so i'm still pretty new to the calorie counting, in that i just started about a week ago. my calorie average for the last week is 1341, with the lowest on 7/8 (1078 cals) and the highest on 7/9 (1576 cals). right now i am at 1207 for today. i've lost 4.2 pounds since july 3rd.

every day i have woken up and done some variety of turbo jam (learn, burn, cardio party) ranging from 20 mins to 45 mins. today i did cardio party which totaled 45 minutes.

now for my question: as i type this, my hands are shaky and jittery and i've never experienced this before. i ate dinner about an hour ago (pork chop) and i'm eating a snack right now, but the shakiness will not go away! have any of you experienced this and what can i do to make it stop? it's really weird!

thanks so much for your advice =)

Have you given up anything like caffeine or sugar? Quit drinking sodas entirely? Anything like that? Shaky hands can be a symptom of withdrawal from sugar or caffeine - although usually the worst symptoms are the first couple of days, not a week later.

In general I'd say you might not be eating enough of the right kind of food. What are you eating on a daily basis to get in your 1400 or so calories? The more you drop your calories, the more you need to pay attention to nutrition and vitamin content. You can get away with more junk food at 1800 calories than you can at 1400 or 1000.

.

Hi Ashley,

I'm relatively new to calorie counting as well, but maybe I can help. Are you experiencing anything else that might be a sign that you're not eating enough? Headaches? Dizziness? Exhaustion? Do you feel full (not stuffed, but satisfied) after you eat? Are you eating balanced meals? Also, are you drinking caffeinated beverages? That might cause shaky hands.

You could try adding an additional 100 calories/day. You could also try being more consistent with your caloric intake - maybe eat 1400 - 1500 calories everyday.

From what I've read on this forum, it seems like people have to experiment a bit with the number of calories they're eating before they figure out what works for them. I'm currently eating 1500-1600 a day and losing steadily. I started out at 1200-1400, and that just wasn't enough food to keep me fueled and feeling good once I began working out.

Hope this helps.

Ah, I see PhotoChick has beat me to the punch!

thank you for the quick replies photochick and ursusmaritimus!

i've never been a coffee drinker, so caffeine withdrawal isn't the answer. and i haven't completely cut out sugar, i'm just trying to eat a bit less of it. i've been drinking a lot of crystal light and water, but i've been doing that for a while too.

however, i am still eating a lot of junk food because it's all we have in the house. nobody else here really watches what they eat, so i just switched to eating less of it and as much healthy food as i can find around here. i've also been eating sugar free jello and sugar free pudding to cut down on the calories. maybe this is where the problem lies, since i'm still eating a lot of junk and i need to eat more healthy stuff. thanks for the input!

and i welcome any more opinions anyone else who reads this may have!

I can't imagine how LITTLE junk food you have to eat to meet 1300 calories.
I'd go out and get some basic healthy food and try to adjust your calories.
The more basic the food -- less processed -- the better off you are.
I think you're going to feel a lot better, too.

Were you used to doing intense cardio prior to this past week? If so, this is not a potential answer likely but if not, it could actually be muscle fatigue ... or an imbalance of electrolytes, or hypotension. I know it seems odd that it can be delayed like that, but when I started running every day (2 years ago), and was dieting, my eyelid and thumb started fluttering/twitching and they would NOT stop. It went on for the better part of a month. I started increasing my Calcium and Potassium intake (ate a banana/day) and my problem resolved. May not be your problem, but something to consider.

Could be a blood sugar drop. Eat some carbs.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.
Do you have any orange juice or peanut butter and crackers?
My mom is hypoglycemic and that's what they told her to eat/drink when she got the shakes.

kimmygoal - as soon as i get my license on wednesday (i'm 18...but i still don't have it) and a car sometime in the next month, i will definitely be doing my own grocery shopping. but until then i gotta eat what we have...but i just noticed that we have salad ingredients so im gonna have a salad tomorrow =)

malibubeachbound - before this week, i hadn't worked out in MONTHS and all i had done the last time(s) i worked out was 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym in my university 2-3 times a week. so this could definitely be a contributing factor. i'm not really a fan of bananas, but i suppose i could stomach one a day to avoid this problem. thanks!

ddc - about 50% of my diet is carbs (bad i know) so i don't think this is the problem. though, a lot of those carbs are simple sugars so maybe i need to eat some more complex carbs to satisfy me

As far as blood sugar goes, I tend to agree with Ashley. It wouldn't make sense that you would be shaky while eating a snack only 1 hr after dinner. Not that it couldn't happen, but it's more unlikely

Ashley, I really hope for your sake that your problem was the same as mine. Other foods are high in potassium too like cantaloupe, grapefruit, oranges, honeydew, prunes, molasses and potatoes... so it doesn't have to be bananas. That's just what worked for me. I know it is REALLY annoying (or it was for me)... and if it persists, obviously get it checked to make sure it isn't something more.

Keep me updated

Hi Ashley, first I notice you are in CT, so am I as far as the shaky goes I would not put the blood sugar thing to rest so quickly and you can find out by either talking to a doc or an easier way that you can do from home would be to buy some ketostix and test your urine for a few days and when you feel that way. my son has type 1 juvenile onset diabetes and says thats how he feels when his sugar is messed up, try the ketostix or have a doc test you if you have access to a glucose meter you can try that as well (that would be best after the doc). good luck with your issue and I hope you get it figured out.

As Ever
Me

I think hypoglycemia is a possibilty.
Here's a link: http://www.hypoglycemia.org/hypo.asp

It does occur after you eat and your blood sugar drops too low.
If it continues to happen, you should see a doctor.

Best wishes

botzz - woohoo another connecticutan! haha. anywho, i'll get my blood sugar checked when i go back to the doctor in september. until then i'll just try to eat less junk and more healthy food and hope the problem doesn't get any worse :-/

ddc - i went to that link and took the hypo quiz and my score came out to 67, so i am at higher risk for having hypoglycemia. i've had a feeling for a while i might be hypoglycemic since i get dizzy and lightheaded if i don't eat every couple hours. i was just at the doctor last week, and while my urine test came back normal, they didn't do any bloodwork. when i go back in september after my health insurance kicks in i'll definitely get this checked out. thank you!

Well if your bloodwork comes back alright, a sensitivity to catecholamines (epi especially) released after exercising can also be a consideration... it causes similar symptoms AND alters the electolyte metabolism.

Just figure out all of the possibilities and you will figure it out... eventually.

Good luck.

A urine test should pick up hypoglycemia... but ONLY if they checked for it! Obviously urinary analysis AND blood analysis is best anyway.