ugh, i can't get into a good routine

[evident]

I used to have a great routine, but since i started working they've been having me do weird shifts, where i would have to come in at 4 AM or sometimes i would have to work from 8pm to 6AM... the 4AM shifts have been happening about twice a week. I keep telling myself i'm going to go to the gym and work out after work lets out, but i'm always really tired and i don't know what to do.

I've been eating pretty well though. I eat special k cereal w/ soymilk and blueberries for breakfast, but my breakfast sometimes is at 2AM (to get into work at 4am). i usually have a sandwich (hoagie w/ no mayo or something similar ) for lunch, and i usually have some vegetables and fish/meat for dinner. i don't drink soda (closest thing to soda i drink is perrier with splash of fruit juice) and i drink a ton of water each day. i also take a centrum performance. I quit coffee about a month ago because i felt like i was drinking it too much ( one 24oz cup in the morning each day and i thought this was contributing to me being tired because of the "crash") and since switched to green tea

I seem to have a good diet, but i'm just ALWAYS TIRED!!!

I am about a medium build. When i was working out religiously a few years ago i was doing the MAX-OT and i got pretty built from that, but i stopped doing that and now i'm about 5'7 and 190lbs with not too much muscle, and starting to get a bigger gut . I wouldnt call myself fat but i'm not too skinny either. I havent been able to go to the gym in the last 2 weeks because i'm beat from work, so i whip out the DDR pad and play some songs on heavy for about an hour.. that wont replace the gym but its better than me sitting on my ass!

can i have some honest feedback? do i just need to overcome my tiredness and stop being lazy? should i start drinking coffee?

 

[crt1530]

What do you want? A pity party?

 

[wheresmybacon]

You're tired so you don't work out. Is that it?

Hell I'm tired too when I roll out of bed at 5:30 to haul my ass to the gym, but I suck down a diet Red Bull and get to it. There's a lot of things I'd rather be doing, but my goals mean more to me than that extra bit of sleep.

Prioritize. If you have enough energy to play DDR you have enough energy to get to the gym.

 

[mflacy]

You do know that working out will increase the energy that you so desperately need, right? Force yourself to regularly workout for a couple weeks and your energy problems will disappear. What makes your job so tiring?

That diet sounds healthy enough, but there is no way you hit 190 on just that. You have to be leaving something out. Snacks, sweets, something. What was your weight after completing Max OT?

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: mflacy
You do know that working out will increase the energy that you so desperately need, right? Force yourself to regularly workout for a couple weeks and your energy problems will disappear. What makes your job so tiring?

That diet sounds healthy enough, but there is no way you hit 190 on just that. You have to be leaving something out. Snacks, sweets, something. What was your weight after completing Max OT?

after Max OT i was probably about 175-180. i do have beer/wine and eat out on the weekends, but i keep that in check and don't really binge. I feel like my body is all whacked out from not sleeping enough and i've been gaining weight since i started working because of that

the other top two posts, thanks for being harsh on me. i really just need to get to the gym and do some mad cardio and keep myself in check!

 

[daveymark]

quit making excuses and do it you lazy bum

 

[skace]

I get up at 4am, work at 5:30am. I exercise at 5pm and shower twice a day. It's not easy, but nothing really is and you have to be able to tell yourself that it's not going to get any easier, this is just what you have to deal with.

Some days I will come home from work exhausted and accidentally fall asleep, say 4pm-6pm. Then I have to get up and work out but I'm groggy which makes it really difficult. Usually, I'll sit there for about 30-45 minutes feeling guilty and beating myself up over falling asleep before I finally just snap awake and do my work out.

It does make your life 10x more difficult if you don't have a consistent schedule, but think of it as a test. If you can get a work out routine going during this, you can get a routine going during anything. If you are constantly tired then you may need to increase when you eat/what you eat and counter balance that with your workout.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

They will have to pry my coffee mug from my cold, dead, fingers.

There are days where I feel like someone drugged me, and getting active is purely an act of will power, but inevitably, within 5 mins of warm-ups and light stretching the proverbial cobwebs begin to clear, and by the 15 min mark, I'm thinking how glad I am that I fought through the lethargy. You just got to win the fight against entropy for the first few minutes, after that its all gravy.