I'm starting to feel extremely lethargic. What do I do?

[Da_Nuke]

Yesterday I fell asleep after returning home from work at about 7:30 PM. I was going to just take a nap. Next thing I know, it's 8:00 AM. Then I spent the entire morning napping, didn't even breakfast, only woke up for lunch, then I spent the whole evening between napping and just idly watching TV, and until now did I even muster the energies to get up and do something and that was probably due to that cup of coffee I just had. It's so bad I haven't even lifted since Monday.

 

At work I have to keep drugging myself with Wellbutrin, tea and caffeine to get any work done. Last weekend I completely laid off the stims, it was pretty much uneventful, and yet on Monday I was already feeling like total shit. It's like my weekends are not even enough to get some rest. I can't get vacations yet because I've been working my current job for less than one year. 

 

What do I do, NF? I want to do things I enjoy but I don't even have the energies to do it, and my lifting is at stake here...

[Starstuff]

How long has this beein going on? If it's only a week or two, you might just be fighting off a cold, but if it's been going on longer than that, talk to your doctor, because that sounds like way more than normal exhaustion.

[Quillard]

Agree with starstuf. 

Could be the effects of overusing cafeine and such. Could even be mono... who knows. I'd go for a check up. 

If it turns out to be nothing, don't fret... the price of peace of mind is worth it. WELL worth it.

[andygates]

Stalking your posts I see a custom diet of some sort, biking, bodyweight and Stronglifts 3x a week and stalling on squats?  My gut (and it is a mighty gut) says overloady-burnout.
 
What are you doing, and what are you eating, and how much sleep are you getting?
 
Heavystuff (and remember: heavy is always relative) is taxing.  Every-day activity gets draining (I like at least one pure rest day a week or from experience I burn out in a couple and end up sleeping through a weekend).  And all that stuff needs plenty of fuel - underfeeding leads to lethargy.  The paleo people will be happy to wave tasty animal fats atcha.

[Da_Nuke]

Stalking your posts I see a custom diet of some sort, biking, bodyweight and Stronglifts 3x a week and stalling on squats? My gut (and it is a mighty gut) says overloady-burnout.

What are you doing, and what are you eating, and how much sleep are you getting?

Heavystuff (and remember: heavy is always relative) is taxing. Every-day activity gets draining (I like at least one pure rest day a week or from experience I burn out in a couple and end up sleeping through a weekend).

Ah no, I was biking only while the college gym closed for vacation. I always respect my recovery days and have been sticking to a 45 minutes 3 times a week with good results so far, my progress has been steady and if it stalls it's never for more than 2 workouts.

As for my diet and habits, I am currently eating a slight caloric deficit with lots of protein. I usually eat light during the day in order to avoid getting too lethargic at work due to digestion. I usually sleep 6 hours a day.

[andygates]

5x5 and a calorie deficit might be the clue.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Waldo]

Ah no, I was biking only while the college gym closed for vacation. I always respect my recovery days and have been sticking to a 45 minutes 3 times a week with good results so far, my progress has been steady and if it stalls it's never for more than 2 workouts.

As for my diet and habits, I am currently eating a slight caloric deficit with lots of protein. I usually eat light during the day in order to avoid getting too lethargic at work due to digestion. I usually sleep 6 hours a day.

 

Slight caloric deficit as in that's what the numbers calculate out to for you using the various formulas, or slight calroic deficit as in you are losing weight, but very slowly (0.5-1 lb/wk)?

[Da_Nuke]

Slight caloric deficit as in that's what the numbers calculate out to for you using the various formulas, or slight calroic deficit as in you are losing weight, but very slowly (0.5-1 lb/wk)?

 

It was a slight caloric deficit aimed at decreasing body fat. I'm at 22%, and if my memory doesn't fail, my nutriologist estimated my basal metabolism including my current exercise at 2200 calories, and she made me eat 2000.

[Waldo]

It was a slight caloric deficit aimed at decreasing body fat. I'm at 22%, and if my memory doesn't fail, my nutriologist estimated my basal metabolism including my current exercise at 2200 calories, and she made me eat 2000.

 

What does the scale say?

 

That will tell you exactly how big your calorie deficit is.

[Da_Nuke]

What does the scale say?

 

That will tell you exactly how big your calorie deficit is.

 

Just weighed myself, I'm at 83 kg (182 lb). I'm 1.75 cm tall (5' 9") and I'm 26 years old.

 

Anyways, I used scooby1961's calorie calculator, putting in a moderate weekly exercise... HOLY DAMN IT SAYS MY MAINTENANCE CALORIC INPUT IS 2900 CALORIES AND IN ORDER TO BULK I MUST EAT OVER 3000. I clearly need to eat more.

 

Might look into supplementing my calories with powdered milk while I still live with my parents (I'm moving out in January 2014 with my Christmas bonus)... because my mom thinks exercise is strictly for cutting and at 26 she still feels with the authority to scold me for eating too much and this will keep going until I live by myself, and I'm pretty sure the literal reason why I grew up so weak is because my mom fed me a 500 calorie deficit when I was younger because after she got pregnant she single-mindedly fixated on losing her pregnancy overweight and she transferred it to us because obviously if it's good for her it's good for us.

 

And I also blame the impering mentality in Mexico that says exercise is for losing weight and exclusively for losing weight. It's what made my mom feed me that permacut diet that made me grow weak, frail, and with an untrained deadlift 1RM of 55, and you notice it on all the scores and scores of cardio-only gyms I see all the time around town (and if they're not cardio gyms they're crossfit gyms).

 

...anyway, rant is over, as you say it must be because I'm not eating enough, and well, I have my methods to sneak in more calories into my diet.

[Waldo]

How has your weight changed?

1 lb/wk change = 500 calories deficit/surplus

[andygates]

And tell your mom you want to get big like wrestlers

[Kaylya]

You might try getting more sleep. 6 hours of sleep is not enough for most people (though it is for some). Or maybe it was ok for you before you started exercising more, but it's not enough now. 

[I-Jo]

You need to eat more unless your exceptionally short... And or are a woman. I can eat 2000 plus or minus and not gain a ton. 2200 for a guy doing that much work that doesn't sound right... Sounds super low.

Eat moar.

I was also thinking lymes.. That makes you feel super exhausted.. I had mono and lymes and sweet Jesus. All I wanted to do was sleep but big deficits could definitely mean sleeping moar too.

[CrimsonTide2006]

Have you thought about it maybe being sleep apnea?