I feel horrible!!!

Sounds to me like you need a cheeseburger. I'd have a cheeseburger, then seriously reevaluate your approach here. First off, it's not a race, so up your calories a bit, second of all, and more importantly, don't cut out swaths of food you previously enjoyed, it's just not sustainable. Eat all the foods, just cut down the portions.

Rigger

You are in the middle of carb flu and caffeine withdraw. One of those is horrible alone. Both at the same time, you will feel like death. Add some carbs to your food. Add some multi grain crakers to lunch. Add a baked potato or sweet potato. Drink tea or coffee to help with the soda withdraw.

It takes about two full weeks to get over this. Think of it though, you were addicted, like heroin( exaggeration) Your body is freaking out! Thinking of it this way may keep you off if it and from going back. Lol

Caffeine withdrawal is awful. I didn't look at your diary, but unless you specifically want to be off caffeine, drinking coffee to ease getting off the soda would help. (I've had people tell me to try green tea, but that was the first or second day I tried to go off coffee and so I was legally allowed to kill them.)

As everyone said, you're going through withdrawals. If you're really feeling that bad, then get some simple carbs in you. Crackers, or some toast, etc. Also, try eating a little more. I understand the wanting to lose it fast as you can but remember 1 simple thing, you didn't put it on quickly, you're not going to take it off quickly.

This is a process on many levels. Another reason it doesn't happen quickly is because you have a lot of learning to do. You need to learn to eat correctly. That means in the proper portions. You need to learn to move more. Maybe not for weight loss but for overall health. Although honestly, the moving more does help with weight loss too. You need to learn to not rely on the "diet foods" but know how to do this regardless of the food. And you have to learn how to forgive yourself (because honestly you're going to hit some bumps along the way on this journey).

I subscribe to the 80/20 rule which is eat good (ie nutritious, not high in sugar unless it's natural sugar, lower sodium, lean protein, you get it) 80% of the time and 20% of the time it's not so good (chocolate, fast food, processed sugar, etc). This might be a better way of doing things for you. Especially given your former way of eating. This doesn't have to be all or nothing thinking.

I also suggest start finding exercises that you enjoy doing. One thing for me (except finding it for free or reasonable is difficult) is belly dance. It's a great workout especially for your core and it's fun. I've also found that I enjoy the weights at the gym. I still let life get in the way too often and forget how much I enjoy it but I do enjoy it. There are a ton of online videos for many things so you can find those and try them at home. Cassie Ho and Blogiates are mentioned a lot.

And with the amount of weight you're looking to lose, you can probably bump your water up to 10 glasses daily maybe even more. Yes, you can drink too much water but it really takes a lot to be too much. Drinking up to 1 gallon daily won't hurt you and you're only getting about 1/2 of that. Remember your body is actually mostly water so water helps it "run" correctly. A lot of people I know can drink unsweetened tea, sugar-free (often diet) soda, unsweetened coffee or flavored water and get the benefits of water. For me I need to drink plain water to have it give me the benefits of water. I do still have my Coke Zero daily too but that's really dropped off from what I used to consume.

You can do this! It's just a little tough at the beginning!

New to the site, so I'm no expert. But I've been researching how to change bad habits for a project at work. And one common thing I'm seeing a lot is not to try to change more than one habit at a time.

Maybe you could give yourself the time to only get off soda, for example. After you've tackled that, move on to healthy snacks, or something. Give yourself whatever time it takes to break each habit. You'll have a much better chance of long term, meaningful progress. And you won't feel so yucky for taking on so much at once.

My thought is, I didn't get this way overnight. Just one pound a week would be 52 in just a year. That'd be huge progress for someone like me,/ who needs to lose that much and more.

Hang in there. I hope you feel better soon. And don't forget to give yourself credit for at least trying.

I was in the same boat, I stopped smoking, drinking soda AND stopped eating junk all of the time, all at once... and I survived. I still eat a little bit of junk if I can afford it into my calories or if I know I'm going out with friends or something, I plan ahead. If you're use to eating 2k or more calories you just cannot drop to 1200 calories and expect your body to not revolt. I'd trying eating 2k, or 1.9k until you can easily eat that amount without going over, then drop it. I ate 1.9k for about a month and my friend suggested dropping it to 1.5k and IF'ing. It sucks in the morning, but you get over it. Read this link, it'll help and good luck! http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/9-ways-to-deal-with-hunger-on-a-diet.html

Withdraw OR you are being too restrictive.

I am going with too restrictive.

You feel horrible because you've made some rather drastic and sudden changes to your diet, with the goal to lose weight as quickly as possible. That doesn't strike me as healthy or sustainable. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you're more likely to see long-term success by eating at a reasonable calorie deficit and making small changes to your diet over time. By learning moderation, you can include more nutrient dense food into your diet and still consume the things you enjoy. And by losing at a slower pace, you will retain more muscle mass in the process.

^ This.

I agree that depending on your prior caffeine consumption, you could be experiencing withdrawals. But making such huge, immediate changes to your diet can be taxing as well.

In what way(s) are you feeling horrible?

Keep in mind that if you've suddenly added a lot more fiber to your diet than your body was used to, you might experience some temporary cramping or other unpleasant digestive issues, but that should pass as your body becomes used to the extra fiber.

I am starting today. I just wanted to say that jessicawrigh is completely correct. My suggestion to you would be to stop beating yourself up! Of course you feel terrible, your brain is trying to get you to push the button like a rat with cocaine. (Search weight loss and addiction on cracked.com)

Oh yes, the famous Cracked.com Addiction Weight Loss Study that has been referenced by so many.

Oh, wait...

You feel horrible because you've made some rather drastic and sudden changes to your diet, with the goal to lose weight as quickly as possible. That doesn't strike me as healthy or sustainable. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you're more likely to see long-term success by eating at a reasonable calorie deficit and making small changes to your diet over time. By learning moderation, you can include more nutrient dense food into your diet and still consume the things you enjoy. And by losing at a slower pace, you will retain more muscle mass in the process.

^ This.

I agree that depending on your prior caffeine consumption, you could be experiencing withdrawals. But making such huge, immediate changes to your diet can be taxing as well.

In what way(s) are you feeling horrible?

Keep in mind that if you've suddenly added a lot more fiber to your diet than your body was used to, you might experience some temporary cramping or other unpleasant digestive issues, but that should pass as your body becomes used to the extra fiber.

I am feeling tired, more stressed out than usual, I feel like I am starving (like sick hungry), just altogether bad. I am making myself drink one -two cups of coffee a day and this has helped with the headaches that I was having. I figured that my body was just like "what is going on, where is the good (bad) stuff" I know that you cant eat all of those bad foods and just give them up without feeling something from it. I just wish this starving feeling would go away!

What is your calorie goal? Maybe you're feeling so hungry because you've cut your calories too much. When I am really, truly hungry, I feel generally terrible and am not a pleasant person to be around.

I understand this feeling all too well. My first attempt at eating better and getting into shape failed I think because I tried very hard to instantly change everything about my diet. I dropped soda, fast food, milkshakes, candy, chocolate, fried foods... What I learned on this second round that seems to be working much better is that for me, cold-turkey doesn't cut it, and completely altering everything you do all at once I think makes this harder for people like me than it should be.

What I did was I started slowly weaning myself off of the things I was used to having all the time that weren't at all healthy. I started replacing a soda here and there with water (flavored with Mio because I craved the sweet taste). Recently I've weaned myself off of Mio and I enjoy water alone or with lemon just fine. I didn't just stop drinking soda- It happened as a process over time. It's the same with other foods, too. I started replacing chocolate, ice cream, milkshakes, and other sweet things with fruits, which eventually morphed into me making my own fresh smoothies and adding protein scoops when I started working out more and needing the extra nutrients and such.

This is a process. You don't have to do it all at once, and you shouldn't. If you are feeling hungry, sick, tired, then scale the changes/exercises back some. You can write out a few small goals a week and also reward yourself for meeting goals. Also calculate what nutrients you need for your goals- make sure you're getting enough protein, fiber.... and enough calories.
Vitamins, Iron and such too. Your body needs all of these things whether you're losing weight or not, no matter what you're doing, and if you aren't taking in what your body needs then you will continue to feel bad, possibly sick, and unmotivated/discouraged.

You'll feel better soon. Don't give up! Just don't overdo it all at once in the beginning. One step at a time.