Crap mood and no energy

papyapa

Hey. I have about another 40lbs I want to lose. MFP has me at 1440 cals a day. I try not to eat too many cals during the day, as im not too hungry during the day, and I enjoy having a couple snacks at night. So I try to save some cals. BUT lately ive been soooo low patience, lightheaded, and just not in great moods. Is this a sign of not eating enough? How many Cals do you allot for Break, Lunch and dinner so that you have approx 300 cals left for snacking? Anyone ever experience this? I do Cardio every other day and generally will eat back my cals.
Any tips?

monicapatituccijones

I am going to assume your problem is diet related and not caused by some other issue.

When I first started MFP, I was breastfeeding, and even the extra calories MFP allotted were not enough to keep me from feeling lightheaded. So I upped my calories and felt much better. I would suggest trying to eat more during the day and seeing how you feel. You should be able to eat during the day and save a couple hundred calories for snacking at night. Also, if you eat more during the day, you might not want to snack at night.

margelizard

I generally find spreading a decent array of food during the day works well to keep me balanced and sane. Generally my day goes something like:

7am: Bran flakes and milk (200 cals)
10.30am: Banana (110 cals)
Noon: Soup or salad (300 cals)
3.30pm: 1/4 cup almonds (160 cals)
7pm: Various dinners of approx 300-400 cals (black bean tacos, chicken tacos, spaghetti, hummus and veggies, sushi etc)

I'm working on a 1200 cal limit, but eat back most of my exercise calories and work out 5 days a week. With spreading it out during the day, I avoid spikes and avoid grumpy hunger. And I usually have 150-200 spare calories so I can treat myself to iced coffee, rice cakes with nutella, PB&J saltine sandwiches etc etc.

It doesn't work for everyone, but I have found it really good for me

Caitiebee21

I found that my eating small meals every 3-4 hours helps me keep level all day long. Another thing to focus on is keeping protein a priority. It will help you feel fuller longer as well as give you extra energy. I find that when I have too many carbs in my day I feel sluggish. Best advice I can give is keep it consistent throughout your day. Don't go too long between eating because then you tend too over eat.

mulecanter

I have experienced the light-headed feeling from time to time, I always take that as a sign that I'm eating at a calorie deficit. Finding that sweet spot where you still lose but don't have the light-headedness is sort of trial and error. I'd look at protein consumption, ensure you have enough of it as it is a better fuel (slow, longer burning log so to speak). Keep the water intake up, it helps with blood flow to the brain and overall digestion. Protein shakes have worked well for me, they have lots of protein and when you add ice (protein smoothie) you are upping your water intake and you feel full.

acogg

What has worked well for me is over 100 grams of protein each day and eating sugar/carb calories during the day while I am active. I have a small calorie intake at dinner because I will resting and sleeping for the remainder of the day.

BillyJan1992

I can get in a crap mood when I have not slept well or when I don't eat enough cause I am dealing with certain issues with certain people.

marcusriedner

Severe calorie restriction diets are generally a bad thing. Weight gain and loss is a usually a symptom of metabolic disorder, not being lazy or lacking will power. The moodiness and lack of energy is because your body is starving, and you are fighting against your metabolic systems constantly.

What you need to do is figure out what is causing the metabolic dysfunction rather than treat the symptom (the main symptom being weight gain). At one point I was doing 5 hours of running, 5 hours of biking, 2 hours of walking, and 5 hours of martial arts a week and trying to do an 1800 calorie a day diet. I weight 270lbs at the start, and after a year weighed in at 265lbs, and was miserable and hungry all the time or having to cheat on the calorie restrictions. I spent a lot of time blaming and hating myself for eating. Eventually I gave up and gained weight slowly for a couple years until I was at 305lbs.

Later I found out that the problem wasn't caloric restriction, the problem was caloric makeup. I have a very low tolerance for carbohydrates, it causes insulin spiking and I pack on weight. I switched to eating 3000 calories a day, 5 hours of walking a week and 5 hours of martial arts and dropped from 305lbs to 230lbs in 12 months.

Since then I have let my eating habits slide (my wife and I had a kid and things got hectic) and I have been less diligent on the diet and exercise, but I am still eating restricted carbohydrate for the most part, and I have added back on 15lbs over 2 years. I know what the problem is though, it is that I am doing things that disrupt my core metabolic system.

So my advice is to do a food diary for a month, eating at your basal metabolic caloric requirements. Track everything you eat, and track what happens with your mood/weight/ect. Then take a look at what might be causing your metabolic disruptions and deal with that (some people it is carbs, some fats, some activity level, some mild allergies like gluten or dairy). It could be that you are simply eating above your basal metabolic rate and activity level, in which case caloric restriction will be the solution, but I suspect it is the most common metabolic disfunction - carbohydrate driven insulin reactions.

getitamb

I had that problem. They had me at 1290. I bought a pedometer,stArted walking 10,000 steps a day regardless and changed my settings to active. Just by Doing that, they shot me to 1600 a day. But I'm happier like that.

pds06

I am the same way. I save most of my calories for night eating, if I didn't I would be way over every day. If you are trying to lose too fast it could sabotage you plan. Add more calories, maybe 200 extra during the day. Make sure they are proteins, Greek yogurt, tuna, hard boils eggs,or nuts. They will keep you satisfied longer. If you live in a colder climate it could be the long winter we are having. It's killing me. :flowerforyou:

lastregrets

i experience this too. its hard to allot calories for snacks and meals...sometimes i just want to eat chocolate and other sweets, but it takes a huge chunk of calories and i try to make up for it by skipping dinner. argh it is frustrating

lightmouse

I experience this exact thing when I have not eaten enough. I used to live my life like that eating 1200 calories a day (yes when I started MFP I was in the 1200 club...I'm fully recovered from that bout of insanity now though) I eat 1800 - 2000 a day on average now, I'm much happier, and the body fat % is still going down. Maybe play around with your numbers for a while - someone above suggested tracking absolutely everything for a bit to try and find out what your calorie needs really are, and that's a good idea.

If you feel awful, you won't stick at it. There's only so much lightheaded crabby-ness a person (and their friends!) can take!

And I agree with everyone else re protein