I’ve been feeling really off for ~2 months now and I’m not sure why. I’ve been plagued by lethargy, what feels like low T (low libido, been feeling melancholy a lot, have rarely had morning wood or random hard ons, looked flat, poor drive and fat gain among other things) and my sleep quality hasn’t been too great either.
These are some possible factors/causes that come to mind
- I cut from 15% bf to 8% (-4.5kg body fat) between April 1st and July 1st at which point I started eating in a surplus. I underestimated my calorie intake and probably ate 250-500kcal above maintenance most days and so around mid-July I shifted back to cutting. I’m probably currently around 9% bf and i’ve had the aforementioned symptoms even when I was eating in a surplus. I think this is the main reason you're feeling bad - a lot of people feel bad at this low % body-fat and have a much harder time recovering from exercise and are more prone to over-training. Very low body-fat can also lead to lower testosterone levels in some people.
- My caffeine intake’s been ~600-700mg on training days. I think this could be a reason that is contributing. Anytime I go above 500 mg. per day for a prolonged period I start to feel rundown and fatigued and have to phase caffeine out and kind of restart at lower dosages again.
- I’ve been fairly stressed. Stress can make you feel run down big time. And remember, any feeling of being run down is going to generally be worse at a very low % body-fat because that is already taxing on the body.
- I’ve been taking 1.33 servings of CEL lipovate most days. Could my thyroid be burnt out? No, LipoVantage isn't going to cause any type of thyroid issues.
- I’ve often taken 1.5 servings of CEL anabolic XT which contains cistanche, something which I’ve seen called a ‘natural SARM’. Could this have spiked T too high and led to my body down regulating production? No, Anabolic XT in general, nor Cistanche as an ingredient, is not going to cause T to go so high as to lead to a downregulation.
- I’ve been taking more than the recommended daily intake of SNS reduce-xt on training days. Could this have suppressed cortisol too much and led to a rebound? Doubtful, but I wouldn't exceed 3 caps of Reduce XT per day.
- Been taking sustain alpha daily for months now in addition to 2g of resveratrol, should I be cycling this? That is a lot of Resveratrol but I don't think the Resveratrol itself would cause any issues. But it is possible that you may could be lowering your estrogen a bit too much. You could try going off of this for a couple weeks to see how you feel.
I’m already trying to limit my caffeine intake and minimise stress but do you guys think any of the other things I listed could also be playing a part in this and are there any other possible causes that come to mind? If there anything I could try?
I replied line by line above in red.
Overall, I think that the most likely culprits to why you feel bad is that a lot of people feel bad at that low of percentage body-fat and getting that low and then going into a cut again is probably the reason. This can lead to being tired, feeling drained, and can lead a person to experiencing symptoms of over-training, even on a training regimen they are used to because the body just can't recover as well from it when in this state.
I think that the caffeine intake is likely contributing too.
I think its always good to minimize stress but I know that's easier said than done. I struggle a lot with that myself.
First things I would do if I were in your shoes:
-Reduce caffeine intake, which may help your sleep and better sleep will result in better well being
-Stop cutting and go into a maintenance phase. Dieting to sub 10% for long periods of time can absolutely come at the expensive of your wellbeing. Not to say that plenty of people don’t exist at those body fat levels, but it generally comes with a cost.
-Stop taking more than the recommended dosages of all the above products, especially if you are doing it long term. You may even want to discontinue the cortisol and estrogen reducing compounds for a little bit until you get the issues sorted out.
-Look at recovery as a whole. If you are training frequently for long periods of time while in a cut, and don’t feel well, recovery is lacking. Try adding an extra rest day, focus on getting better sleep, look at daily nutrition and calorie needs, etc
You will figure it out, it just may take some trial and error as there are a lot of variables going on. Try your best to be patient as you likely didn’t start feeling that way all at once. It will take some time to get back to feeling yourself!
Great post. I absolutely agree. That was my first thoughts too - feeling drained bc of the low body-fat and then going back into a cut and also the caffeine intake.
And also the part about recovery - because some of the symptoms sound like symptoms of over-training and not recovering properly, which is something that a lot of people experience even moreso at low body-fat percentages.
Good recommendations by other posters above too. There are so many reasons you could be feeling run down, but honestly if you've been cutting and truly are at a new low for body fat it would be my first thought as to why you have been feeling that way.
Edit: I answered some questions in the quote in bold but didn’t note that I did.
Great post and I agree. My thoughts were that it is likely the low body-fact % and that it may be time for a break from caffeine. I've noticed for me that if I go above 500 mg. per day for a prolonged period, I start to feel run down - and the lower my body-fat is, the more that seems to affect me.
Id have to echo many of the others here, you bodyfat level and the fact that you only had 2 weeks in surplus before going back to a cut is probably the main reason you are feeling like you are.
It actually can take a long time to "recover" after a cut. I spent 6 months in a slow cut and stopped at around 10%. After 1 month of eating at maintenence my bloods were fine, but I was still run down. It took 2 months of eating at maintanance before the data i myself could track (RHR, HRV, Respitory rate and Sp02) were back to were they were before my cut and I felt awesome again.
I agree. I think that it is likely a combination of low body-fat and going back into a cut quickly.
I haven't been below 10% body-fat in many years and I still remember how drained and bad I felt when I was. I'll never try to get that low again because of it.
Nothing wrong at all with people that have low % body-fat goals, it just does take time to get used to how a person feels that low, and some people never do feel great that low - so its a trade off as to if a person likes how they look enough to deal with how they feel.
