacting unpredictably, even when I eat chicken, rice and veggies almost every night.