Eating right makes me feel bad....

Hello all, new here...a bit of background, if that's cool:

Two years ago I weighed 180(I'm 5'3, 27 yrs), I started losing 40 lbs by eating between 600 and 1200 calories a day, usually under 1000. I did this 5 days a week, had a 'free' Saturday, and a moderate Sunday. I was exercising some...taking walks and playing tennis when I could. Nothing major, but it was drastic enough from what I was doing before to help me lose a lot of weight. I would estimate it took me 10 months to a year to lose that weight.

Now I have maintained at about 145 for almost a year, and I'm ready to gear up and lose another 10 or 15 lbs. I've been exercising religiously for 30-40 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I usually eat a small lunch, and a healthy dinner(lean meats, veggies, and some starches). I've been doing that for quite a while...several months, but my weight is sticking. In all honesty, I think my weekends are a bit 'freer' than they used to be, so I could very well be totally screwing up any benefit I get during the week. So I'm ready to try something new...a different way of eating, along with being more watchful on the weekends.

I started yesterday by eating 5-6 mini meals, because I've read that can really rev up your metabolism. I don't think I'm eating any more calories than I normally do, or maybe just slightly. Anyway, I lost 2 lbs overnight. (I know, that is just water weight, but anytime the scale goes down, I'm happy.)  My problem is, I used to go until around 1pm without eating anything and feel just fine. Now, I eat 3 times by 1pm and I feel like crud. I feel like I used to when I was on the low-carb diet. Headachy, fatigued, verging on ill...like a cold is coming on. Felt that way yesterday and today.

Now, my mini meals aren't particularly carb heavy or lite, but before, I didn't eat anything before 1pm and never felt bad. Now, I eat high protein stuff(boiled eggs, cottage cheese, string cheese, chicken, etc) with some carbs(fruit, yogurt, pretzels, low-cal bread), and I feel like....ugh. I have no energy to exercise, and even if I did, my head hurts too much to do anything too vigorous.

 Is this just me being a carb addict, and my body being used to (when it does get food) to have a decent portion of carbs? And now that I'm feeding it more often, but with proportionally less carbs per meal...it just goes whack? I really don't understand it. If this new way of eating works with weight loss, I'd love to keep it up. But if I feel this way everyday...I can't. I want to exercise and feel good and healthy, but I just don't right now.

Any suggestions? Will this pass, or should I add more carbs to my meals? Am I going through 'withdrawals'? Maybe it has nothing to do with carbs, and my body is just rebelling against a whole new way of being fueled?

 

(BTW, I know going below 1200 calories is supposed to be bad for you, but it worked for me and I felt great during that time I was losing weight...just doesn't work for me anymore, and I don't particularly want to find out if it is unhealthy for me over an extended period!)

How many calories are you getting per day?

My main guess would be that since your body didn't get anything until 1 pm, it just lasted off of stored energy (not necesarily fat, your body also has glycogen reserves, etc), and probably used most everything you ate to replenish and add to that supply of stored energy.

Now, since you are feeding it regularly, it expects to get its energy from food.

My suggestion is to stay the course, and if it still feels bad in about 2 weeks, then do something about it. 

ha you sound so much like me,

everyone has told me so far to consume more, exercise less, but im so far into this diet, im afraid that it will sabatoge me.

if you come across anything, please drop me a line and share, other than eating more i havnt run across  anymore info but when i do ill be sure to share.

 tyrdrop

 I honestly haven't been counting calories in the last year or so...not regularly. If I had to guesstimate, I would say between 1200 and 1500 during the week. It's those weekends that are hairy. I don't even want to think about it...

But now I'm counting calories again, because it did work for me in the past(along with slightly restricting my carbs). I'd just like to find something that works again. And not make me feel like crud.

 I think you're right, I'll give it two weeks and if nothing changes, I'll switch something up.

 blika_babe

I don't think my problem is that i need to consume more and exercise less...I definitely shouldn't cut back my exercising. It's just I guess I need to eat more often, not necessarily more in calories.

I always thought it was a simple 'calories in, calories out' thing, and that was true for me for quite a while. If I had 1200 calories at one meal or 6, why should it matter? But now maybe I see there is something to that whole 'keeping the engine going' all day thing, by eating more often.

Eating smaller meals throughout the day def helps with "keeping the engine going" and it also helps to speed up your metabolism.  In the morning when you where waiting til 1pm to eat your body basically went into "starvation mode" and your metabolism slowed itself down to save energy so you were able to function.  Every time you eat something your metabolism kicks up a notch in order to start using the food.  Oddly enough there are actually foods you can eat which are so hard for your body to break down you are actually burning calories after eating it... celery for example is one of these "negative" foods, you burn more calories digesting it then was in the celery in the first place. Strange fact of the day. =)As for exercise you are right you should not decrease your exercise at all, exercise is important for everyone.  I am curious to why you are getting these headaches, in my last 5 years working in the fitness field I have never heard of headaches coming from adding more meals only from taking meals away. Do you think it is just a coincidence? I am very curious about this and I will look into this more and see if i can find any info.  But it sounds like the reason you have not lost weight is because it sounds like you have hit a plateau.  Changing up your workout routine slightly will def help this out.  Maybe adding a few intervals or picking a different method of cardio a few times a week.   Keep up the good work!=)

I think that the headaches were just caused by my body freaking out a bit at the new fuel regiment...they have lessened since.

What kind of carbs were you consuming?
Since being on c-c I have given up almost all simple carbs.  Complex carbs can give you more energy and your body does need some carbs for fuel.

Now I'm eating yogurt, fruit, and low carb bread. I think my body was just used to more carbs in general when it was time to eat.

Oddly enough, I have noticed just within a few days that I am not used to big meals anymore. Today I had chili and couldn't finish one bowl! I'd say that's progress for me.