Clean diet = no energy and leg cramps?

[VooDoo Lady]

This is day 3 of my new clean diet and I went to the gym last night and I had no energy at all..I managed to do abs and then I had to pack it in.

Additionally, I have woken up 2 nights in a row with a killer cramp in my calf (never happened b4)

Coincidence?

VDL

 

[Sassy69]

Cramps, esp in your legs, calves, feet at night (of all the inconvenient moments) can come from potassium or magnesium depletion. Do you work out or do cardio on those days also? Maybe consider a potassium pill (e.g. 99 mg). Are you taking a good multivitamin with your diet? Definitely include that. Sweet potatoes and bananas are a good source of potassium also.
One of the drawbacks of following a "strict" diet is that sometimes some of the nutrients that would come from a widely varied diet end up getting left out. Thus the need for a good multi. But sometimes, you still end up short. Maybe add 3 oz of sweet potatoe to your dinner and see if that helps. Also make sure that you are drinking lots of water!

Was also going to say, remember that you are hitting your body with a new thing -- a different way of eating, possibly more restricted than its used to. Plus hitting the gym -- make sure you give you body enough time to adjust to these changes. And drink LOTS of water! Dont' deprive your body because it will let you know if its missing something. The purpose of good diet & training is give you more energy from fueling yourself and burning that fuel optimally -- not running yourself down. Let yourself recover sufficiently from training as well (diet + training + RECOVERY!!!!!) and maybe include some l-glutamine in your diet to aid that recovery as well.

 

[PowerPrincess]

Hey girl!


Sassy's rright about the potassium!! That has happened to me before several times when i was low in potassium, hadn't had carbs (specifically bananas) in a very long time. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A MULTIVITAMIN, A MULTIMINERAL, GLUTAMINE (after you lift), and i would always suggest an ANTIOXIDANT (helps to ward off cancer)

Good Luck babe!!!! Oh and the no energy thing....you'll get used to it...by next week you're body will have adapted....same thing happened to me
Truly
PowerPrincess

 

[Sassy69]

i would always suggest an ANTIOXIDANT (helps to ward off cancer)

LOL - like George Carlin says -- eat broccoli - it kills cancer! But seriously, that is also a good idea. I drink a lot of green tea and also take green tea extract. It is also a good non-caffeine alternative to "waking up" a bit. Another good one, which I take before I work out is alpha lipoic acid (ALA). Anti-ox's help deal with the free radicals that are exposed when you start processing body, etc. Esp. if you are cleaning up your diet for maybe the first time, junk that has accumulated in your body from the less optimal food we like to eat will start to get processed out of your system and while it is still being processed out, you may get headaches or kind of feel shitty. This maybe part of what you are experiencing. A good anti-ox will help remove the crap. To compare, consider those "cleansing" teas or programs that people go through sometimes, e.g. drink lots of freshly process fresh vegetable juice with lots of enzymes and stuff, or if you are coming off of smoking or something like that -- many people just feel beat up while the junk is being dumped from their bodies. Once that is over, things get much better.