New to Paleo and dizziness

chuckyfudge

Hi,
I am in week 2( day 9) of a 6 week Paleo programme. Really enjoying it so far. Lost 2lb in week one( hoped it would be more but still happy enough). One issue I have been having very dizzy spells over the last couple of days that I did not get in the first week.

I am aiming to lose 2lb per week, my carbs have been between 50-100gm per day but I don't know what is causing these dizzy spells could it be something that I am not eating? I figured I'd be over the sugar withdrawls by now?

I am generally eating 3 meals per day with 1 snack. I'm working out for 40 mins 3/4 days a week( group classes)

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

Akimajuktuq

First of all, you are likely WAY under-eating. You have little to lose so change your goal to 0.5 loss per week, or better yet, stop worrying about calories and just focus on the FOOD.

Your diary is not open. I hope that you are eating lots of healthy fats.

Eat more. Focus on health and food quality. Ditch the scale.

alyssasphone

Sounds like you need some good fats and protein. Check your diet and see if you are adding enough of these. Another common problem with dizziness is lack of hydration or too much caffeine. Good luck!

carrieann8

Yup. Hubby gets dizzy if he hasn't had enough protein. Its the reason he quit a vegetarian diet in college.

Akimajuktuq

You mentioned a "six week Paleo program". What are you planning at the end of that six weeks? I think the Paleo lifestyle is a fail if only intended as a quick weight loss strategy. Paleo is a WIN as a lifelong strategy for ideal health.

chuckyfudge

Thanks all for your feedback. I will look more closely at protein and health fat intake. Is there any rough estimate of what the fat,protein,carb ratio should be?

Akimajuktuq

Thanks all for your feedback. I will look more closely at protein and health fat intake. Is there any rough estimate of what the fat,protein,carb ratio should be?

It depends on you. However, fat should never be less than 50% of calories consumed and ideally more. I also think carbs never need to be more than 20%, for me, much less. What are you using now?

For the sake of ease, you could just follow Paleo guidelines, being sure not to avoid fat or going overboard on sugar/starchy foods and not worry about macros or calories. Since you have so little to lose, that route will likely be best. However, you need to let go of the mind set of achieving the fastest weight loss possible. Picture there being no deadline and work to determine a healthy way to eat that is sustainable forever.

sparklefrogz

One issue I have been having very dizzy spells over the last couple of days that I did not get in the first week.

When this happened to me, it turned out I was not eating enough total calories. Macros (and fat/protein/carb ratios) were not the cause in my case -- inadvertently eating at too low a calorie level was.

If you're not counting calories, the easiest way to get more calories in is fatty cuts of meat, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut milk, and butter/ghee.

Also as an aside, when I started consuming too much fat for my system, it had unpleasant digestive side effects...so, watch out for that lol.

Akimajuktuq

One issue I have been having very dizzy spells over the last couple of days that I did not get in the first week.

When this happened to me, it turned out I was not eating enough total calories. Macros (and fat/protein/carb ratios) were not the cause in my case -- inadvertently eating at too low a calorie level was.

If you're not counting calories, the easiest way to get more calories in is fatty cuts of meat, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, coconut milk, and butter/ghee.

Also as an aside, when I started consuming too much fat for my system, it had unpleasant digestive side effects...so, watch out for that lol.

Yes, with a 2 pound weight loss goal with so little to lose, under-eating is likely the cause as noted before macros came into the discussion.

How much was too much fat for you? Interestingly, I had problems with fat when I was eating too many refined carbs. My extremely obese aunt avoids fat for the same reason, but the problem, in our case anyway, is not the fat but the overload of sugar/carbs.

SteamClutch

Just chiming in agreement here about eating too little, this same thing happened to me and it was easy to tell why, I was way under caloric goals. Personally I think the caloric deficit idea has been way over-played, if you are eating correctly you will be eating more than the general caloric scale set up by whoever (some sadistic scientist I guess). If we eat correctly our bodies will use what it needs and toss the rest, amazingly not all that goes in is used and /or converted to fat but if we starve ourselves our body will feed off our own muscle tissue and convert every other bit of food and send it to fat stores. I have read a lot of the popular Paleo books and most tell us this very thing but I didn't listen and was getting progressively weaker while I was losing weight (my body was consuming itself). If you have $10 and a kindle I highly recommend "the Calorie Myth" by Jonathan Bailor.

sparklefrogz

How much was too much fat for you? Interestingly, I had problems with fat when I was eating too many refined carbs.

I noticed issues when I had more than 1/2 c coconut milk in a meal, particularly when combined with fattier cuts of meat. Especially if I had two or more servings per day. (For instance, I would make a cream of veggie soup and sub coconut milk for the cream, then have avocado and steak salad for my next meal.) I had these issues during the second half of a Whole30, so I know refined carbs were not responsible for my issue.

That being said, I seem to handle the fat in ground/minced meat much better. And my stomach seems to have adjusted gradually to a higher fat content over the last couple years. Just don't try to make the jump all at once!

Out of curiosity, I looked at my macro breakdown for the last month and it was: 20% P / 47% F / 33% C. I don't consciously adhere to a macro ratio so this is just how my body likes to eat naturally (and a byproduct of my current budget, which includes lots of cheap ground meats). I do attempt to get 1 g protein/lb of LBM in, but I missed it as often as I hit it this month...

chuckyfudge

Thanks all for the detailed feedback. I discovered my dizzy spells were being caused by slightly low blood pressure so I am keeping a close eye on it. I'm really enjoying the paleo challenge its pushing me to try lots of different recipes and cooking up a storm !

chuckyfudge

I also looked at my nutrition breakdown for the last 7 days and it comes in at 30%c, 40%f, and 30% protein.

Dragonwolf

Thanks all for the detailed feedback. I discovered my dizzy spells were being caused by slightly low blood pressure so I am keeping a close eye on it. I'm really enjoying the paleo challenge its pushing me to try lots of different recipes and cooking up a storm !

Make sure you're getting enough sodium. I know we've been train to avoid sodium at nearly all costs, but that was with SAD/Western eating. When you go Paleo, you run the risk of actually not getting enough sodium, since you don't have much added sodium anymore. It might help with your blood pressure.

Most sources recommend Celtic sea salt, though any unrefined salt will do (I personally like Pink Himalayan salt, but found a few others I'm considering trying). Getting unrefined salts also gets you trace minerals that you don't get with refined table salt. Like so many other things in this world, not all salts are created equal, so don't be afraid to mix them up for both taste and health reasons.