I feel terrible when I diet! Help!

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hendrijm
hendrijm Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have tried to diet several times, and have a horrible time sticking to anything for over a month. I do lose weight when I cut the calories low enough, but I feel absolutely dreadful. I'm not able to function in my day to day life. I'm exhausted, I can't think clearly, and can't seem to get enough sleep even though it is 8+ a night. I will even start cycling even though I skip the sugar pills in the birth control I take. I have endometriosis, so that is terrifying. I have stuck to it for three weeks, about a month ago, but the misery didn't abate at all. I made sure I was drinking a lot of water. I'm not sure what to do and the doctors don't really tell me anything either. I'm searching for new doctors, but it takes a lot of time. I also have Hashimotos. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? How long am I supposed to feel like this before I actually start feeling human again?
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Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    How many calories do you eat when you try to diet? Do you still eat a balanced diet or are there foods you cut out? What are your height and weight?
  • mgalsf12
    mgalsf12 Posts: 350 Member
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    Hmmmm it sounds like you are eating too few calories. How many calories are you consuming each day and are you getting enough protein?
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    Sounds like you may have cut too many calories?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    A lot of what you describe happens when the calories are too low. You might have to settle for a lower rate if loss so you don’t feel so bad.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    I agree with the others who say that it sounds like you're cutting your calories too low. Are you also restricting food groups?
  • hendrijm
    hendrijm Posts: 27 Member
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    I cut calories down to 1200. I'm 5'0 and 203. I only lose 1, 2, or 3 pounds a week. I'm not cutting food groups, if I bring the calories up to 1600, I stop losing weight, but I feel a lot better. I'm not sedentary, I teach and I'm on my feel all day and I usually take 12,000 steps a day.
  • hendrijm
    hendrijm Posts: 27 Member
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    I won't do a bunch of carbs, I'll stick to whole instead of processed sources.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Eat at 1550 a day and make sure you feel good. Be patient.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited November 2017
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    hendrijm wrote: »
    I have tried to diet several times, and have a horrible time sticking to anything for over a month. I do lose weight when I cut the calories low enough, but I feel absolutely dreadful. I'm not able to function in my day to day life. I'm exhausted, I can't think clearly, and can't seem to get enough sleep even though it is 8+ a night. I will even start cycling even though I skip the sugar pills in the birth control I take. I have endometriosis, so that is terrifying. I have stuck to it for three weeks, about a month ago, but the misery didn't abate at all. I made sure I was drinking a lot of water. I'm not sure what to do and the doctors don't really tell me anything either. I'm searching for new doctors, but it takes a lot of time. I also have Hashimotos. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? How long am I supposed to feel like this before I actually start feeling human again?

    Have you considered cutting calories but not by as much as you have in the past? Even a modest deficit of 250 calories a day will result in weight loss over time. If you eat at a small deficit you will feel completely normal. If you achieve the deficit by keeping your meal routine the same but just making very slight adjustments (like higher protein lower fat or higher protein lower carb) just to establish that small deficit it can actually be really easy to lose weight with minimal effort.

    It sounds to me like your problem is you go to hard, you go extreme...you think I can't maintain this so I will go as hard and as fast as I can to make progress in the minimal time I have before I quit. Try something different. Try going slow.

    ETA: Saw later that you posted you aimed for 1200 calories a day. That is extremely low and unnecessary to do, I am not surprised you struggled.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,423 Member
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    why don't you try losing 1/2 lb/week? how many calories would that give you? You have to find a balance that you can stick to
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
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    When you were dieting were you actually using MFP or on some other kind of diet/s? How much of a deficit were you on? You may want to start at 250 calorie deficit/day and work up as your body adjusts. Also, don't make dramatic changes in your foods all at once. A healthy diet should have a balance of good, wholesome foods and some of the goodies you like as well. You shouldn't feel that hungry most of the time and certainly not weak. You need to train yourself to eat right for life, not suffer through a period of misery only to return to old ways. Also, add in exercise slowly. It can be a burn-out factor especially with thyroid issues. Walking, low impact aerobics, yoga or Pilates are good to start with for people with low metabolisms like with Hashimoto's. What are your statistics and if you have a diary going you might want to open it for others to review for suggestions.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,423 Member
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    I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Evamutt wrote: »
    I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.

    Except she is a teacher and she is on her feet all day, she isn't sedentary.
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Evamutt wrote: »
    I went to Scooby's calculator & put in your stats. It said your TDEE is 1879, so if you take away 350 cal/day=1529 . I put it at sedentary, if you eat 1529/cal/day, you should lose fine. If you add any exercise, you can eat back some of the calories from that.

    Except she is a teacher and she is on her feet all day, she isn't sedentary.

    All the more reason why she shouldn't limit herself to 1200 calories! Not enough to fuel her lifestyle even without adding purposeful exercise. I tried 1200 (after my calorie intake kept going down of MFP since I was losing lbs.) for a few days, and I had to change it. It was just not enough food. I'm a bit taller than her 5'4'' but close to her weight at 208.
  • ttreit
    ttreit Posts: 59 Member
    edited November 2017
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    I have hashimotos and have found that combining exercise and calorie reduction works the best. I simply walk a modest amount every day but it adds up over a week. I also find lifting weights to help.

    I’m a live sound engineer so on gig days, like yourself, my job provides lots of exercise. I still go to the gym on gig days but I pay really close attention to my body and err on the side of not over doing it. I’m actually at a show right now and came here straight from the gym. So add some extra exercise on work days but moderate it so it makes sense. Cut back on days you have a field trip, increase it on testing days.

    Overall it sounds like you’re trying to do too much too fast. Make a change that will have an impact and stick with that one change for a month then keep that one and add another.

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