Lesson learned from overtraining

I was doing great for a while, doing a cardio workout in the morning, a walk in the afternoon and a resistance training in the evening 5-6 times a week. I was flying high and suddenly crashed. I felt tired, nauseous and had no appetite for my normal food, pretty down emotionally as well as physically. It was so sudden that it shocked me! As I tried to analyze the symptoms I realized that those were classic ones of overtraining!!! Dah, I said as I smacked myself on the forehead! How could I A): not realize it sooner? And B): not see it coming and prevent it?
It’s been almost 1.5 years since I last over trained. I take full responsibility for it. ChaLEAN extreme is 90 days long and allows no recovery week in between phases, the way P90X does, but ChaLEAN Extreme workouts are only 30 minutes long and you work out 5 times a week! I replaced CEX circuit training workouts with Slim Series workouts which are 1-1.5 hours long, added more cardio, so that made it so much harder, it probably would equal to P90X workout easily! So, no wonder I felt burned out by day 60!!!
I am very frustrated and a little embarrassed by this…Why am I writing about it? Because I want to let you learn from my mistakes. Because I want to emphasize that it is important to take a break when you are doing an intense workout like P90X! And because I know sometimes I sound so upbeat it may seem that I am always crazy about exercising and it is always easy for me! Well, here’s a prove that it is not always so!!!
It‘s been a week now since the overtraining symptoms occurred, and I am feeling fine and am back to my old routine. I am feeling strong again and not lost momentum and motivation, ate clean during my rest week by going down to 1400 calories to compensate for luck of exercise. I have not gained weight, nor did I lose any strength. My body needed rest and I listened to my body!
I am attaching the common symptoms of overtraining. If you experiencing some of them – please take a break and let your body recover. I hope my honest report will help you avoid overtraining!
Bring it!

Overtraining
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Overtraining is a physical, behavioral and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining is a common problem in weight training, but it can also be experienced by runners and other athletes.
Addiction
Physical exercise may be addictive. One theory is that this addiction is due to natural endorphins generated by the exercise.[1] Whether strictly due to this chemical by-product or not, some people can be said to become addicted to or fixated on psychological/physical effects of physical exercise and fitness. This may lead to overexercise, resulting in the "overtraining" syndrome.[2]
Physiology
Improvements in strength and fitness occur only during the rest period following hard training (see supercompensation). This process takes at least 12 to 24 hours to complete. If sufficient rest is not available then complete regeneration cannot occur. If this imbalance between excess training and inadequate rest persists then the individual's performance will eventually plateau and decline. Mild overtraining may require several days of rest or reduced activity to fully restore an athlete's fitness. If prompt attention is not given to the developing state, and an athlete continues to train and accumulate fatigue, the condition may come to persist for many weeks or even months.[citation needed]
Overtraining occurs more readily if the individual is simultaneously exposed to other physical and psychological stressors, such as jet lag, ongoing illness, overwork, menstruation, poor nutrition etc. It is a particular problem for bodybuilders and other dieters who engage in intense exercise while limiting their food intake.
A number of possible mechanisms for overtraining have been proposed:
• Microtrauma to the muscles are created faster than the body can heal them.
• Amino acids are used up faster than they are supplied in the diet. This is sometimes called "protein deficiency".
• The body becomes calorie-deficient and the rate of break down of muscle tissue increases.
• Levels of cortisol (the "stress" hormone) are elevated for long periods of time.
• The body spends more time in a catabolic state than an anabolic state (perhaps as a result of elevated cortisol levels).
• Excessive strain to the nervous system during training.
Other symptoms
Overtraining may be accompanied by one or more organs concomitant symptoms:
• Lymphocytopenia[3]
• Persistent muscle soreness (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
• Persistent fatigue
• Elevated resting heart rate
• Reduced heart rate variability
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Increased incidence of injuries
• Irritability
• Depression
• Breakdown
Damaging Effects of Overtraining
Physiological
• Excessive weight loss
• Excessive loss of body fat
• Increased resting heart rate
• Decreased muscular strength
• Increased submaximal heart rate
• Inability to complete workouts
• Chronic muscle soreness
• Fatigue
• Increased incidence of injury
• Depressed immune system
• Chronic Masterbation
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Absence of menstruation
• Frequent minor infections/colds
• Insomnia
Psychological
• Depression
• Loss of appetite
• Irritability
• Loss of motivation
• Loss of enthusiasm
• Loss of competitive drive
Performance
• Early onset of fatigue
• Decreased aerobic capacity
• Poor physical performance
• Inability to complete workouts
• Delayed recovery
Treatment
Allowing more time for the body to recover:
• Taking a break from training to allow time for recovery.
• Reducing the volume and/or the intensity of the training.
• Suitable periodization of training.
• Splitting the training program so that different sets of muscles are worked on different days.
• Increase sleep time.
Changing diet:
• Ensuring that calorie intake at least matches expenditure.
• Ensuring total calories are from a suitable macronutrient ratio.
• Addressing vitamin deficiencies with nutritional supplements.
Spa treatmentscitation needed
• Deep-tissue or sports massage of the affected muscles.
• Self-massage or rub down of the affected muscles.
• Cryotherapy and thermotherapy.
• Temperature contrast therapy (contrast showers etc).