Headache

michelledolby18
michelledolby18 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
Hello so I've just started mfp, been doing it for 3 days. 1200 calories, I'm e joying it. Only thing I've noticed is I'm really sluggish and seem to have a constant headache. Is this normal?

Replies

  • harper16
    harper16 Posts: 2,564 Member
    If you are feeling sluggish and getting headaches you might not be eating enough.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    1200 calories a day is very tough. If you’re just starting out and find it hard to maintain that few calories you could end up getting frustrated and quitting. It would probably be advantageous to start off slower.

    Plus, if you never tracked calories before, you could be very drastically cutting your normal caloric intake. For example, I wasn’t counting calories and then the week before I started trying to cut them, I started tracking what I THOUGHT was a dieting amount. I was still over 1700 a day and eating far less than I had been previously.
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    Since we don't know how you eat previously and how you eat now, it's hard to say. A few possibilities:
    - caffeine withdrawal
    - significantly lower carbs, so your body is still figuring out how to function without (there's a scientific explanation for this but I have forgotten it)
    - simply eating too little

    Have you made other changes than eating? Quitting smoking, new exercise routine, different sleep routine could all be factors.

    In general, to answer your question, it's not normal or a good thing to get a sluggish feeling and a headache from just cutting calories. Unless you're only losing a couple of pounds, you're going to be doing this for months or years. Life happens during that time too, so it needs to be enjoyable and comfortable.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    When you eat less you also get less fluids via food so need to drink more and not drinking enough causes headaches. So that is a possible explanation.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    michelledolby18 wrote: »
    Hello so I've just started mfp, been doing it for 3 days. 1200 calories, I'm e joying it. Only thing I've noticed is I'm really sluggish and seem to have a constant headache. Is this normal?

    How much weight are you trying to lose and how many lbs did you say you wanted to lose per week?
    Did you cut out a lot of caffeine?
    Did you switch to low carb?
    Did you used to eat a lot of sugary foods and you've cut that drastically?
    Are you doing new exercise? Are you eating any of your exercise calories?
    Are you drinking a lot more or a lot less fluids?

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