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Headaches when Dieting?

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Disagree Guy

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Hey Gaf,
Since Christmas I put on a few more pounds than I'd like so I decided to give this healthy eating thing a try.

It's been like 2 weeks now and every day I've been getting really bad headaches in the afternoon. Been drinking plenty of water etc....

Did anyone else experience this?

For reference, my Wife is on the 'slimming world' diet in the UK and I basically just started eating what she eats so it's not like a fad 'cottage cheese only' diet or some shit

Just wanna know if this will go away or whether a big dose of pizza is required?
 
Quite possible simple sugar withdrawal. No idea what the "slimming world" diet is, but dieting after holidays does usually mean a sharp decrease in sugar consumption.
 
There is a small chance you could be consuming too few calories. If you are copying your wife's diet exactly you could be 500+ calories outside a healthy daily number. That low of a number will help lose weight, but is not healthy or sustainable in the long run.

Maybe count your daily calories, make sure are not too low, and if that is okay then I guess it is just your body reacting to new foods.
 
Just a general observation from my life, if I don't eat my regular meals I can get anything from a mild headache to a migraine.
 
Going to second caffeine withdrawal. That gives me headaches like nobody's business.

Cold brew matcha has been my compromise, sometimes I throw lemon juice or a packet of True Lemon into it.
 
I'd make sure you are eating enough calories. When I changed to my current diet at first I was eating way too few calories and was causing various msucle pain and soreness but it got better as I adjusted my diet.
 
Are you taking in any kind of caffeine whatsoever? I gave up soda/energy drinks about 2 months ago and got the typical withdrawal headache(s) for about 3-4 days, but I still drink caffeine about once a day (usually tea with a small amount of sweetener in it) and haven't had a problem since.
 
To reference -

I am not a fat bloke. I'm around 13st 8 now and I'm 6 ft 2.
On slimming world everything you eat has a 'syn' value, with some being 'syn free'

Anyway a man is allowed 20 syns a day and a woman is allowed less. 20 calories is roughly 1 syn with things like cheese, lean meat, fiber, Fish, fruit etc.. as healthy extras

I was eating roughly 80 syns a day but just had a fast metabolism

Now I'm eating like 5 syns a day worth of food (plus a couple cheeky beers at 6 syns each) so am under the 20 syn recommended.

John Rabbit said:
Are you taking in any kind of caffeine whatsoever? I gave up soda and sugary energy drinks about 2 months ago and got the typical withdrawal headache(s) for about 3-4 days, but I still drink caffeine about once a day (usually tea with a small amount of sweetener in it) and haven't had a problem since.
Click to expand...

Caffeine like twice a week so far compared with energy drink every day before
 
Get off this shitty diet of your wife's and sit down, figure out a good healthy amount of calories for someone your size to consume, and eat that much in lean protein, vegetables, and fruit.

And the lack of sugar might give you headaches. A reduction of caffeine will definitely give you headaches because, spoilers, you were addicted to a drug.
 
Hazmat said:
Get off this shitty diet of your wife's and sit down, figure out a good healthy amount of calories for someone your size to consume, and eat that much in lean protein, vegetables, and fruit.

And the lack of sugar might give you headaches. A reduction of caffeine will definitely give you headaches because, spoilers, you were addicted to a drug.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's kind of exactly what I'm doing bruv haha

The thing is, I have no idea why I even thought I needed so much caffeine because I'm not even tired now.
 
One of the reasons I went on a diet was because I felt like shit a lot. Head aches, malaise and so on. There is a period where you feel even worse once the diet starts and can last a while but once it passes you should start feeling a lot better. At least I did but YMMV.

Also by diet I mean long term healthy eating with proper portions. I still need to get back into exercising.
 
Disagree Guy said:
The thing is, I have no idea why I even thought I needed so much caffeine because I'm not even tired now.
Click to expand...

Caffeine affects people differently. I drink tons of coffee every day, but I don't get more tired when I don't. I do however get a headache after a day or so without caffeine, but it usually passes a few days later (or within the hour if I drink a cup of coffee).

And what is up with that crazy diet making up a new unit of energy when there already is a more accurate one? The whole post you wrote about what the different numbers are made no sense.
 
I get the exact same when I don't get my daily dose of caffeine.

Unsweetened coffee has zero calories. So brew yourself a nice cup of joe and watch the headache just melt away.
 
Disagree Guy said:
Used to drink a sugar-free energy drink every day too and I've cut that out too so it could well be this as well....

I just want it to stop because it's pissing me off now
Click to expand...

Yeah it's probably the caffeine withdrawl. You could try drinking black coffee or hot tea or something?
 
Zepp Twofist said:
Caffeine affects people differently. I drink tons of coffee every day, but I don't get more tired when I don't. I do however get a headache after a day or so without caffeine, but it usually passes a few days later (or within the hour if I drink a cup of coffee).

And what is up with that crazy diet making up a new unit of energy when there already is a more accurate one? The whole post you wrote about what the different numbers are made no sense.
Click to expand...

To be honest - I don't get it either.
I just let my wife deal with it and she seems to understand it haha
 
When I did super low carb diets I'd get headaches if I snapped and ate or drank non-small (think 2-3 cupcakes, multiple pizza slices, multiple cups of soda, etc.) servings of carb rich foods or drinks in a day. That doesn't mean that I'd drop the diet, though. My weekends still had a day or two of regular carb rich days. The secret for me was to limit my daily sugar intake to something sweet that I like each day. A cupcake on Monday, a slice of pizza on Wednesday a PB&J sandwich on Friday and so on would work well for me.

Basically... don't pig out on soda or caffeine. Try throwing some tea (much lower caffeine content) and small carb servings into the mix each day instead.
 
Disagree Guy said:
The thing is, I have no idea why I even thought I needed so much caffeine because I'm not even tired now.
Click to expand...

Caffeine has a mild beneficial effect on weight loss (EC stack would be considerably more so but that's sadly no longer an option in most countries) so you might wanna keep up with it.

Caffeine pills are super cheap and when/if you want to wean yourself off of the stuff entirely, very easy to lower your intake gradually, so you won't necessarily have to deal with the headaches at all.

Keep away from the sugar-free stuff if you can.
 
Could be a few different things. Biggest one is caffeine withdrawal. If you were consuming a hearty dose of caffeine at least once every couple days before, and now you aren't, it's going to hurt. The same thing will happen if you consumed high amounts of sugar and suddenly cut yourself off. It hurts. Sugar is also sneakily in a shitload of processed foods, so it's also possible you were consuming more sugar than you realized. On that note, not having enough carbs in general can also cause headaches

Make sure you're not eating too little, and perhaps make sure if your diet is weening you off caffeine, sugar, and other carbohydrates that you are giving yourself little bumps here and there to get your body used to the transition. Of course, if it continues you might want to see a doctor or nutritionist to make sure whatever diet you're trying isn't actively working against your well-being; diets are extremely fickle things and there's a reason 9.5/10 times they don't work for people.
 
Fundamentally changing your diet and withdrawing foods your body is used to can make you feel crap, especially sugar. There's definitely an adjustment period, stick with it!
 
Looked up the "Slimming World" diet:

Food Optimising plan[edit]

Slimming World states its eating plan, 'Food Optimising', is a "flexible, empowering, permissive approach to healthy eating". There is little or no weighing and measuring and no calorie counting involved. Food Optimising encourages slimmers to fill up on nutritious, low energy dense foods to satisfy their appetite, while limiting consumption of less satisfying, high energy dense foods. Unique to food optimising is the unlimited choice of many 'free foods' which can include lean meat, fish and poultry, pasta, rice and grains, vegetables, including potatoes, and fruit, all of which may be eaten freely, without weighing or measuring. To help ensure a balanced diet, daily portions of 'healthy extras' are permitted, including bread, cereals, cheese and milk. Finally, controlled portions of higher calorie, less filling foods are included, such as crisps, wine, chocolate and sauces. In Food Optimising these are called "Syns". Most adults have a daily "Syn allowance" of between 5 and 15 "syns".[1]
Click to expand...

Wat.

Also, I copy/pasted that straight from Wikipedia, so don't get angry at me for all the misspelling of "optimizing."
 
It happened to me too. Used to drink soda, energy drinks and sweet tea constantly. Made it my mission last to stop doing it and switched to drinking water and unsweetened tea and would get the worst headaches. After about two months they stopped and felt good since then. still might have a soda during the weekend but its better than the 3-4 sodas and sweet teas I would have everyday.
 
Disagree Guy said:
To reference -

I am not a fat bloke. I'm around 13st 8 now and I'm 6 ft 2.
On slimming world everything you eat has a 'syn' value, with some being 'syn free'

Anyway a man is allowed 20 syns a day and a woman is allowed less. 20 calories is roughly 1 syn with things like cheese, lean meat, fiber, Fish, fruit etc.. as healthy extras

I was eating roughly 80 syns a day but just had a fast metabolism

Now I'm eating like 5 syns a day worth of food (plus a couple cheeky beers at 6 syns each) so am under the 20 syn recommended.



Caffeine like twice a week so far compared with energy drink every day before
Click to expand...

That sounds like you're severely starving yourself.
 
Know what's good food for when you're dieting or when you just want to eat stuff out of boredom?

Cucumbers. They are huge, they are cheap, they are 95% water and you can eat them guilt-free. I always have some cucumbers in my fridge for a late night snack.
 
When I first got off sugar I used to get dizzy spells because my body wasn't coping with the lack of sugar very well. My mom thought I had diabetes or something but she thinks everyone does. It went away after a few days and I am fine now, had it persisted I would have went to a doctor. If it is bothering you go get checked out. You should probably consult a doctor prior to engaging in any sort of diet or exercise routine just to be safe.
 
Hoo-doo said:
Know what's good food for when you're dieting or when you just want to eat stuff out of boredom?

Cucumbers. They are huge, they are cheap, they are 95% water and you can eat them guilt-free. I always have some cucumbers in my fridge for a late night snack.
Click to expand...

I prefer pickles myself, essentially the same stuff but infinitely tastier. Cucumbers get pretty fucking boring on their own.


@ThreePiMatt: Yeah that just sounds idiotic. Just count those damn calories, it's not that hard.
 
Disagree Guy said:
To reference -

I am not a fat bloke. I'm around 13st 8 now and I'm 6 ft 2.
On slimming world everything you eat has a 'syn' value, with some being 'syn free'

Anyway a man is allowed 20 syns a day and a woman is allowed less. 20 calories is roughly 1 syn with things like cheese, lean meat, fiber, Fish, fruit etc.. as healthy extras

I was eating roughly 80 syns a day but just had a fast metabolism

Now I'm eating like 5 syns a day worth of food (plus a couple cheeky beers at 6 syns each) so am under the 20 syn recommended.



Caffeine like twice a week so far compared with energy drink every day before
Click to expand...
Um dude, if I'm reading this right then are you saying you're eating 100 calories a day and you're 6 foot 2?

That's WAY below recommended intake for someone of your size. That's not "lose some weight" low. That's unhealthily low.
 
NandoGip said:
Wait what the fuck. You're eating 200 calories a day?!
Click to expand...

Akuun said:
Um dude, if I'm reading this right then are you saying you're eating 100 calories a day and you're 6 foot 2?

That's WAY below recommended intake for someone of your size. That's not "lose some weight" low. That's unhealthily low.
Click to expand...

No there are things like fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish etc... that are 'syn free' so still make up my calorie content.

I'm definitely still having a healthy level of calories, I'm just reducing my previous calorie intake by nearly 3/4 haha
 
Are you getting enough proteins daily to maintain your lean body mass? Weight loss doesn't necessarily equal fat loss.
 
I was drinking around five cups of coffee a day for a few months before I started dieting after the holidays, but my headaches only lasted two or three days.

Lots of water and exercise is all I can say. Also make sure your new diet isn't deficient in any important vitamins, minerals, protein etc.
 
Disagree Guy said:
No there are things like fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish etc... that are 'syn free' so still make up my calorie content.

I'm definitely still having a healthy level of calories, I'm just reducing my previous calorie intake by nearly 3/4 haha
Click to expand...

Wow, thank god you have an explanation lol.

But yeah about the headaches. I've read that it's certain bacteria in your stomach dying that causes your body headaches and sickness when dieting or transitioning to healthy eating habits. IDK how factual that is though.
 
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