How to cope with sugar/bad food withdrawal symptoms?

shantal_96

Can anybody please give me some advice for overcoming withdrawal symptoms? Every time I try to eat healthy, I end up pigging out around dinner time because I get so shaky, bad headaches and I get so emotional my life is this never ending cycle of trying to eat healthy and failing and I'm just starting to get so depressed and I feel like I'm never going to succeed

zoeysasha37

Have you talked tonyour doctor about these withdraw symptoms?

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Eat what you always eat just less of it. You don't have to give up anything to lose weight, you just have to eat less calories than you burn.

kgeyser

What did you eat before, compared to what you eat when you eat healthy? The issues you could be experiencing could be related to caffeine withdrawal (if you drank a lot of soda before), undereating (causing you to overeat at dinner), or low blood sugar. It could also be the result of cutting back on your carb intake when you changed up your diet.

Sometimes just figuring out an eating schedule and making sure you have a balance of macros (carbs, fat, and protein) that work for you.

Annie_01

I think before anybody can give you sound advice it would be helpful to know how many calories that you are eating. Maybe your calorie goals are too low. Maybe try eating a little more during the day so that you aren't starving at the end of the day.

Picking lower calorie foods will give you a larger quantity of food to eat.

jemhh

Annie_01 wrote: »

I think before anybody can give you sound advice it would be helpful to know how many calories that you are eating. Maybe your calorie goals are too low. Maybe try eating a little more during the day so that you aren't starving at the end of the day.

Picking lower calorie foods will give you a larger quantity of food to eat.

I like this advice. How much are you eating? What are your height, weight, age, and activity level? What foods are you eating? Specifically, are you eating much protein, which is filling?

Francl27

Have some fruit!

Sued0nim

These symptoms are extreme and not normal when cutting calories in a healthy way

So can you walk us through your stats and your general day intake including calorie goal

Francl27

rabbitjb wrote: »

These symptoms are extreme and not normal when cutting calories in a healthy way

So can you walk us through your stats and your general day intake including calorie goal

Listen to her, she always has great advice.

I think the problem is that you're not eating enough and have a deficit too large. Pick a reasonable goal and eat a balanced diet.

KrisiAnnH

If you're getting withdrawal symptoms then maybe you're over restricting? You don't have to eliminate anything from your diet to lose weight, you can eat the same things you did before just in smaller quantities.

If you end up pigging out, maybe your calorie goal is too low? Or maybe you need to spread your calories out throughout the day differently? If you're finding that you're hungry by dinner time and end up pigging out, maybe try eating bigger lunches, or having a snack between lunch and dinner? Getting shaky and having headaches is sometimes a sign of undereating, so your calorie goal may be too low.

Either way, it may be worth talking to a doctor about this. If you're not feeling great but are eating enough, there may be an underlying issue.

rileysowner

It is difficult to say what is going on without more information as others have said above. Age, height, weight, daily activity, and your current calorie goal would all be helpful.

Without that information I would echo what has been said, you don't have to abandon all the food you like, just eat less of it and log it so you know you are eating the calories you are supposed to.

Sued0nim

Francl27 wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

These symptoms are extreme and not normal when cutting calories in a healthy way

So can you walk us through your stats and your general day intake including calorie goal

Listen to her, she always has great advice.

I think the problem is that you're not eating enough and have a deficit too large. Pick a reasonable goal and eat a balanced diet.

Awwww shucks...thanks @franci27 ..I'm just trying to pay it back

GsKiki

Don't restrict anything from your diet, just watch more when and how you eat. Be aware of the calories in vs calories out.
Also, if you feel shaky and bad every evening your body might be missing nutrients, and not sugar or junk food.

misstruckerjane

I have difficulty eating vegetables, and fats. Due to health issues, but the app says smoothies have too many carbs. Recommend?

killianspapa

Start small, restricting to many calories at once can leave you drained and weak. Eat your most carb filled meals before workouts. Stick with lots of protein fruits and veggies the rest of the time. Find out how many calories you can cut back a day before you start feeling weak and stay there. Also coffee curbs hunger pangs like miracle juice lol hope you achieve all you set out to. Best of luck.

killianspapa

Also let yourself have a cheat day on weekend. You gotta reward yourself a little.

Lounmoun

shantal_96 wrote: »

Can anybody please give me some advice for overcoming withdrawal symptoms? Every time I try to eat healthy, I end up pigging out around dinner time because I get so shaky, bad headaches and I get so emotional my life is this never ending cycle of trying to eat healthy and failing and I'm just starting to get so depressed and I feel like I'm never going to succeed

Is it a withdrawal or something else?
Set a reasonable goal.
Get enough calories. Eat the amount MFP tells you based on your stats and activity level. Eat a portion of the calories you earn from exercise.
Don't try to cut out all the food you like. Food has nutrients. Healthy is a vague term. Unless you have a medical problem, are allergic or it has spoiled food is not unhealthy. Some food has more of some nutrients than others. Think about what your body needs and supply it.
Eat enough protein. Your body needs some fats so don't go super low fat. Eat several servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Try whole grains. Drink some water.
If you eat a diet very high in sugar or caffeine and want to reduce that amount then you might want to make the dietary change more gradually.
See a doctor, registered dietitian, therapist for more help.

kshama2001

kgeyser wrote: »

What did you eat before, compared to what you eat when you eat healthy? The issues you could be experiencing could be related to caffeine withdrawal (if you drank a lot of soda before), undereating (causing you to overeat at dinner), or low blood sugar. It could also be the result of cutting back on your carb intake when you changed up your diet.

Sometimes just figuring out an eating schedule and making sure you have a balance of macros (carbs, fat, and protein) that work for you.

@shantal_96 it's likely one of these ^ things, but we need more details from you in order to help.

kshama2001

misstruckerjane wrote: »

I have difficulty eating vegetables, and fats. Due to health issues, but the app says smoothies have too many carbs. Recommend?

I'm confused by your question but suggest you start your own thread with this question so it doesn't get lost in this thread.

In the new thread, please expand on the problem you have with vegetables and fats. Is it all vegetables? Certain quantities of fats? Also set your Diary Sharing settings to Public so we can see what's in your smoothies. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Wiseandcurious

You have some great advice in this thread.

From my personal experience (sample of one, I know) the three things that used to cause me this kind of symptoms were:
- eating too little at the previous meal (s)
- Going too long between meals
- Not having enough protein and fat with my previous meal, just carbs (that includes fruit too)

The last one was by far the biggest culprit in my case, so making sure I got a good source of protein at every single meal, snacks included, helped me.

But as everyone has said, it might be different for you:
- Your calorie goal might be too low ( a goal of losing 2 lbs a week is way too agressive for the majority of people)
- you might be eating simply too little (for you) during the day in order to save up for dinner
- it might have been too long since your last meal
- you may have cut down drastically on caffeine without even knowing it
- you might have undiagnosed and untreated thyroid issues (same symptoms)
- it migh even be a mild panick attack (same symptoms but usually more severe).

Do you recognise any of those? Do your symptoms go away after you've eaten?

Relax, watch your symptoms and make controlled changes to see what helps them, make sure your deficit is reasonable and your nutrition is good - too many people equate eating "healthy" with some particular fad without a care for their macros. Don't ignore the possibility of a thyroid problem, if nothing helps aleviate the symptoms then get some tests taken.


This got too long - I am sure if you provide more info, then some of the veterans on here will give you more sound and specific advice. Don't get discouraged, just work the issue!

melonaulait

Definitely try having something you normally like to eat, but make sure the calories match your daily calorie goals. Don't try to force "healthy foods" into your diet if it makes you totally pooped and headache-y before dinner, etc.

tomatoey

Wiseandcurious wrote: »

You have some great advice in this thread.

From my personal experience (sample of one, I know) the three things that used to cause me this kind of symptoms were:
- eating too little at the previous meal (s)
- Going too long between meals
- Not having enough protein and fat with my previous meal, just carbs (that includes fruit too)

The last one was by far the biggest culprit in my case, so making sure I got a good source of protein at every single meal, snacks included, helped me.

Bolded is what does that to me, every time.

+1 to eating more food

shantal_96

Annie_01 wrote: »

I think before anybody can give you sound advice it would be helpful to know how many calories that you are eating. Maybe your calorie goals are too low. Maybe try eating a little more during the day so that you aren't starving at the end of the day.

Picking lower calorie foods will give you a larger quantity of food to eat.

Ive set my goal as 1350 calories a day

shantal_96

I weight 108kg, I'm 19, 160cm tall. My goal weight is 65kg MAX
I've cut back (tried to anyway) to 1350 calories per day.

Hopefully thats enough info

shantal_96

And I think it may be caffeine withdrawal actually I've cut out soft drink, but I have done it gradually so idk

Blueseraphchaos

I started out at just under 220 lbs and my calorie goal started at 1450. It sounds like your calorie goal may just be too low. Try setting the weight loss goal to a pound per week (not sure of the equivalent in kg) and seeing how that works. Often, people don't accurately assess their activity level correctly either, so you may be more active than you set mfp to initially.

It does take some trial and error to determine what works to keep you, personally, full enough between meals that you don't get overly hungry and shaky. If experimenting with your diet and calorie goals doesn't work, I'd say the next step would be to see a doctor.

Good luck!

goldthistime

In my experience, caffeine withdrawal is best handled by cutting back slowly. A few years ago I kicked coffee over the course of a week, with few side effects. If sugar cravings enter into it, make sure you are getting enough protein. Made all the difference to me.

kshama2001

shantal_96 wrote: »

I weight 108kg, I'm 19, 160cm tall. My goal weight is 65kg MAX
I've cut back (tried to anyway) to 1350 calories per day.

Hopefully thats enough info

In case anyone else not on metric was wondering, this is 238 pounds and 5'2".

lizkharvey

I got caffeine withdrawl. I was highly addicted. You gotta deal with it for like 3 days then it gets better, and goes away. It hurt so bad that I had to just fall asleep in the middle of the day. Take advil and go cold turkey, the symptoms will go away faster.

kgeyser

shantal_96 wrote: »

I weight 108kg, I'm 19, 160cm tall. My goal weight is 65kg MAX
I've cut back (tried to anyway) to 1350 calories per day.

Hopefully thats enough info

1350 per day total, or 1350 plus exercise? MFP is designed for you to eat back a portion of your exercise calories, so it's possible that you are not eating enough. Without knowing what you were eating and what you are eating now, it's difficult to give any further suggestions about what may be causing the issues you are describing.

In looking at your profile (to see if you diary was open), I noticed you've been diagnosed with PCOS (could this be related to the issues you are experiencing in any way?). There's a great group here that might have some suggestions for you as far as diet and type of foods, I know some users have reported that carb intake can be something that needs to be watched with PCOS: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3070-p-c-o-sis

nvmomketo

That was how I felt when my blood glucose went low: reactive hypoglycaemia. Once I started a ketogenic diet, it took a few days but those symptoms went away because I was no longer relying on glucose as my main fuel.

A lower carb diet will help with reactive hypoglycemia. Pairing protein with carbs helps too. Using a glucose meter can tell you if it is indeed low BG.

Good luck.