Feeling lightheaded.

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losingthehealthyway
losingthehealthyway Posts: 46
in Food and Nutrition
I only started this plan 4 days ago, but yesterday and today I have been feeling lightheaded and dizzy. My vision gets blurred and I just feel slow. I'm 5'10", 149 pounds, and eating 1200 calories/day. I don't exercise a lot. My metabolism has always been pretty quick, but not overly so. Am I eating too little?

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  • nursenikki829
    nursenikki829 Posts: 432 Member
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    That sounds like symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). I would try upping your calories a little and spreading out your meals to more frequent small meals. If you unlock your diary for viewing, it might be a little easier to help you out. :smile:
  • jhigg11
    jhigg11 Posts: 121 Member
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    make sure you are drinking water through your day too!
  • BigDaddyBRC
    BigDaddyBRC Posts: 2,395 Member
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    That sounds like symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). I would try upping your calories a little and spreading out your meals to more frequent small meals. If you unlock your diary for viewing, it might be a little easier to help you out. :smile:

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^TOTALLY THIS
  • OTchic
    OTchic Posts: 205 Member
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    if you opened up your diary that would help to figure it out
  • darlilama
    darlilama Posts: 794 Member
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    Other reasons for "light-headedness"... allergies (yep, found that out recently) and low blood pressure. If it continues, see your doctor. They might want to test your blood sugar. Have you made any other significant changes in your diet other than eating less? For example, are you drinking "energy drinks" or taking in more or less caffiene which can cause that effect in some people. Or, have you quit smoking?

    I'm sure there are many other reasons as well. Take care of yourself for sure!
  • losingthehealthyway
    losingthehealthyway Posts: 46
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    Wow, I didn't expect so many quick responses. :bigsmile: Thanks!

    I haven't been recording my diet on mfp (it's just easier to use a small notebook that I can carry around than it is to use my laptop all the time.) But I can break down what I've been eating here:
    Day 1: Slept through breakfast
    Lunch- 2 cups watermelon, 2/3 of a croissant filled with diced chicken, 3 rice noodle wraps filled with ground beef
    Snack- 1 cup watermelon, 2 cups spinach, 1 T apple cider vinegar, and celery
    Dinner- 1 grilled chicken sandwich, 1 cup of chili (Wendy's)

    Day 2:
    Breakfast- 1 small apple, 1/4 cup lowfat cottage cheese, 1/3 cup 2% milk, 3 almonds, 1 apricot, 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1 cup watermelon, 5 celery sticks.
    Lunch- 3 celery sticks, 1 polish sausage, spinach and tomato side salad with cider vinegar.
    Snack- stick of sugarfree gum
    Dinner- 7 celery sticks, 2 1/2 cups watermelon, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream, 1 T peanut butter, 1.5 oz rain organic.

    Day 3:
    Breakfast- 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup 2% milk, small apple, 5 almonds
    Snack- Fudgsicle (100 calories)
    Lunch- 2 cups watermelon, 3 chicken drumsticks (boiled), 1 1/2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, onion.
    Snack- 1 cup watermelon, 8 celery sticks
    Dinner- 1/2 snickerdoodle cookie, 3/4 bag butter popcorn, chicken drumstick (boiled).

    Today:
    Breakfast- 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 banana, 1 mango.
    Snack- 1 snickerdoodle cookie.
    Lunch- chicken breast meat, baby carrots, and a slice of potato.

    I have a sweet tooth, as you can probably tell. I do drink a lot of water throughout the day. I've never smoked. I have been drinking less caffeine than usual but I don't drink a lot to begin with. Low blood pressure might be a problem. I have always had lightheadedness when getting out of bed in the morning, but every doctor I've been to has been happy with my bp and even commented on how good it is. I'm concerned that the only option is to increase the amount of meals I eat every day, but whenever I do that I start to feel deprived. The portions are just tiny. MFP made my default calorie intake about 1400, but I really don't know if I want to up it. Argg!

    Thanks everybody. I'm definitely open to more suggestions.
  • j77r68
    j77r68 Posts: 271 Member
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    If MFP set your daily cals to 1400 than you should be eating that much. Not sure if you know this but the MFP program already sets you at a 500 calorie deficit. So even if you just followed the calories with no exercise you would still lose a bit of weight each week. Hope this helps you because I remember the years of not dieting properly and feeling like crap.
  • nursenikki829
    nursenikki829 Posts: 432 Member
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    You definitely need to eat more, you are giving your body too much of a calorie deficit, and that will not only make you sick, but slow down your metabolism. Try logging your food to also make sure that you are getting enough protein and calcium. Make sure that you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water per day, but don't try and drink too much water, or you put yourself at risk of flushing your electrolytes out of your system. Based on your height and weight, your BMI is in the healthy weight range, so cutting too many calories isn't safe for you. Good luck, and I hope that this helps!
  • losingthehealthyway
    losingthehealthyway Posts: 46
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    I know that mfp gives you a default of a 500 calorie deficit, I was just being stubborn about 1200 calories a day. But yeah, my health really isn't worth it and if I'm not eating enough my metabolism will go into starvation mode anyway. I'll bump up my calorie intake to 1400/day and try to fit more calcium and protein in with the extra calories. Hopefully I'll start feeling better after I finish dinner tonight.

    I really appreciate all the help, you guys. :happy: Thanks again!

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