I Think I May Be A Little Nutritionally Deprived...

[ouroborous 519]

So, backstory. I have a family history of depression and anxiety. It sucks, but it's just a part of my genetic makeup, so I deal with it. I'm on an antidepressant med, and I think that MOSTLY it controls it.

But my mood has been swinging lately, and I'm not entirely sure if it's a medication issue or not. It certainly COULD be; this is a new med and my body might still be adjusting to it. But...

I have two "confounding factors" (as we science people like to call "monkey wrenches" in a good theory). First, my sleep has always, ALWAYS sucked. I have NO idea what my pressure on my CPAP is supposed to be -- I have sleep apnea. My last overnight sleep study concluded that I didn't NEED CPAP anymore, but when I sleep without it, I keep waking up and feel like I don't get any rest.

Second, nutrition. This, to me, feels more relevant; let me explain why. I've recently started really "upping my game" at the gym -- working out with a trainer, going in almost every day, working out HARD instead of half-assed. I'm seeing progress, but I also notice that my energy and mood really seem to drop after the gym. It's not just normal sore muscles fatigue, nor is it the "I just worked out hard so I'm breathless" version. It actually feels like I'm sleepy! Like I want to just lie down and sleep; my eyes get heavy, my limbs feel leaden.

I think I'm very close to my long-term "maintenance" weight now. I don't think my body has much more in the way of fat reserves to burn off, so if I am nutritionally deprived, I don't have a built-in source of calories at hand! And I haven't really changed my eating habits; I'm still eating 1200-1400 calories per day, mostly Protein. That's great for losing weight -- and I'm still losing, rather rapidly! -- but I'm not sure it's a good maintenance diet, especially when I'm burning 500-600 calories per day at the gym!

I mention this because it seems to make me sleepy, and often for me "sleepy" and "depressed" feel VERY similar (in the past I've known I was depressed because my sleep wasn't up to to par). If I'm running a significant caloric deficit, my "depression" might actually be just "out of fuel." I'm sure it takes calories and micronutrients to manufacture serotonin and dopamine in the brain, so this sounds plausible.

Anyone else have this experience?

[lessofmeismore 1,405]

I've heard that when a person is low in serotonin and dopamine their body will crave/need carbs... Maybe you have a few things going on; it seems you already know you need to up your caloric intake and up your carbs with your exercise routine. You should start that and see how you begin to feel. If you increase your intake and still are feeling down/weak and such perhaps contacting your Dr about your med. dosage would be your next step.

Good luck on this and keep yourself in good health ))

[ouroborous 519]

MyPlate says I've consumed 1304 calories so far today, 158g carbs, 51g Protein, and 37g of Fiber.

I'm sure I've burned off 500 calories -- I was working out until I was dripping sweat and unable to stand up at the gym for an hour, and I just got back from a brisk 2.5 mile walk. So my net calories for the day are 700-900 (so far). This is a typical day. Note that I'm being conservative with my counts; I'm overestimating how much I ate of things like my Fiber chips or raw almonds, so probably my net calories are in the 600-800 range. At 3 pm.

I'm at a BMI of 27.2, and my body fat is about 22%; I don't have huge fat reserves left.

I suspect I need to bump up my daily calories to about 2000 or so if I want to maintain this activity level and still keep a healthy weight.

[Supersweetums 1,164]

Working out that hard, and being a man, I would say you probably need to bump things up. I was going to mention carbs, but it looks like you do eat carbs. Try eating more calories and see how you feel. If it doesn't help, you know that it might be something else. Also, have you ever gotten a full blood workup done? Low Iron, low Vitamin D, low Vitamin B, and thyroid problems can make you tired too. Worth a check. Also, could be a side effect from the new medication. I am on an anti-depressant too, and so many of them have side effects. Not sure what you just started, but maybe read up on it and see.

[Katie713 423]

Follow your gut instincts. You may also want to add something to your diet like a fruit smoothie that has lots of nutrients, starting with some crushed ice, a banana, a frozen berry blend or frozen pineapple/mango and then a healthy green like spinach or kale with or without a plain Protein boost. Both my sons are athletes and they swear by this concoction for energy. Follow up your work outs with a Protein Shake for your recovery mode. Perhaps you will soon be able to gauge whether this helps. You look great !

[juny 93]

Have you considered just talking to a nutritionist or a dietician about your regimen and what they think you might need in regards to this? I mean there's a lot of great suggestions but they might be able to help you in a more specific way.

[ouroborous 519]

Yeah, I don't really have access to my nutritionist anymore, and it's too expensive to pay out of pocket right now. But the signs are really pretty strong that there's something nutritional going on: I perked right up tonight after I ate my dinner.

I think that like most things, there's a bit of "all of the above" going on, but I really think that the key for me is proper eating, so I'm going to try to add more calories, especially on heavy gym days.

Thanks, all!