is dieting making me mean?

dawnp1833
dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing MFP for about a month. And I've been sticking to my diet and exercising regularly for the most part and I was enjoying losing a couple pounds a week and seeing a change in inches. Then in the past week and a half or so my weight loss has plateaued and I've noticed that I've been kind of crabby and mean. And I'm nice to everyone. I'm even nice to the jerk who sexually harasses me at work, and today I told him to F. off. I never do things like that. I immediately felt horrible about it and apologized. (he told me to shove my apology). I've been irritable and yelled at my husband for pretty much no reason the other day. I've even been snippy to my friends and boss. Not like me at all. Yes, it is that time of month, BUT I've never experienced hormonal mood swings before. Could the diet be making me crazy? Could I be reacting differently to hormones because of my diet?

I'll also admit I'm not good at feeding myself, so even though I stick to my 1200 calories or less, I'm not always making the best food choices. So could it be that I'm not eating the right things? Not enough protein or something?

Then, I felt so bad that I had a piece of cake at my coworker's baby shower this afternoon. Which made me feel worse and didn't even taste good.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Replies

  • fabafter5
    fabafter5 Posts: 200 Member
    Eating 1200 cals a day would make me cranky too! When i used to eat low fat low cal I always felt jittery, on edge and overall crappy. All of the processed and low fat and fat free this and that made me feel worse. How much weight have you lost? Could it be you are gaining some self confidence and not taking crap from people?
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    It sounds like you're probably eating too little. Being hungry makes people irritable; I doubt that many people would disagree with that. Few people feel good eating 1200 calories or fewer per day, and those that do are usually rather small in stature, so depending on your height/weight, it's quite possible that you simply need to eat more.

    And as an aside, if the guy is sexually harassing you, he deserves at least that response (and a complaint to management isn't a bad idea either).
  • stonerdude
    stonerdude Posts: 103
    I would suggest the worlds oldest natural health product in massive quantities! :laugh:
  • small_ninja
    small_ninja Posts: 365 Member
    I feel crappy and angry on 1,200 calories a day too, so I make sure I get some exercise in and eat around 1,600-1,800 a day. Hope this helps :smile:
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
    Eating 1200 cals a day would make me cranky too! When i used to eat low fat low cal I always felt jittery, on edge and overall crappy. All of the processed and low fat and fat free this and that made me feel worse. How much weight have you lost? Could it be you are gaining some self confidence and not taking crap from people?
    [/quote}

    MFP told me to eat 1200 cals. I've just started eating back my exercise calories and that's when I flat lined. I've lost about 11 lbs. Not really confident about it yet.
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
    It sounds like you're probably eating too little. Being hungry makes people irritable; I doubt that many people would disagree with that. Few people feel good eating 1200 calories or fewer per day, and those that do are usually rather small in stature, so depending on your height/weight, it's quite possible that you simply need to eat more.

    And as an aside, if the guy is sexually harassing you, he deserves at least that response (and a complaint to management isn't a bad idea either).

    I work in a man-dominated company where there is a lot of talk that wouldn't be considered appropriate other places. If I report this guy, I'd have to report 1/2 the company. There was just a conversation yesterday where one of the bosses said "if you're going to be a woman in this industry, you can't be sensitive."
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    I feel crappy and angry on 1,200 calories a day too, so I make sure I get some exercise in and eat around 1,600-1,800 a day. Hope this helps :smile:

    Me too! I am also cranky if I don't have at least 2 servings of starches a day.
  • sandylion
    sandylion Posts: 451 Member
    Every time I dramatically change my diet from my normal (high carb, high fat, high delicious) to healthy with no junk food and tonnes of veggies and less carbs I get suuuuuuuper cranky for a couple days, and then I even out a bit. Sounds like maybe you are not eating enough, and its been a shock to your system perhaps?

    Also, way to tell him off! And he's right, shove your apology, he deserved what he got!
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
    Judging from the arguments I see break out on here on a hourly basis from other "dieters", I think you could quite possibly be a tad irritable... haha

    Recognizing it and apologizing says to me that you still have a good grasp of reality. We all have those days... just don't get to the point where it goes too far the other direction and being nice warrants posting a question here. ;)
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    You don't sound like you're eating enough if you're at 1200 or lower... Why so low?
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
    I feel crappy and angry on 1,200 calories a day too, so I make sure I get some exercise in and eat around 1,600-1,800 a day. Hope this helps :smile:

    I'll try to eat a little more and see what happens. it's my first serious try at dieting, and I had no idea what I'm supposed to be eating, other than what MFP calculated. I'm afraid I'll gain back what I lost, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Do you eat your exercise calories back too, or do you eat 1600 to 1800 and then add exercise?
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    you apologized to him for calling him out for being a jerkface? dont feel bad.. be proud you didnt glue his hands to something embarassing

    in addition to checking your calories, also check you're eating enough fat. low fat diets can be depressing and sometimes that comes across as b*tchiness.

    i've personally not noticed anything for me but then again i've always had a sassy fresh mouth (as my mom calls it) for as long as i can remember talking.
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
    You don't sound like you're eating enough if you're at 1200 or lower... Why so low?
    [/quote

    MFP calculated my calories. I am 5'5", started at 188 lbs and sit at a desk all day.
  • smurfettex
    smurfettex Posts: 1
    I've just started on MFP eating 1200 calories a day - I've never been so cranky! I've done similar diets before but never been affected so profoundly by the lack of calories. I've lost 4lb in less than a week so far - which seems too extreme to me to be sustainable, so I intend to increase my calorie intake slightly and let the weight come off more naturally.
    Don't we lose weight to be happy? If losing weight is making us cranky and losing us friends, then surely we need to re-evaluate. I'm all for getting healthy but being happy has to feature too! You don't need to go crazy and binge on rubbish, just give yourself some more healthy, nutritional food every day to feed your soul. After all, quick weight loss is hard to maintain; take it off gradually and you've much more chance of keeping it off.
    Keep going, but make sure you can be healthy and happy too - that's so much more important xx
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    It sounds like you're probably eating too little. Being hungry makes people irritable; I doubt that many people would disagree with that. Few people feel good eating 1200 calories or fewer per day, and those that do are usually rather small in stature, so depending on your height/weight, it's quite possible that you simply need to eat more.

    And as an aside, if the guy is sexually harassing you, he deserves at least that response (and a complaint to management isn't a bad idea either).

    I work in a man-dominated company where there is a lot of talk that wouldn't be considered appropriate other places. If I report this guy, I'd have to report 1/2 the company. There was just a conversation yesterday where one of the bosses said "if you're going to be a woman in this industry, you can't be sensitive."
    As far as I'm concerned, it should go both ways. If you're expected to take crap from this guy, then he should be expected to take a similarly-hostile comment in response. You don't have to take more just because you have different chromosomes. Yeah, some industries have a lot of interaction that would be prohibited elsewhere (my prior work in restaurant kitchens comes to mind) but even so, it has to be even. As the wise saying goes, don't dish it if you can't take it.
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    calculate your bmr

    eat above it. You'll feel better.

    report the jerk to HR.
  • ZoeyRobinson
    ZoeyRobinson Posts: 301
    Any guy who sexually harasses you should be told to eff off! Go to HR or management about him.

    Try eating a few more calories. Rest this weekend if you can and hopefully the crankies will go away.
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
    When I had my calories set on 1200 I was ok at first and then quickly turned into an irritable bag of ***** and my boyfriend took the brunt of it. I was having issues going to bathroom and also stopped losing as much as I had been. I scoured the message boards and found lots of reading material about eating more to lose more and so I bumped my calories up to 1350 and it resolved a lot of my issues.
  • ZoeyRobinson
    ZoeyRobinson Posts: 301
    Ok I just read that you work with a ton of inappropriate a-holes. If you can't go to management then become a ***** about it every single time you are harassed. I worked in a kitchen and had every **** joke and perverted guy talking about my lady parts. I eventually became so *****y that it no longer gave them a thrill to sexually harass me and they eventually stopped. Some times having people think you are the biggest ***** on the planet works in your favor. It did for me. I actually got a raise because they thought I had bigger balls then most the men.

    So
    1. Stick up for yourself.
    2. Eat more calories.
  • small_ninja
    small_ninja Posts: 365 Member
    I feel crappy and angry on 1,200 calories a day too, so I make sure I get some exercise in and eat around 1,600-1,800 a day. Hope this helps :smile:

    I'll try to eat a little more and see what happens. it's my first serious try at dieting, and I had no idea what I'm supposed to be eating, other than what MFP calculated. I'm afraid I'll gain back what I lost, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Do you eat your exercise calories back too, or do you eat 1600 to 1800 and then add exercise?

    Nah, I don't eat back my exercise calories; I went on to this site:

    http://www.calculatorlab.com/HowDoIMeetMyWeightLossGoal

    You put in your current weight + goal weight + height + age + activity level and it tells you how much you should eat and how long it'll take to reach your goal. I set the activity level to "Moderately Active" because I work out 4-6 days a week at a moderate-high intensity, and I eat at a 20% deficit, which for me = 1,600-1,800 calories a day :smile:

    In the end, it generally works out to be 1,200-1,400 NET calories
  • littlesis412
    littlesis412 Posts: 314 Member
    calculate your bmr

    eat above it. You'll feel better.

    report the jerk to HR.

    Ditto.

    If you you only 30 lbs or so to lose, you really shouldn't be pushing for more than 1 lb a week. In fact, it would probably be better if you slowed it down to less than that, like 1/2 lb a week. If you increase your intake, there is a risk of gaining it back for a little while, but it should come back off. And your happiness is important! There's a simulator on this site (http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ ) where you can play around with numbers to get an idea of the calories you'll need to be eating. It doesn't quite match with MFP, but it'll give you an idea. You can customize you settings on here, you don't have to do the guided plan.

    Also, you asked about exercising and calories. There's a huge debate on this site about it so I'm not even sure I dare address it. But, the calories MFP/you set for the day should be set at a deficit for how many calories you burn normally. So, in theory, if you eat only that much, you should lose X amount each week regardless of activity. So, if you exercise it creates a larger deficit than necessary. It is recommended that you eat back these extra deficit or exercise calories so your body will get enough nutrients. When people say they exercise so they can eat more, they will still net the same calories but be eating more food.
  • Tkwild
    Tkwild Posts: 116 Member
    Judging from the arguments I see break out on here on a hourly basis from other "dieters", I think you could quite possibly be a tad irritable... haha

    HAHAHA so true!
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    I feel crappy and angry on 1,200 calories a day too, so I make sure I get some exercise in and eat around 1,600-1,800 a day. Hope this helps :smile:

    I'll try to eat a little more and see what happens. it's my first serious try at dieting, and I had no idea what I'm supposed to be eating, other than what MFP calculated. I'm afraid I'll gain back what I lost, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Do you eat your exercise calories back too, or do you eat 1600 to 1800 and then add exercise?

    definitely eat more! adjust your mfp goals to a smaller loss per week goal, I have mine set to .5 down a week and I've actually been averaging 1 or even more down a week and I'm not crabby! I

    I have sugar issues so when I'm not eating enough and my sugar drops I get mad at the drop of a hat. my husband packs granola bars and bottles of water when we're going to be out all day because, much like a toddler, I need snack time to keep from throwing tantrums!! lol congrats on the 11 lb loss, I bet if you up your cals a little you'll rev up your metabolism again and drop more! for me, I'm 173lbs (I was up to 189) and I eat about 1650/day (for me though I look at the full week so I may only eat 1400 calories one day and then 1800 calories the next to keep it evened out, it makes weekends less stressful!)
  • swingkid1975
    swingkid1975 Posts: 105 Member
    When I had my calories set on 1200 I was ok at first and then quickly turned into an irritable bag of ***** and my boyfriend took the brunt of it. I was having issues going to bathroom and also stopped losing as much as I had been. I scoured the message boards and found lots of reading material about eating more to lose more and so I bumped my calories up to 1350 and it resolved a lot of my issues.

    OP: Sounds like you're undereating. Check out the Eat More to Weigh Less group. It's a great group!!
  • hillm12345
    hillm12345 Posts: 313 Member
    I noticed that when I really committed to a 1200 cal a day diet, I was mean and irritable and my stomach hurt all the time. I would get mad at my fiance because he wanted to eat late and I was hungry now!!! I also noticed that since I didn't have much to lose to begin with (20 lbs was my first goal) and I stuck to a 1200 cal a day regimen that after a couple months of slow weight loss, my weight loss stalled all together.

    I've upped my calories to between 1500-2000 a day depending on exercise and I'm in a much better mood, and I've noticed the scale moving again.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    Also, you asked about exercising and calories. There's a huge debate on this site about it so I'm not even sure I dare address it. But, the calories MFP/you set for the day should be set at a deficit for how many calories you burn normally. So, in theory, if you eat only that much, you should lose X amount each week regardless of activity. So, if you exercise it creates a larger deficit than necessary. It is recommended that you eat back these extra deficit or exercise calories so your body will get enough nutrients. When people say they exercise so they can eat more, they will still net the same calories but be eating more food.

    hehehe that was very diplomatic! :flowerforyou:
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
    the reason your 'mean' is because your sticking to 1200. i can bet that you should be eating more and that you BMR is higher then that. i can also bet that your not seeing a change recently because of the same reason. go under tools and find you BMR or check out more posts about it in the forums. not looking for a debate here, but eating more would be worth a try. improved mood and break of plateau. as for the guy who you told to F. off, you shouldnt have said you were sorry. sexuall harassment is punishable by law, and even small jokes can win in a law suit. (had to take a 3 hour class on it for a management raise) if anyone said 'if your going to be in this workplace you cant be sensitive" i would just say "how about i sue you, and never have to work a day in my life again!" :]
  • Dudagarcia
    Dudagarcia Posts: 849 Member
    I felt cranky when I was on 1200 :(
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    I've read that when you lose fat, estrogen stored with the fat is released. So while you're losing weight your hormonal issues could be exacerbated.

    You could wait it out. Or you could numb yourself with larger quantities of food, which seems to be the method of choice around here. :laugh:
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    Eating 1200 cals a day would make me cranky too! When i used to eat low fat low cal I always felt jittery, on edge and overall crappy. All of the processed and low fat and fat free this and that made me feel worse. How much weight have you lost? Could it be you are gaining some self confidence and not taking crap from people?
    [/quote}

    MFP told me to eat 1200 cals. I've just started eating back my exercise calories and that's when I flat lined. I've lost about 11 lbs. Not really confident about it yet.

    MFP probably told you to eat 1200 because you put 2lbs/wk as your weight loss goal. As someone else mentioned, this might be too ambitious since you don't have much to lose. It should give you a higher calorie allowance if you set your goal to 1 lb/wk loss. If you have been eating pretty low for awhile there might be a slight initial weight gain (not fat gain) when you increase your calories a little but if you stick with it you will start losing again. Your maintenance calories are at least 1850 so theoretically you will lose weight eating anything under that.

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