Headaches anyone?
janisseshirley
Posts: 50 Member
After losing some weight my daily calorie allowance has dropped. I noticed this week that I have started getting headaches. Has anyone experienced headaches while dieting. Mine seem to come before lunchtime and seem to dissapear once I have eaten.
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Replies
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What is your deficit and how much have you been losing a week?0
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Sounds like you just need to eat. Try reallocating your calories so you have a bigger breakfast or a mid-morning snack.2
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Right now my headaches are more related to seasonal allergies (not sure If that might be a factor for you).
If you're consistently getting headaches before lunch that resolve after eating, have you tried different meal timing or eating a more substantial breakfast/ different macro split for breakfast?1 -
You are losing to much a week. The absolute maximum one should lose a week is 2ibs. 2ibs is the maximum of you have more than 75ibs to lose. Less than that you should go for a maximum of 1ibs a week. If the body doesn't get enough food it will catabolise its own muscles. Also it will make you lose focus and gives headaches. I would advise to up your calories again and go for a less agressive weightloss goal. Don't forget to eat back your exercise calories.3
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Did you cut food your body may have become addicted to like caffeine, sugar, or wheat? Before I made my lifestyle cuts, I had horrible migraines and had no clue food was the culprit. After I made my changes, lighter headaches occurred... but only for about a month. Once the addiction released, the headaches disappeared. They're rare now and usually just stress-related.7
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Right now my headaches are more related to seasonal allergies (not sure If that might be a factor for you).
If you're consistently getting headaches before lunch that resolve after eating, have you tried different meal timing or eating a more substantial breakfast/ different macro split for breakfast?
Not seasonal headaches for me. Unfortunately I have a work schedule that fluxuates so much it has been hard for me to keep on a regular eating schedule.1 -
You are losing to much a week. The absolute maximum one should lose a week is 2ibs. 2ibs is the maximum of you have more than 75ibs to lose. Less than that you should go for a maximum of 1ibs a week. If the body doesn't get enough food it will catabolise its own muscles. Also it will make you lose focus and gives headaches. I would advise to up your calories again and go for a less agressive weightloss goal. Don't forget to eat back your exercise calories.
For the first 6 weeks I didn't lose anything. Then I changed my activity level settings and started exercising and when my calorie allowance changed then I began seeing a weight loss. How do I go about changing my calorie allowance again using the MFP calculations? Do I just set it for 1 pound a week? When I started out I had set it for 2 pounds a week with 4 days of exercise, but now I only seem to fit in 3 days.0 -
ladychris29 wrote: »Did you cut food your body may have become addicted to like caffeine, sugar, or wheat? Before I made my lifestyle cuts, I had horrible migraines and had no clue food was the culprit. After I made my changes, lighter headaches occurred... but only for about a month. Once the addiction released, the headaches disappeared. They're rare now and usually just stress-related.
Yes, cut out added sugars, sodas, and high calorie treats and bread except for multigrain bread. Oh yeah, no pasta. I am diabetic so I try to watch the carbs, but never experienced the headaches before even with my diabetes.1 -
janisseshirley wrote: »
It's not a question of when you eat your carbs or how you allocate the rest of your calories. If your headaches start when you haven't eaten in a while and stop when you eat, then it sounds likely that your blood sugar is dipping before lunch, and your lunch brings it back up. Try a snack between breakfast and lunch.1 -
The amount of exercise you TELL MFP you are going to do is irrelevant and does not get taken into account when you get your calories.
Your MFP calories are based on your activity level BEFORE any deliberate exercise including any you have said you are PLANNING to do. When you do your planned exercise you are supposed to add it in separately which increases the amount of calories you're supposed to eat.
You are losing at a faster than desirable rate. A rate of about 1lb a week sounds more like where you should be. Week to week rates are variable. That's why I often suggest that people use a weight trend application of web site and adjust based on their averages over weeks as opposed to days (especially pre-menopausal women who often experience water retention in relation to their cycle).
It sounds to me like you started with an aggressive goal, didn't see results, and added exercise till you started seeing visible results.
It is often true that from the "ground level" gradual results are difficult to see amongst normal water retention variations (hence the trending weight app suggestion).
First adjustment? Record your exercise separately and eat back at the very least 70% (that was 70, not 50) of your exercise calories back.
If that doesn't slow things down enough or if the headaches continue and seem to be related to lack of food (resolve once you eat), definitely eat more of the exercise calories and/or reduce the rate of loss from 2lbs to 1lb or 1.5lb.
Note that the less energy stores you have available for use, the smaller your targetted deficit should be.... so in the overweight or normal weight range 1lb per week would be a not insignificant deficit target.4 -
A salt deficiency can also cause headaches... I had the same issues and my Dr asked if I had backed way off of the salt I use. He then recommended a daily amount for me, and the headaches went away. Could be something to consider.1
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Try allocating a little more protein at breakfast. See if that makes a difference. With the lost weight you may be experiencing low blood sugar moments.
Also see if it is a dehydration headache. Try drinking a full glass of water and see if it goes away.
Maybe manually adjust your daily goal giving yourself another 100 calories a day.0 -
Some great advice from everyone. The first thing I do when I get a headache is to drink water as suggested above. I often find that does the trick.0
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A salt deficiency can also cause headaches... I had the same issues and my Dr asked if I had backed way off of the salt I use. He then recommended a daily amount for me, and the headaches went away. Could be something to consider.
I don't use any table salt at all, and I haven't for about 6 years now... Only use garlic salt or Lawrys Seasoned salt on my food.0 -
Try allocating a little more protein at breakfast. See if that makes a difference. With the lost weight you may be experiencing low blood sugar moments.
Also see if it is a dehydration headache. Try drinking a full glass of water and see if it goes away.
Maybe manually adjust your daily goal giving yourself another 100 calories a day.
Don't think it is dehydration, During the day I am allowed to have water at my work station and drink about 8 cups. I will try adding more protein at breakfast and see if it will help.0 -
janisseshirley wrote: »
Try drinking more water. Headaches are often from dehydration, so perhaps start there and see if that helps. Propel is also good if your electrolytes are off. Are you on a keto type eating plan?0 -
janisseshirley wrote: »ladychris29 wrote: »Did you cut food your body may have become addicted to like caffeine, sugar, or wheat? Before I made my lifestyle cuts, I had horrible migraines and had no clue food was the culprit. After I made my changes, lighter headaches occurred... but only for about a month. Once the addiction released, the headaches disappeared. They're rare now and usually just stress-related.
Yes, cut out added sugars, sodas, and high calorie treats and bread except for multigrain bread. Oh yeah, no pasta. I am diabetic so I try to watch the carbs, but never experienced the headaches before even with my diabetes.
I think it would be a good idea to see your dr. It could be a number of things that could be serious.0 -
janisseshirley wrote: »
Try drinking more water. Headaches are often from dehydration, so perhaps start there and see if that helps. Propel is also good if your electrolytes are off. Are you on a keto type eating plan?
I'm not on keto, just watching carbs since I am diabetic. I just saw the doctor and even after being on the diet for a month and a half my AC1 didn't change, so I am trying to limit myself on alot of things. I drink between 6-8 cups of water a day + decaf tea. Maybe I am trying to change to many things at once?
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I would go back up to about 1400 cal. Being Diabetic you may need to space your food a little differently and the extra calories will help you space it. caffeine and sugar are also headache triggers. I find if I space my meals too far apart I will also get a headache so I try to eat something every few hours. A 100 cal nutritious snack will work wonders.
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namelesshere wrote: »I would go back up to about 1400 cal. Being Diabetic you may need to space your food a little differently and the extra calories will help you space it. caffeine and sugar are also headache triggers. I find if I space my meals too far apart I will also get a headache so I try to eat something every few hours. A 100 cal nutritious snack will work wonders.
Unfortunately for me, I am not able to eat small portions every couple of hours because of my job. I went in to work today figuring I would do that, space them out but because we were busy I didn't get to take my break as scheduled so I ended up with another headache because my small meals were too far apart. No caffeine or sugar for me either, only natural sugar that is in the food itself.0 -
The macros digest at different rates so if you compose a meal like a maestro your blood sugars will stay relatively stable.
Fastest to digest are the carbs, but whey protein is even faster. Fiber slows them down.
Second fastest are the proteins.
Slowest are the fats.
Eggs are great because they are almost a perfect balance. Days I start with an egg, my blood sugars are solid as a rock.
Other foods that are naturally balanced with fat are avocado, all the nuts, and Edamame beans.
So try adding a little fat to your breakfast.0 -
Headaches for me mean I'm usually not eating or drinking enough.1
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