You’ve been losing weight, making changes to your nutrition, maybe exercising more, and doing all the things that are supposed to help you feel better. So why are there days where you just feel tired?
If you’re taking a GLP-1 and noticing changes in your energy, I don’t want you to immediately assume there’s one specific reason behind it, as your body has a lot going on. Instead of immediately asking “How do I fix this?” I think there’s a better place to start. “What’s changed?” Especially, if you’ve made several lifestyle changes around the same time, it’ll take a little getting adjusting for your body to catch up.
Look at What You’re Giving Your Body
I’ve already talked about how a reduced appetite can make it easier to unintentionally eat less than your body needs. Now think about that in relation to your energy. Gives these questions a thought:
- Are you eating regularly?
- What are you actually eating?
- Are you getting enough protein?
- What about carbohydrates?
- Are you drinking enough water throughout the day?
If you’re eating significantly less while also starting to workout or becoming more active, you’re asking your body to do more while potentially giving it less to work with. Now that doesn’t automatically mean eating more is the answer. It means your nutrition is one of the first places worth looking at. Sometimes it’s not knowing the answer that’s difficult. It’s knowing which questions you should be asking.
What Else Has Changed?
Nutrition isn’t the only thing that affects how you feel. Think of these questions and how they may apply:
- How have you been sleeping lately?
- Have you increased your activity?
- Are you training harder than you were before?
- What does your recovery look like?
- How has your stress been?
I think it’s easy to separate all of these things when they’re really working together. You could have a great training program, but if you’re sleeping five hours a night, barely eating, and constantly stressed, your body is probably going to have something to say about it. This is why I don’t want every bad workout or dog day to immediately turn into thinking something’s wrong. Sometimes you’re just tired. We all have those days, but what matters more is paying attention to your patterns of how you’ve been feeling.
Adjust What You Can Control
When and if something feels off, check back to the things you actually have some control over. Could be one of the following:
- Maybe you’ve realized you’re barely eating before training.
- Maybe your water intake has been terrible.
- Maybe you’ve added three workouts to your week without giving yourself any more time to recover.
- Maybe you’ve been staying up way later than you should.
Change doesn’t have to happen all at once, as that would also make it incredibly difficult to stay consistent. Find something that could use some attention, make an adjustment, and see how your body responds. This is something I want people to become more confident doing throughout their GLP-1 journey. Not panicking every time something changes, but learning how to pay attention, ask questions, and make useful adjustments when they can.
Know When It’s Not Yours to Fix
Now with all I’ve talked about, there’s also a line between looking at your lifestyle and trying to diagnose why you’re feeling a certain way. If your fatigue is persistent, significant, getting worse, or you’re concerned about how you’re feeling while taking your GLP-1, talk with the healthcare provider managing your medication. They’d be able to give you a clearer direction on their familiarity with the prescription. My lane is helping you look at things like your training, nutrition, recovery, activity, and habits so those pieces are supporting what you’re trying to accomplish.
You don’t need to have an answer for every low energy feeling day. Pay attention to what you’re feeling, look at what’s changed, control what you can, and know when it’s time to ask for help with what you can’t 🙂
#unleashthepotential
Written by:
Dan Aquino
BS, ASFA-CPT
Take action… Now!
Voorhees Flyers Training center.
The Hollydell ice arena, in the main building.
