Headaches and fatigue starting “diet”

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arilukaszewicz1
arilukaszewicz1 Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone,

Starting 3 days ago I jumped on the fitness pal wagon again and started eating 2000 calories a day versus whatever I wanted before. I also exercise 5 times a week, I was doing this before as well so it’s nothing new. The past two days I’ve had back headaches and fatigue. I have also been consuming the same amount of caffeine. Has anyone experienced this when starting to reduce calories? Any tips to combat it? It’s annoying and making me want to eat more food again :(

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  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    -Are you staying hydrated? If you have made drastic changes, this might need to include electrolytes, as available in Nuun or Ultima.
    -Did you change your carb intake? It can take some time to adjust to lower carbs
    -Are you getting enough sleep? Sometimes we use food or drinks to mask other bad habits
    -Did you cut back on pop/soda? You might be missing the caffeine.
  • arilukaszewicz1
    arilukaszewicz1 Posts: 75 Member
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    concordancia wrote: »
    -Are you staying hydrated? If you have made drastic changes, this might need to include electrolytes, as available in Nuun or Ultima.
    -Did you change your carb intake? It can take some time to adjust to lower carbs
    -Are you getting enough sleep? Sometimes we use food or drinks to mask other bad habits
    -Did you cut back on pop/soda? You might be missing the caffeine.

    I am definitely hydrated I drink so much water everyday, but I am not so sure about electrolytes. Carbs are still normal and I sleep well. I did cut back on having 3 cups a day down to 1 so maybe that’s it too
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    How many calories are you netting?
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 479 Member
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    I got really exhausted on and off for the first couple weeks while calorie restricting. I muscled through it and it went away. Decreasing the caffeine would definitely do that to you as well.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    You may be over hydrating and your electrolyte levels have dropped. Try adding a little more salt or get some nuns, etc.

    Could be adjusting from 3 cups to one also.

    Cheers, h.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    Could you be catching a cold? Close to your cycle? Could be coincidence.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    arilukaszewicz1 wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    -Are you staying hydrated? If you have made drastic changes, this might need to include electrolytes, as available in Nuun or Ultima.
    -Did you change your carb intake? It can take some time to adjust to lower carbs
    -Are you getting enough sleep? Sometimes we use food or drinks to mask other bad habits
    -Did you cut back on pop/soda? You might be missing the caffeine.

    I am definitely hydrated I drink so much water everyday, but I am not so sure about electrolytes. Carbs are still normal and I sleep well. I did cut back on having 3 cups a day down to 1 so maybe that’s it too

    It's probably the reduction in caffiene. In your first post, you said you were drinking the same amount of coffee and here you say you've reduced it by 2/3!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I vote for caffeine first and if not that it might be an over aggressive fitness routine.

    Try three days a week with rest in between. Rest days might be yoga. Not the hot yoga.
  • Deviette
    Deviette Posts: 979 Member
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    Make sure you're eating back your exercise calories.

    And yeah, cutting your caffeine could also contribute to this problem.
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
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    I vote the reduction in caffeine. Caffeine is a *kitten* to cut down on. I cut it out completely once and for the first few weeks I was falling asleep at my desk a few times a day. Might be an idea to cut down at a a slower pace.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    Yup, sounds like caffiene withdrawl. Takes a week to 10 days I believe to get it out of your system. If it persists beyond that I would see your doc.

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