Calorie counting & low blood sugar & sleep deprivation

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purplegamba
purplegamba Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to three children (ages 7, 4, 2) and my youngest is still breastfeeding. I have successfully lost weight by calorie counting in the past (65 lbs lost between babies 2 and 3), but gained most of it back when I was pregnant. I'm finding it harder this time because whenever I do make the effort to cut calories, I feel like I am *starving*. I am somewhat prone to low blood sugar, and I'm finding that this is getting worse as I get older (just turned 30). It also seems to be worse on days when I haven't slept enough... which is almost every day lately. Obviously I need to work on getting more sleep (which means going to bed earlier, but I always seem to be finishing up a long to-do list after the kids are in bed) but in the mean-time I'm struggling to loose weight. Today I ate a reasonable breakfast, we went to our homeschool co-op for a few hours, then came home and ate a reasonable lunch. An hour later I was hungry. 2 hours after lunch I felt like my blood sugar was low - getting crabby, headache, light-headed. So I ate more. But now I have 239 calories left to last me the rest of the day and it's not even dinner time yet. And I'm still hungry. :-( Any one else have this problem? Any suggestions?

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  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
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    How is your iron? You may need a blood test.
  • purplegamba
    purplegamba Posts: 2 Member
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    What is the connection? Does low iron cause low blood sugar? I haven't seen a medical provider since my postpartum checkup 2 years ago, so I have no idea what my iron level is.
  • dcunn48
    dcunn48 Posts: 6 Member
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    I am going to suggest two books that can be gotten at your library, or purchased online. The Grain Brain, by Dr David Perlmuter, and Wheat Belly by Dr Davis. Both have been invaluable to me for minimizing my hypoglycemia, blood sugar spikes, and maximizing my weight loss. If people take the initiative to educate themselves while ignoring all the media hype for 'eating healthy', only then will we begin to see a drastic reversal of our own poor health.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    What is your goal for calorie intake each day?
  • Maryanne1923
    Maryanne1923 Posts: 53 Member
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    With being a full time mum and home schooling 3 kids and still breastfeeding one of them I'm guessing either your activity level is set too low or your weekly weight loss goal is set too high. Try setting your activity level to a higher setting and lowering your desired weight loss per week to 1lb. This will give you a higher daily calorie goal. Also are you eating back exercise calories as this will give you some extra food as well.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
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    If you're having a hard time with satiety, my guess is that upping your protein and fat macros and reducing your carb macros will help with that as protein and fat, especially together, are highly satiating. I aim for at least 0.7 g protein per lb body weight to help reduce lean body mass loss while cutting calories.

    What are your macro levels? Do you know if you have any carb sensitivity issues?
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    People have been telling me this for years and I've almost gotten a handle on it, so I'm going to pass some common sense advice on to you: that to-do list that you think you need to finish at the end of the day is not as important as you getting enough sleep. Ignore whatever is not absolutely necessary. Get to bed. Rest up.you'll feel better the next day and probably have more energy for doing all that work anyway. I know it's hard. I know. But just. Do. It!

    I'm a mommy to four ages 8 and under. We should be friends. :)

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