Calorie counting with hypoglycemia?

I recently started tracking my caloric intake as part of an attempt to maintain an overall healthier lifestyle.  While I've never been heavy, I would be happy to lose just a couple of pounds I picked up during college.  Nevertheless, I'm not striving particularly strenuously to lose.  My problem is that I'm hypoglycemic.  CC recommends that I be consuming 1500 calories a day - which sounds about right.  However, it doesn't seem to matter what types of dishes I make, I am still ravenously hungry... and worse! My hypoglycemia has begun to act up the past few days, leaving me with terrible hunger headaches, mood swings, and some slight dizziness.  Surely that can't be healthy!  And yet many days I'm actually consuming ABOVE 1500 calories.  Today, for instance, I consumed 1555 calories, yet I've spent most of the day so hungry that even my cats are starting to look tasty (good thing I'm vegetarian!).

What advice or tips have you guys got for dealing with this?  I don't want to throw caution to the winds and start inhaling zillions of extra calories just to make my stomach stop growling and my headaches/mood swings go away... but I'm so desperate I just might do that!

Help?

You need protein! It's the main thing that will keep you feeling full longer. When you put foods that are high in bad carbs into your body they burn off very fast because they are turned into sugar quickly by your body. Protein takes much longer to break down and doesn't convert into sugar right away.

I know ALL about the headaches, mood swings, sweating, shaking. Stay far away from high sugar foods. Good luck!

Really the only high-sugar foods I'm eating are fruits.   I'm not as partial to sweets as most people (except maybe Slurpees...mmm :)), so I don't think that's my problem.  I can try increasing my protein intake, but even when I'm eating, say, a bean salad, it doesn't appear to help.  :/

You might be doing any or all of the following but here goes....

Try cutting back on fruit to just 2 pieces a day  and substantially increasing your vegetable intake.  Fill up on vegetables at each meal, eat them raw as snacks, add side-salads to everything.   Bean salads are a good choice.... complex/wholegrain (low GI) carbohydrates and proteins should make a meal more filling and longer-lasting.  As well as not eating sugary foods try to avoid refined carbohydrates and starches such as white bread, white pasta, white rice and anything made with white flour.... choose the wholemeal/wholegrain/unprocessed equivalents.  Also avoid artificially sweetened foods as these can trigger the same reactions in the body as sugar.  Cook meals from fresh ingredients rather than using convenience/processed foods which tend to be quite starchy and contain hidden sugars.  Drink plenty of water and other fluids to keep the headaches at bay.

Important if you tend towards low blood-sugars is to eat very regularly and never go too long between eating.  A meal or a light snack every couple of hours should keep things more stable and give you a steady stream of energy.  Start the day with as good a breakfast as you can muster and space the food out evenly.  Say 3 x 400 cal meals and 3 x 100 cal snacks to hit your 1500 target.  If you need to go higher to keep the wobblies at bay, do so.  You'll lose weight a little slower, but at least you'd feel better.

I am hypoglycemic too. I was also, in the beginning limiting my calories. I was sick from not getting enough nourishment. Look into clean eating. Much better for you than any diet. You need more food if you are hungry but when you feed your body the right kind of food it will make a huge difference. It is not all about the calories. It is about proper nutrition. When you eat clean and workout right you will loose weight and tone up.

 

http://www.eatingcleanworks.com/what-is-eatin g-clean.html

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/1756/1/Ea ting-a-Clean-Diet-for-Permanent-Weight-Loss.h tml

 

Intensive cardio, sprinting is the best.

http://shapefit.com/sprinting.html

http://fitnessblackbook.com/aerobic-exercise/ an-aerobic-workout-program-that-forces-your-b ody-to-burn-fat/

http://www.figureathlete.com/article/training /step_away_from_the_treadmill&cr=

Strength training.

http://www.strength-training-woman.com/benefi ts-of-strength-training-for-women.html