tirednes when dieting?

[circusgirl]

I'm not dieting right now, but in the past when I've tried, what's gotten me back cheating is being so damn TIRED all the time, doing, or trying to do a BB cutting diet, and not some silly jenny craig crap.

Is it normal to be tired, and I mean REALLY REALLY tired, unmotivated, needing more sleep when dieting 1800cals a day, 150lbs, 30%bf (female) or so?

I am planning my next cuttting cycle after gaining 10lbs of lean mass over the next few months and I don't think I will manage it without some way of dealing with the tiredness... I've seen some posts over on the women's board and they talk about tiredness BUT they are getting down to 8%,so the same rules may not apply.

I am a newbie to weights (since January or so) so cutting down to 10% at that point etc is not the issue, more trying to get to an athletic physique first, and I'm aiming at competing as a powerlifter not a bber.

Lastly, will taking ALA when bulking a bit help with putting on more muscle than fat?

 

[SteelWeaver]

Hey CG

Yup yup, tiredness is normal. I'm not sure that the bf% has a huge impact on who gets more tired. The fact is you're not giving your body the calories it needs ... You just need to fight it, or take some E/C/A, or just drink lots of coffee. And sleep more. You get used to it.

You might also want to check the fat% in your diet. If it's really low, that may be the problem. Keep it around 20% or so. Also, how low are your carbs? Low carbs = total exhaustion for me (and for most people, I think).

Just a heads up - research has apparently found that the percentage of lean mass to fat mass gain is higher at a lower bf%, meaning that the leaner you are when you start "bulking" for lean mass gain, the greater the percentage of what you gain will be actual muscle. I think MS posted a study about this before.

So, what I'm saying is, at 30%, it makes more sense for you to diet first, get down to 20% or lower, THEN bulk.

 

[circusgirl]

ok, will try dieting first then. Will go with the coffee option! This gives me a good excuse not to give up caffeine . thanks!

 

[Millie]

i might be wrong, but i think i remember reading somewhere that when you are dieting, supplementing with potassium helps with reducing that feeling of tiredness. i will try digging up more info on this.

 

[BackDoc]

You might consider doing a refeed. That can help with the tiredness. For me it's food cravings and refeeds helps keep that in check. Bottom line, a refeed is a nice way to keep your fat burning in high gear while simultaneously helping with low energy and cravings.

About the ALA, I'd probably not use it unless you plan to do refeeds. It could make the tiredness worse. If you do refeeds, then you can take the ALA on your refeed days and it will help.

Edit: Sorry to miss your real ALA question about using it when bulking. I think it is a very effective supplement for insuring you have lean mass gains. Boosts liver function, boosts muscle cell filling capacity, prevents excessive insulin fluxuations, provides good pumps in the gym...good stuff in my book.

 

[strong island]

You might consider a CKD. When you are in ketosis you aren't tired. In fact I am wired when I am in ketosis.

 

[Ceebs]

You might consider a CKD. When you are in ketosis you aren't tired. In fact I am wired when I am in ketosis.

Same here. Took a lot of fine-tuning to get the ketogenic thing to work for me, but I get an almost ephedrine-like buzz about an hour after eating a very ketogenic meal (relatively high fat, no carbs, moderate protein).