Vegetarian Troubles

samathes

I'm new to the vegetarian lifestyle as I started this year for my own personal interest. I do occasionally eat eggs and fish (pescatarian? lacto-ovo?) on the random occasion. I am currently experiencing a bit of fatigue. According to MFP, I'm getting most all the protein I need on a daily basis with no shortage of carbs. Is there something I should be doing differently? I'm not currently taking any supplements as I find they make my skin and hair oily.

Teabythesea_

I'm not a vegetarian but I do know that iron and B-12 deficiencies can cause fatigue. What does your overall calorie intake look like? That would be the first thing to look at. If you're consuming enough calories and the fatigue can be attributed to a deficiency of some kind you may have to learn to tolerate the oiliness for the sake of your energy levels. Of course it could be other things as well. Youd get more definite answers by having your levels checked by a doctor.

AnnPT77

I've been ovo-lacto veg for almost 45 years. I concur with the idea of asking your doctor to test for vitamin or mineral deficiencies, or hypothyroidism. Make sure your doctor knows you're vegetarian when deciding what to test.

Over-restricting calories will cause fatigue, as will (of course) insufficient sleep, or too-frequent HIIT-style or other very intense exercise.

If most of your protein is plant-sourced, you might want to consider either being careful that you're getting complete protein (through individual complete sources, by combining foods to complement, or by getting extra protein from diverse sources to create a bit of margin for error). I doubt protein is the fatigue problem, though.

I'd add that IME there seem to be a few people who just don't thrive on a vegetarian diet, though I don't know why (i.e., whether it's an inherent problem for certain people, vs. the ones I've known with problems were deficient in some way).

samathes

Thank you! I went to my doctor the other day and told her of my recent dietary changes. She said she wasn't planning to do labs on me despite this factor. I may find another doctor...

Panini911

samathes wrote: »

Thank you! I went to my doctor the other day and told her of my recent dietary changes. She said she wasn't planning to do labs on me despite this factor. I may find another doctor...

I had to really coax my doctor to run at least some bloodwork (they said they were no longer doing yearly bloodword, and only ran it if there was a concern). I mentionned being more tired and after a bit she agreed to send me for limited bloodwork.

and yes my B12 was low but not crazy low so she started with recommending B12 supplement and rechecking in 6months.

AnnPT77

samathes wrote: »

Thank you! I went to my doctor the other day and told her of my recent dietary changes. She said she wasn't planning to do labs on me despite this factor. I may find another doctor...

It's not that we need testing because we're vegetarian. It's that if we need testing for unexplained fatigue, there are things - like B12 - that meat-eaters are less likely to be deficient in, so it's possible that a different test panel would be appropriate.

apullum

What’s your height, activity level, and calorie goal? It’s far more common for us to see people here who are tired because they’re eating too few calories, rather than because they’re deficient in something.

If you’re new to being vegetarian and also still eating some animal products, it seems unlikely that you developed a B-12 deficiency that quickly unless your body has difficulty absorbing B-12.

Iron deficiencies are more common, but again, it seems unlikely that you developed one that quickly unless you already had low iron or anemia before you stopped eating meat.

kshama2001

samathes wrote: »

Thank you! I went to my doctor the other day and told her of my recent dietary changes. She said she wasn't planning to do labs on me despite this factor. I may find another doctor...

If you were very clear that you are experiencing fatigue and wanted to be tested for deficiencies that might be causing this, and she refused to do labs, do get another doctor.

However, you may need to be more clear and emphatic. I'd try this first.

I'm anemic and have crippling fatigue when I don't get enough iron. This did become a problem during the three years I was living in vegetarian yoga communities.

If your fatigue is indeed from low iron, you should be able to address this with diet and supplements while remaining a vegetarian, as you said "a bit fatigued" and not "crippling fatigue."

However, I do not recommend supplementing without getting regular bloodwork, as too much iron causes problems as well.

And of course, it may not be an iron deficiency at all, but B12, or iodine, or something else, hence the need for labs.

samathes

apullum wrote: »

What’s your height, activity level, and calorie goal? It’s far more common for us to see people here who are tired because they’re eating too few calories, rather than because they’re deficient in something.

If you’re new to being vegetarian and also still eating some animal products, it seems unlikely that you developed a B-12 deficiency that quickly unless your body has difficulty absorbing B-12.

Iron deficiencies are more common, but again, it seems unlikely that you developed one that quickly unless you already had low iron or anemia before you stopped eating meat.

Yes, it has been only a couple months, so I do agree that it's unlikely that I've become deficient in that short of time.

To answer some questions, I'm 5', 148 lbs and worked my way down from 180. I'm active anywhere from 3-5 days per week and take in an average of 1200 calories daily. It isn't but any means a crippling fatigue, but one where I could easily go to bed at 7:30.

I suppose one could associate these symptoms with stress and general fatigue from not getting enough sleep. I wouldn't doubt this might be the problem, but I was looking for some insight.

Teabythesea_

samathes wrote: »

apullum wrote: »

What’s your height, activity level, and calorie goal? It’s far more common for us to see people here who are tired because they’re eating too few calories, rather than because they’re deficient in something.

If you’re new to being vegetarian and also still eating some animal products, it seems unlikely that you developed a B-12 deficiency that quickly unless your body has difficulty absorbing B-12.

Iron deficiencies are more common, but again, it seems unlikely that you developed one that quickly unless you already had low iron or anemia before you stopped eating meat.

Yes, it has been only a couple months, so I do agree that it's unlikely that I've become deficient in that short of time.

To answer some questions, I'm 5', 148 lbs and worked my way down from 180. I'm active anywhere from 3-5 days per week and take in an average of 1200 calories daily. It isn't but any means a crippling fatigue, but one where I could easily go to bed at 7:30.

I suppose one could associate these symptoms with stress and general fatigue from not getting enough sleep. I wouldn't doubt this might be the problem, but I was looking for some insight.

How much more weight are you trying to lose? I'm assuming it's a relatively small amount in which case you should be aiming for a loss of 1lb or less a week. 1200 is the bare minimum and most people can lose just fine eating more. Are you eating back any excercise calories?

apullum

samathes wrote: »

apullum wrote: »

What’s your height, activity level, and calorie goal? It’s far more common for us to see people here who are tired because they’re eating too few calories, rather than because they’re deficient in something.

If you’re new to being vegetarian and also still eating some animal products, it seems unlikely that you developed a B-12 deficiency that quickly unless your body has difficulty absorbing B-12.

Iron deficiencies are more common, but again, it seems unlikely that you developed one that quickly unless you already had low iron or anemia before you stopped eating meat.

Yes, it has been only a couple months, so I do agree that it's unlikely that I've become deficient in that short of time.

To answer some questions, I'm 5', 148 lbs and worked my way down from 180. I'm active anywhere from 3-5 days per week and take in an average of 1200 calories daily. It isn't but any means a crippling fatigue, but one where I could easily go to bed at 7:30.

I suppose one could associate these symptoms with stress and general fatigue from not getting enough sleep. I wouldn't doubt this might be the problem, but I was looking for some insight.

If you’re active, then 1200 net is too few calories. You should be eating all your exercise calories if they’re calculated correctly. If you’re not sure whether they’re calculated correctly, then start by eating half your exercise calories and adjust depending on what your weight does.

Panini911

are you eating back your exercise calories?

1200 is very low. i'm 5'1 and losing at 1400. i move alot (lots of steps) but no real exercise. i'm now at 119.

samathes

I have been eating some of my calories back. Recently my activity has been limited to yoga because it's been too gross outside to run, which I would prefer to do. I do it for 30 minutes 3-5 times per week. I haven't lost any more than about 1 lb/week, but because of my loss goal, MFP has calculated me at 1200. I do occasionally go over this. For a week, 8400 calories would be the allotment for a 1200 calorie diet, but I've been ranging around 9,700- 10,200.