How to keep energy up while on diet

Question

I have started to change my diet and attempt to become more healthy with the goals of being in much better shape, becoming healthier, and feeling better overall. With this in mind, I have done my best to either eliminate all together or massively minimize my soda consumption, drink large amounts of water, restrict carbs, lower significantly the amount of calories in my meals, etc. My typical meal plan now looks like the following:

• High protein shake for breakfast - mixed with water
• Handful of peanuts mid-morning for snack
• Lunch is usually a flax and low card tortilla with fresh spinach and sliced deli meat
• Handful of peanuts mid-afternoon for snack
• Supper is either another wrap like lunch or something with high protein content, sometimes it is just another shake like for breakfast
• Try to drink nothing but water or tea during the day but usually water

The trouble that I have started having is a reduce amount of energy or feeling of fatigue. I am wanting to start something like P90/P90X but do not think that I could complete it right now due to sluggishness and general malaise. Is there something that I should be doing differently to help with this? How can I continue to be healthy and increase my energy levels? Note that I would still like to keep carbs and/or calories low to help loose weight.

Answer 1

Maybe your calorie reduction is too drastic to support increased activity. Try figuring out how many calories you are consuming, and comparing that number to the calories you need to maintain your weight (you can find tools online to help with this). To lose a pound a week, you would need a deficit of 500 calories a day. If your calorie deficit is too large, you may not have enough energy. It is a balancing act.

Also, make sure you are getting enough sleep. The general recommendation is eight hours, but it varies by person.