Nausea, feeling ill - down 40 lbs in 79 days.
adamyovanovich
Posts: 163 Member
So, i recently quit drinking alcohol, about 45 days ago. When i drank i drank a lot of calories and binge ate. When i don't drink my diet is really good, i stick around 1800-2000 calories a day. Sometimes around dinner i feel like crap, dizzy, nausea, ill. And today this morning i feel the same, no energy, blech....
I have lost 40 lbs in 79 days of dieting, and i am in no way starving myself.
Im wanting to know if anyone else has had this, is it the calorie intake, toxins releasing into my blood stream or anything else.?
I had blood work at the doctor and he said i am healthy, good bp, cholesterol, no other issues.
I have lost 40 lbs in 79 days of dieting, and i am in no way starving myself.
Im wanting to know if anyone else has had this, is it the calorie intake, toxins releasing into my blood stream or anything else.?
I had blood work at the doctor and he said i am healthy, good bp, cholesterol, no other issues.
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Replies
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Without knowing anything else about you and your activity, I can tell you you're not eating enough to fuel your body. It's nothing to do with toxins, you're losing weight too quickly, and it's caught up with you. Have you put your stats into MFP and taken a look at your calorie goal? Unless you're quite heavy, your rate of loss should be under 2 pounds a week. Are you eating back your exercise calories? That's important too. If you tell us your age, height, current weight and goal weight we can help you figure out how to make sure you're losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way.24
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Without knowing anything else about you and your activity, I can tell you you're not eating enough to fuel your body. It's nothing to do with toxins, you're losing weight too quickly, and it's caught up with you. Have you put your stats into MFP and taken a look at your calorie goal? Unless you're quite heavy, your rate of loss should be under 2 pounds a week. Are you eating back your exercise calories? That's important too. If you tell us your age, height, current weight and goal weight we can help you figure out how to make sure you're losing weight in a healthy and sustainable way.
Yes, I'd like the answers to all these questions as well.
Without this info, it's quite likely that you're not feeling well because you are undereating and losing weight too fast.
What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?
Rapid weight loss creates physical demands on the body. Possible serious risks include:- Gallstones, which occur in 12% to 25% of people losing large amounts of weight over several months
- Dehydration, which can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids
- Malnutrition, usually from not eating enough protein for weeks at a time
- Electrolyte imbalances, which rarely can be life threatening
Other side effects of rapid weight loss include:- Headaches
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Constipation
- Menstrual irregularities
- Hair loss
- Muscle loss
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Ps - congrats on quitting drinking! That's a huge positive change.
One tip from my experience - when I stopped being a heavy drinking, I developed an M&M habit, so that's something to watch out for9 -
I am
32 year old
5'8"
310 lbs currently, was 350 79 days ago.
I have an office job, some days i sit all day, some days i do camera installs, so its more activity.
I take the kids swimming 2 days a week, but nothing strenuous, just fun.'
I have dieted in 2016 and lost 60 lbs doing mfp and calorie counting, and i ate 2000 then too, so i know it works. But i quit drinking this time around and there was a ton of calories in that, so maybe 2000 back then plus the drinking calories a few times a week made it better?..
Ill try adding a few hundred to 2200 for a week or two, see if i feel better.4 -
Dumb question. Did you mention your symptoms to your doctor, and the quitting drinking... or just get basic blood work without saying why? It's not necessarily that you are losing too much weight. That can definitely be explained by not having alcohol. But all the other symptoms are worrisome. Did you quit drinking slowly, go through medical detox, or just quit outright? These sound like they could be withdrawal symptoms... (not immediate w/d symptoms obvs. , since it's been a while... But if you were a heavy drinker, your addicted brain is going to be trying a lot of things to get you to drink again, for six to eight weeks. You should notice a decrease in those feelings soon, but if not, definitely return to doc and rule out liver damage.)10
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Yes i told him i had an alcohol problem, i just quit, told him about the diet, and the fatigue, which usually is around dinner. He said to pack in some calories between lunch and dinner, since they are 7 hours apart, which should help. all my blood tests came back great.
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I quit cold turkey, im sure i was fully detoxed in 14 days.5
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It is easy to become depressed and discouraged. I think it is important to fill the void left by ending past habits with great new ones. Something that's almost certain to lift you up is serving others. Check out www.justserve.org for some opportunities near you. I expect you'll be glad you did.2
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marianck1551 wrote: »Dumb question. Did you mention your symptoms to your doctor, and the quitting drinking... or just get basic blood work without saying why? It's not necessarily that you are losing too much weight. That can definitely be explained by not having alcohol. But all the other symptoms are worrisome. Did you quit drinking slowly, go through medical detox, or just quit outright? These sound like they could be withdrawal symptoms...
From his first post - he quit alcohol 45 days ago - acute symptoms would be long gone. He is losing over 3 pounds a week, yes he is losing weight too fast. Unless under a doctor's supervision, 2 pounds a week is the most he should be losing.10 -
I just changed my Goals, to lightly active, which puts me at 2250 for daily calories, most days im around 1800, Ill make sure to hit 2000.12
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at minimum
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adamyovanovich wrote: »I just changed my Goals, to lightly active, which puts me at 2250 for daily calories, most days im around 1800, Ill make sure to hit 2000.
You should be eating all 2250 calories. MFP calculates your deficit into the calories it gives you, so make sure you eat them all!. If you don't feel better within a few weeks, try upping them again, maybe by 100 or so every week until you do feel better. Best of luck!10 -
Thanks for the input, i had done the 2000 before and didnt have the problem, but drank a bunch of calories too, which i never logged, so im guessing even though most where empty calories they still where fuel. I appreciate the feedback and the help. I will up my calories.3
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Incredibly similar story except I quit drinking before starting to lose. BTW, it will get easier - day 475. I also drank a lot of calories and would binge eat, polishing off a bowl of ice cream and a few oreos while waiting for the cheese to melt and then cool a little on my chips in the toaster oven. I also went overboard at pretty much the same rate; I lost 32 pounds in 65 days before posting here and after arguing with people for a while and getting threads shut down for advocating unsafe weight loss, I finally started following some of the links and reading some of the concerns. They are legit. If you are like me, and based on your story you are a lot like me, this is about turning your life around and being healthy and there is a big concern that if you don't make it happen as quickly as possible that you will slide right back into old habits.
It turns out that doing it really quickly makes failure more likely , not less. You need to know how to eat to maintain it when you get there and you need the energy to start being active. Try to get into some activities where you meet some new people that don't have your old habits; meet ups for cycling, hiking, paddling, etc. I am into SUP paddling big time now and have a new social circle to do stuff with besides getting trashed.
My labs were all awesome also, which is one of the reasons I didn't believe people at first. But they don't measure where the weight loss is coming from when you drop too fast. They don't measure adaptive thermogenesis (starvation mode is a myth, but AT isn't). They don't pick up decline in organ function until they cross into territory you don't want to get into.
if you switch to healthier eating habits and slowly increase portions as you appeoach goal, it is much easier to adjust to maintenance. It's been about 7.5 months since I hit goal and I still have to monitor my intake, but this is working.
It's worth doing right.37 -
Actually, at your weight, the rate of loss is not overly excessive. I’d hazard a guess that there was a lot of loss in the first couple of weeks related to water weight. But your loss appears to be about 1% of body weight per week, on average.
As your weight comes down, so should your rate of loss. If you’re content at your current intake level, you may find it will naturally start to slow your rate of loss (as your body weight comes down, so does the number of calories it burns and, therefore, so does the caloric deficit for a given intake).
The energy issue is a different story. Time to examine what you eat, when you eat and what else might be driving your energy levels.6 -
It's possible that 1800-2000 is low, depending on your height/weight, activity level and excersise stats. I'm 270, 6'1, moderately active and with 45-60 minutes of weight training my daily cals are at 2500 even at a 1000 cal deficit.2
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adamyovanovich wrote: »Yes i told him i had an alcohol problem, i just quit, told him about the diet, and the fatigue, which usually is around dinner. He said to pack in some calories between lunch and dinner, since they are 7 hours apart, which should help. all my blood tests came back great.
Sounds like a great idea. Let us know how it goes.6 -
It doesnt happen all the time, just some times. Ill try and keep notes on days i do more activity at work, maybe those are the days i feel ill at dinner time.5
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Congrats! Change is difficult mentally & physically. There’s new research (scientific based not based on associative animal testing) around feast & fast cycles and our human circadian rhythm (similar to sleep rhythm but nutrition related) that may help.
A great audio book (or paper) that gets into the human studies/results (and tons of a’ha! moments) is by Dr Fung called The Obesity Code. For shorter 5-10 min reads, Dr Fung is also on the app “Medium” and gets into body set rate monitor, carbs & insulin, hormonal responses to diet, etc. all impact mental clarity and energy, and sometimes need extra TLC after periods of over indulging.
Long story short, could be what/when you’re eating (or not eating) that’s draining you, not just the actual calories in/out. Low electrolytes, insulin rushes, etc can give you nausea or flu like aches & headaches especially combined with detoxing body of alcohol or other indulgences. With age and frequent indulgences, we don’t bounce back as easily or quickly. Good luck!!40 -
Congrats! Change is difficult mentally & physically. There’s new research (scientific based not based on associative animal testing) around feast & fast cycles and our human circadian rhythm (similar to sleep rhythm but nutrition related) that may help.
A great audio book (or paper) that gets into the human studies/results (and tons of a’ha! moments) is by Dr Fung called The Obesity Code. For shorter 5-10 min reads, Dr Fung is also on the app “Medium” and gets into body set rate monitor, carbs & insulin, hormonal responses to diet, etc. all impact mental clarity and energy, and sometimes need extra TLC after periods of over indulging.
Long story short, could be what/when you’re eating (or not eating) that’s draining you, not just the actual calories in/out. Low electrolytes, insulin rushes, etc can give you nausea or flu like aches & headaches especially combined with detoxing body of alcohol or other indulgences. With age and frequent indulgences, we don’t bounce back as easily or quickly. Good luck!!
Dr. Fung is a quack. There's no reason to complicate OPs life with random restrictions and bogus scare tactics involving insulin and eating windows.26 -
Fung's "science" isn't really science.
OP I think the plan to increase your calories and slow down your rate of loss is a good one. Just because a rate of loss is close to technically safe doesn't mean it's advisable or optimal.18 -
CarvedTones wrote: »Incredibly similar story except I quit drinking before starting to lose. BTW, it will get easier - day 475. I also drank a lot of calories and would binge eat, polishing off a bowl of ice cream and a few oreos while waiting for the cheese to melt and then cool a little on my chips in the toaster oven. I also went overboard at pretty much the same rate; I lost 32 pounds in 65 days before posting here and after arguing with people for a while and getting threads shut down for advocating unsafe weight loss, I finally started following some of the links and reading some of the concerns. They are legit. If you are like me, and based on your story you are a lot like me, this is about turning your life around and being healthy and there is a big concern that if you don't make it happen as quickly as possible that you will slide right back into old habits.
It turns out that doing it really quickly makes failure more likely , not less. You need to know how to eat to maintain it when you get there and you need the energy to start being active. Try to get into some activities where you meet some new people that don't have your old habits; meet ups for cycling, hiking, paddling, etc. I am into SUP paddling big time now and have a new social circle to do stuff with besides getting trashed.
My labs were all awesome also, which is one of the reasons I didn't believe people at first. But they don't measure where the weight loss is coming from when you drop too fast. They don't measure adaptive thermogenesis (starvation mode is a myth, but AT isn't). They don't pick up decline in organ function until they cross into territory you don't want to get into.
if you switch to healthier eating habits and slowly increase portions as you appeoach goal, it is much easier to adjust to maintenance. It's been about 7.5 months since I hit goal and I still have to monitor my intake, but this is working.
It's worth doing right.
I can vouch for everything that @CarvedTones said.
As a data point how much you're eating means ZIP-NOTHING-NADA... your rate of loss tells us all we need to know about the deficit you're achieving.... and your rate of loss reflects a deficit of approximately 1750 Calories a day.
If you're eating 2000 on average, based on your rate of loss you're spending 3750 on average (TDEE=3750) which is quite likely at your current weight.
While it CAN be argued that 1% loss of body-weight per week is not unsafe; there is a difference between unsafe and the best option for YOU.
And I don't think that anyone can argue against the fact that if 1% is not too unsafe, a range of 0.5% to 0.8% of your body-weight a week is even safer.
The argument with slower weight loss becomes whether it is de-motivating for the person undertaking the exercise.
However feeling low energy and dizzy is, in my opinion, MORE de-motivating than feeling full of energy and losing weight slower...
plus all the stuff @CarvedTones mentions including setting yourself up for maintenance and the even bigger one which is giving yourself a long enough time while you're losing to embed some of these new behaviours and ways of living into your daily existence.
In any case, a 25% deficit while obese (20% deficit while overweight or normal weight) has much fewer side effects than the 47% deficit you're attempting as evidenced by your current weight loss.
Based on your results I would suggest sticking to a 2lb a week goal deficit right now (1000 Cal a day is just over 25% deficit and would have you eating 2750 Cal a day or so).
And reducing the deficit to 750 Cal and 500 Cal down the road.
And no, you don't have to gradually increase to that level... you can do it immediately and without major issues and there is no benefit in a prolonged slow increase at this stage of the game.
In fact you should NOT be afraid to have days of smaller deficits... the accumulated deficit over time is what will help you lose fat and you don't need to be pushing 100% every day. You DO need to be pushing for finding SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS / OPTIONS for yourself that you keep at once you've lost the weight.
Experimenting is your friend and experiments sometimes fail. The benefit of having the deficit target is that you can quickly get back on track.
You may also want to start inputting your weight into a weight trend application or web site (I use trendweight.com, libra for android, happy scale for iphone are other ones people use).
if you find the motivation, lifting some weights or even body-weight strength training exercises would be good things to do ;-)16 -
Don't use your experience of 'before' as a guide. You said earlier you didn't log alcohol and that you were eating 2,000cal a day, this means you were probably eating more like 2500 a day (although that is a stab in the dark guess as I don't know what or how much you were drinking - it could have been more!). Alcohol can be really high in calories - depending on what it was. Trust the process!4
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You mentioned a 7-hr gap between lunch and dinner. That would leave me dizzy and nauseous all by itself.11
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First of all great job on ALL your accomplishments. I also gave up drinking for my health and still crave sugar. Good call to make a note of when it happens and specifically what you’ve eaten that day. Might be a simple thing like tweaking macros. Or could be that you just don’t react well to a specific food. You’re on the right path!2
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Actually, at your weight, the rate of loss is not overly excessive. I’d hazard a guess that there was a lot of loss in the first couple of weeks related to water weight. But your loss appears to be about 1% of body weight per week, on average.
Your arithmetic is off by nearly 25%. OP has averaged close to 4 lbs per week loss and is now just over 300 lbs.
And lack of energy is far more likely to be about calories (aka energy than about types of food or meal timing. Horses, not zebras.13 -
Ok. So it’s 1.25% as opposed to 1%. My point stands.It’s not an outrageously high rate of loss.
Nevertheless, while it’s possible the total caloric intake is sufficiently low that OP is having thsse symptoms, at 2000 calories per day it’s not that low. Which means other potential causes should be considered.
There is a lot to be said for the [theoretical] benefits of slower weight loss over rapid weight loss. But even at a rate of 1% per week (on average). OP is looking at a fairly extended period of time to reach a weight in the normal BMI range. So while I don’t advocate weight loss at a rate of more than 1-2 pounds per week, I do believe that when it represents such a small percentage of body weight it’s much less likely to be a problem if it’s still in the range of OP’s.
YMMV.11 -
Eat at maintenance for a few weeks and see how you feel. I get dizzy, tired, and overall feel like crap when my calories get too low. BP and HR drop also. I would have urges to eat everything in site. I realized my body didn't do well on 2000 calories. I bumped up to 2400 calories and haven't had this problem since.
Losing a half pound a day is aggressive to sustain. Do you use an activity tracker?6 -
While there is a lot believed about the (theoretical) benefits of fast weight loss and how (with sufficient nutritional, psychological, and educational support) it can be just as good or even more good and effective than slow weight loss, there is also much to be said for slower, sustainable, and achievable weight loss that gives people the opportunity and time to work on the multiple issues they will have to address in order to change their lives long term while achieving a "mega" weight loss.
Caloric intake means little independently of a comparison to TDEE.11
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