Weaning off Energy Drinks?

tastybasslines · #1 06-29-2011, 02:13 PM

It's 1:08 and I am just wrecked tired.

I went to bed before 10pm (doing every night) and woke up about 6:20 and went to the gym, where I did only 30 min of cardio. I have not been drinking or taking energy drinks for about 4 days now, while exercising each day. I've totally quit smoking too, I was smoking while drinking and that's been about 2 months now.

Granted, I'm just getting back into a regular workout routine, back in Muay Thai and gym time but am so tired and I feel I can't survive with them. I've been drinking them for years. I know they are bad. Coffee is not cutting it and I almost feel I just can't survive without them. I just fell asleep at my desk. Please tell me this will pass with time...Right now, 37 feels OLD.

Atoz · #2 06-29-2011, 02:20 PM

It will. I'm 46 and stopped drinking them at the beginning of the year as part of my weight loss regimen. Before I quit, I was drinking between 2 and 4 24-oz Rockstars a day, and had been for a few years. Right now, I'm down 40 lbs., feel a hell of a lot better, and don't really miss them at all.

MJ5150 · #3 06-29-2011, 02:20 PM

Does your schedule allow for a midday nap?

-Mike

tastybasslines · #4 06-29-2011, 02:29 PM

No, maybe 45 min if I went downstairs to my car instead of lunch.

powderfinger · #5 06-29-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

It's 1:08 and I am just wrecked tired.

I went to bed before 10pm (doing every night) and woke up about 6:20 and went to the gym, where I did only 30 min of cardio. I have not been drinking or taking energy drinks for about 4 days now, while exercising each day. I've totally quit smoking too, I was smoking while drinking and that's been about 2 months now.

Granted, I'm just getting back into a regular workout routine, back in Muay Thai and gym time but am so tired and I feel I can't survive with them. I've been drinking them for years. I know they are bad. Coffee is not cutting it and I almost feel I just can't survive without them. I just fell asleep at my desk. Please tell me this will pass with time...Right now, 37 feels OLD.

I am right about your age, and I am a cardio junkie for sure at the gym. For years I lived on caffeine and energy drinks during the day. After all this time, I just started feeling "not so healthy", and for godsake,energy drinks and caffeine are not exactly naturally healthy for you. They were also causing irritability and sleep disturbances.

I quit cold turkey.

I couldnt exercise for a week.

I felt achey, tired, groggy for about 8-9 days. After that, I am back to normal, working out again and feeling good.

Just do it cold turkey. Take an ibuprofen if you get a withdrawl headache or severe aches.

PS- I am not a Dr. Just a guy on the net. Take my advice for whats its worth.

tZer · #6 06-29-2011, 02:33 PM

What's your diet like?

MJ5150 · #7 06-29-2011, 02:42 PM

Drink more water. Caffeine will suck you dry.

-Mike

Absentia · #8 06-29-2011, 02:47 PM

How's your quality of sleep?

carl h. · #9 06-29-2011, 02:49 PM

Cold turkey and water - lots of water. Ibuprofen if you need it, it can be its own bad habit.

I was gigging hard. Downing a gallon of Dew and a fist full of ibuprofen to keep going. It caught up to me. Went cold turkey June of 03 and have never regretted it. Acid reflux is gone, nerves are fine, and pain is gone too - mostly... old age (43) is it's own special kind of fun.

tastybasslines · #10 06-29-2011, 03:04 PM

Sleep habits: Wake up about 2 times a night...so about 3 sessions of 2-3 hours of sleep.

Diet: Not great yet, still eating bad, but less of it. I've been going healthy during the day MOSTLY, then usually pick up something on the way home at night.

I am irritable, and if acid reflux is where you feel like your esophagus is being crushed, then I have that too sometimes.

Water is another thing I need to add more of, but haven't yet.

MJ5150 · #11 06-29-2011, 03:13 PM

Water is the key here, in my opinion. You don't need more sleep. My idea about the nap was stupid.

-Mike

carlos840 · #12 06-29-2011, 03:13 PM

Just give time to your body to get used to it!

In a month or two you should feel better!

Make sure you drink enough water, it is a lo more important than people think it is!

tastybasslines · #13 06-29-2011, 03:20 PM

Today's food. Big bowl of Raisin Bran, and Cup O Noodles for lunch, which is high in sodium.

tZer · #14 06-29-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

Today's food. Big bowl of Raisin Bran, and Cup O Noodles for lunch, which is high in sodium.

Watch the sodium. Not good for you at all. Pasta is great for a pre-workout carbo load (I think - that may be old-school exercise logic...)

I know when I decided a long time ago to be more physically active I started taking a karate class and riding my bike regularly. My first karate class I nearly blacked out because my diet sucked. I started eating a good breakfast and lunch with pasta and meats (not cup 'o' noodles, BTW) - my subsequent workouts in class were no problem. It was amazing the difference having some fuel to burn made! I was also reading a lot of mountain biking mags that talked about 'bonking' and 'hitting the wall' in relation to burning up all your fuel (and getting that lactic acid 'burn') - so clearly protein is important.

I also began drinking a LOT of water. This was in the days long before energy drinks and I've never really found a need to falsely 'energize' to workout.

Getting good sleep is important too. Don't eat before bed. Eat a good dinner and go for a walk to bump the metabolism for digestion. Eating for bed means you have food that needs digesting but your metabolism has checked out for the night. That's not a good thing.

Get something to help with the reflux. That could be causing problems with your sleep and other things.

ThudThudThud · #15 06-29-2011, 03:39 PM

Cup'o'noodles are not just high in Sodium, there's all manner of nasty in there...

One thing that worked well for me was to replace lunch - which was invariably some kind of sandwich, chips, soda etc. - with a couple of fruit smoothies and/or protein drinks.

I didn't feel full and lethargic in the afternoons, wasn't at all hungry, had more energy, and was in a much better mood when I got home.

I'm currently on a habanero kick. I slice one up thin and add it to whatever I'm eating. One per day. The heat doesn't bother me at all (you do, however, need to build that up. Don't expect to start eating whole habaneros right out of the gate if you're not used to them), and I love the flavour. It's pretty much cured my cluster headaches, and it gives me a boost of energy too. Superfood.

Habanero, plus protein shakes/fruit smoothies will definitely get you off the go-fast drinks (less nasty sugar too). You don't have to do the habanero...

Although......those little Extra strength five hour energy shots are awesome!
(Confession for full disclosure: I do a lot of driving in my job, so those green cans of energy drink can be a lifesaver sometimes)

PatTheAnchor · #16 06-29-2011, 03:46 PM

lol energy drinks only keep me awake for a few hours. today I had one at like 9 in the morning, and fell asleep from 2-4 pm. Not that good.

It's really not that good for the body and I only drink them on seldom occasions. When I had a lot of homework this past school year, I would drink them in the morning because I was tired as balls from going to bed at 2 and waking up at 6:30.

I tell you what though, FDA really should do away with energy drinks, and this is coming from a former heavy user.

gustobassman · #17 06-29-2011, 03:47 PM

It's the caffeine that's hard to shake. Water is so good, and your body will love you for it.

Just don't drink this stuff

carlos840 · #18 06-29-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

Watch the sodium. Not good for you at all. Pasta is great for a pre-workout carbo load (I think - that may be old-school exercise logic...)

I know when I decided a long time ago to be more physically active I started taking a karate class and riding my bike regularly. My first karate class I nearly blacked out because my diet sucked. I started eating a good breakfast and lunch with pasta and meats (not cup 'o' noodles, BTW) - my subsequent workouts in class were no problem. It was amazing the difference having some fuel to burn made! I was also reading a lot of mountain biking mags that talked about 'bonking' and 'hitting the wall' in relation to burning up all your fuel (and getting that lactic acid 'burn') - so clearly protein is important.

I also began drinking a LOT of water. This was in the days long before energy drinks and I've never really found a need to falsely 'energize' to workout.

Getting good sleep is important too. Don't eat before bed. Eat a good dinner and go for a walk to bump the metabolism for digestion. Eating for bed means you have food that needs digesting but your metabolism has checked out for the night. That's not a good thing.

Get something to help with the reflux. That could be causing problems with your sleep and other things.

I have to disagree about eating before bed!
IMO the whole dont eat before bed is an old wives tale and isnt rue!
The important thing is that you dont eat more than your daily calorific need!
But eating a meal with a bit of complex carbs, lots of protein and a bit of good fats is IMO good for you!
Your body doesnt like to be starved for 8+ hours and needs fuel!
Eating before going to sleep really helped me put on some lean muscle mass a lot faster than i did before i started to do it!

**jmattbassplaya** · #19 06-29-2011, 05:39 PM

Last semester I was hitting the gym hard 4-5 days a week, I ate nothing but healthy food (lots of veggies, lean protein, complex carbs, good fats, etc...), got around 8 hours of restless sleep a night, and drank nothing besides water except for maybe 5-6 beers a weekend, and even then I still took a 20-30 minute nap every single day of the week.

In my non-medical opinion, you can be as healthy as any top athlete and it's still normal to get the mid day zZz's. I really recommend trying to find 20-30 minutes to nap sometime in the early afternoon if you can. You'll be completely refreshed, not groggy or anything when you wake up, and you'll be much more productive for the rest of the day. The key is to learn how to get into your first stage of sleep and wake up before you reach a deeper level.

Downunderwonder · #20 06-30-2011, 04:14 AM

You're zonking out because you are loading up on carbs at lunch, which give you a huge blood sugar hit and your pancreas overreacts with insulin to knock it down before you are "poisoned". This promotes fat storage!

Frequent little meals, each with protein. Plenty of water. Strength training 3 x a week and cardio on alternate days, or more cardio if you want to.

You can't wean off "energy" drinks or nicotine. You did it absolutely right with the cold turkey.