Too thin?

[GrumpyGregry]

unless there is an underlying more sinister cause you are simply not putting in enough fuel into your body to maintain itself given the levels of activity you are undertaking which leaves your body no other choice than to burn lean mass as fuel.

Up the calorie intake, monitor the weight gain and adjust intake accordingly, and beware of assuming that what worked last year will work this as your ageing body may not buy that logic.

fwiw, and it is probably worth very little, my legs ache or at least I can 'feel it' in my legs all the time when I'm cycling every day.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Have you asked your GP to check your cortisol levels?
Also coming off oral steriods is hell - we both know that (on them again for 2nd time in 4 weeks myself) and whilst I know you and I both no longer notice when we are on them, coming off them and the weeks afterwards are always seriously bad and the longer you can stay off them the better and better you will feel as your body sorts itself out again. Also I know your asthma has been giving you issues, and this can disturb your sleep pattern (I have not slept through the night since September now without an asthma attack each and every night (no idea why) which is why I have gone back onto oral steriods) and we all know what a flawed sleep pattern can do for the body & mind. Exhaustion is the only obvious outcome and you have got to pace yourself and make sure you eat accordingly. I have found adding plenty of seeds & nuts to my diet as helped considerably (and recently my brother-in-law who follows only a raw diet) has had me soaking my nuts (steady boys) before eating them which seems to help as well - apparently it aids digestion.
One other thing - I have to eat a little each and every hour. So I now always stop once an hour for a snack - usually a couple of handfuls of nuts/seeds & dried fruit - I don't worry if they are salted or not because I know I need that extra salt not being able to balance potassium & sodium in my blood particularly well - washed down with plenty of liquid. It works wonders for energy levels and keeps me going through out the day much better than when I miss them.

 

[jdtate101]

Be very careful if you drop too low on your body fat %. My brothers ex was a fitness fanatic who over trained and lost huge amounts of weight. She also ended up destroying her immune system and was hospitalized for 6 months as a result.

 

[lulubel]

Have you asked your GP to check your cortisol levels?

I haven't. It will cost money that we can't spare at the moment for anything other than a medical emergency.

Although I suspect my cortisol levels may be a bit low, I don't think it's bad enough to be worth treating, and I'm reducing my inhaled steroids back towards normal now. I went down from 1000mcg to 750mcg a day at the weekend, and as long as my peak flow stays stable on that, I'll reduce it back to my normal maintenance level of 500mcg in another 10 days. (The only reason I asked the doctor for the 250mcg inhaler was because I get more of the drug where it's supposed to be that way than by taking several puffs of the lower dose inhalers I can buy over the counter. Presumably, that also minimises side effects because less is getting into your bloodstream.)

My sleep is always disturbed because I wake up every time Sam moves. It's been that way for over a year, so I can't blame it for my current tiredness. (Actually, I'm getting more sleep now than I was a month ago because our neighbours are back in their normal routine, and not disturbing him by making a racket for half the night like they were over Christmas.)

I do eat little and often. Possibly not so much of the little, but definitely often. My breakfast is loaded with protein and fibre, so I generally don't eat much else in the morning other than my post-ride snack, but the afternoon is punctuated more by the gaps between the snacks than the snacks themselves! I don't eat a great deal of nuts and seeds. We don't have nuts in our meals because my OH has a (relatively mild) nut allergy, so I may get some for snacks - if I can find any that haven't been fried in olive oil and then covered in salt, which seems to be the norm here.

Protein - get some more of that in you. Milk also. If you are regularly 'hitting the wall' then this does indeed sounds like you aren't eating enough. You shouldn't be exhausted.

Sorry, fossy, I missed this earlier. I'm already having 90-100g protein most days, which is around 2g per 1kg bodyweight. Do you think I should increase it further? I can't have milk because I'm intolerant to milk protein, but I have soya as my "base" protein, and try to have lots of green, leafy veg, beans and wholegrains to try and make sure I get all the essential proteins. (I'm vegetarian, so don't get protein from meat or fish.)

Be very careful if you drop too low on your body fat %. My brothers ex was a fitness fanatic who over trained and lost huge amounts of weight. She also ended up destroying her immune system and was hospitalized for 6 months as a result.

Yes, I think I do need to gain weight. My immune system isn't very strong at the best of times - if there's something going round, I'll catch it - and I can't afford to be ill and incapacitated.

I weighed 7st2 this morning, which I'm aware is a daily fluctuation rather than a sign that I've lost 1lb of fat since yesterday. I've been hovering mostly around the 7st2/7st3 mark for the last couple of weeks, so I think that's about where my "real" weight is at the moment.

 

[steve52]

mmmmmmm too thin? whats thin its so long since ive been there,5'11" 16 stone, last november i road 378 miles over 3 days and put on 3 lbs yippee, but i can ride 60 miles in comfort 100 with effeort over 150 in a long day hit 50=mph on steep hills (going down) im slow on a ten at 27 mins but can sometime hit 36+on a flat sprint, and i feel goooooood when i ride it makes me happy to where i smile and laugh, i road 80 miles to see mum who got her bike out and we road 17 miles to the sea frount had a picnic and road back ,the next day i road home (oh mums as thin as a rake and 74) conclusion ? i dont know , may its how you feel thats more important unless your racing?