calorie counting and irritability
 

Does anyone else get grumpy? i feel like ive been such a b**** lately!

I get that way when I don't eat enough, does that count?

Irritability is a sign of hunger. Are you eating the right kinds of foods? It might even be a sign of weight loss, but I can't remember. I only seem to get irritable durning TOM and when I'm not eating well or when I wasn't eating enough.

how long have you been doing that? I recall getting irritable but I think it went away after a couple days/weeks once my body adjusted to the lower cals. Then again, I'm trying to recall back several years when I did this and I could be delusional thinking I wasn't a grumpy butt.

I know for me - I tried a low cal fad diet last January for 3 weeks and during that time a the first few days I was grumpy, the rest of the time I totally did not want to deal with cooking for my hubby and kid. They were on their own for 3 weeks while I did this fad crap. Ok, it worked, I lost 10lbs in 2.5 weeks and kept it off for over a month but then it crept back on when I got busy and wasn't working out and I regained what I'd just lost and have to start over again!

Oh, and if I go too long without eating, I do get grumpy. That's low blood sugar talking.

Ditto what everyone else says. Irrationally irritable = hunger. How many calories are you eating?

Ditto.

One other thing: that irritability is the thing that used to always "break me" on 900-1200/day diets. I can live tired, I can live with stomach pangs, I can live with a poor attention span, but I can't stand being mean to people I love and feeling like a freak after I snap someone's head off for no good reason. That's what always did it in the end for me.

It's worth it to lose weight a little more slowly to avoid breaking down completely.

I remember getting irritable with counting calories :) It took me a few months, but eventually I got sick and tired and threw in the towel (not to dieting, but calorie counting).

The funny thing was, after I stopped counting calories I started losing more weight. I was probably eating under my previously prescribed calorie budget... but I was incredibly happy.

Now? Now I eyeball calories and do the math in my head. I have a maximum that I can't go over, but no minimum. Though if you do decide to go this route, I recommend staying far away from high calorie foods altogether :)

Good luck. And kudos for posting instead of throwing in the towel!

Irritability is a sure sign that I'm hungry or my blood sugar is low or has dropped suddenly. Hubby notices it before I do (to me, it just seems that he's being more of a jerk than usual). When he asks "when have you eaten," I realize that it's me, not him.

This is why for me, carb type and quantity is at least as important as calories. High glycemic foods, those that spike blood sugar quickly (which then triggers insulin release and a dramatic blood sugar drop) are most likely to be the culprit. Sweet foods on an empty stomach are the worst. I haven't had a donut on an empty stomach in well over 30 years (even as a kid, they'd make me sick).

oh gosh - donuts on an empty stomach and the only thing to be eaten are a sure culprit of a headache and irritability for me. I just wish I could turn down a donut. :)

I might have been hungry. I went to the gym and after I was so happy

Ah, but notice that I did NOT say that I hadn't had a donut in over 30 years, only that I hadn't eaten one on an empty stomach.

Actually I have been avoiding high-carb and very sweet foods more successfully then ever before, but I still make mistakes. However, the one I don't make is donuts or pancakes/waffles and syrup on an empty stomach, because they just don't make me feel slightly ill, they make me feel VERY ill (headache, nausea, and abdominal cramps - sometimes worse a I remember it anyway. I think I was 12 or 13 the last time I had only donut(s) for breakfast).

There's a restaurant in town that makes amazing pancakes. Fluffy, melt in your mouth ymminess. While I never had them as a meal (when I wasn't eating low-carb and wasn't avoiding wheat), I would occasionally have one as dessert.

Even as a very little kid, I remember requesting the fancy tractor wheels (french crullers) when I had a choice of donuts. The french cruller is very airy, so there's a lot less dough. With milk, I had a chance of it not upsetting my stomach (not that they're low in calorie or sugar, but they're actually much lower in both than other styles of donut). It wasn't until I was 10 or 12 that my parents realized (or maybe I was able to communicate) that a donut meal made me sick and whenever there were family donuts, I usually ate something else and saved mine for dessert later in the day.

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I was feeling very much like this yesterday and then I realized I had not eaten very much.

Some people have touched on carbs...too many "white" carbs will definitely send your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride and can make you grumpy. For me, NO carbs does the same thing. This is one reason South Beach just didn't work for me. I will admit I still eat some "white" carbs, but I stick to whole grains and high fiber foods as much as possible...this helps me feel fuller longer and keeps me on an even keel.

The *only* white carbs I allow myself are potatoes and basmati rice and then I will only eat a small serving.....like a *small* white
potato (weighed) and a half cup serving of rice and *always* with protein and vegetables so any insulin spike will be slower then by eating them alone.

Lack of carbs also makes me cranky.