Worried that my diet is starting to affect my health

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Lushchicken
Lushchicken Posts: 7 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hey you guys, bit of a special case here. I'm a 35 year old woman and a wheelchair user. I got disabled 10 years ago and the pounds started piling on. This made me incredibly miserable and after a long search I found something that worked: My Fitness Pal at 1200 cals per day. I ate like that for a whole year and finally ended up with a body I can accept. However, I also knew that staying on such a low cal diet wouldn't be healthy (MFP suggests 1700 cals per day, based on height, activity levels etc.) So I went to 1300. 6 months ago I went to my doctor for a routine blood test and my iron levels showed up as too low. This has never happened to me. He was dismissive when I suggested it might be related to my diet. I'm going in for another blood test in a couple of days and am petrified of my iron levels still being too low. I've done a lot of reading and some experts seem to suggest that diet does not affect iron levels? I know that I should up my iron intake but find it hard to do so on 1300 cals. A couple of weeks ago I started getting heart palpitations (I also suffer from anxiety, so this might be related) and I now worry that the amount I eat is really screwing up my body. This makes me miserable because I want to keep my figure and I'm not sure I can go much past 1300-1400 cals without gaining weight due to my disability. It's very hard to find any kind of calorie intake suggestion for a person in my situation.
I move as much as I can. I have an adapted exercise bike for arms and legs which I use daily to get at least SOME cardio.

So yeah, I'm a bit stumped. I will address all of this with my doctor, of course. But do you think that eating 1300 could really affect my iron levels/heart? And how do I find the courage to eat more? I know it's too little because I start every day feeling nauseous because I'm starving.
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Replies

  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    Because of your circumstances the only advice that I have is to look in to cereals with added iron. To help with the calories you might try using something such as unsweetened almond milk with about 30 calories per cup.

    General Mills Cheerios iron fortified has about 49% of the RDA for about 103 calories for a 28g serving. I am sure there are others. I use to eat cornflakes with added iron.

    Good luck.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
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    take a supplement or focus on iron rich foods within the calories you now eat.problem solved.if you eat more but don't eat foods high in iron,you'll still end up with the same problem.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,104 Member
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    If it were me, I would start eating iron rich foods AND up my calories to the suggested maintenance amount. If you are nauseous from being "starving" - eat!

    Just keep good records. Try eating at the maintenance amount for three or four weeks (don't give up after three days!) and see what your weight does. You aren't going to gain ten pounds. You MAY have a couple pounds fluctuation. Hang on for those three to four weeks. It may be up and down for a while, so hold your course.
  • bunnyluv19
    bunnyluv19 Posts: 103 Member
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    eggs combined with citrus fruit or a vitamin C tablet to help increase iron absorption and/or a serving of raisins daily are iron rich foods you could add to your diet without a lot of calories.
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    I had low iron a couple years ago when I was going through some medical treatments. I was able to increase my iron level on my own with just food, no supplements. There are some very high iron foods that are still low calorie. Even though it wasn't my favorite, I learned to like liver.

    I would make a stir fry of liver, spinach, eggs and shitake mushrooms (all high iron foods). Add a little hot sauce and it was pretty tasty. I also ate a lot of salads with spinach and mushrooms. Iron problem solved!

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Ask your doctor about iron supplements.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,300 Member
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    I sympathise, I had mobility issues once. I would like to encourage you to increase your food consumption to the recommended maintenance level as soon as you can. What is suggested for maintenance for you? You will really feel the health benefits of doing this, it does not have to cost you your achievements figure wise, not doing so could be adding to your difficulties. Keeping to 1200 c's which was not the right level for you in the first place created a problem for you in achieving good nutrition, just as it does for someone for whom it was a recommendation, many references are now saying this level should only be done for a short period.

    please optimise your food choices, and log what you are doing. BeeBaby has some very good suggestions which will help you. cmriverside is right too, please give it a good try.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
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    I would try eating a little more - 1300 seems too low, even taking into consideration your mobility issues. Try 1500 for a couple weeks and see what happens...

    I get 100% of my iron on days that I eat a serving of Whole Grain Total cereal.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    Cereal or a multivitamin for iron...

    I don't think 1300 calories would be negatively affecting your health.
  • Kimo159
    Kimo159 Posts: 508 Member
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    Well, first of all, if you were losing on 1200 and you're content with your figure as it is then you can likely increase by more than 100 for maintenance. Unless you were losing at a ridiculously slow rate. A 100 calorie deficit per day were amount to about a 10lb/year loss or less than a lb a month. Most people prefer to lose at .5-1lb per week which would be a 250-500 calorie daily deficit. But, perhaps you really were going for the slow and steady rate.

    But, if you're low in iron then as other posters have suggested, supplement or choose high iron foods. Cereal is one of the best, but it can pack a calorie punch and for myself it offers littler satiety so I'm more inclined to take an iron supplement.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    sllm1 wrote: »
    Cereal or a multivitamin for iron...

    I don't think 1300 calories would be negatively affecting your health.

    Not a medical professional, but I tend to agree 1300 isn't so low that it would harm your health. If you're worried, of course mention it to your GP. But if you don't feel any symptoms, the real underlying problem here is more likely to be anxiety (worry) than your caloric deficit.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
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    Personally, I take a multi-vitamin just to be on the safe side, but I eat a lot of nutrient-dense foods, especially meats, that help me hit my protein goals and coincidentally iron at the same time.

    The Mayo Clinic has a good list of iron-rich foods which, are also nutrient-dense, and in the case of lean meats and greens, low-calorie: these make a great foundation of a 1200-calorie diet:

    Red meat, pork and poultry
    Seafood
    Beans
    Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach
    Dried fruit, such as raisins and apricots
    Iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas
    Peas
  • Lushchicken
    Lushchicken Posts: 7 Member
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    Wow, so many replies! Thank you! Loads of excellent suggestions to up my iron intake. I will try to work more of them into my diet. This was the initial plan but I was discouraged by my doctor telling me that it's usually not possible to up your iron levels with food. But I will look into the suggested foods. Glad to hear that 1300 shouldn't be doing me any harm. I have just looked it up and MFP suggest 1710 calories for maintenance which sounds kind of crazy to me. I consider 1500 a more realistic goal for me, especially now I'm used to around 1300 cals per day.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,300 Member
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    Doctors are not dietitians they can't know all there is to know. Take care, you are the only one of you we have.
  • sfa90
    sfa90 Posts: 105 Member
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    I also had often low iron levels, but I also had that when I ate a lot of calories. But since 6 months I use iron pills, I don't what country you are from, but I buy them at the local drug store. I feel much better now.
  • suzesvelte
    suzesvelte Posts: 134 Member
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    Someone already mentioned it, but dont forget that iron absorption is really improved by taking it with Vit C so squeeze some lemon on your liver and spinach dinner!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,953 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Your doctor can just prescribe iron supplements. You can also buy them off the shelf, but your doctor could recommend the right amount. Many women need to take them since we easily deplete our stores during our periods. Did you get the test done right after or during your period? Because you might naturally bounce back if so.

    If you're wanting to add more iron to your diet, try foods such as:

    Mollusks
    Chicken livers
    Beef (especially liver)
    Pork
    These are called heme iron sources - as they come from organisms which have blood.

    Other less effective foods that have iron (meat sources are absorbed into your system significantly better than any vegetable or manufactured source. Your body only absorbs 30-50% of the iron that is contained in non-heme (non-animal) sources):

    Fortified cereals and milks
    Beans
    Dark green veggies such as broccoli and spinach

    If you find that you're always having trouble with keeping iron up, you could look into using a lucky iron fish when you cook.

    Having low iron isn't a terrible thing as long as you take steps to correct it. Something crazy like 50% of women have low iron.

    Try to get a minimum of 18 mg of iron a day. This will help you maintain a healthy level. You might need more than that for a while to build it back up if your second test is also low.


  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    Lushchicken wrote: »
    Wow, so many replies! Thank you! Loads of excellent suggestions to up my iron intake. I will try to work more of them into my diet. This was the initial plan but I was discouraged by my doctor telling me that it's usually not possible to up your iron levels with food. But I will look into the suggested foods. Glad to hear that 1300 shouldn't be doing me any harm. I have just looked it up and MFP suggest 1710 calories for maintenance which sounds kind of crazy to me. I consider 1500 a more realistic goal for me, especially now I'm used to around 1300 cals per day.

    The MFP suggestion for maintenance is likely based on having some moderate activity during the day. If you are primarily using your wheelchair, then you wouldn't be burning a lot of calories. As others have suggested, up your calories a little at a time and see how it goes. If you gain a little, then back it down again. Maintenance calories are different for everyone, depending on activity level, age, metabolism, etc.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I read somewhere that drinking black tea reduces your ability to absorb iron. Not sure whether that's scientifically accurate or not but it might be worth discussing that with your doc if you drink tea.

    If your low iron is dietary, broccoli, spinach, roquette, and other green veggies are low in calories but high in iron. Fortified cereals such as shreddies are good too. You should consider trying to build in some red meat if you like the taste. And of course discuss with your doctor whether a supplement is necessary.

    Even if your low iron is not dietary the above foods are tasty and good for you :smile:

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