Having trouble getting started: a question

herringboxes
herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
in Getting Started
I haven't started logging yet (initial goal is just losing weight).. But here's the problem I keep running into.

I can handle feeling "hungry." But I feel unwell. I feel weak, tired. I don't have my usual patience.

Right this minute I feel that way. I could go get something to eat, maybe just a snack. Then I would feel better. But how can I get to calorie deficit that way?

I could decide not to eat. And I will feel crummy and maybe not even sleep well tonight.

Every day I come up against this. I can apply self discipline, but "feeling ill" feels like a poor choice.

Any insight?
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Replies

  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    edited September 2019
    Welcome to the community! <3

    If you haven't already, read the stickies at the top of the getting started forum. Very informative and helpful.

    Any time you change a behavior, you have an internal struggle to stick with what it knows. It would be very easy for you to cave.

    Logging is a real learning curve at first. Within two weeks, it will become a natural process for you.

    Why aren't you logging? How do you know you're in a calorie deficit?

    Buy a food scale. Weigh everything you eat and log into the food diary.

    Good luck with your journey!
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    I'm not asking about losing weight without feeling hungry. I am asking how to deal with the physical weakness, feeling crummy.

    I haven't gotten started yet. I am not in a calorie deficit. I am asking how to deal with this problem first.
  • MsOpus
    MsOpus Posts: 99 Member
    If you are hungry eat.
    Log everything, even if it goes over the recommendations MFP has given you. This will let you see how many calories you are actually taking in as well as areas to improve. (such as better snack choices etc)
    Use a food scale. You'd be surprised how often you make portions that are too big, and yet you can be full on half that amount.
    Once you see what you eat now, you will be able to see where you fall short. Do you need more veggies, or less fat. Then you start making better choices and substitutions in your meals. After a while of changes, you might notice less times of being hungry, or that hunger comes at certain times only.
    Water can help with the hunger as well, sip water all day.
    Remember what works for one may not work for you and you may have to try something to know what works.
    Sent a friend request. Feel free to PM as I could go on and on with suggestions.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    edited September 2019
    herringboxes wrote: »
    I'm not asking about losing weight without feeling hungry. I am asking how to deal with the physical weakness, feeling crummy.

    I haven't gotten started yet. I am not in a calorie deficit. I am asking how to deal with this problem first.

    Give us more info, specifically about your eating pattern and daily calories and we can better answer your question.

    From what you've said, I don't think you're eating enough. You have classic symptoms.

    I'm confused. You've been here over three years and don't log foods?
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    MsOpus, okay, you're suggesting I just start logging and don't worry yet about the calorie deficit. And maybe I will learn something. I like that, I will start tomorrow, thank you.

    Lynda, I joined MFP three years ago and successfully lost some weight. I stopped logging and maintained my weight for a good while, but earlier this year something suddenly happened. The scale tells me I've gained only three pounds but everything else says I gained a lot more. Anyway, there are other troubles in my life and I am only now getting around to this again.

    I must be eating enough calorically - I'm not losing anything. I haven't even started restricting yet. I'm basically at the edge of the pool trying to get myself to dive in, lol.

    I may be eating the wrong things. I may have a blood sugar problem. I try to keep myself feeling steady all day but I have been failing.

    Breakfast - unsweetened steel cut oats, with an egg cooked into it for extra protein, about a tsp of coconut oil, and fruit (either mixed berries ir a whole apple cut up). I feel like it's a good start!

    Lunch - varies, but I'm probably running into problems starting here. Today I tried an egg over easy and a small piece of breakfast sausage. Trying to stay steady with some good protein. But after I ate it I felt weak and ate 1/3 cup ice cream. Onviously I should not have, but I don't know how to deal with eating and then feeling so crummy and weak and shakey. The ice cream made me feel better for a little while but then obviously it came back to bite me.

    Dinner - tonight I had pierogies (Polish pasta stuffed with potato) covered with some chili. It's not a great dinner, and pasta is not good on the blood sugar. But that is what I had.

    And now I feel crummy and am resisting the urge to go eat maybe a bowl of Special K just to feel a little better. Again, I am not even trying a calorie deficit today, just trying to see my way toward getting that deficit without feeling like I can't even function.

    Thanks for the opportunity to talk it out.
  • phx92
    phx92 Posts: 87 Member
    Don’t. Learn how to eat to avoid feeling crummy—leave cals for snacks or up your allowance. Feeling crummy, irritable and weak will do you no favors especially if you want to work out or live your life normally. I find that if I go slowly my body will adjust and can eat less without feeling as poorly, but don’t overdo it. I am dealing with a migraine now because I thought I could skip lunch even though I knew it could make me sick and my whole night is wasted. Not worth it.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    Thank you for your back story. It really put things into perspective. 💟
  • charbabe7602
    charbabe7602 Posts: 28 Member
    edited September 2019
    Have you tried to prepare your meals ahead of time? What has worked for me is making my meals for the next few days (5 days for my work week) and that way I know what my designated meals are. I do have to say, I am absolutely imperfect with this... since I am an emotional eater, I have been having trouble with losing weight for the past three weeks, so I've been reaching out to this community on a daily basis.

    I get hungrier when I'm stressed out or emotional, which unfortunately is very common for me every day. So, I have to work on reducing my reactions to things that cause me to sway towards emotional eating.

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    You mentioned blood sugar. You do not mention whether or not this suspicion is something you have followed through on with a doctor. This may not be something that can be fixed with the right macros of food. It may require medication.

    I also notice that you didn't say you felt bad after breakfast and it was the only time you seemed to pair carbs with fiber unless there were beans in the chili. Since I doubt you will see a doctor tomorrow an experiment to try, and this will get old very fast, is to replicate any meal you don't feel bad after for all 3 meals. This will help you determine if a certain macro split is helpful or if you have problems with meal timing or calorie distribution.

    You need to see a doctor though.

  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    Phx - I agree that feeling crummy isn't right. A bit hungry, okay, crummy, no. So I'm just trying to figure out if I can change something for the better.

    Novus - shaky, yes, but I don't think light headed. If I eat something sweet - I love ice cream though I try to moderate, or a bowl of cereal like Special K or Rice Krispies - I feel better pretty quickly, but it's temporary.

    I think maybe if I let too much time go between eating, I will have a meal and then feel like, uh oh, it didn't fix it. So I reach for quick sugars to get back to feeling okay again. Sometimes I try to wait and let the meal catch up, but sometimes it never realky does. So I guess I have to make sure I eat before it's a problem, since if I wait it will compound the issue.

    I had bloodwork done about a year ago and I'm all clear for diabetes and everything else. I have had an undiagnosed chronic illness for 11 years now, but I don't think that is causing this specific issue. I've felt sensitive with blood sugar my whole life, sometimes I'm in a good place with it and managing well, and sometimes, like now, I seem to benkt controlling it well.

    I see there are more replies, will read/reply. But so far I like the ideas of logging without trying to change what I eat yet, just see what I'm taking in. And either having a snack or having lunch earlier. Including some better carbs rather than fewer carbs and then feeling like I need to eat ice cream or whatnot.
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    Cahgetsfit - yeah I think getting the carbs right is key. I'm not trying to go low carb but I also have to watch and moderate simple carbs. I notice pasta makes me feel crummy. (So why do I eat it? Ugh. Kid wants it. It's easy and fast. Etc. Gotta do better.)

    My lunch of egg and sausage today wasn't typical, but an attempt to do better, but it was the wrong call. Have to keep experimenting.

    Ha - that dollop of coconut oil in my oats is delish to me :) i can do without it but I sure do like it! I don't need high fat but a bit seems to slow down digestion in a good way I think. Breakfast seems to be working good for me.
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    Lynn - yes, I seem good on braekfast and fall apart by lunch or so. Great idea to study the macro distribution; I'll do it.

    I will consider the doctor suggestion. I just feel pretty frustrated with doctors; I'll go and they'll treat me like "why are you even here?" and I feel like I wasted my time and am crazy. They never find anything.

    I didn't mean to not disclose the other factors - I just am onviously bigger. My jeans are tight. My belly is visibly bigger, butt too. I'm uncomfortable. I'm not even talking about vanity, I just feel bloated. It's not fluctuating, it just is.

    I step on the scale and can't believe it's just saying 150. At 147, I had extra weight to lose but it was okay, that's how I felt anyway. I can rule out a scale being wrong too (at least not by much), won't bore you with details.

    Gotta check in the morning, I appreciate all replies but I gotta get to bed. I do feel better though, like maybe I can figure this out. Thanks all!
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    herringboxes wrote: »
    Phx - I agree that feeling crummy isn't right. A bit hungry, okay, crummy, no. So I'm just trying to figure out if I can change something for the better.

    Novus - shaky, yes, but I don't think light headed. If I eat something sweet - I love ice cream though I try to moderate, or a bowl of cereal like Special K or Rice Krispies - I feel better pretty quickly, but it's temporary.

    I think maybe if I let too much time go between eating, I will have a meal and then feel like, uh oh, it didn't fix it. So I reach for quick sugars to get back to feeling okay again. Sometimes I try to wait and let the meal catch up, but sometimes it never realky does. So I guess I have to make sure I eat before it's a problem, since if I wait it will compound the issue.

    I had bloodwork done about a year ago and I'm all clear for diabetes and everything else. I have had an undiagnosed chronic illness for 11 years now, but I don't think that is causing this specific issue. I've felt sensitive with blood sugar my whole life, sometimes I'm in a good place with it and managing well, and sometimes, like now, I seem to benkt controlling it well.

    I see there are more replies, will read/reply. But so far I like the ideas of logging without trying to change what I eat yet, just see what I'm taking in. And either having a snack or having lunch earlier. Including some better carbs rather than fewer carbs and then feeling like I need to eat ice cream or whatnot.

    i also agree with logging first before changing anything.

    i'm type 2 diabetic, and what you describe is how i feel if i get more than a little hungry. and sometimes it doesn't get better. my husband has the same problem, only he's got low blood sugar rather than high, and he's always had that. both of us feel better faster when we eat carbs.

    i, too, love ice cream, but i eat sugar free. dryer's makes some good sugar free flavors. and i love sees sugar free candy. and i just love me some quest double chocolate chunk protein bars! but be aware that usually when you start eating some kinds of sweetener, it can give you lower abdominal issues if you eat too much before adapting to it.

    there are many things it could be, but you could still have developed diabetes or hypoglycemia since last year. it's worth getting checked for both - a lot can change in a year. i went from normal blood sugar to pretty darn high in a year.

    btw, one egg isn't very much protein. have you considered other, higher protein sources? have you tried a high protein between meal snack to keep you from getting hungry between meals? maybe cottage cheese, light & fit greek yogurt (i like the peach and the vanilla), a cheese stick or half a protein bar?
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    Charbabe, I love the idea. I don't think I personally need to actually make the meal ahead of time, but I think I need to know exactly what I'm going to eat. A lot of times I think I delay lunch just because I don't know. And then that leads to trouble. I could decide as late as breakfast, but I need to decide by then, and then DO it!

    Btw, sorry to hear of your struggles with emotional eating. I don't really have that but I do know what a struggle it is to deal with emotional crashes and for everything to be just really hard. Sounds like you have a good system, and it doesn't have to be perfect to be really helpful.
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    So today I logged breakfast. It has:
    7g fiber
    11g fat
    11g protein
    36g carbs
    301 calories

    Thinking the fiber is important too. Today I had mixed berries instead of an apple, because I plan to eat an apple and hummus for a snack. Anyway, just posting this to log the macros for this meal since it will change later as I log more.

    zebasschick, I had a diagnosis of hypoglycemia when I was 12 (30 years ago), but other than docs telling my mom to make sure I always had a sweet handy just in case, it wasn't really pursued much. I don't think whatever is going on has changed much over the years, it's my LIFESTYLE that I need to get back in order. Had not really even thought about the hypoglycemia diagnosis in a long time, I just know I am sensitive to what I eat in many ways.

    There have been times in my life I had it all together and times I haven't. I think I'm not totally aware of what the "all together" times entailed, just that it was working. So for example, I might have been eating more snacks, or more fiber. So I'm trying to kind of put my finger on it.
  • Pamela_Sue
    Pamela_Sue Posts: 563 Member
    I am hypoglycemic (and Type 2 Diabetic).

    Here are some common hypoglycemia symptoms: Fatigue, Pale skin, Shakiness, Anxiety, Sweating, Hunger, Irritability

    When I get shaky, hungry, irritable, tired, and sweaty (my own personal symptoms), I will eat right away, however, it takes hours before I feel better, but often not until the next day. Eating is good, but doesn't usually 'fix' my symptoms until the next day.

    Write down any symptoms you may have, along with any not listed, and show this to your doctor.

    Also recommend your doctor refer you to a registered dietitian (not a nutritionist). My dietitian has been able to help me adjust my protein, carbs, sugar, etc., to limit hypoglycemic events as much as possible. She has also given me guidance on what to eat when these events do happen.

    Without a visit to your doctor, and probably some fasting lab tests, or blood glucose monitoring, there is no way of knowing if hypoglycemia might be your issue. But it is worth considering.
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    edited September 2019
    Without logging and knowing exactly how many calories your daily goal is, and how many calories you're consuming, there is no diet or food advice anyone can give accurately.

    If you started cutting calories and changing macros without tracking, there could be several reasons for feeling like crap.

    You need to track and log. If you cut carbs, it affects electrolytes, most low carbers have to up sodium, magnesium, and potassium when starting or they feel like they have the flu.

    Cutting calories too low too quickly, can make one feel weak and crummy, not getting sustainable calories.

    Or an underlying medical condition: hypoglycemia, thyroid, adrenal glands, autoimmune disorders, there's several disorders and diseases that affect diet, weight, and feeling like crap, etc.

    I agree with other commenters: The only accurate advice would be get to a doctor for a quick simple blood panel, they'll check your nutrient levels and your enzyme levels.

    Set a practical calorie goal on here and start logging. If you only have a few pounds to lose, most set goal at .5 to 1 lb loss a week, and eat back some (try for most) exercise calories. And mentally prepare for slow progress.

    Take care!!
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    Are you on any meds?....I have felt the way you are describing and if I eat I feel better but then I feel bad again....last week I had a doctors appointment and my doctor decided to cut my blood pressure meds....within two days I felt better....four days and I feel normal again!...I had to constantly sit down because I felt so weak....find yourself a good doctor!....best of luck
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    herringboxes wrote: »
    Lynn - yes, I seem good on braekfast and fall apart by lunch or so. Great idea to study the macro distribution; I'll do it.

    I will consider the doctor suggestion. I just feel pretty frustrated with doctors; I'll go and they'll treat me like "why are you even here?" and I feel like I wasted my time and am crazy. They never find anything.

    I didn't mean to not disclose the other factors - I just am onviously bigger. My jeans are tight. My belly is visibly bigger, butt too. I'm uncomfortable. I'm not even talking about vanity, I just feel bloated. It's not fluctuating, it just is.

    I step on the scale and can't believe it's just saying 150. At 147, I had extra weight to lose but it was okay, that's how I felt anyway. I can rule out a scale being wrong too (at least not by much), won't bore you with details.

    Gotta check in the morning, I appreciate all replies but I gotta get to bed. I do feel better though, like maybe I can figure this out. Thanks all!

    Were you at some point working out or doing things in your life that might have built and maintained muscle, but don't do those things anymore? The simplest explanation of a gain of three pounds and a disproportionate effect on how your clothing fits (once you've ruled out a scale misfunction, as you say you have) would be that you've recomped in the wrong direction. You weigh roughly the same, but your BF% has gone up. Pound for pound, fat takes up more volume than muscle. That is, it is less dense than muscle. Therefore you could weigh roughly the same but take up more space.
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    Oops, i was unclear about the ice cream. I didn't eat any, I just meant that it wasn't an act of willpower that I abstained, but that I didn't even get the urge.
  • maiomaio71
    maiomaio71 Posts: 231 Member
    Something that works for me is soup. I make a massive pot of vegetable soup on Sunday with whatever is on hand or what I've bought at the Farmers market. Add in pearl barley, lentils, split peas etc. They are protein-rich, carb-rich, fibre-rich. Whenever I'm hungry or can't be bothered cooking or need a quick snack, I grab some soup. It's easily transportable if I need it for work, doesn't stink out the office when re-heated. You can have a mug for about 100 cals (depending on what you've added in terms of lentils etc) or a full bowl which can be a meal.
  • herringboxes
    herringboxes Posts: 259 Member
    That sounds fantastic, great idea. How long does it keep in the fridge? I miss going to the farmer's market, maybe I'll be in a position to start going again in the spring.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    herringboxes wrote: »
    That sounds fantastic, great idea. How long does it keep in the fridge? I miss going to the farmer's market, maybe I'll be in a position to start going again in the spring.

    Three or four days should certainly be safe. You can freeze what you might not eat in that time period in appropriate sized containers, depending on how much you want to thaw at one time.

    Another thing you can do if life interferes with your eating what's in the fridge during the time you planned is to heat all the soup you still have in the fridge to a boil for a couple of minutes or a simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, then put it back in the fridge in a clean container.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    seeing as there is the possibility of an underlying medical issue, the only thing i will say is go to a doc before starting or changing anything.

    if you are diabetic and dont know it, it can cause many of the issues you are describing. If that is the case, you will have to learn to eat to balance the blood sugar to avoid the 'highs and lows'.

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