Am I doing something wrong?

I don't know if its just me, or if I'm doing something that's wrong. But I'm 25 years old (male), and I find every time I go on a diet that I end up sleeping a LOT more. Normally I get 6 hours of sleep per night, that was the average when I was putting on pounds before. But since I started dieting again I've found that I'm a lot more sleepy and end up taking random 2-3 hour naps.

This is my third time going on a diet, and this seems to be like a trend for me. Does this happen to anyone else? And would you consider it to be normal, or is there something that I should be looking at or changing?

It sounds obvious and I can't say I really know what I'm talking about, but I know that if I restrict my carbs too much or food in general I lose energy and get really tired and need to take naps. Perhaps you need to add a few more calories? I also know that there is no way in the world I could function on 6 hours sleep!

i get this too and i eat TONS of carbs lol, a good 700cals worth of whole grain carbs a day (spread out of course lol). i find that on a saturday/sunday afternoon i have to have a nap at my bf's house coz im so tired. however, this could be because his house is always a few degree hotter than my house or because im one of those people who never stop to slow down and when i finally do it knocks me for six lol

How strange. o_o I've never experienced abnormal tiredness beyond when I was undereating. And... I'm also anemic, so that might make it irrelevant. Haha! You might not be eating enough for your height/weight but I can't make a judgement without stats.

Six hours of sleep a night is quite little, though! I think the general recommended average is something like seven to nine hours a night? You might also be taking a blow from reducing sugar intake. To prevent spikes and lows, try eating low GI foods like oats, beans, potatoes, and wholegrains as a couple of examples within your diet. They help to regulate blood sugar (and, usually due to the fibre content, help keep you full). I would try getting the extra bit of sleep at night first and then going from there, though remember (as a male) to keep your intake above 1500. :] Good luck!

Check you're not eating too little, eating too infrequently or that your diet is poor or too limited.  Low blood-sugars can cause fatigue and sleepiness.   As can vitamin and mineral deficiencies... I'm thinking especially iron deficiency.   As can dehydration.    Have you checked with your doctor before starting your diet? 

You only need to consume 500 cals a day fewer than you burn up in order to lose weight steadily.  So check what the CC tools estimate you need to maintain your current weight at your current activity level, and then deduct 500 max.

Make sure the food you're getting is good nutritonally... plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, lean meat/fish, wholegrains.  Home-cooked is preferable to ready-made or catered foods.  Try to avoid sugary foods or low-fat 'diet' products.

I think everyone is different and there's no set standard for sleep. I'm twice your age and get 6 hours of sleep or less a day. My job requires walking and standing for 8 hours and I am active as well at home. I consume about 1750 calories a day and carbs are typically 65% of my nutrition value. I found sugar does play a part in the "tired feeling" and stay away from a lot of sugar, concentrating on more protein. You might want to try a good nutrition bar that's very high in protein and see what that does for you. I fully realize that sleep is so important in maintaining weight. I'm just a person that does not require much sleep to function adequately. I also find that working with people your age, they do get plenty of sleep. Some get 10-12 hours. Not sure if that's a generation thing or not. Again, everyone is different.

Well I am 25 as well and when I first started counting calories I was tired all the time. I could barley stay awake after dinner. I re-evaluated what I was eating through the day and realized I was eating a ton of sugar. I did very well eating mainly fruits and veggies and a slim fast for 1 meal  a day. I was consuming twice the recomended amount of sugar. I cut out half the fruit and the slim fast and switched to more veggies and a meal replacement shake with less sugar and I find I have way more energy. I still get about 8 hours of sleep each night but I don't feel like passing out at 6 or 7pm. Also you shouldn't look at this as a diet. You should be eating foods that you can realisticly continue eating after you reach your weight loss goal. I started this process in January and I've lost about 40 lbs now, I am eating healthier and I'm eating foods I like so I can continue this after I reach my goal. Its a lifestyle change, not a diet. Hope this helps you.

I don't know if restricted eating causes tiredness, but I think it's a huge mistake to "go on a diet."

What I mean by that is, unless we make sensible changes to the way we eat and exercise FOR LIFE we will always be dieting, losing, gaining again. 

We all need a balanced, nutritious diet of mostly fresh foods (not packaged or processed).  To lose weight we just need to eat fewer calories than we burn, but shouldn't restrict nutrition.  You could be tired because your body is lacking something.

Thanks for your input guys. I guess I should have provided more stats. I'm 6'3" 260, and I cosume 2200-2400 Cals per day. My job is very much a lazy one, I sit in front of a computer 8-10 hours per day, though the job is mentally draining to say the least. The only real hard calorie burning I do is just a small home workout each day and each evening, 30 mins for each.

As for my diet, I'll admit its pretty limited. My biggest problem is 2400 calories feels like too much when I'm trying to eat "healthy", when I'm unhealthy and doing lots of fast food, however, it seems like nothing. :P

As for the last post (by clairelaine), I agree 100%. I don't like to make excuses and whatnot, but the truth is over the last 5ish years I've been put in some pretty messed up situations that caused me to have to adjust a lot diet wise.

When I graduated HS I was 270 (though I was 5'11"), I ended up losing a little, getting in the low 250's. I was new and didn't adjust well, and was in a bad financial situation and ended up having to move in with my dad. Ended up putting almost all of it back on then. Eventually I moved out into my own place, and over the first 6 months managed to drop down to 230 with a very controlled diet.

Then my mom, who lived with a roomate who was a coworker, ended up having to move in with me because her roomate became a manager and they'd have gotten in trouble for staying together.. And my ex pretty much left me over it, though she didn't say that was the reason it was obvious that we lost a lot of freedoms we had when my mom had to move in.

But anyway, yeah. I was kinda depressed and my mom cooks a lot haha and buys a ton of sweets and crap, stuff I didn't even used to allow in my house. So I allowed myself to slip badly and ended up putting back on 30ish more pounds.

But yeah, anyway, excuses aside. I'm back at it again hopefully for the last time. I learned a lot from the last two times I tried to lose and know what works and what doesn't. And I do think it should be a lifetime change and whatnot. My diet is usually 60%carbs, 15-25% Fat 15-25% Protien (usually more on the fat end). I only really lose about 5-6 lbs every 4 weeks.