Thanks for your input Lindsay,
Being a week further I made some modifications which helped already (some workouts are graded A this week 🙂 ). Let me respond to your questions and also point out my modifications, for future reference in case someone needs it.
The flat feeling means just “meh” but I still feel motivated, I just miss the feeling of “oh yeah, here we go again!”. On top of that I was tired all day, slept terrible some nights, irritable, and spirits were down.
I have no problem with going to the gym each night or running in the morning (I actually like those). I try to balance everything well and I get help with that from my partner. So I was and am still motivated; all this made me worried, not just the “meh” feeling.
Starting at the 50% of last year; I counted all my activity and went with the 50% to start with. This gave me the mark of 4 hours for the first 3 weeks of transition period. And yes, I already thought that maybe it should be a bit less. So I brought it done a little bit, but not by much.
The strolls are actually in Zone 1 for approx. 25-30 minutes so I would like to count them in.
Regarding healthy eating, I am now upping my carb intake on top of my diet. Also, trying to eat immediately after a workout is not yet a regular thing, which I am now focusing on. I think this might help with the energy feeling in the morning. The issue of also burning more fat, is something I am still working out.
Other than that, I eat regularly, whole foods, a lot of greens and salads, fish, meat and overall a varied menu all day every day, including the occasional bad stuff.
So, my modifications so far are the following:
– Eat carbs within the optimum window after a workout
– Eat a bit more carbs during the day (note that I usually did not eat too many carbs, but mainly protein and some fat)
– Try to rest some more during the day
– Lowered the intensity of my General Strengths workouts (I already did 10 reps of most exercises but for those that I could not do 10 reps of, I lowered the intensity. For some others, I also lowered the intensity just to be on the safe side)
– I took some extra rest during each day this week.
– Some shorter Z1 and Z2 workouts instead of the total time I planned to at first. I also dropped some of the lunch time walks.
During the rest of this week and the next I will steadily try to increase as the book mentioned and make sure I get enough fuel to handle it all.
In case anyone else likes to weigh in, please do. I will give an update as well after some time.