Six months primal, so why am I still tired all the time? page

[Grokianna]

I'm not a perfect primal, I'll be the first to admit, but my diet is greatly improved, and I think I'm doing so many things right now. The fact that I lost 35 pounds and my cholesterol ratios are gorgeous suggests my body is feeling it, too. I'm much more active now too(though that's not saying a great deal since I did absolutely NOTHING before); yoga couple times a week, some walking, sprinting off and on, a little LHT. (I'm really hampered on the LHT right now due to tennis elbow, which has been hanging around for months, getting in my way.)

But since I still feel like I'm just dragging myself around all day, I'm losing motivation to keep pushing and tweaking. I'm starting to drink more and more coffee, yielding to ice cream, longing for gummy bears, etc. I want/need the caffeine sugar 'pop.'

Help, anyone??

P.S. I'm a 47 year old woman, 5'7" and 135. This is such an improvement on previous, but it's still not the lean primal body I was hoping for. I feel too tired to kick this up, though.....

[touchdowntodd]

where are you not a "perfect" primal?

what are you still eating?

these things may have something to do with it

[CSilivestru]

I would agree -- it's all about what kinds of and the variety of foods you take in. For example, if you eat only a small selection of fruits and veggies and only a couple sources of protein, you're probably missing out on more than a few vitamins and minerals that could cause you to feel like you're dragging.

Without diving too much into food, the best bet is to take a solid multivitamin. I know I know....people will say that you can nourish with the use of food (and I do agree with that) but it's a quick way to see if that's the culprit. I've recently started taking Mark's Advanced Health Formula and his Omega's but it's a little too early to tell if they work -- but I'm doing it to see if these will make a noticeable difference.

Other than that, black out the room for sleep and check to see if you're overly stressed in your everyday life. These are all things that I faced when I used to feel sluggish but was still primal. Hope that helps!

[jakey]

hmmm... this is going to rate as primal heresy, but the claims of "boundless energy" are a little, well, gimicky. maybe i found it gimicky cause i was in pretty good shape already when i came to this lifestyle; maybe if you're really bad-off and eating some horrible veriosn of the SAD, the comparison will leave you feeling like you have boundless energy. maybe some folks are different!

i don't feel like i have low-blood sugar crashes anymore, and can easily skip lunch sometimes. but absolute boundless energy? not so sure...

[Glamorama]

Bone broth (potassium) and more carbs (berries, 1/2 banana) helped me when I started feeling low on energy on PB. Magnesium too.

[duckmama]

Increasing primal-friendly carbs has helped my energy levels. Some people can't do prolonged VLC and have better results by adding some good carbs back. I regularly eat small quantities of sweet potatoes, bananas, white rice, carrots, yellow/red potatoes (only occasionally), apples, winter squash.

[Raphaella]

I was drinking more and more coffee for a while and I quickly got to where I was lethargic without it. Now I only have it rarely.

[RitaRose]

Yeah, I think the "boundless energy" thing is only in comparison to dragging through life in a sugar/preservative/chemical haze like many of us did. I get tired sometimes, and I would say that's normal.

But I have noticed that I'm more tired when I have sugar or caffeine, especially when it's more than a one-time thing.

[Grokianna]

Thanks, y'all. I'm trying to black out the room more, spent last evening in candlelight (per Mark's post from yesterday), and think I need to get started on some vitamins. Maybe cut back on the caffeine.

I attend law school at night, three nights a week. Class ends at 10 p.m., and I don't get home until 10:30 at least. I'm physically exhausted by then, and sometimes caffeinated due to my efforts to stay alert and on game in class, creating that bad tired body/wired mind situation.

And thanks to Jakey and RitaRose for your remarks about being tired. I still think I'm overly tired, but at least I don't have to beat myself up over not having 'boundless energy' to yawp around my living room during study breaks.....

G.

[Apex Predator]

Increasing primal-friendly carbs has helped my energy levels. Some people can't do prolonged VLC and have better results by adding some good carbs back. I regularly eat small quantities of sweet potatoes, bananas, white rice, carrots, yellow/red potatoes (only occasionally), apples, winter squash.

+1, except omit "small" from my experience

Check your sleep, also.