Am I eating enough?

GnicoleL

Hey There!

I'm doing moderate/low carb, high protein and trying to stay away from any processed sugary snack foods and some bread (I don't typically eat a ton anyway)and I keep waking up with headaches and I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough.

I work at home and sedentary most of the time but have started to use my walking pad nightly for a mile in the last week. Starting with a mile an evening at 2.6mph because honestly my body was and is not used to doing anything other than daily chores and taking care of my family. I don't eat back what I burn because honestly it can't be that much. Can someone help me and let me know if im making a mistake somewhere? I'm losing weight and feel pretty good other than a few headaches upon waking up weekly.

Thanks!

Corina1143

Hard to answer your questions without more info.

Age, height, weight, daily work habits (do you sit quietly at a desk 8 hours a day, do heavy construction? ) how long since changed eating habits, how long since added exercise?

Quitting or cutting caffeine is known for causing headaches. But cutting sugar can cause them too. Maybe cutting other foods does too? I don't know of any others.

neanderthin

Yeah, that's pretty common when someone starts a low carb diet. Try consuming more water and use electrolytes as well. Low carbers need protein to engage insulin, it's responsible for other stuff in the body that's important. This is probably symptoms of "keto flu", this will pass.

AnnPT77

How fast are you actually losing weight, on average per week? Generally, that's what would tell you whether you're under-eating or not.

Neanderthin is right, it may be keto flu you're experiencing. Try what he suggested.

But if your multi-week average weight loss exceeds one percent of your current weight per week, I'd suggest eating more. In fact, if it exceeds half a percent of your current weight per week, and you're experiencing negative symptoms - otherwise unexplained fatigue, weakness, sleep disruption, persistently cold, hair thinning more than usual, maybe the headaches, among other possibilities - consider eating more.

Someone who's severely obese can have the reserves needed to lose at a fast rate, and may need to do so for health reasons, but I'd even encourage them to be under medical supervision for nutritional deficiencies or health complications if losing much faster than around one percent per week.

For the rest of us, the big win here isn't just losing the weight, it's staying at a healthy weight long term. A moderate loss rate makes it easier to stick with the process long enough to lose the amount of weight we'd like, but also gives more opportunities to learn and practice habits we can keep up permanently to stay at a healthy weight. That includes activity habits - daily life as well as exercise - plus eating habits.

Most people find maintaining loss harder than losing, so paving that maintenance path during weight loss is a bonus.

Best wishes for success - IME the quality of life improvement is worth the effort needed!

flyinryin

you’re dehydrating. I would try increasing potassium rich low-carb foods such as avocado and spinach. Make sure you’re eating adequate food. I personally can’t do low carb. Good luck!

paperpudding

if I dont drink enough water I get mild headaches at end of day.