"Unhealthy" diet?

hippiesaur
hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys!
I noticed some health issues recently since I'm counting calories for weight loss. I'm suffering from hair loss, my period is never on time, I'm bloating every night, and I have trouble with falling asleep as well. My energy level is so low every day that I can't survive without coffee, however I was happy without it for weeks before. All this happens since I started to count my calorie intake.
In the beginning of my weightloss journey I didn't pay attention to calories, only the quality of my foods, so I started to eat stuff considered "healthy", lot of veggies, fruits, and avoided cookies, chips and other "unhealthy" snacks. I started to exercise for 30 mins/day, and I'm in love with fitness since then. I was feeling very good after losing 12-14 kgs (my SW was 76,6 kg, I'm 167 cm). However I felt really healthy, I maintained my weight for 1 year, but I wanted to lose some more weight (another 5-6 kgs) because I looked a bit chubby. So I got a FitBit in Dec 2017, to track my calories out and started to track calories in with their app as well. I didn't have a food scale at the time and I had no clue of how to set my deficit, so I aimed to lose 0,5 kg/week. I was really happy with my results, the weightloss started again though I ate the things I enjoy without eliminating anything from my diet.
About 1,5-2 months ago I discovered MFP, I read a lot of discussions about weightloss and stuff. I got a food scale a few weeks ago and I realised that without a food scale I was really overestimating how much I eat, and it turned out that I could have eaten a lot more than I actually did. So my CW is 59,5-60 kg, I have set a 250 cal deficit, I just want to lose another 1-2 kgs (after that I would go for recomping), but I feel like my body really doesn't like the way I'm doing it right now. Currently I eat everything I like but I try not to go over my calorie goal, so I eat a lot more "unhealthy" stuff since I started CICO.
Is it possible that my diet caused the health problems, or is it because of those 2 months I was a bit undereating? I really want to fix these things, but I don't know where did I go wrong...
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Replies

  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    Severe undereating can cause issues like hair loss and irregular TOM. I think too little protein or fat can cause things like hair loss. Me personally I'd go see my dr in case something's cropped up, but I'm also curious to know how much fat and protein you're eating, and what your current calorie intake is. Maybe something there could hold a clue.

    My calorie goal is 1410 atm, but I eat all my exercise calories back, so it's 1600-1700 most days. I set my macros to 50C/25P/25F, so it's around 40 g fat, 90 g protein. I always eat over my fat goal though, and rarely hit my protein goal, but I always eat around 70-80 g.
  • jefamer2017
    jefamer2017 Posts: 416 Member
    See a doctor. Hair loss can be caused by many things. I was losing hair 2 years ago from stress. I quit my job and went back to my old job. My hair is much healthier now. Thyroid problems can also cause hair loss. Bottom line make an appointment with your doctor and have some blood drawn to see if you have any deficiencies or thyroid issues. Nutrition is important.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    How tall are you?
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    How tall are you?

    167 cm, ~5'6"
  • amfmmama
    amfmmama Posts: 1,420 Member
    I would also see a dr. Could be thyroid related. In my case, since starting, my hairdresser has noted that my hair is super healthy and growing super fast. I am not the healthiest eater, but I am eating much healthier then I was.
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    What @MichelleSilverleaf said and also you are pretty in the middle of a healthy weight range already. So yes, your symptoms were probably as a result of undereating, but if you are aiming to be leaner, a weight loss rate of even less than .5lb per week (which what I believe the 250 cal deficit is) would be more appropriate.

    I'm not a doctor, but your health problems were more than likely due to undereating in general, and not the substance of what you did eat.

    What might also be helpful is to take a diet break and eat at maintenance levels for a few weeks and re-evaluate at that point.

    Yeah well I think I'm mentally still not ready to go eat more because I still freak out when the scale shows a higher number. Since I eat at a 250 cal deficit with weighing everything I eat, the scale hardly moves and I'm so disappointed every morning :D Yeah I know this is silly... Otherwise thank you for your answer!
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    amfmmama wrote: »
    I would also see a dr. Could be thyroid related. In my case, since starting, my hairdresser has noted that my hair is super healthy and growing super fast. I am not the healthiest eater, but I am eating much healthier then I was.

    I had such a healthy hair when I first started to change my diet. Can you develop thyroid problems with undereating? :/
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
    When you're already in a healthy range, you'll seldom see the scale move. You just don't have the fat stores to lose anymore. You might also want to think of recomp if you're not happy with body shape, that can help you change things to a certain extent. You need to go into maintenance eventually, think of food as fuel if nothing else. You wouldn't overfill your gas tank, but you'd still make sure there was enough gas for your car to run right?
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    You mention fruits and veggies, but how are your proteins and fats?
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    You mention fruits and veggies, but how are your proteins and fats?

    Here is your answer:
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    Severe undereating can cause issues like hair loss and irregular TOM. I think too little protein or fat can cause things like hair loss. Me personally I'd go see my dr in case something's cropped up, but I'm also curious to know how much fat and protein you're eating, and what your current calorie intake is. Maybe something there could hold a clue.

    My calorie goal is 1410 atm, but I eat all my exercise calories back, so it's 1600-1700 most days. I set my macros to 50C/25P/25F, so it's around 40 g fat, 90 g protein. I always eat over my fat goal though, and rarely hit my protein goal, but I always eat around 70-80 g.

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