Why does this happen?

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canadacatman
canadacatman Posts: 224 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Everytime I try and eat right I find a lot of things that I do not like happen to me.

Here's a list of things that happens to my body:

Bad.
My blood pressure goes out of wack(on meds)
I get dizzy when standing
Head feels weird
Up nighttime to pee

Good.
More energy
Sleep better
Not tired during the day

I was telling this to a few people and they told me it is because I eat too restrictive when I start take almost all the salt out of my diet and eat way too few calories and up my water too much too quickly.

I find when I diet I eat foods lower in calories I noticed one day only 1000 calories another day 1150 calories.

They mentioned something to do with electrolytes being off because if the water and little sodium

I would love to here members opinion as I'm sure some of you went through it.

Thanks and have a great day..
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Replies

  • canadacatman
    canadacatman Posts: 224 Member
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    Any advice is good advice. I also forgot to add that when I go back to eating bad bp goes back to where it was normal high and no dizziness.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,123 Member
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    Honestly, you need to eat more (the bare minimum of calories a man needs is 1500, and they should also eat back all calories they burn from exercise). With your BP issues, it's a good idea to contact the doctor who prescribed the medications and tell them what you are experiencing, the changes you have made to your diet, and how much weight you have lost.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    Have I read you correctly? You are on some blood pressure medication? That medication is supposed to support you in maintaining a good blood pressure. The good consequence of "eating Right", which I take to mean cutting back on "junk" calories from excess carbs, is that your blood pressure responds by returning to a more normal level.

    I would suggest that you visit the practice nurse when you start to experience the problems, if you restart "eating right", so that she can ascertain if the amount of medication you are prescribed is still required, if that dose should be reduced. Many in your position have found that after a while they no longer need the medication.

    All the very best. I hope you too can achieve a medication free lifestyle.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    How much water do you drink a day? Drinking water should not necessarily interfere with sleep.
  • Kib13
    Kib13 Posts: 38 Member
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    You would benefit from speaking with a Registered Dietician. Contact your doctor or nurse to get a referral. It may even be covered by insurance since you have high blood pressure.

    Until then,

    Write down what you would eat if you weren't trying to eat healthy and be on a diet. Figure out what you would have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Dessert too. Also write down everything you would drink. Now, figure out the calories you would consume in 1 day.

    Compare those calories to what you're eating now. Is it more? Is it a lot more?

    1000-1100 calories is too little for you, especially if you're working out. Also, sodium is not overall a bad thing. Excessive sodium is. Unless your doctor told you to cut out every gram of it, you're most likely good to have a little. Cutting back on a lot of processed foods, especially processed meat will help tremendously.

    There is such a thing as too much water, especially if you're not getting enough sodium and potassium. 8 cups a day is a good place to start.

    Work on getting a combo of carbs and protein at each meal. Oatmeal with yogurt. Protein shake with berries. Homemade turkey burger with whole wheat bun and a salad. Egg sandwich on a whole wheat sandwich thin. BBQ chicken with cucumber and tomato salad. So many good things to eat!

    You shouldn't be feeling lightheaded or ill. These are signs of not getting enough calories in your diet. Lack of electrolytes too. It's not sustainable. Your body needs food, especially protein, for fuel! You need to fuel your body. You wouldn't expect your car to work without gas, how can you expect your body to work efficiently without proper calories and nutrition.
  • canadacatman
    canadacatman Posts: 224 Member
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    Kib13 wrote: »
    You would benefit from speaking with a Registered Dietician. Contact your doctor or nurse to get a referral. It may even be covered by insurance since you have high blood pressure.

    Until then,

    Write down what you would eat if you weren't trying to eat healthy and be on a diet. Figure out what you would have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Dessert too. Also write down everything you would drink. Now, figure out the calories you would consume in 1 day.

    Compare those calories to what you're eating now. Is it more? Is it a lot more?

    1000-1100 calories is too little for you, especially if you're working out. Also, sodium is not overall a bad thing. Excessive sodium is. Unless your doctor told you to cut out every gram of it, you're most likely good to have a little. Cutting back on a lot of processed foods, especially processed meat will help tremendously.

    There is such a thing as too much water, especially if you're not getting enough sodium and potassium. 8 cups a day is a good place to start.

    Work on getting a combo of carbs and protein at each meal. Oatmeal with yogurt. Protein shake with berries. Homemade turkey burger with whole wheat bun and a salad. Egg sandwich on a whole wheat sandwich thin. BBQ chicken with cucumber and tomato salad. So many good things to eat!

    You shouldn't be feeling lightheaded or ill. These are signs of not getting enough calories in your diet. Lack of electrolytes too. It's not sustainable. Your body needs food, especially protein, for fuel! You need to fuel your body. You wouldn't expect your car to work without gas, how can you expect your body to work efficiently without proper calories and nutrition.

    What are and how do electrolytes work would you know about that.

    Thanks for that comment.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I went back a couple of months in your log to see what might stand out. I only found a few days logged here and there, and of those half are lower in cals that you're telling us. Your sodium is ridiculously low some days. Your fats are low. Your protein is on the lower side. If those days you've logged are at all accurate, then I'm not surprised you're not feeling optimal.
  • canadacatman
    canadacatman Posts: 224 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I went back a couple of months in your log to see what might stand out. I only found a few days logged here and there, and of those half are lower in cals that you're telling us. Your sodium is ridiculously low some days. Your fats are low. Your protein is on the lower side. If those days you've logged are at all accurate, then I'm not surprised you're not feeling optimal.

    Yes I said about 1000 calories. I am trying to up protein and salt and fats. It is just for some reason I find it hard when I eat right.

    Thanks
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    canadacatman wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I went back a couple of months in your log to see what might stand out. I only found a few days logged here and there, and of those half are lower in cals that you're telling us. Your sodium is ridiculously low some days. Your fats are low. Your protein is on the lower side. If those days you've logged are at all accurate, then I'm not surprised you're not feeling optimal.

    Yes I said about 1000 calories. I am trying to up protein and salt and fats. It is just for some reason I find it hard when I eat right.

    Thanks

    The days I'm talking about are way less than 1000 calories, though (not that 1000 calories is even reasonable in the first place).

    April 16 - 521 calories
    May 31 - 835 calories

    It's hard to draw any conclusions from your diary since it's kind of all over the place. Keeping track of everything and using the notes feature to indicate how you feel each day may help you notice any important trends.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    The lowest recommended calorie intake for an adult woman is 1200 calories and the lowest for men is 1500 to get adequate nutrition. MFP most likely gave you a number higher than those numbers. If you are not meeting your calorie goal, protein goal, fat goal you are not really eating right.
    Eat whole eggs, full fat dairy, nuts, beans, lentils, chicken, fish, beef, vegetables, fruits, bread, bagels, rice, pasta, cereal, oatmeal.
    Try prelogging food for a whole day. Play around with your choices until you have your goals met. Eat that food.
    Keep doing that.
  • WA_mama2
    WA_mama2 Posts: 140 Member
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    You're being fed some false info here, (see above comment) and have a medical condition.

    Talk to a doctor and only a doctor.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    @canadacatman, I thought one of the reasons you friend-requested me was to see my comments and see notifications when I closed my diary each day so that you could look at my diary and get ideas about your own journey. Perhaps you would even want to ask me some "why" and "how" questions about my food. You're welcome to do so. I want to help you. I've been where you are. You don't have to stay there.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    Clearly you aren't "eating right" if you are extremely low on calories, and feeling dizzy, weak etc.
    I agree that you would probably benefit from professional advice to gain a better understanding of good nutrition.

    Note that good nutrition doesn't just mean "restriction". It means getting a good variety of healthy foods, enough to fuel your body and your activity. Yes, you need to eat less calories in order to lose weight, but that doesn't mean going to extremes. You can lose weight very steadily and very happily with a moderate deficit. Perhaps not as quickly as you like, but you will be healthier.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
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    As others have said, "eating right" does not equal starving yourself. I'd get dizzy if I ate 1000 cals per day too.
  • itsthehumidity
    itsthehumidity Posts: 351 Member
    edited June 2016
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    Your approach is a bit extreme, and overly complex. You're focusing on things like electrolytes when you don't even have your calories in order.

    First, speak to a registered clinical dietitian - a medical professional who can get you on track. They'll help you understand calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, and how to structure a good diet that will ensure healthy and sustainable eating habits for the long term.

    But, since you're so curious about electrolytes, they're salts. More specifically, they're salts that, when dissolved into a polar solvent like water, yield a substance that's electrically conductive. We have many different electrolytes in our bodies, but the main ones to be aware of are sodium and potassium. Sodium is the primary electrolyte outside our cells (extracellular) and potassium inside our cells (intracellular). A balance is needed between the two (the fancy way of describing this is "osmotic gradient" if you want to read more on the topic).

    The bottom line is that you need the right balance of sodium and potassium in your body, and thus your diet. Our diets these days have far more sodium than we need (it makes food taste better and thus easier to sell). Sodium is found in fun foods like pizza, burritos, etc. Potassium is found in decidedly less fun foods like broccoli, sweet potato, asparagus, and other such things.

    If you suddenly eliminate sodium from your diet, and figuratively drown yourself in water, you'll abruptly dilute your extracellular sodium concentration. Now, the balance is upset between it (EC sodium) and intracellular potassium. Potassium will then be pulled out of your cells, and that's bad news. Potassium is critically needed for cellular function, and I'm not surprised you started feeling how you were if this is the situation you got yourself in.

    But, you got yourself there because you took some decent advice on a better approach to nutrition and turned all the dials to 11. You're learning the lesson of why the extreme all-or-nothing approach can be even worse for you than your original methods. I wonder if you're doing it on purpose to justify why your less healthy methods are the only ones that work for you, but I'm no psychologist. Talk to a dietitian. He or she will show you the correct, balanced approach you've been missing.

    Edit: a typo
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
    edited June 2016
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Yes I said about 1000 calories. I am trying to up protein and salt and fats. It is just for some reason I find it hard when I eat right.

    Thanks
    Then it sounds like you need to revise your definition of "eating right". If you're deficient in macronutrients and it's making you feel ill, that doesn't sound like a "right" way of eating.

    This. You can and should continue to eat what you ate before you started to "diet" but pay attention to portions and nutrition. Your aim is towards a more healthy and sustainable lifestyle, not a diet.
    Eat what you enjoy in moderation.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    I got to the 1000 calories and less parts of this and stopped.. I get dizzy, have serious brain fog, vertigo and insomnia.. if you can name it as a side effect of eating low calories.. I get it..

    OP you are trying to address and non issue.. You should address the calorie intake. This will 100% solve your problem,,

    And I bet you are not energetic on these calories unless you consume a lot of caffeine during the day!

  • canadacatman
    canadacatman Posts: 224 Member
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    itsthehumidity wrote: »
    Your approach is a bit extreme, and overly complex. You're focusing on things like electrolytes when you don't even have your calories in order.

    First, speak to a registered clinical dietitian - a medical professional who can get you on track. They'll help you understand calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, and how to structure a good diet that will ensure healthy and sustainable eating habits for the long term.

    But, since you're so curious about electrolytes, they're salts. More specifically, they're salts that, when dissolved into a polar solvent like water, yield a substance that's electrically conductive. We have many different electrolytes in our bodies, but the main ones to be aware of are sodium and potassium. Sodium is the primary electrolyte outside our cells (extracellular) and potassium inside our cells (intracellular). A balance is needed between the two (the fancy way of describing this is "osmotic gradient" if you want to read more on the topic).

    The bottom line is that you need the right balance of sodium and potassium in your body, and thus your diet. Our diets these days have far more sodium than we need (it makes food taste better and thus easier to sell). Sodium is found in fun foods like pizza, burritos, etc. Potassium is found in decidedly less fun foods like broccoli, sweet potato, asparagus, and other such things.

    If you suddenly eliminate sodium from your diet, and figuratively drown yourself in water, you'll abruptly dilute your extracellular sodium concentration. Now, the balance is upset between it (EC sodium) and intracellular potassium. Potassium will then be pulled out of your cells, and that's bad news. Potassium is critically needed for cellular function, and I'm not surprised you started feeling how you were if this is the situation you got yourself in.

    But, you got yourself there because you took some decent advice on a better approach to nutrition and turned all the dials to 11. You're learning the lesson of why the extreme all-or-nothing approach can be even worse for you than your original methods. I wonder if you're doing it on purpose to justify why your less healthy methods are the only ones that work for you, but I'm no psychologist. Talk to a dietitian. He or she will show you the correct, balanced approach you've been missing.

    Edit: a typo

    I do not do it on purpose it is just when I eat healthy I usually go all or nothing I notice not too many others here do that and I'm starting yo understand.

    I do have ocd in everything I do

    Thanks very much on your advice I'm starting to understand what I need to do and not this all or none *kitten*(sorry).

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