Where Is My Energy?

I have posted a similar subject before yet I wanted some more present help.

I am on my second week of an 8 week winter break from my college. Here is my situation: Toward the end of my school quarter I was getting low on energy and motivation when hitting the weights. I figured it was a case of just me being tired of going to the same weight room everyday and just needed a change of scenery.

So I went through finals…thanksgiving…all that and got myself a gym membership near my home and started lifting the first day of break. It was nice having a new place to lift and everything. For the first week I was hitting the weights hard. Yesterday I had an awesome chest/leg workout.

Today I went in and had one of those crappy lifts. I went in for a back and shoulder workout and was just so unfocused and low on energy. Main focus: low on energy.

Back when I was in school I would blame my low energy on full days of classes. I now work for UPS as a side job and work for about 4 hours running packages and lift after. So I am thinking I am low on energy cuz of that. But this shouldnt be…I am 21…I should have all the energy in the world…and I used to as short as 2 months ago.

Less than a year ago I used to weight 215lbs. bad weight. I decided to start lifting again and this is when I had my best energy…when I was losing weight. I used to do full body workouts in one day and not even be phased. Now I weigh 170…much leaner but stronger from my year of lifting with cardio.

My lifts are more structured and I feel like I set limits in my mind for what I can only do that day. Before I would just go nuts and do whatever although I know that is wrong now.

My Current supps are: Protein, Creatine, Fish Oil, Caffeine Pills (cuz i need the jump after work)…dont even seem to be working. My diet is great…especially since being home…chicken, eggs, egg whites, low fat yogurt, all sorts of meat, chicken, chicken and more chicken.

Main point: I used to have the energy I need back now! I get excited thinking about how excited I used to get about lifting…that is sad. I used to be able to lifts 7 days a week hard when I was losing the weight.

Now that I am semi-happy with my weight now the energy is gone. I need to get my drive back. I used to watch pump up movies on youtube before I lifted and I would go nuts in the weight room. Sometimes now I feel like it is a choir when I used to love doing it everyday.

Now I am lathargic on certain days and dont feel the same drive. Dont get me wrong…i do still have my good lifts, but these bad lifts r happening too often and Im sick of it. Anyone else have these ongoing slumps? How can I up my energy? New workout plan? What do I need to do?

Why the low fat yogurt? Sounds like you need more fat and starches. Try some more beef, full fat dairy, and starches (after work or workout).

Also, try pigging out at a buffet and see if you feel better. If that works, add a couple of cheat meals per week.

How much sleep are you getting? If I’m not fully rested my workouts suck. Needing the caffeine pills might be a sign that you’re not getting enough.

Ditch the caffeine pills man. Those are terrible for you, and have a crash period that is 4x stronger than a cup of coffee. That’s because a caffeine pill has the caffeine content of 4 cups of coffee at once, which is overdosing. It throws your system out of wack and can give you serious energy and mood swings. One or two cups of coffee a day are the maximum healthy amount you should be drinking, especially if you have a naturally high blood pressure.

Restrict your usage of those pills to all nighters before exams and essays and the like, and you’ll be smooth sailing.

Also consider getting a workout partner. Nobody will push you harder and motivate you better than a mate in the gym. Self motivation is tough to get sometimes.
I know because I’ve been there and am presently there, but am high in motivation at the moment.

Once it starts fading away though it gets tricky, and the key to keeping it going is reminding yourself how much time and effort you’ve invested, and how much you would hate to go back to the way you looked before. Also ladies, think about them ladies :slight_smile:

I just figured the caffeine pill would help after long days of running packages to get back some energy I lost. Obviously I dont need them. Thanks for the advice on that. I really dont think any of my friends back here at home can help motivate me, plus none of them have the gym membership I do…back at school I could have a partner though. I am getting an average of 9 hours of sleep. Back to the caffeine pills…it is funny that you mentioned the mood swings…I def. have been having them lately and never realized what it was from. The pills I take are 200mg which is the same in a lot of pre-workout supps that I have taken. Is there a difference between those and straight caffeine pills…I have never had trouble with the others.

GrilW…can you give me some more advice as far as how you’ve overcome what I am going through. You said you have been there and you know its tricky. Im just curious as to what else you can tell me. You are def. right about reminded myself how much time I have invested…I just need to somehow drill that into my mind when I lift.

chicken,chicken and more chicken…you answered your own question: any time you eat a food over and over and over you develop an intolerance/allergy to it. Rotate your food sources more. Also, you may have trouble processing the garbage protein shakes that most people consume that are filled with artificial ingredients, etc. Replace those shakes with BCAAs.