Maintaining enough calories...

Madixoxoxo QLD • Posts: 31

1 7 Nov 2011

So, it's been over 2 weeks of being vegetarian. It's been great. I've never felt better... EXCEPT... if I forget to eat!

I went to a party on Saturday night, and forgot to eat before going. I had some nibblies etc, but nothing substantial. Had some diet coke too, and lots of water. By around 10pm, I felt weird. I started to get the same fuzzy feeling in my head that I'd had a week or two before that, where I did almost faint on the train. It scared the crap out of me, because the last thing I wanted to do was faint. I asked the host if I could eat something, he's a doctor, so that was good lol. He freaked out initially cos I seemed a tad frantic. He was worried I was diabetic. I said no, I've recently become vegetarian and I haven't had anything since 2pm... so he got be some bread, some peanut butter (commercial peanut butter, full of salt/sugar. YUCK! I haven't had that stuff in years) I also downed a lot of water. Was ok after eating it. Then felt a bit weird again, so I went and had a lolli pop... perhaps I needed a bit of sugar or something. I was ok. Then about 10 minutes later, again, felt strange... went upstairs to find my boyfriend. Was feeling fine standing talking to him and another friend. Sat down for a bit... then began to feel very anxious, pulse was racing, fuzzy again, and felt really warm, then really really emotional. I went into the bathroom to fill my water bottle... and he came in to see if I was ok. I wasn't. I needed to leave asap. I felt ok enough to drive, and he'd been drinking so I didn't wanna ruin his night and I let him stay. My house was literally 5 mins away from the party. I cried all the way home, and my hands were shaking. I was a mess at home and couldn't stop crying. It was ridiculous. It felt like a panic attack. I've had them in the past, and they'd come on for no obvious reason at all, but hadn't had one in about 3 yrs.

ANYWHO.. .it was just all very weird. I hadn't had any alcohol either.

Does anyone find if they skip meals accidentally ... they feel faint? I didn't feel normal again until today. My hands still didn't feel right, and I kept on feeling a little sickish in the tummy and a little airy in the head. Yesterday I was ok, but still had bouts of feeling strange. So I ate A LOT... which seemed to help. I felt normal by about 5pm, then before dinner I started to worry about not getting food soon.

My iron is high, I'm on iron tablets, a once a day multivitamin, and spirulina tablets. So I'm not lacking in any minerals/vitamins. I can't be anemic. I ate well all that Saturday except for not having dinner. What gives? Is it all in my head? LOL.

Sorry for the giant post but I just felt the need to talk about it.

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Glen VIC • Posts: 337

2 7 Nov 2011

If you're worried about not eating enough calories, make yourself a profile on www.calorieking.com.au . You can add all the foods you eat during the day and it'll tally up your calories, protein, carbs and fats, and tailor a program suited to your individual needs.

Calorie King has helped countless people lose and gain weight the healthy way, without supplements or those ghastly weight loss shakes. If you're on the right path, and you're still experiencing dizziness and the like, see a good GP. If not, Calorie King will point you in the right direction!

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xAshlee TAS • Posts: 722

3 7 Nov 2011

Ive had that ONCE and i never need to feel it again to know how bad it was.........i had cooked my tea i only had potato, carrot, onion and a bit of rice. i sat down to eat and something just came over me - i suddenty wasnt hungry and my head felt heavy and i felt like i was dying or something....literally i felt sooo bad. it scared me to.

Im vegan now and have had no problems at all.....in fact im trying to lose weight and still a struggle to keep calories down (i use www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories - there are some vegans/veg etc on there too)

The best thing is to have a wide range of foods, and use fortified things like soymilk on cereal / in drinks, and instead of normal bread i eat soy and linseed for Omega 3, and marmite on toast for the b12 etc.

The amount of b12 our body needs is not much is like a micro gram or something. but make sure you get it that - its like iron - you need it to keep ur blood healthy and producing red blood cells.

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Madixoxoxo QLD • Posts: 31

4 7 Nov 2011

xAshlee said:

Ive had that ONCE and i never need to feel it again to know how bad it was.........i had cooked my tea i only had potato, carrot, onion and a bit of rice. i sat down to eat and something just came over me - i suddenty wasnt hungry and my head felt heavy and i felt like i was dying or something....literally i felt sooo bad. it scared me to.

Im vegan now and have had no problems at all.....in fact im trying to lose weight and still a struggle to keep calories down (i use www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories - there are some vegans/veg etc on there too)

The best thing is to have a wide range of foods, and use fortified things like soymilk on cereal / in drinks, and instead of normal bread i eat soy and linseed for Omega 3, and marmite on toast for the b12 etc.

The amount of b12 our body needs is not much is like a micro gram or something. but make sure you get it that - its like iron - you need it to keep ur blood healthy and producing red blood cells.

Yeah, it's the worst feeling ever. Not having control and trying to remain conscious. Not cool. I take iron tablets that have Iron, B12 and Vitamin C in it. As well as multivitamin with it in it too in the morning. Admittedly that day, all I had was, toast in the morning, a juice, and then a small small lunch because it was leftovers and i didn't feel like making any more food. Then, took forever getting ready and didn't eat before going out. So silly. I have been using a calorie counter, and on that day I had only eaten about 600 calories. No wonder I was sick and feeling out of it/faint. Glad you haven't felt that way again. It's not fun.

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DaveQB NSW • Posts: 287

5 7 Nov 2011

MadiLovesMerDer said:

So silly. I have been using a calorie counter, and on that day I had only eaten about 600 calories. No wonder I was sick and feeling out of it/faint. Glad you haven't felt that way again. It's not fun.

600 calories!!?!?! Are you sure it was that low? No wonder at all. WOW
If I have can keep under 2000 calories in a day it is an achievement. Stomach makes it really hard.

I think the low calorie count is the answer. That is amazingly low. How is you nutrient analysis on that calorie level?

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KirstyGirl TAS • Posts: 754

6 7 Nov 2011

I don't know about this one... I would definitely go to a doctor and talk about this. I don't think being veg would be the issue... I do eat a lot and I get dizzy sometimes too from not having enough sugar when I haven't eaten in a long time but if this is happening to you regularly I would definitely consider other factors in your diet/health etc.

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KirstyGirl TAS • Posts: 754

7 7 Nov 2011

MadiLovesMerDer said:

xAshlee said:

Ive had that ONCE and i never need to feel it again to know how bad it was.........i had cooked my tea i only had potato, carrot, onion and a bit of rice. i sat down to eat and something just came over me - i suddenty wasnt hungry and my head felt heavy and i felt like i was dying or something....literally i felt sooo bad. it scared me to.

Im vegan now and have had no problems at all.....in fact im trying to lose weight and still a struggle to keep calories down (i use www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories - there are some vegans/veg etc on there too)

The best thing is to have a wide range of foods, and use fortified things like soymilk on cereal / in drinks, and instead of normal bread i eat soy and linseed for Omega 3, and marmite on toast for the b12 etc.

The amount of b12 our body needs is not much is like a micro gram or something. but make sure you get it that - its like iron - you need it to keep ur blood healthy and producing red blood cells.

Yeah, it's the worst feeling ever. Not having control and trying to remain conscious. Not cool. I take iron tablets that have Iron, B12 and Vitamin C in it. As well as multivitamin with it in it too in the morning. Admittedly that day, all I had was, toast in the morning, a juice, and then a small small lunch because it was leftovers and i didn't feel like making any more food. Then, took forever getting ready and didn't eat before going out. So silly. I have been using a calorie counter, and on that day I had only eaten about 600 calories. No wonder I was sick and feeling out of it/faint. Glad you haven't felt that way again. It's not fun.

Sounds like being veg isn't the problem, it's you needing to eat more no matter what you're eating!

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Madixoxoxo QLD • Posts: 31

8 7 Nov 2011

DaveQB said:

MadiLovesMerDer said:

So silly. I have been using a calorie counter, and on that day I had only eaten about 600 calories. No wonder I was sick and feeling out of it/faint. Glad you haven't felt that way again. It's not fun.

600 calories!!?!?! Are you sure it was that low? No wonder at all. WOW
If I have can keep under 2000 calories in a day it is an achievement. Stomach makes it really hard.

I think the low calorie count is the answer. That is amazingly low. How is you nutrient analysis on that calorie level?

Nutrient level is high as. I eat tonnes of vegetables, grains, nuts, fruits... I drink soy milk too. That day though, my last meal was around 2pm... and hadn't eaten since really. I never really eat more than 1700 calories a day... just because it's hard to do unless I eat junk food all the time. I don't do that, I'm a health nut. I'm feeling really good today. It's also exam time so I'm on super high stress levels, so that could have added to the sick feeling.

I have 6 meals a day generally, but it's rare that I eat junk and if I do I don't eat a lot of it. If I do get a weird dizzy thing again and I've eaten properly, I'll definitely go to the docs.

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Madixoxoxo QLD • Posts: 31

9 7 Nov 2011

KirstyGirl said:

MadiLovesMerDer said:

xAshlee said:

Ive had that ONCE and i never need to feel it again to know how bad it was.........i had cooked my tea i only had potato, carrot, onion and a bit of rice. i sat down to eat and something just came over me - i suddenty wasnt hungry and my head felt heavy and i felt like i was dying or something....literally i felt sooo bad. it scared me to.

Im vegan now and have had no problems at all.....in fact im trying to lose weight and still a struggle to keep calories down (i use www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories - there are some vegans/veg etc on there too)

The best thing is to have a wide range of foods, and use fortified things like soymilk on cereal / in drinks, and instead of normal bread i eat soy and linseed for Omega 3, and marmite on toast for the b12 etc.

The amount of b12 our body needs is not much is like a micro gram or something. but make sure you get it that - its like iron - you need it to keep ur blood healthy and producing red blood cells.

Yeah, it's the worst feeling ever. Not having control and trying to remain conscious. Not cool. I take iron tablets that have Iron, B12 and Vitamin C in it. As well as multivitamin with it in it too in the morning. Admittedly that day, all I had was, toast in the morning, a juice, and then a small small lunch because it was leftovers and i didn't feel like making any more food. Then, took forever getting ready and didn't eat before going out. So silly. I have been using a calorie counter, and on that day I had only eaten about 600 calories. No wonder I was sick and feeling out of it/faint. Glad you haven't felt that way again. It's not fun.

Sounds like being veg isn't the problem, it's you needing to eat more no matter what you're eating!

Haha, yeah. I'm finding it a little hard to eat so much though.

Daily this is sort of my meal plan... I eat toast or oats with fruit/spreads in the morning. Black coffee. Morning tea I make a smoothie with soy milk or a veggie juice, and if I'm still a little hungry I'll have a piece of fruit or a muesli bar. Lunch is usually a salad with some kind of beans/lentil pattie/cous cous/veggies. Afternoon snack is some kind of vegetable/fruit/nuts sometimes with hummus. Then dinner varies on what is made. If I eat any more than that in a day I'd constantly be consuming food every hour. I think I just have to eat foods higher in calories because you can consume so much more as a vegetarian compared to when eating meat/copious amounts of dairy.

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Tiah SA • Posts: 45

10 7 Nov 2011

Put simply; your lack of calories is NOT due to a vegetarian diet, but rather a very stupid choice.

You're not eating? Simple, plan some meals! It's easy to get calories, and not eating meat couldn't be any reason for you not to get calories. It's SO easy to get vegetarian food from take-away outlets and restaurants aswell, so you really have no excuse.

If you want low fat foods then try eating carbohydrates to get calories. Pasta, gnocchi, bread, cereals etc all contain high amounts of kilojoules.

Energy content in foods is the bodies primary energy source. OF COURSE you are going to feel faint and ill if you don't eat! That's completely stupid! Your body doesn't have enough energy to function properly if you don't eat.

Are you taking your iron tablets and multivitamins with food? They can contribute to making you feel ill. Also, are you on any other medications or anything? Some of your symptoms sound like you may be experiencing medication withdrawal or something that maybe you should see a Doctor about.

You need to make some immediate lifestyle changes. Follow a diet plan, eat 3 meals per day, take your supplements with food and drink 8 glasses of water per day. If you are still having problems then see your GP. Don't be trying to find answers on a forum which is about animal cruelty and vegetarianism/veganism - this is more about lifestyle choices which aren't in regards to any of those things.

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Panicking about not having enough...