4th day with low calories, feel horrible and lack of energy

porterjcharles333

Also it is impossible it seems to get my 100% of potassium ! I even bough suppiments! I hope my body will adjust to the low energy diet, I work out more so I can eat more .

rosey35

How much do you eat, you may need to eat more

ReaderGirl3

How many calories are you eating a day?

betuel75

Are you maybe eating less than 1200 or not getting all the micro nutrients or have created a deficit that is way too large or have a medical condition? I know that even if a have a little layer of body fat on me if my calorie deficit isnt great than 1000 calories i dont have a problem with energy levels as my body can easily take from my reserve body fat storage for additional energy needs. Take the supplements or multivitamin to fill in any missing micronutrient you are lacking. Are you restricting carbs? Not eating enough carbs will drop my energy levels as im active and need that quick glucose in the blood just before a type of activity.

Purplebunnysarah

Don't worry about tracking potassium. A lot of foods in the database are missing the potassium entries. Eat fruits & veg and you will get enough.

kommodevaran

porterjcharles333 wrote: »

Also it is impossible it seems to get my 100% of potassium ! I even bough suppiments! I hope my body will adjust to the low energy diet, I work out more so I can eat more .

What is your height/weight/sex/age, estimated TDEE, and how many calories are you eating? Don't worry about potassium unless 1) you have a medically diagnosed deficiency, and 2) entries of all the foods you eat have potassium filled in.

Sabine_Stroehm

kommodevaran wrote: »

porterjcharles333 wrote: »

Also it is impossible it seems to get my 100% of potassium ! I even bough suppiments! I hope my body will adjust to the low energy diet, I work out more so I can eat more .

What is your height/weight/sex/age, estimated TDEE, and how many calories are you eating? Don't worry about potassium unless 1) you have a medically diagnosed deficiency, and 2) entries of all the foods you eat have potassium filled in.

This. We can't offer assistance without knowing your height/weight/sex/age, estimated TDEE, and number of calories you're eating.

DanaDark

Without the numbers, all I can offer is a simple tidbit:

Lower calories will not cause what you are experiencing. ((Technically it can but you're not on 100 calories a day for 5 years in some third world country dying village or something))

You are most likely experiencing nutrition issues. You may want to look at WHAT you are eating right now rather than how much.

jemhh

DanaDark wrote: »

Lower calories will not cause what you are experiencing. ((Technically it can but you're not on 100 calories a day for 5 years in some third world country dying village or something))

BS. Low calorie eating most certainly could cause the OP's symptoms. We don't know if it is, because we don't have enough info. But to post that low calorie eating cannot make a person feel horrible and lack energy is to post absolute drivel.

cwolfman13

You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight.

Also, potassium isn't required on food labeling and that's where most of the database entries are derived so it's likely you're doing fine. You really shouldn't supplement potassium unless you actually have a deficiency as indicated by a blood test.

DanaDark

jemhh wrote: »

BS. Low calorie eating most certainly could cause the OP's symptoms. We don't know if it is, because we don't have enough info. But to post that low calorie eating cannot make a person feel horrible and lack energy is to post absolute drivel.

You are wrong. The body has an abundance of tools and stores to offset too low of calories for a decent period of time. (Hint: that's how we drain fat cells)

The body does not have a mechanism for generating essential proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Eating too few calories likely means eating too little and thus not getting the proper nutrition as per above. That is what generally causes such symptoms, not the lack of calories. This is a case of assuming correlation equals causation.

This is also assuming the OP actually HAS energy stores... Fatty tissue, some muscle, a few bones remaining in relatively decent shape.

CoffeeNCardio

DanaDark wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

BS. Low calorie eating most certainly could cause the OP's symptoms. We don't know if it is, because we don't have enough info. But to post that low calorie eating cannot make a person feel horrible and lack energy is to post absolute drivel.

You are wrong. The body has an abundance of tools and stores to offset too low of calories for a decent period of time. (Hint: that's how we drain fat cells)

The body does not have a mechanism for generating essential proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Eating too few calories likely means eating too little and thus not getting the proper nutrition as per above. That is what generally causes such symptoms, not the lack of calories. This is a case of assuming correlation equals causation.

This is also assuming the OP actually HAS energy stores... Fatty tissue, some muscle, a few bones remaining in relatively decent shape.

The human body also deliberately fights back against a calorie deficit by instigating these changes (desire to move less being the key one), because it thinks there's a famine and you're gonna die. That's the effect of the calorie deficit itself, not necessarily poor nutrition. Although poor nutrition also has similar effects, a caloric deficit is equally likely to be the cause.

JeromeBarry1

Learn to eat potassiumy food and you'll be ok. And if you're falling off the wagon after 4 days you're doing it wrong. I suggest you have a day or two of eating like the recently you, and accurately log all of it. Get an idea of the calorie level you were eating at and then start reducing it by a reasonable amount of about 500 calories each week. Were you eating 14000 calories each week? Try starting your reduction by eating 11500 calories for a week. Your stomach will shrink in a few days and the new level of 11500 will seem sufficient. You'll lose a pound, too. Get the hang of this new life at that level and then decide if you want to lower your intake further, and how you want to do it. Were you eating 20000 calories each week? Jumping from there to the 10800 weekly calories of a 1200 calorie daily diet is way too much to try at once.

Francl27

99% of entries on MFP don't even have potassium in them. Doesn't mean that the food doesn't have any, just that it's not on the label, so it doesn't show up in the database.

DanaDark

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

The human body also deliberately fights back against a calorie deficit by instigating these changes (desire to move less being the key one), because it thinks there's a famine and you're gonna die. That's the effect of the calorie deficit itself, not necessarily poor nutrition. Although poor nutrition also has similar effects, a caloric deficit is equally likely to be the cause.

Reducing calories to a level MFP recommends will not put the body into thinking there is famine and impending death.

As I mentioned, it is VERY VERY unlikely the OP is in prolonged massive caloric restriction common in poorer third world countries.

My assumptions are standard for MFPers: 1. following MFP suggested calories, 2. Given daily internet access, most likely in a 1st world country thus no worry of extreme starvation.

Of course, those assumptions could be incorrect. I honestly don't go checking every OPs location...

But yeah, under non-extreme cases, low calories is unlikely to cause these symptoms without some other underlying issue (medical). When someone first reduces their calorie intake, it is not uncommon to not get the proper nutrition right off the bat.

jwcanfield

Have you cut caffeine out of your day? Although being low calorie (or lower than you were eating before you started a nutrition plan) may or may not be the culprit (see all the prior input), caffeine withdrawal is a detox of sorts and can produce a lot of nasty symptoms until out of the system.