Dieting -- no energy to study!

Hi, I am about fifteen pounds overweight and have no problem getting
to the gym and controlling my appetite. However, I find that I don't
have the mental energy to focus while I study unless I eat more than I
want to, semi-messing up my diet. Is there any way around this? I'm
just trying to stick to a low-cal, mostly veggie/fish/poultry/complex
carbohydrates diet. I really need the mental energy and focus, because
I go to a really tough university (and feel like the dumbest one among
geniuses). If anyone has an idea, thanks.

Annabelle

On 13 Apr 2004 19:44:05 -0700, (Annabelle) wrote:

Hi, I am about fifteen pounds overweight and have no problem getting
to the gym and controlling my appetite. However, I find that I don't
have the mental energy to focus while I study unless I eat more than I
want to, semi-messing up my diet. Is there any way around this? I'm
just trying to stick to a low-cal, mostly veggie/fish/poultry/complex
carbohydrates diet. I really need the mental energy and focus, because
I go to a really tough university (and feel like the dumbest one among
geniuses). If anyone has an idea, thanks.

Annabelle

What you are describing reminds me of many years ago, when I knew no
better and used to try and diet at around 700 calories a day. I now
know I lose just as well, if not better, at around 1500.
Tell us more about how much you eat - how about posting a sample day's
menu. Perhaps it's not your diet - could it be you're not getting
enough sleep or something like that?

janice
233/177/133

"Annabelle" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I am about fifteen pounds overweight and have no problem getting
to the gym and controlling my appetite.

You don't have that much weight to lose. If you to exercise often, you
should not have to cut dramatically on your food intake. You're in a zone
where taking things *slowly* is the most important thing to do, because the
important thing you should look forward to is long term stabilization, not
short term weight loss. This means that your current diet and exercise
program should be something that you can maintain *for life*, rather that a
short burst of restriction and willpower.
Could you post a sample of your diet? What kind of food do you eat (any
specific forbidden nutriment?)? How many calories are you on?

However, I find that I don't
have the mental energy to focus while I study unless I eat more than I
want to, semi-messing up my diet.

What do you mean by "semi-messing"? Does this mean actually regaining part
of the lost weight? Or does it just mean slowing things down? As you reach
closer to your target weight, it's normal that things start slowing down,
that's actually part of entering the maintenance part. Given how many pounds
you have to lose, 1 pound a week would be plenty enough, there is not real
hurry.
This lack of mental energy might be related to low glycemia. Does this
happen at specific times (like, late morning, late afternoon, a couple of
hours after a meal) or is it constant throughout the day? If it happens at
specific times, you might try to introduce *small* snacks (slow carb + fat
or protein) in your diet program at these times, this might work better than
eating larger meals. If it's all day long, it might just be that you're
plainly not eating enough
Are you sure you drink enough? Dehydratation can make you feel exhausted. If
you go to the gym often, lose weight quickly and eat a lot less, you *have*
to force yourself to drink more. If you have cut any significant group of
nutriment (I'm thinking mainly fats and proteins), you might have a slight
deficiency in something.

Is there any way around this? I'm
just trying to stick to a low-cal, mostly veggie/fish/poultry/complex
carbohydrates diet.

Try not to cut too much on the fats, you do need to get your essential fatty
acids as well as several vitamins available only in fats (A,D...)!

I really need the mental energy and focus, because
I go to a really tough university (and feel like the dumbest one among
geniuses). If anyone has an idea, thanks.

Did this really start with the diet? How do you feel outside of the
university (like, going out with friends, with familly)? Depression can also
cause this kind of symptoms...
Anyway, your diploma is more important than losing these pounds in four
months instead of six. Both your diploma and weight loss are for life As
long as you do manage to lose some weight from one month to the next, you're
going in the right direction...

One of the best things you can do for your brain is
exercise. I see that you already exercise, but when
the cobwebs grow, get out and do something.

It is possible that you are a kinesthetic learner.
I read an article where a woman learned this
about her kids, and what she did was get them
out walking, and rehearse class material while
they exercised. You might try taping your books
and then going out and listening to the tapes on
a walkman.


"Annabelle" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I am about fifteen pounds overweight and have no problem getting
to the gym and controlling my appetite. However, I find that I don't
have the mental energy to focus while I study unless I eat more than I
want to, semi-messing up my diet. Is there any way around this? I'm
just trying to stick to a low-cal, mostly veggie/fish/poultry/complex
carbohydrates diet. I really need the mental energy and focus, because
I go to a really tough university (and feel like the dumbest one among
geniuses). If anyone has an idea, thanks.

Annabelle

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to thank you for your very educated replies. Indeed, I was
just not eating enough and getting hypoglycemic. I was trying to
follow the rule that if I feel hungry, then I am losing weight, and if I
don't feel at least a little hungry, then no progress is being made. I'm
20 years old now, and that's the mentality (in addition to following a
low-fat diet and counting calories) that helped me lose 20 pounds when I
was 12 years old. I was probably too young to understand how to diet
correctly, but few things are comparable to the social ostracization and
emotional pain an adolescent suffers as a result of being overweight.

Well, I've lost about two or three pounds so far in my first week, which
I hear is the heathiest rate to lose weight at. I'm augmenting the
poultry, fish, beef jerky, and cottage cheese in my diet to increase my
fat and protein intake -- I think I was eating too many complex
carbohydrates before and not much else, how silly of me. No wonder my
knees were wobbly!

As for my stats, I'm 5'3" and 127 pounds (I was 130). My ideal is 115.
I've seen some of your sigs, and I assume that they're previous
weight/current weight/ideal weight? Hope I'm doing this right --

Annabelle
130/127/115


Annabelle wrote:
Hi, I am about fifteen pounds overweight and have no problem getting
to the gym and controlling my appetite. However, I find that I don't
have the mental energy to focus while I study unless I eat more than I
want to, semi-messing up my diet. Is there any way around this? I'm
just trying to stick to a low-cal, mostly veggie/fish/poultry/complex
carbohydrates diet. I really need the mental energy and focus, because
I go to a really tough university (and feel like the dumbest one among
geniuses). If anyone has an idea, thanks.

Annabelle