Irritability from cutting carbs/clean eating?

NicoleHaki

Hi all - I have been watching what I at and slowly losing weight (I lost about five pounds in the past month, after gaining about 20 pounds in the year before that). Lately, I noticed that I am experiencing fatigue and irritability. I thought maybe I wasn't getting enough sleep, but I'm really getting close to 8 hours of sleep every night. I have a pretty healthy lifestyle, rarely drink coffee, alcohol or sugary drinks, I work out for an hour a day and walk 10,000 steps a day. I also have been being careful with food (I have about 1200-1400 calories a day, and try to keep processed foods and carbs to a minimum).

I really think my mood is diet related, and specifically I think it's related to cutting back on bread, pasta and other carbs. I saw a bowl of pasta on Instagram today and can't stop thinking about how much I want it! I am having trouble because I am tired all the time, and have no patience lately. Could it be my body getting used to my cleaner, healthier diet? I would appreciate any tips on how I can get my energy up while eating clean!

Chef_Barbell

What's wrong with carbs? Also you might not be eating enough.

kimny72

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

What's wrong with carbs? Also you might not be eating enough.

This. I am miserable when I eat low carb, which I only ever do accidentally. I feel best eating @ 50% carbs, but everyone's different.
I don't eat "clean", so can't help you with that. I wasn't aware avoiding carbs was associated with eating clean.

purple18194

that is possible. it may not even necessarily be that you're not "getting enough," so much as it just takes time for your body to adjust if it's used to getting more than what you've changed it to. in my experience, it takes about a week or two to adjust to it and then you start having more energy. in the meantime, drink a lot of water and if you're absolutely starving or dragging, have a small portion of healthy fats (nuts, a tablespoon of peanut butter, etc)

Anvil_Head

All I know is that if I was eating in a way that made me miserable and irritable, I probably wouldn't last long on it. The best diet is the one you can stick to and enjoy as much as possible. No need to cut carbs or "eat clean" (which is a ridiculous, subjective phrase anyway).

snickerscharlie

NicoleHaki wrote: »

I work out for an hour a day and walk 10,000 steps a day. I also have been being careful with food (I have about 1200-1400 calories a day, and try to keep processed foods and carbs to a minimum).

Are you eating back at least part of your exercise calories earned?

kshama2001

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

What's wrong with carbs? Also you might not be eating enough.

@NicoleHaki how tall are you? 1200 calories is really only appropriate for very short women, or older sedentary women.

What percentage of the calories you earn from exercise are you eating back?

Unless you have a medical condition aggravated by carbs, there's no need to avoid them in order to lose weight. I personally did find it useful to reduce baked goods, but I am by no means low carb.

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ashliedelgado

When I was actively trying to lose weight, if I dipped below 1500 before exercise calories, I was crabby and tired. It didn't matter what the fuel was. I'd start with making sure your deficit is not too aggressive, and then if that isn't the problem, gurl let yourself have some carbs.

SueInAz

With your level of activity 1200-1400 calories is likely too low. Try adding 100 calories per day and see how you feel. If it's still not enough, add some more until you reach a level that gives you enough energy to get through your day.

Also, if you're keeping carbs very low starting recently, that could be another cause. Eating carbs replenishes the glycogen in your system that most people's bodies use for fuel. If you aren't eating carbs to replace what you're using you'll get tired, foggy, and maybe even headaches because you're low on glycogen. If you continued to eat very low carb for a week or more, your body would eventually switch to burning fat instead of glycogen and you'd start to feel better again. However, as soon as you ate more than around 20-40 grams of carbs you'd likely have to start all over again.

King786

Lets make something clear here...cals in vs out..if a plate if pasta fits your cal intake go for it...keto diet is not for everyone. However just cut your cabs instead of 2 sweet potatoes eat 1...the bowl of pasta half it...that way you hit your cal goal..lose weight and feel satisfied

cerise_noir

Anvil_Head wrote: »

All I know is that if I was eating in a way that made me miserable and irritable, I probably wouldn't last long on it. The best diet is the one you can stick to and enjoy as much as possible. No need to cut carbs or "eat clean" (which is a ridiculous, subjective phrase anyway).

Agreed.

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blueeyetea

NicoleHaki wrote: »

Could it be my body getting used to my cleaner, healthier diet? I would appreciate any tips on how I can get my energy up while eating clean!

I think so. Look up the keto or atkins flu. It's normal for the first week or two to hit a slump in energy when you remove refined carbs. Side effects can include symptoms like headaches, tiredness, irritability, and/or feel like you've been hit with a cold. Make sure you eat enough proteins and fats and drink lots of water. I'd also go easy on the exercise the first couple of days. If the cravings get too bad, ease into removing your carbs instead of quitting cold turkey, for example, instead of a slice of bread, eat a cracker or two with peanut butter.

King786

Noel_57 wrote: »

@King786 I agree with cutting your cabs. People should walk more!

Agreed. +no carbs for some is impossible. My body goes crazy..if i have no carbs my diet in two days time is out the window

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kgirlhart

Anvil_Head wrote: »

All I know is that if I was eating in a way that made me miserable and irritable, I probably wouldn't last long on it. The best diet is the one you can stick to and enjoy as much as possible. No need to cut carbs or "eat clean" (which is a ridiculous, subjective phrase anyway).

This. I would be miserable on a such a restrictive diet. No caffeine and no sugar? No thank you. My advice is eat foods you like and fit them into your calorie goal. If you are this miserable a month into this, how do you expect to sustain this way of eating? And if you are planning to "eat healthy" now and go back to your old way of eating after you lose the weight then you are setting yourself up for failure.

cwolfman13

There's nothing wrong with carbs...and there are tons of "clean", highly nutritious carbs...not eating carbs would make me miserable too.

RoxieDawn

Low on carbs for me makes me have that I get boozy fog head feeling, lethargic, fatigued, headache, you name it. My sweet spot is right the in middle..

If this bout lowering carbs find your sweet spot. If you are not eating enough, increase those calories some. No need to be completely miserable when trying to lose weight.

nosebag1212

Tried low carb before, hated it, constantly felt tired and sluggish

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

Anvil_Head wrote: »

All I know is that if I was eating in a way that made me miserable and irritable, I probably wouldn't last long on it. The best diet is the one you can stick to and enjoy as much as possible. No need to cut carbs or "eat clean" (which is a ridiculous, subjective phrase anyway).

All of this.

Losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle does not mean we have to eliminate the foods we love or demonize an entire macronutrient.

Eat what you like, just make sure you eat within your calories and that you're getting adequate fat/protein. Sure, it's a good idea to eat your veggies, but you can eat your veggies AND eat the foods you enjoy. Pretty much any food in moderation can be incorporated into an overall healthy diet.

And I agree with the other posters who say you may not be eating enough. I feel the way that you feel when I cut calories too drastically OR cut out too many carbs. I need carbs to feel energetic and satisfied, and I need adequate food to function.

Grey_1

Hi folks - I'm in the same boat, roughly, as the OP with some minor differences. I eat roughly 1800 cals a day, pretty much what I want be it steak or pizza, but I stay away from pastries, candy etc. I'm pretty active all week - have hit my weight goal of 176lbs after 3 or 4 months and feel twice as fit as when I started.

So all that is well and good, but here's the rub. I'm miserable when I'm hungry. Cranky and high strung. And I'm using "hungry" loosely here. There's no such thing any more. I'm either full or famished, no in between.

The tired that randomly hits is the worst part. I know there's a lot that goes into what a body needs for nutrients, and after lurking here a bit, there's a good amount of knowledge here that I hope can answer my (our) questions. I'm pretty certain my nutrient intake is lacking somewhere, I'm just clueless about what that might be.

So thanks for making the post OP - if you didn't I would have lol.

NicoleHaki

Hi all - thanks for all of the helpful comments! A few things:

1) I'm not cutting carbs that drastically! I looked at my MFP logs and it looks like I am having about 120g of carbs a day. But none of it comes from bread, pasta, cereal, rice, etc. - except for one piece of buckwheat bread that I eat (and thoroughly enjoy!) with my daily lunch salad. Does that seem too restrictive?

2) When I say "eating clean", all I'm really talking about is cutting out overprocessed foods. I used to eat frozen meals for dinner every night, and sometimes lunch too. Now I only eat frozen food every once in a while. I also try to make sure everything I eat has some nutritional value. Ex: my lunch today was over 500 calories, so not particularly a small lunch, but it was a salad so it's probably a lot healthier than having 500 calories worth of pizza or pasta.

3) I am a 5'4 female, around average weight. I envy all of the big tall men who can have 2,000+ calories a day! I think my calorie consumption is about right for me.

4) I am trying not to eat back the calories I burn working out. So MFP counts my steps and says I walk about 10,000 a day, but I don't know how reliable that is (for example, does it count steps while I am on the bus, or does it know I am on a bus? lol). So that's like 200-300 calories a day that I don't eat back (sometimes less). My daily workout is usually yoga, pilates or barre, and those things really don't burn much calories (maybe 150-300 an hour. I don't want to eat that back since it's already so little. Other days I do cardio, cycling, strength training or HIIT (for my body, that probably burns less than 500 an hour). When I do those workouts, I have closer to 1400-1500 calories a day.

5) A year ago I lost 20 lbs (around 1-2 lbs a week) by having 1200 calories a day and exercising (moderate intensity) for 30 minutes a day. I did not eat any of the calories back, because on days/weeks when I did, I maintained or even gained weight. So, I really don't believe that someone with my height and weight can create much of a calorie deficit while eating back calories consumed from exercise.

RoxieDawn

NicoleHaki wrote: »

Hi all - thanks for all of the helpful comments! A few things:

1) I'm not cutting carbs that drastically! I looked at my MFP logs and it looks like I am having about 120g of carbs a day. But none of it comes from bread, pasta, cereal, rice, etc. - except for one piece of buckwheat bread that I eat (and thoroughly enjoy!) with my daily lunch salad. Does that seem too restrictive?

2) When I say "eating clean", all I'm really talking about is cutting out overprocessed foods. I used to eat frozen meals for dinner every night, and sometimes lunch too. Now I only eat frozen food every once in a while. I also try to make sure everything I eat has some nutritional value. Ex: my lunch today was over 500 calories, so not particularly a small lunch, but it was a salad so it's probably a lot healthier than having 500 calories worth of pizza or pasta.

3) I am a 5'4 female, around average weight. I envy all of the big tall men who can have 2,000+ calories a day! I think my calorie consumption is about right for me.

4) I am trying not to eat back the calories I burn working out. So MFP counts my steps and says I walk about 10,000 a day, but I don't know how reliable that is (for example, does it count steps while I am on the bus, or does it know I am on a bus? lol). So that's like 200-300 calories a day that I don't eat back (sometimes less). My daily workout is usually yoga, pilates or barre, and those things really don't burn much calories (maybe 150-300 an hour. I don't want to eat that back since it's already so little. Other days I do cardio, cycling, strength training or HIIT (for my body, that probably burns less than 500 an hour). When I do those workouts, I have closer to 1400-1500 calories a day.

5) A year ago I lost 20 lbs (around 1-2 lbs a week) by having 1200 calories a day and exercising (moderate intensity) for 30 minutes a day. I did not eat any of the calories back, because on days/weeks when I did, I maintained or even gained weight. So, I really don't believe that someone with my height and weight can create much of a calorie deficit while eating back calories consumed from exercise.

1) The 120 may be too low..

2) By eliminating those processed foods, you are now limiting sodium, perhaps sugars and a whole host of things in your diet that were getting before. Overtime I would think you would feel better with the food choices you are making now.

3) Eat back some of those exercise calories, you need energy to burn energy..

What is your current weight and how many pounds are you setup to lose each week? Also your weight loss can be different than it was when you lost before. A lot of things can be different, like you are year older, sleeping habits, stress level, the amount you move can be less or more than before, etc... etc..

kgirlhart

I would look at your protien intake and then your fat and make sure you are getting adequate amounts of these two. And you should be eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories.

lemurcat12

cwolfman13 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with carbs...and there are tons of "clean", highly nutritious carbs...not eating carbs would make me miserable too.

This.

lemurcat12

NicoleHaki wrote: »

Hi all - thanks for all of the helpful comments! A few things:

1) I'm not cutting carbs that drastically! I looked at my MFP logs and it looks like I am having about 120g of carbs a day. But none of it comes from bread, pasta, cereal, rice, etc. - except for one piece of buckwheat bread that I eat (and thoroughly enjoy!) with my daily lunch salad. Does that seem too restrictive?

2) When I say "eating clean", all I'm really talking about is cutting out overprocessed foods. I used to eat frozen meals for dinner every night, and sometimes lunch too. Now I only eat frozen food every once in a while. I also try to make sure everything I eat has some nutritional value. Ex: my lunch today was over 500 calories, so not particularly a small lunch, but it was a salad so it's probably a lot healthier than having 500 calories worth of pizza or pasta.

3) I am a 5'4 female, around average weight. I envy all of the big tall men who can have 2,000+ calories a day! I think my calorie consumption is about right for me.

4) I am trying not to eat back the calories I burn working out. So MFP counts my steps and says I walk about 10,000 a day, but I don't know how reliable that is (for example, does it count steps while I am on the bus, or does it know I am on a bus? lol). So that's like 200-300 calories a day that I don't eat back (sometimes less). My daily workout is usually yoga, pilates or barre, and those things really don't burn much calories (maybe 150-300 an hour. I don't want to eat that back since it's already so little. Other days I do cardio, cycling, strength training or HIIT (for my body, that probably burns less than 500 an hour). When I do those workouts, I have closer to 1400-1500 calories a day.

5) A year ago I lost 20 lbs (around 1-2 lbs a week) by having 1200 calories a day and exercising (moderate intensity) for 30 minutes a day. I did not eat any of the calories back, because on days/weeks when I did, I maintained or even gained weight. So, I really don't believe that someone with my height and weight can create much of a calorie deficit while eating back calories consumed from exercise.

This is helpful. My guess is that you are eating too little -- when you are closer to goal you often don't want to cut as deeply, and 1200-1400 with the activity you describe is not much. If you really don't want to eat back some calories, go to a TDEE calculator and get an estimate based on activity. (I agree that exercise calories can be overstated on MFP, but an alternative approach is to eat half.) I am 5'3 (so shorter than you, most certainly older although I didn't check your age, and about 125 currently) and I lost lots of weight figuring in workout calories one of these ways. If you were losing 1-2 lbs/week with 1200 and 30 minutes of exercise (and maybe less walking), you can certainly lose on more than that or by adding in some of the exercise (more, it seems) you are doing now. And you will do it more sustainably and in a way that best maintains muscle and keeps you energetic enough to make fitness improvements, which is what matters most if you are already of a healthy weight.

I don't think 120 g is that low (although more is fine too -- I did 40% when on lower calories), but if you are feeling strong cravings for favorite foods, you might want to add more in so you can fit them in. Having some bread or pasta isn't "unclean" or bad for weight loss. I eat lots of pasta since it's such an easy base for a healthful dinner (I use lots of vegetables and lean meat or some other lean protein when making a sauce, and some olive oil), and it's never been a problem -- I find it filling too. Same with things like roasted potatoes and beans. (I don't eat a ton of bread since it's not all that filling for me and not a personal favorite food, but if it were I'd fit it in.)

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

NicoleHaki wrote: »

Hi all - thanks for all of the helpful comments! A few things:



3) I am a 5'4 female, around average weight. I envy all of the big tall men who can have 2,000+ calories a day! I think my calorie consumption is about right for me.

4) I am trying not to eat back the calories I burn working out. So MFP counts my steps and says I walk about 10,000 a day, but I don't know how reliable that is (for example, does it count steps while I am on the bus, or does it know I am on a bus? lol). So that's like 200-300 calories a day that I don't eat back (sometimes less). My daily workout is usually yoga, pilates or barre, and those things really don't burn much calories (maybe 150-300 an hour. I don't want to eat that back since it's already so little. Other days I do cardio, cycling, strength training or HIIT (for my body, that probably burns less than 500 an hour). When I do those workouts, I have closer to 1400-1500 calories a day.

I just want to address these two things:

I am also a 5'4 female and am losing weight eating 1500-1800 calories per day depending on my activity level.

Your FitBit or other activity tracker will be able to tell that you're on a bus. However, it may count other things you do as "steps" that aren't exactly "steps". The important thing to realize that even if you did not walk 10,000 straight steps that day, you were probably still pretty active on a day when your activity tracker logged that many steps.