Afternoon energy crash?

So I've been doing Thrive, have finished Thrive, and feel quite confidently and comfortable about my habits and the portioning of my meals. Nevertheless, this issue has started to present itself within the last two weeks and I'm not exactly sure as to why that is.  The odd thing is that I start off my morning quite up and at 'em, thanks in great part to the protein and fat-filled breakfasts I've grown accustomed to and getting enough sleep. 

The issue is that after my lunch, which typically consists of rice or sweet potatoes, a raw  salad with olive oil/avocados, and some meat, I tend to feel a bit 'low' around 2:30-4pm. At first thought, I figured I wasn't eating enough, so I tried to have a smaller snack a bit after lunch (as around an hour after my lunch I would start to get hungry and my energy would begin to crash). Then I reasoned that it was maybe because I wasn't eating enough raw vegetables with lunch, as the fiber and nutrients are likely to keep me satiated and not feeling my blood sugar drop. Neither seemed to do the trick.

Given that I tend to start my workouts sometime between 4-6pm this issue causes my workout energy to be a little low and my warm up needing to be a little longer/intense so as to get the blood pumping and the sensations of hunger to dissipate before I get moving--I don't like that this has come to be the case and don't feel it should be, since I worry my workouts are suffering as a result. I've also tried having some fruit on days when I begin to get hungry an hour and change after eating lunch, so as to hopefully spike my energy and keep me going until I can get into my workout. The issue here is that the fruit rarely keeps me feeling satiated and my energy levels often only stay elevated for a very short period of time (and if I have the fruit too close to my workout...well let's just say my stomach doesn't appreciate it). 

Oddly all my other health issues are pretty dialed in. I get the adequate hours of sleep with lights off before 11pm and up around 7:15-7:30am, even though on the weekends I may be off to bed a bit later (12-1am and usually about 8-9 hours of sleep). My weekend nutrition is also spot on and I do what I can to avoid alcohol at all costs and keep my 'lax meals to Sunday.

So, I'm not quite sure what the best course of action would be. My hope is that some of you will have some informed ideas that won't require costly bloodwork and might something as simple as just eating more vegetables. Anyways, your thoughts are appreciated. Let the discussion and armchair philosophizing commence...

I have had the same thing at times but I work out in the morning. I am becoming very aware of the need for carbs and particular types of carbs too. I find I have a similar issue if I don't have rice at lunch. I am more likely to need something else to keep going if I have other carb sources with less carbs by volume.

For me too, I need to distinguish between fatigue from sleep associated issues which are rare, oncoming sickness (I haven't been sick since I started but have had something start and then go that impacts energy levels),  stress and then food related. I have picked that as my activity has been able to step up with Thrive, my food intact has also had to pick up. more food, more of everything, not just one thing. My lunch is bigger than it was, more rice and bigger salad with more oil and that has helped last the day better. then hit an afternoon snack, which for you would be post workout. I lunch 11.30/12 and snack 330ish then dinner around 730. I can get a late afternoon crash post my ride home from work if I have pushed hard and had an earlier snack.

Hmm. Yeah, but I feel like my issue might be from having too MANY carbs at lunch, though I'm not too sure as I don't go over the 2-3 handful portioning. I donno, perhaps @Jeff Serven can chime in.

On 26/7/2016 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Taylor-Shaut said:

Hmm. Yeah, but I feel like my issue might be from having too MANY carbs at lunch, though I'm not too sure as I don't go over the 2-3 handful portioning. I donno, perhaps @Jeff Serven can chime in.

If you are getting hungry after lunch, and having fruit as a snack picks you up a bit but not for long it sounds like there isn't enough carbs at lunch. but perhaps it is the type of carb? blood glucose going too high too fast rather than a slower hit? pure speculation.

Given it is the last 2 weeks...what has changed?

I think it might actually be that I'm having too many carbs and not enough protein in my lunch and the carbs, being a sugar, is causing my blood sugar to spike and crash. Also, working out in the AM seems to circumvent the low energy in the afternoon. My breakfast leaves me with high energy but my lunch doesnt so I worked out at 11 and am having a later lunch. Since I already worked out, the higher carbs in my lunch should also likely be used more effectively. So, that may be the fix...for now.

How is training? Its common to feel a late afternoon slump when taxed no matter what you eat or do. Its a blood pressure, viscosity thing. Verkhoshansky has a chapter on it in SuperTraining. Thats my armchair philosophizing.

@Daniel Taylor-Shaut I can relate to your struggles with the afternoon slump while having had success getting other lifestyle and nutrition items dialed in. I have been trying the post-lunch snack (1/2 meal of the same food as lunch) with some improved effects on afternoon energy, but I am still questing after having "full mental clarity" all day long (which seems to be a long term goal of Thrive).

@Jared Birbeck I echo your distinctions on differentiating different kinds of fatigue, sleepiness or grogginess. I am wondering how the "Big Breakfast" may play into this as well. My appetite doesn't always seem to kick in morning first thing to eat a big meal, even though I certainly like doing it when it does. I can feel quite full after about 4oz of smoked salmon for example or a fist sized portion of eggs with coconut flakes, for example (and perhaps this raises "meal flow" questions of whether eating a later dinner may affect appetite in the morning). I will get hungry a two hours after such an initial breakfast, and I will eat again a second smaller breakfast (or breakfast type snack of protein and fat only) to get me to lunch.

I am still rechecking my sleep goals, fat consumption etc. but I did find intriguing what Jeff referred to as a "blood pressure / viscosity thing" and how it may be inevitable given our GST training. Did either of you follow up / research that point by chance?

I tried looking up this SuperTraining text on Amazon, and it looks like it was a pricy and robust book. I couldn't find any online executive summaries or references, etc. Perhaps I can find it at a university library.

I found that eating fewer carbs at lunch than I was eating helped. Similarly, adding in some apple cider vinegar/balsamic vinegar to my salad dressing helped stave off some of the energy crash. I read somewhere that it helps with blood sugar, and it has seemed to do the trick. (Of course, having sleep and hydration dialed in is also paramount to any of this being relevant or practical).