I feel terrible when I diet! Help!
hendrijm
Posts: 27 Member
I have tried to diet several times, and have a horrible time sticking to anything for over a month. I do lose weight when I cut the calories low enough, but I feel absolutely dreadful. I'm not able to function in my day to day life. I'm exhausted, I can't think clearly, and can't seem to get enough sleep even though it is 8+ a night. I will even start cycling even though I skip the sugar pills in the birth control I take. I have endometriosis, so that is terrifying. I have stuck to it for three weeks, about a month ago, but the misery didn't abate at all. I made sure I was drinking a lot of water. I'm not sure what to do and the doctors don't really tell me anything either. I'm searching for new doctors, but it takes a lot of time. I also have Hashimotos. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? How long am I supposed to feel like this before I actually start feeling human again?
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Replies
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How many calories do you eat when you try to diet? Do you still eat a balanced diet or are there foods you cut out? What are your height and weight?2
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Hmmmm it sounds like you are eating too few calories. How many calories are you consuming each day and are you getting enough protein?1
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Sounds like you may have cut too many calories?0
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A lot of what you describe happens when the calories are too low. You might have to settle for a lower rate if loss so you don’t feel so bad.3
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Never diet! It's putting an imaginary pressure on yourself and you shouldn't feel sluggish, moreover you should be feeling energised and healthier! What type of restriction are you doing and what types of food are you eating? I'd just say eat when you're hungry, fill up on whole foods - veggies, fruit, beans and lentils etc. and make sure you're looking after YOU! The way you feel is more important than how you look14
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I agree with the others who say that it sounds like you're cutting your calories too low. Are you also restricting food groups?1
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I cut calories down to 1200. I'm 5'0 and 203. I only lose 1, 2, or 3 pounds a week. I'm not cutting food groups, if I bring the calories up to 1600, I stop losing weight, but I feel a lot better. I'm not sedentary, I teach and I'm on my feel all day and I usually take 12,000 steps a day.1
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I won't do a bunch of carbs, I'll stick to whole instead of processed sources.2
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I cut calories down to 1200. I'm 5'0 and 203. I only lose 1, 2, or 3 pounds a week. I'm not cutting food groups, if I bring the calories up to 1600, I stop losing weight, but I feel a lot better. I'm not sedentary, I teach and I'm on my feel all day and I usually take 12,000 steps a day.
How long do you stick with 1600? You might experience a little water retention when you first increase from 1200 to 1600. You need to be patient. Your expectations are excessive if you say you "only" lost 1, 2, or 3 pounds a week. One pound a week is fine. Two pounds a week might be OK for a little while at your current weight. Three pounds a week is excessive, especially if we're talking about losing that much for multiple weeks in a row.11 -
1200 calories is too low for you, especially as a teacher. I just started a new job on my feet and after one day I had to adjust my calories some because I kept feeling faint. If 1600 is too many, but you are sometimes losing 3 lbs per week on 1200, why not try 1400?
Another consideration would be how long did you try the 1600 calorie level before concluding that you stopped losing weight? Hormonal fluctuations can easily mask weight loss for 1-3 weeks.6 -
Eat at 1550 a day and make sure you feel good. Be patient.2
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I have tried to diet several times, and have a horrible time sticking to anything for over a month. I do lose weight when I cut the calories low enough, but I feel absolutely dreadful. I'm not able to function in my day to day life. I'm exhausted, I can't think clearly, and can't seem to get enough sleep even though it is 8+ a night. I will even start cycling even though I skip the sugar pills in the birth control I take. I have endometriosis, so that is terrifying. I have stuck to it for three weeks, about a month ago, but the misery didn't abate at all. I made sure I was drinking a lot of water. I'm not sure what to do and the doctors don't really tell me anything either. I'm searching for new doctors, but it takes a lot of time. I also have Hashimotos. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? How long am I supposed to feel like this before I actually start feeling human again?
Have you considered cutting calories but not by as much as you have in the past? Even a modest deficit of 250 calories a day will result in weight loss over time. If you eat at a small deficit you will feel completely normal. If you achieve the deficit by keeping your meal routine the same but just making very slight adjustments (like higher protein lower fat or higher protein lower carb) just to establish that small deficit it can actually be really easy to lose weight with minimal effort.
It sounds to me like your problem is you go to hard, you go extreme...you think I can't maintain this so I will go as hard and as fast as I can to make progress in the minimal time I have before I quit. Try something different. Try going slow.
ETA: Saw later that you posted you aimed for 1200 calories a day. That is extremely low and unnecessary to do, I am not surprised you struggled.3 -
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why don't you try losing 1/2 lb/week? how many calories would that give you? You have to find a balance that you can stick to4
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When you were dieting were you actually using MFP or on some other kind of diet/s? How much of a deficit were you on? You may want to start at 250 calorie deficit/day and work up as your body adjusts. Also, don't make dramatic changes in your foods all at once. A healthy diet should have a balance of good, wholesome foods and some of the goodies you like as well. You shouldn't feel that hungry most of the time and certainly not weak. You need to train yourself to eat right for life, not suffer through a period of misery only to return to old ways. Also, add in exercise slowly. It can be a burn-out factor especially with thyroid issues. Walking, low impact aerobics, yoga or Pilates are good to start with for people with low metabolisms like with Hashimoto's. What are your statistics and if you have a diary going you might want to open it for others to review for suggestions.1
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I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.4
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I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.
Except she is a teacher and she is on her feet all day, she isn't sedentary.4 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.
Except she is a teacher and she is on her feet all day, she isn't sedentary.
All the more reason why she shouldn't limit herself to 1200 calories! Not enough to fuel her lifestyle even without adding purposeful exercise. I tried 1200 (after my calorie intake kept going down of MFP since I was losing lbs.) for a few days, and I had to change it. It was just not enough food. I'm a bit taller than her 5'4'' but close to her weight at 208.0 -
I have hashimotos and have found that combining exercise and calorie reduction works the best. I simply walk a modest amount every day but it adds up over a week. I also find lifting weights to help.
I’m a live sound engineer so on gig days, like yourself, my job provides lots of exercise. I still go to the gym on gig days but I pay really close attention to my body and err on the side of not over doing it. I’m actually at a show right now and came here straight from the gym. So add some extra exercise on work days but moderate it so it makes sense. Cut back on days you have a field trip, increase it on testing days.
Overall it sounds like you’re trying to do too much too fast. Make a change that will have an impact and stick with that one change for a month then keep that one and add another.0 -
Fellow teacher here...I'm 5'2.5 and currently weigh 124lbs...I lose at 1400-1500 calories easily. We do get a lot of steps in our days...no reason to go so low with your calories, be kinder to yourself
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Thanks for all the help! I will try 1550 for a while and see if that helps. I haven't been good at keeping a journal updated here. I know I'll feel better at the higher calorie level.2
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Hendrijim, if you still struggle on 1550, try lowering to that over a few weeks rather than just dropping to it in one go.
I have a medical condition that can affect me physically and mentally, and so can't survive on anything lower than 1200, which is fine going on non-sports days. I sit on my backside at work but do intense exercise 5-6 days a week and easy exercise 1-2 days a week.
But to get to 1200 from my usual intake I have to lower by 100-200 calories a week, so my body can adjust to the reduced calories over time.
As you are so active during the day, it might make it easier to lower to your desired calorie intake in manageable increments.
I make it easy for myself by setting up my 'diet' before I start, I drop snacks or main meal additions, so that I know how much less I'm eating just by not having it the next week. I also swap things out for the same effect, banana-egg pancakes instead of flour-based, cauliflower-rice instead of rice etc.0 -
Thanks for all the help! I will try 1550 for a while and see if that helps. I haven't been good at keeping a journal updated here. I know I'll feel better at the higher calorie level.
just as a note as well...2 or 3 lbs a week is a bit much..1lb is a good rate of loss.
"I only lose 1, 2, or 3 pounds a week"
just be patient...you didn't gain it all in a month...you won't lose it all.
As well stop thinking of this as a "diet" which has an end point. Move your thoughts to changing how you view food and what it is for.
Food is fuel for your movement, exercise etc. If you eat too much (just like putting gas in the car) it spills out and is of no use...if you don't get enough you get sluggish and stop.
log your intake accurately and consistently...using a food scale and notice how you feel if you eat certain types of foods like protein will help you feel fuller longer...fats are satisfying...try drinking water instead of snackign to make sure you are hungry etc.2 -
Dieting is a long journey. Pick a pace you can realistically finish with.0
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I have endometriosis too! I had stage 4 when i was 16. Just had a hysyerectomy in June that is helping. (even though it's not a cure for it). I tried for years to diet and I felt sick too. Now i eat 1870 calories a day. Sometimes a little less. And I've lost a couple pounds already. Some days when I get a flare up and feel sick I'll just make sure i eat healthy and not count calories. Slow and steady!1
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You're probably eating more than you think.0
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