"Unhealthy" diet?
Replies
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Those sound more like symptoms of undereating.0
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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...
I think the huge debate on this site is it really does not matter what KIND of food you eat as long as you stay under your caloric intake proposed for weight loss
No, not really.
The point is made that it doesn't prevent weight loss, which depends on calories.
Pretty much everyone seems to agree that a healthy diet may be relevant to health.
That said, I don't get the sense (although I'm a bit confused) that OP is eating a terribly unhealthy diet (vegetables have low calories, so why would one cut them out when cutting calories), and it does sound as if she was eating low cal for a while and menstrual issues and hair loss are classically related to low cals and low fat. I would have it checked out and explain I was dieting.
I will note that being uncomfortable eating at maintenance for a bit plus those symptoms DOES make me wonder if you were overdoing the dieting, OP.3 -
fitoverfortymom wrote: »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
Yeah I know this is silly... Otherwise thank you for your answer!
It might be helpful to work with a mental health professional on your disordered eating.
Alright I know that my comment sounded like I have ED but I really don't. I know that I could eat a bit more according to these numbers but I really don't trust what FitBit tells me on how much cals I burn, so I rather set a small deficit than to eat more than I really need. I already don't see the scale move since I set the 250 cal deficit, so technically it already feels like I'm at maintenance.
I don't see ED anywhere based on what you are posting. But things are not working as they should so with small losses precision in what we do for adherence has little wiggle room. That said, small losses will appear to be happening very slowly. If you are eating 1600-1700 (including exercise calories back) then somewhere between exercise cals and your calorie intake logging you may be keeping yourself in and out of a deficit.
With loss of period and side effects you are having, hormonal balance is key through nutrition and the right amount of exercise. Of course any time things of this nature are happening seeing your doctor for some blood work and lab testing should be something you should consider.
Can you open your diary?
Your diary looks good. I am going out on a limb and say you are eating back too many exercise calories. The method in which we get our burns through wrist devices/trackers, online calculators, etc. they are not exacts. You are eating closer to 1800 except some larger days I saw at 1980, etc.
I would start with 75% and work down to about 50% and see if this makes a difference.
eta: I would see if you could get closer to 100-110 protein. Protein is good for our skin/hair/bones and you need it for the amount of exercise you are doing. See if you can swap some fat for a little more protein.
Thank you, I will try to follow your advice!
Respectfully, and I say this as someone who generally more than agrees with the sound advice @RoxieDawn gives in her posts, I disagree.
You are currently showing signs that you have gone through a period of under-eating that has affected you hormones. You don't fix that by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
If your symptoms were not caused by under-eating they were caused by a different hormonal issue that again would be hardly aided by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
The fact that the majority of people are "healthy" at a normal BMI doesn't mean that a single particular individual (redundant much :lol) is equally healthy at both bmi 18.5 and 25.
A single picture does not tell the whole story, but your avatar sure as **kittens** does not scream: "oh my **kittens** she needs to lose weight". Your further aesthetic and physique goals may be accomplished in ways other than by losing weight; but, in any case, your body is already screaming that what you have done so far was unhealthy. So I don't agree that continuing along the same path, albeit at a slower pace, and without first fixing the problem is the right response.
When you evaluate the possible reasons as to why someone would lose their hair and menses and you consider things such as calories vs quality of food, the chances are overwhelmingly high (when it comes to someone who has adequate access to a variety of food and is not marooned on a barren desert island) that this has to do with the calories they haven't consumed and not with the excess Twinkies they eat.
When you are at a small deficit you will NOT SEE RESULTS when you look at your day to day weight. You will only see results by looking at your weight trend over time. Libra Android, Happy Scale iphone, Trendweight.com (needs freely available without a device fitbit.com account or supported scale to enter data)/weightgrapher.com
Your body needs to repair the damage that has been done to it.
You lose weight when you're below TDEE. The men in the Minnesota Semi-Starvation experiment (including the guy who chopped off his hand) were eating 1500 Cal a day. The amount you eat, by itself, does not determine your deficit.
Advice is go to doctor and ask for appointment with endocrinologist to deal with menses and other symptoms.
In the meanwhile and as a first reaction while waiting for the appointment eat at maintenance+ [which would be verified by a slightly upward trend in trending weight (and by slight I mean slight, like 100 Cal a day over a period of weeks)]. Doctor may well suggest a much higher caloric intake and a cessation of exercise.
Deal with the symptoms you have and get healthy first.
Once you're back to being healthy and your doctor agrees, look into straight recomp or, in any case, no more than 250 Cal deficits (this last one being what you're doing now).
In the meanwhile you may want to look into female (athlete) triad and recovery see if it strikes a chord.8 -
fitoverfortymom wrote: »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 Yeah I know this is silly... Otherwise thank you for your answer!
It might be helpful to work with a mental health professional on your disordered eating.
Alright I know that my comment sounded like I have ED but I really don't. I know that I could eat a bit more according to these numbers but I really don't trust what FitBit tells me on how much cals I burn, so I rather set a small deficit than to eat more than I really need. I already don't see the scale move since I set the 250 cal deficit, so technically it already feels like I'm at maintenance.
I don't see ED anywhere based on what you are posting. But things are not working as they should so with small losses precision in what we do for adherence has little wiggle room. That said, small losses will appear to be happening very slowly. If you are eating 1600-1700 (including exercise calories back) then somewhere between exercise cals and your calorie intake logging you may be keeping yourself in and out of a deficit.
With loss of period and side effects you are having, hormonal balance is key through nutrition and the right amount of exercise. Of course any time things of this nature are happening seeing your doctor for some blood work and lab testing should be something you should consider.
Can you open your diary?
Your diary looks good. I am going out on a limb and say you are eating back too many exercise calories. The method in which we get our burns through wrist devices/trackers, online calculators, etc. they are not exacts. You are eating closer to 1800 except some larger days I saw at 1980, etc.
I would start with 75% and work down to about 50% and see if this makes a difference.
eta: I would see if you could get closer to 100-110 protein. Protein is good for our skin/hair/bones and you need it for the amount of exercise you are doing. See if you can swap some fat for a little more protein.
Thank you, I will try to follow your advice!
Respectfully, and I say this as someone who generally more than agrees with the sound advice @RoxieDawn gives in her posts, I disagree.
You are currently showing signs that you have gone through a period of under-eating that has affected you hormones. You don't fix that by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
If your symptoms were not caused by under-eating they were caused by a different hormonal issue that again would be hardly aided by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
The fact that the majority of people are "healthy" at a normal BMI doesn't mean that a single particular individual (redundant much :lol) is equally healthy at both bmi 18.5 and 25.
A single picture does not tell the whole story, but your avatar sure as **kittens** does not scream: "oh my **kittens** she needs to lose weight". Your further aesthetic and physique goals may be accomplished in ways other than by losing weight; but, in any case, your body is already screaming that what you have done so far was unhealthy. So I don't agree that continuing along the same path, albeit at a slower pace, and without first fixing the problem is the right response.
When you evaluate the possible reasons as to why someone would lose their hair and menses and you consider things such as calories vs quality of food, the chances are overwhelmingly high (when it comes to someone who has adequate access to a variety of food and is not marooned on a barren desert island) that this has to do with the calories they haven't consumed and not with the excess Twinkies they eat.
When you are at a small deficit you will NOT SEE RESULTS when you look at your day to day weight. You will only see results by looking at your weight trend over time. Libra Android, Happy Scale iphone, Trendweight.com (needs freely available without a device fitbit.com account or supported scale to enter data)/weightgrapher.com
Your body needs to repair the damage that has been done to it.
You lose weight when you're below TDEE. The men in the Minnesota Semi-Starvation experiment (including the guy who chopped off his hand) were eating 1500 Cal a day. The amount you eat, by itself, does not determine your deficit.
Advice is go to doctor and ask for appointment with endocrinologist to deal with menses and other symptoms.
In the meanwhile and as a first reaction while waiting for the appointment eat at maintenance+ [which would be verified by a slightly upward trend in trending weight (and by slight I mean slight, like 100 Cal a day over a period of weeks)]. Doctor may well suggest a much higher caloric intake and a cessation of exercise.
Deal with the symptoms you have and get healthy first.
Once you're back to being healthy and your doctor agrees, look into straight recomp or, in any case, no more than 250 Cal deficits (this last one being what you're doing now).
In the meanwhile you may want to look into female (athlete) triad and recovery see if it strikes a chord.
Respectfully, I will always admit if I am or can be wrong.
I may have missed some context in some of the posts made, I would never ever encourage someone to get leaner in body fat levels, under eat or do something completely opposite of what should done to take care of health and wellness first.
I will also be the first to say if a women fits the athletic triad, no dieting and cessation of exercise (or at least limiting anything high impact) would be my recommendation always.
Hopefully, OP will take to heart that seeing a doctor both her gyn and getting referred to endocrinologists specialized in handling amenorrhea is in her best interest and she receives the best strategy for proper dieting an exercise as she recovers.4 -
fitoverfortymom wrote: »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 Yeah I know this is silly... Otherwise thank you for your answer!
It might be helpful to work with a mental health professional on your disordered eating.
Alright I know that my comment sounded like I have ED but I really don't. I know that I could eat a bit more according to these numbers but I really don't trust what FitBit tells me on how much cals I burn, so I rather set a small deficit than to eat more than I really need. I already don't see the scale move since I set the 250 cal deficit, so technically it already feels like I'm at maintenance.
I don't see ED anywhere based on what you are posting. But things are not working as they should so with small losses precision in what we do for adherence has little wiggle room. That said, small losses will appear to be happening very slowly. If you are eating 1600-1700 (including exercise calories back) then somewhere between exercise cals and your calorie intake logging you may be keeping yourself in and out of a deficit.
With loss of period and side effects you are having, hormonal balance is key through nutrition and the right amount of exercise. Of course any time things of this nature are happening seeing your doctor for some blood work and lab testing should be something you should consider.
Can you open your diary?
Your diary looks good. I am going out on a limb and say you are eating back too many exercise calories. The method in which we get our burns through wrist devices/trackers, online calculators, etc. they are not exacts. You are eating closer to 1800 except some larger days I saw at 1980, etc.
I would start with 75% and work down to about 50% and see if this makes a difference.
eta: I would see if you could get closer to 100-110 protein. Protein is good for our skin/hair/bones and you need it for the amount of exercise you are doing. See if you can swap some fat for a little more protein.
Thank you, I will try to follow your advice!
Respectfully, and I say this as someone who generally more than agrees with the sound advice @RoxieDawn gives in her posts, I disagree.
You are currently showing signs that you have gone through a period of under-eating that has affected you hormones. You don't fix that by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
If your symptoms were not caused by under-eating they were caused by a different hormonal issue that again would be hardly aided by continuing to eat at a deliberate deficit.
The fact that the majority of people are "healthy" at a normal BMI doesn't mean that a single particular individual (redundant much :lol) is equally healthy at both bmi 18.5 and 25.
A single picture does not tell the whole story, but your avatar sure as **kittens** does not scream: "oh my **kittens** she needs to lose weight". Your further aesthetic and physique goals may be accomplished in ways other than by losing weight; but, in any case, your body is already screaming that what you have done so far was unhealthy. So I don't agree that continuing along the same path, albeit at a slower pace, and without first fixing the problem is the right response.
When you evaluate the possible reasons as to why someone would lose their hair and menses and you consider things such as calories vs quality of food, the chances are overwhelmingly high (when it comes to someone who has adequate access to a variety of food and is not marooned on a barren desert island) that this has to do with the calories they haven't consumed and not with the excess Twinkies they eat.
When you are at a small deficit you will NOT SEE RESULTS when you look at your day to day weight. You will only see results by looking at your weight trend over time. Libra Android, Happy Scale iphone, Trendweight.com (needs freely available without a device fitbit.com account or supported scale to enter data)/weightgrapher.com
Your body needs to repair the damage that has been done to it.
You lose weight when you're below TDEE. The men in the Minnesota Semi-Starvation experiment (including the guy who chopped off his hand) were eating 1500 Cal a day. The amount you eat, by itself, does not determine your deficit.
Advice is go to doctor and ask for appointment with endocrinologist to deal with menses and other symptoms.
In the meanwhile and as a first reaction while waiting for the appointment eat at maintenance+ [which would be verified by a slightly upward trend in trending weight (and by slight I mean slight, like 100 Cal a day over a period of weeks)]. Doctor may well suggest a much higher caloric intake and a cessation of exercise.
Deal with the symptoms you have and get healthy first.
Once you're back to being healthy and your doctor agrees, look into straight recomp or, in any case, no more than 250 Cal deficits (this last one being what you're doing now).
In the meanwhile you may want to look into female (athlete) triad and recovery see if it strikes a chord.
Respectfully, I will always admit if I am or can be wrong.
I may have missed some context in some of the posts made, I would never ever encourage someone to get leaner in body fat levels, under eat or do something completely opposite of what should done to take care of health and wellness first.
I will also be the first to say if a women fits the athletic triad, no dieting and cessation of exercise (or at least limiting anything high impact) would be my recommendation always.
Hopefully, OP will take to heart that seeing a doctor both her gyn and getting referred to endocrinologists specialized in handling amenorrhea is in her best interest and she receives the best strategy for proper dieting an exercise as she recovers.
eeek @RoxieDawn ! It may well be *I* who "small feline*d up! OP actually said "period never on time" not "stopped", and I wrote my previous post on the basis of "stopped". So I may well be over-reacting a bit!2 -
I had a look at your diary and it doesn't look very unhealthy to me. If yours is unhealthy then mine must be abysmal
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777Gemma888 wrote: »I'm going to assume you're in the UK because of your choice of metric system.
From what you've shared, I'm in agreement that your thyroid and your unintentional undereating are possible reasons behind your exhibited symptoms.
If you are indeed in the UK, you need to make an appointment with the GP you're registered with under NHS and request with him/her to write a letter of referral for you to see an Endocrinologist. A specialist WILL NOT see you without a referral.
ETA:. You may request an appointment with a Nutritionist too to ascertain if your diet is as on point as you may think. An appointment with an Eating Disorder Specialist??
Sorry to hijack the thread but the educator in me just had to come out. I find this assumption quite comical. Why? The US is one of the few countries that does not use metric!4 -
As a Canadian I gotta say, when it comes to the metric system, we're hybrid. Many of us track our weight and height in inches and pounds, though the medical records will be translated in to metric. We track our speed in KMs per hour, even though prairie roads are spaced a convenient one mile apart. It is much easier to weigh and track our food in grams.
I always end up translating US temperatures to Celsius, and diabetes readings to mml/ol.2
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