did I get dizzy because of lower calories?

hahaha this isn't quite what you think it is.

So yesterday, my tummy was quite upset and I ended up at 600 by the time I got home. I said hello to hubby and sat down with him on the couch. I stood up to go to the bathroom and WHOOSH dizziness! I had to sit back down.

Well I immediately went in the kitchen and had some juice and cheese. Then I had some kashi go lean. And then a good dinner, and some dessert, so I got up to my 1250 calories.

But here's my question: I am also spotting, halfway through my cycle. I never do this. Been spotting for 3 days.

Was the dizziness due to lowered calories during the day or am I pregnant?

Well I can bet you it was the calories but a girl can dream... right?

But if its the calories - what's causing my spotting? can exercise do that?

The dizziness could have been caused by lack of food (even 1250 isn't much food for an adult woman) or the virus that gave you an upset stomach.  If you've been vomiting or had diarrhoea that tends to lead to dehydration... and that can make someone feel dizzy.  Spotting mid-cycle can be an indication of a body under stress, affects of medication or contraceptive pills, STDs ... although if there's a chance you could be pregnant a test might be a good idea.

yeah I kind of figured it was the food - yesterday was my low day anyway, and then got compounded by upset stomach, and you're probably right about the dehydration too as I weighed in lower last night.

(I go just 200 under maintenance on alternate days, no worries! (1500))

I'll still grab a test but its a little too soon to tell.

I don't take meds or BC and I don't have an STD (if I do hubby has some splainin to do!! hehe)

I have been hitting the gym pretty hard in comparison to any other time ever, lol, so I guess that is probably the culprit...

Thanks!

If you maintain on 1500 then that might be part of the problem. Most reasonably active adult women maintain on about 1900-2100.... Undereating by 400-600 cals a day will catch up with you eventually because your blood-sugars will keep dropping too low.  Other causes of dizziness on standing would be things like low blood-pressure, low iron stores...

according to Phord, my burn is 1850. That's checking the 4-5 days a week exercise thingie. Phord told me minimum 1300/day.

CC told me minimum 1250/day.

1500 is the 200 (whoops I guess thats 300) below my burn. Not my TOTAL burn for the day!

Do you mean undereating past the 500 calorie deficit? I'm aiming for weekly deficit of 3500.

My last 4 day's deficits are 1920 - an average of 480 per day.

I'm 5'2, 34, 142lbs. Goal weight 120.

I'm going to throw a very simple possibility out there...you say you "sat hubby down on the couch, then got up to go to the bathroom."  It is possible you just got up too fast and it was an inner ear thing.  Sometimes when I sit down and get up too fast and rush I get dizzy...aka the room spins for a sec.  It either has to do with the inner ear or blood flow.

Hi, I get dizzy and have passed out twice in the last couple of years.... I think it was because of my blood sugar levels going high and then dropping in heat.

Regarding the spotting, if it is any good.... other than pregnancy, which I heard can happen... I get spotting mid cycle sometimes and the doctor told me that it can be an imbalance of hormones... I think she said too much progestrogen (if I have spelt that correctly at all) versus oestregon....

This probably isn't the reason why, but I get dizzy upon standing because I have low blood pressure. Undereating can also make you dizzy, though.

The dizziness upon standing may just be orthostatic hypotension which (as mentioned by but_not_quite) is related to low blood pressure - specifically, its a sudden decrease in blood flow to the brain due to blood having settled in the lower extremities.  I think it is more likely to be caused by dehydration than insufficient calories, though.  As for pregnancy, I think that dizziness due to low blood pressure wouldn't be a factor until your body was also significantly larger (which is why pregnant women sometimes have low blood pressure - their circulatory system expands with their belly).  Anyway, I think dizziness wouldn't be a factor until later in pregnancy, not the first couple weeks, so I wouldn't take the dizziness to be a strong indicator of pregancy.

Hey I don't have a reply to your question, but I just wanted to say you and I have pretty much the same goals...I am 5'2, 141 lbs, 32, and my goal weight is 120 (actually when I get there I know me and I will want to be 110-115, we'll see). Just thought it was interesting that we have same basic measurements!

Tina

I also wanted to say...I am horrible about getting my calories in for the day...I have been obsessed with losing weight since I started (maybe some might say in an unhealthy manner); I get to 1000 calories (but mostly maintain 800-900 calories) and I freak out like I ate too much, I also work out daily (tae bo mostly, burns a lot of calories) and don't give myself a rest day like I should. So far I do not have any dizzy problems, I do get tired around 2-4pm almost everyday so I will eat something high in fiber and carbs to give me energy. If your dizziness seems to be getting more common I would definitaley talk to your physician, could be low blood sugar or a number of things...

Tina