Hi,

I am a vegetarian and I'm always tired and hungry. I feel like a huge salad don't satisfy my appetite, I feel like I'm full but then I got the urge to eat something salty and fat or sugary. So that sabottage all my weight loss effort. I am also always hungry for sugar or fat. If I don't eat them I feel like fainting and ahve strong headache. What's happening ? I'm also always tired.

Hi cool90, some questions...How long have you been vegetarian? What weightloss plan are you following? Are you drinking enough? Have you been eating a lot of junk stuff and recently gone off it? Are you just eating salads?...if so no wonder you are hungry, I would be too! :-)

I used to get a lot sugar highs and dips, feeling tired, faint, sleepy and cold - for me, now, its necessary to journal everything I eat and watch the sugar levels.

More questions than answers I'm afraid, but I'm wondering if you have a balanced diet, getting enough food each day, de-hydrated or withdrawl symptoms from removing sugar from your diet.
Finn

Hi Cool, Have you cut back your caffeine intake? If you haven't try cutting it back a little at a time and increase your water. I find it helpful to make my water cold with ice and then add a couple of drops of lemon juice to it from a store bought lemon juice concentrate. This makes the water refreshing (not lemonade) and will also make you thirsty to encourage more water intake.

Also, where are you getting your protein? Try adding more beans to your diet. Here is a simple recipe :

Confetti Beans

1 onion, chopped ; 2 bell peppers chopped (I like 1 yellow and 1 red for color); 1-2 cloves garlic pressed (you can add a couple tablespoons of jar garlic already minced to make it easy); 1/4 C water; 1 can red beans, drained, 1 can pinto beans, drained, 1 can black or garbanzo beans drained; 2 C frozen corn; 1 15oz can Italian or Mexican stewed tomatoes, 1 Tb. Chili powder; Black pepper to taste.

Saute the onion, bell peppers and garlic until softened. Add remaining ingredients cover and cook on low heat for about 5-10 min.

You can eat this just like this or over a plain baked potato. My kids love it and it is very filling. Your body will get the protein and sugars it needs from the beans. I think you will find if you try to get your protein this way 2-3 times a week you will see your energy come back. In the past when I have gone Vegan I found if I did not eat enough legumes during the week I would feel just like you described.

Hope you feel better.


Theresa