Headache and nausea when you reduced your calories?

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K8T80
K8T80 Posts: 15 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have had 1500 calories today, and they are from healthy foods. Thing is I am VERY hungry and have a headache and some nausea. Are these normal side effects after 1 day of reducing my calories and eating all "good" foods?

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  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Impossible to know without knowing a lot more about your lifestyle. It could as simple as having one cup of coffee less than normal.
  • K8T80
    K8T80 Posts: 15 Member
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    In the last 6-9 months I have eaten a lot of processed and sugary foods. I'm not a coffee drinker so I think these are the primary factors. I'm curious to know if this type of "withdrawal" from LOTS of calories and sugary foods is common? It seems odd for it to happen after just 1 day, though I've been trying to eat healthier in the last 2 days - today was the strictest day this week.
  • usernameenvy
    usernameenvy Posts: 140 Member
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    I dont think it would be a result of dropping calories (unless you are doing heaps of exercise and dropping alot lower than 1500) but it may be your body reacting to less processed food, less additives and less sugar etc
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    I am not sure what you are eating, but I will say that when I go from eating normally (meaning, a little of anything I want) to very strict on intake (grilled chicken, broccoli, sweet potato) and no soda, but increase water....the first two to three days are horrible. After that, I feel awesome! Certainly could be the case for you as well. You'll know more after the first few days if it's due to cals being too low.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Do you have any idea what your "normal" intake used to be? Going from 2000 to 1500 wouldn't necessarily cause your symptoms, but going from 3000 to 1500 could. So could a LOT of other things, like reducing your caffeine, drastically reducing your sugar, not getting enough sleep, being on your period, being pregnant...etc. After one day, it's too soon to be able to tell if your diet is the cause.
  • K8T80
    K8T80 Posts: 15 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I think y'all are probably right that it's not so much the number of calories, but more the change in quality of calories. I've been gaining fat and muscle in the last 2 years, but I'd guess my typical daily, net intake has been around 3,000 calories with a lot being processed/sugar.

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