Having very difficult time getting back to fitness after 2 month of break

[martina777]

History: did 6 years on and off on 5/3/1 (injury+covid lockdown), lost 100lbs, maintained the weight for 2 years, gained 50lbs during COVID, gained additional 15lbs while working out but had to take 2 months of break from lifting due to personal injury and obligation.

I used to be an avid fitness person tracking all the calories, mealprepping on the weekends and waking up at 4:30am in the morning to workout and walk my dogs, but the last 2 months I've been having very difficult time barely waking up at 8:30am. Went all the medical appointments and doctor ruled out any medical reasons (hormones and bloodwork are normal) and assigned me to a sleep study.

Now, I barely have motivation to go to gym and often sleep 12 hours per day and can still sleep more unless my wife wakes me up for work. I still eat "healthy" but having difficult time motivating myself to actually eat healthy meal and currently relying on egg, spam and rice with soy sauce and some frozen fruit shakes to keep myself going. I go to bed at 9pm and can literally sleep in until 12pm if no one wakes me up which is very unlike of me.

My ideal routine would be on M/W/F, 4:30am gym, walk the dogs from 6am to 7am, start work at 9am and get to bed by 8~9pm. on T/H, 5am cardio for 30 min, walk the dogs from 6am to 7am and repeat. Its a very simple routine that I was used to but now I'm having difficult time even cooking for myself.

Any advice to get myself out of this rut?

 

[joyfulboy]

@martina777 Are you depressed? Because the sleep thing seems strange, especially if your doctors have ruled out a physical ailment (e.g. mono, low iron levels, fibromyalgia etc.).

 

[martina777]

@joyfulboy My doctor suggested I may have sleep apnea which affects my recovery and I do snore a lot since I gained my weight back. I had some family issues which resolved peacefully so Idk the cause of symptom

 

[questioner1]

@martina777 Read Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker. Sleep length and quality are massive things. People who think they are sleeping 8 hours a night are really only getting far less because they are not sleeping correctly because of the apnea. This is something that is really subtle and can creep up on you. As you have more issues people tend to add more stimulants like caffeine and other things. This ends up putting you in a cycle where you sleep gets even worse because of that causing you to be more tired.

Sleep time and quality effects everything. It was really an eye opening to read that book when I did. Shortchanging yourself on sleep or getting poor sleep will impact all systems. One example is they believe up to 50% of childhood ADHD diagnoses are actually chronic sleep deprivation. The symptoms are very similar between lack of sleep and ADHD. They then prescribe stimulants to help that make their sleep quality even worse. It is a massive issue we ignore.

 

[mybridges]

@martina777 I have sleep apnea when my weight goes in the 200s, it disappears entirely when I drop below 200. That’s probably a big factor.

 

[gtorre]

@martina777 I find the hardest thing to get right (and also the most important) is making sure you try to ease back in, rather than jump back in with two feet.

At your old fitness level, let's say you could do 20 hard sets per session. So you reasonable conclude, "ok I'm back at the gym, 20 sets is what my program says, i'll do that".

Well, don't do that. You need to develop the mental fortitude for that again. it'll come back quickly, but you need to ease in so that just going to the gym isn't a huge mental ordeal.

So like, do 5 sets next time you go. Then the next time do 8, and then 10, and so on. Whatever lets you adjust to the work again.

 

[perplexedearthling1]

@martina777 What was your favorite part of working out? Which exercise did you look forward to?

For me it's running. I do calisthenics, but I don't like it. With running though, I crave it.

You don't have to jump back in to hitting the gym hard doing the perfect routine. The point is you get back into the habit. So start with the one thing you actually enjoy doing, and start there. It'll be much easier to get up early if it's to do that, vs forcing yourself to get to early because you "should" hit the gym.

 

[martina777]

@perplexedearthling1 For me its the big 3 and i love progressing each week. I alsp crave it as well but the only open window i havw is at 4:30am and its getting harder for me to wake up on time

 

[perplexedearthling1]

@martina777 What time would you normally wake up without an alarm?

For instance, I get up at 6 to get my son to school, and usually go running after that. But without an alarm, I naturally wake up around 7.

Could you build your workout routine around when you normally wake up?

 

[martina777]

@perplexedearthling1 I actually wake up at 4:30am with my alarm on but fall asleep right after dismissing it. And that's when I can sleep in until 1pm if no one wakes me up. I used to wake up normally at latest 6am but idk these days

 

[perplexedearthling1]

@martina777 When you don't set an alarm, what time do you naturally wake up and get up?

Not what time do you wake up and roll over and fall back asleep. What time do you wake up, and get up?

 

[martina777]

@perplexedearthling1 I used to literally get up at 4:30am before the alarm went off, and 6am on the off days. Now, I can sleep forever if I wanted to but usually up by 6:45~7:30am to walk my dogs and prepare for work

 

[uzezi]

@martina777 How is intake you’ve described “eating healthy”?

 

[martina777]

@uzezi 2000 calories per day, with 150g carbs 160 protein and rest fat. I cook and prep my own meals

 

[uzezi]

@martina777 Doesn’t say much about micros , spam and rice don’t scream healthy

 

[martina777]

@uzezi Yeah i used to eat healthy but now im relying on eggs and spam because of lack of motivation and difficulty cooking

 

[uzezi]

@martina777 Lack of nutrients won’t help

 

[amn]

@martina777 You haven't done the sleep study? Do it!

Sleep apnea is a not-so-silent killer. Causes high blood pressure, poor recovery, increases the likelihood of weight gain due to bad sleep quality, etc. My father has it, and doesn't treat it, and he's old and sick and falling apart.