A Wish For More Energy

GreekDemiGod

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It's been almost 2 months since I got into peating.

2017 - 2019 I did a 'bodybuilding' diet
2018 my first forray into Keto / carb-cycling.
2019: 4 months on the Carnivore Diet.
Fall 2019: peating

Ever since my teenage years, I've had a wish for more physical energy, more vitality, less fatigue. So much that it's now become an obsession. It feels like an impossible quest. I feel like I am doomed to waste my life away in a low-energy state, not being able to achieve my dreams.

I suffer from a sort of 'mild chronic fatigue'. I am somewhat high-functioning in society, but far from thriving.
Some of my symptoms may be confounded by chronic depression, which I also consider to have.

I had digestive issues during high-school: gastric ulcer, H. pylori, IBS. Still have chronic bloating and poor digestion.
I am now in great physical shape. But I suffer from lowtestosterone / libido (see Testosterone Optimization On RP-inspired Nutrition)

How long will I have to wait before I'll experience better energy levels on peating? So far, no positive signs. Life's all the same.
I follow most RP principles, except gelatin (I do take Magnesium Glycinate, which releases Glycine) and oysters.

My morning temps are between 35.8 - 36.3 Celsius (96.4+ F). My thyroid is fine, but my TSH is not yet at ideal levels.


Here is my current stack:
  • Aspirin 500 mg daily
  • Vitamin E (normal dose)
  • Zinc (flavo-zinc / gluconate) 22 mg
  • Levo (T4) 25 mcg
  • D3 5000 IU 3-4 times / week.
  • Taurine 1-2g
  • Magnesium Glycinate 400 mg
  • B6 Pyridoxine HCL 5 - 10 mg
  • Folate ** (temporary)
 

RWilly

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Have you ever done a full iron panel? Any Irish or Northern European ancestry? Fatigue is the number one symptom associated with hereditary hemochromatosis.

Also... why so high in zinc? That can have a big impact on copper levels.

(It takes copper to move iron by the way.)
 
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GreekDemiGod

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@RWilly I only remember testing serum Ferritin once this year, and it came out low-normal range.
I am of central / eastern European ancestry.
Zinc supplementation is temporary, to support my Testosterone levels.

EDIT: Also experiencing diffuse thinning / hairlos, halted in the last few months, Aspirin helps greatly
 
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Jamesu

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Have you thought about upping the calories? How liberal are you with sugar? I've noticed that as I've become a high tolerance sugar burner I need more and more. It frightens me but I feel excellent now, I guess all the anti sugar over the years has irked me out a little...

I would seriously suggest eating more calories as an experiment. Enjoy it, it's delightful when you eat what you love. For me it's milk and honey and it's always top quality here in Australia.

Do you have meaning in life? I suggest finding ways in which you can relate to things on a deeper level. Do things because you love doing them, beware the orthorexic eating patterns of those who don't actually eat the food they love.

If that doesn't work you might want to ask where all your energy goes? Could there be a reasonable explanation as to where you use all your energy throughout the day? Focus upon the day on an hourly basis and see if your overworking your mind/body/energetics by not being authentic. Notice how inauthentic relationships lead to exhausting conversations? We are in a relationship with everything in this life, some say they're in a relationship with God, it means the same...
 
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GreekDemiGod

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@Jamesu I'm eating lots of calories for sure, since I lift weights and want to maintain and put on more muscle.
My caloric intake is 3500 calories. Quite liberal with sugar. Yesterday I consumed 320g of sugar.
Some days, I go up to 3800 cal, haven't felt much difference..

Do you have meaning in life?
Not quite. I am stuck in apathy, minor nihilism, anhedonia. I literally have no hobbies.

Been doing emotional work lately, there's a theory that says emotional thoughts / ruminations / anxiety drain you of physical energy.

My workouts leave me drained, I feel lifeless after them
 

Cirion

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FWIW, 3800 cal could still be too low possibly especially with working out and especially with your symptoms of being drained after working out. Being drained after working out means you completely depleted your store of glycogen and probably are loaded with lactic acid also. I regularly eat that and more while sedentary (and still lose weight). Same with your 320 gram sugar (I lose weight on 700-800 gram sugar frequently). I've lost weight on 1,000 gram carbs also (Not that I necessarily recommend having THAT much lol, just demonstrating my point).

My energy levels are not what I'd call great, I still have issues myself.

But I can tell you if I get lazy and don't eat my 600-700+ gram carb/sugar, I feel 10x worse, like earlier this week I got stupid and lazy and ate 300-400 gram carbs and felt like DEATH. So yes, it gives me more energy, but I won't lie and say I'm cured yet as I'm not, but at least I am functional with high carb and can hold a job etc. (I can't hold a job without 600+ gram carb, I've literally had to take sick days off from work when I got stupid and didn't eat enough the day before).

Also going back to working out. You should consider toning down the intensity. Exercise done correctly should increase your energy not decrease it, and it should also increase your libido, mood etc. If it doesn't, then keep toning it down until it does. You may even have to temporarily remove it and just do light walking for exercise for a while.
 
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Kram

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FWIW, 3800 cal could still be too low possibly especially with working out and especially with your symptoms of being drained after working out. Being drained after working out means you completely depleted your store of glycogen and probably are loaded with lactic acid also. I regularly eat that and more while sedentary (and still lose weight). Same with your 320 gram sugar (I lose weight on 700-800 gram sugar frequently). I've lost weight on 1,000 gram carbs also (Not that I necessarily recommend having THAT much lol, just demonstrating my point).

My energy levels are not what I'd call great, I still have issues myself.

But I can tell you if I get lazy and don't eat my 600-700+ gram carb/sugar, I feel 10x worse, like earlier this week I got stupid and lazy and ate 300-400 gram carbs and felt like DEATH. So yes, it gives me more energy, but I won't lie and say I'm cured yet as I'm not, but at least I am functional with high carb and can hold a job etc. (I can't hold a job without 600+ gram carb, I've literally had to take sick days off from work when I got stupid and didn't eat enough the day before).
Yes but the heavier you are, the greater your energy requirements. I'm guessing 99.9% of people out there are not eating 600-700+ grams of sugar per day.
 
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GreekDemiGod

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@Cirion Yeah, it may be worth experimenting 7 days of eating 4000 calories, for starters. I will try this.
It is a bit trickier due to various food sensitivities / digestive issues (bloating) that I have, but doable.
 

Cirion

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Yes but the heavier you are, the greater your energy requirements. I'm guessing 99.9% of people out there are not eating 600-700+ grams of sugar per day.

That's definitely a fair point , I'm not necessarily saying he should copy me, but it's clear that he is not eat enough of calories/carbs and should increase it, not necessarily to 800 gram, but more than he is now-if temps are 96.4F waking and he has no energy and crashes after working out etc. That said there are people here like @olive who eat 700 gram carb a day and are very lean. In either case, making a jump from 300 gram sugar a day to 800 is probably not wise haha. I'd start with smaller jumps like maybe 300 to 400, 400 to 500. See how symptoms and temps improve (or not?)
 

YourUniverse

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Have you ever done a full iron panel? Any Irish or Northern European ancestry? Fatigue is the number one symptom associated with hereditary hemochromatosis.

Also... why so high in zinc? That can have a big impact on copper levels.

(It takes copper to move iron by the way.)
I havent paid attention to hemochromatosis, and I have scottish/british descent. What does this entail? Maybe making more of an effort to avoid iron?
 

rebuke

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》》Do you have meaning in life?

》Not quite. I am stuck in apathy, minor nihilism, anhedonia. I literally have no hobbies.

You can't fix this with diet and supplementation. You are depressed because you live a depressing life.
 

Cirion

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You are depressed because you live a depressing life.

Yeah it's not quite that simple and I've proven it to myself multiple times. I'm basically like the OP and have no hobbies or much of an interesting life, yet I've had very good energy/motivation days despite it.

If my diet and environment / supplementation is 100% on point, the next day I will feel amazing, zero depression, great energy and motivation and confidence (this usually only occurs if waking body temp is 98.4F+) despite having the same "depressing" life as usual with zero changes to it.

On the other hand, if diet and environment etc is not on point, then depression, low energy, motivation, confidence returns with no changes to lifestyle.

I can literally swing between state #1 and state #2 quite easily by eating the wrong foods or missing sleep etc. It's annoying that diet and habits can make one swing between moods in almost a bipolar manner, but it is what it is.
 

Kram

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》》Do you have meaning in life?

》Not quite. I am stuck in apathy, minor nihilism, anhedonia. I literally have no hobbies.

You can't fix this with diet and supplementation. You are depressed because you live a depressing life.
+1


Also, have you taken steps to deplete yourself of PUFA and (more importantly I think) serotonin and clean your gut/liver? Until you do this, your metabolism is not going to work well and you will continue to physically feel this way. I'm not sure eating more sugar and adding in a couple supplements has ever cured anyone of these types of issues (I obviously could be wrong)..

If you are looking to supplement and are struggling with energy production, I would suggest doing some reading on the forum of B1, B2 and B3. You can eat all the carbs in the world but if you don't metabolize them properly, it's not going to help.
 
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GreekDemiGod

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@ExCarniv Gonna finish my current program soon and reduce my workouts from 5 / week to 3-4 / week and more strength - based. It's high rep/ bodybuilding that's draining me.
When I lift heavier (lower reps), it leaves me more refreshed.

I always told myself that when I will feel physically amazing, I will do what I enjoy. But that never happens. Whenever I'm tired, my depression worsens.
 

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GreekDemiGod

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@Kram Started taking B6 recently as it was recommended for Testosterone and as a potent anti-stress weapon.
Have not looked into B1 2 3 yet.

Not sure about the other ones.
I did start drastically reducing my PUFA intake, though I understand it's a long. process.

BCAA + Tyrosine for Serotonin depletion?
Clean the liver: haven't looked into
Clean the gut: Not sure where to start, I'm overwhelmed:(. I read raw carrot helps, I eat it 3-4 times /week.
 

milkboi

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@rebuke

It‘s pretty hard to feel energized and healthy and at the same time depressed. Those seem like opposites to me.

I have clearly defined goals and therefore have a purpose, but low energy makes it almost impossible to work towards my dreams, and depression is a pretty natural reaction to that imo.
 

milkboi

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@Kram Started taking B6 recently as it was recommended for Testosterone and as a potent anti-stress weapon.
Have not looked into B1 2 3 yet.

Not sure about the other ones.
I did start drastically reducing my PUFA intake, though I understand it's a long. process.

BCAA + Tyrosine for Serotonin depletion?
Clean the liver: haven't looked into
Clean the gut: Not sure where to start, I'm overwhelmed:(. I read raw carrot helps, I eat it 3-4 times /week.

Not suggesting to immediately bring out the big guns, but antibiotics (Cyproheptadine helped too, but I can‘t take it anymore as it‘s too sedating) fixed all my digestive problems. I did keto and carnivore for a few years (motivated partly by bad digestion) and my gut health only got worse. That carried over into Peating. After a few doses of Doxycycline those problems are gone for good. :)
 

ExCarniv

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@ExCarniv Gonna finish my current program soon and reduce my workouts from 5 / week to 3-4 / week and more strength - based. It's high rep/ bodybuilding that's draining me.
When I lift heavier (lower reps), it leaves me more refreshed.

I always told myself that when I will feel physically amazing, I will do what I enjoy. But that never happens. Whenever I'm tired, my depression worsens.

Try to go outside and do some calisthenics, physical movement under the sun is one of the more refreshing activities for a better mood.
 

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