Hunger & The Shakes
 

How do you guys deal with shaking when you are hungry?

I have drastically cut down on my food intake & I realize that is why I am having this problem. But it's definitely annoying. I'm shaking really badly. Mostly my hands and jaw. A little lighthead and tired.

Looking for ways to combat this problem aside from stuffing my face.

Eat something healthy and nutritious in a controlled portion? Successful weight loss involves learning the happy medium between starvation and binging. You don't have to be physically ill with starvation to lose weight and be healthy. So eat something.

Shaking like that means you're definitely not getting enough food. Hard to advise when we don't know what kind of diet you're on, what foods you're eating/avoiding, etc.

Your blood sugar has dropped too low and that can be disastrous. Eat more!

Yeah, you shouldn't be shaking. Eat! And eating does not have to mean stuffing your face.

I say eat, definitely. Try to eat before it gets too bad..maybe have something like a banana to get into your blood sugar quickly and then a proper meal with rice and protein. I get the same. Sometimes you need to eat

The shakes a the result of low blood sugar. Eat a low carb diet with either more protien or more fats so that your blood sugars can't drop like that giving you the shakes.

Now, with that said, you k ow that nowhere is it recommended to restrict too much.. It has a tendency to backfire in the long run.

I was going to say exactly what berryblondeboys said - that's a clear symptom of low blood sugar. It's really not something you want to have happen regularly! Make sure your meals include carbs, protein and fat - no carb-only meals. Please do pay attention to this, shaking is not a good signal (as someone who gets the shakes).

If you're really hungry and don't want to eat anything... Try drinking some broth. That helps take the edge off. But if you're shaking, you'll need something a little more substantial. Have some berries and a string cheese or something!

I think you can prevent the shakes and weakness by building snacks into your eating pattern.

I count calories and eat well, but if I don't snack, I feel weak.

As others have said, don't overreact--just eat something healthy and of moderate calories.

I know I don't have room to talk....plus I am new here... but I do know that if you cut down your calories too fast your body will think it's starving and it will slow your metabolism down.....something you DON'T want to do. Better to lose weight slower than to have your body start breaking down muscle (ketosis) instead of working on the fat.... correct me if I am wrong....anybody =)

from my understanding of low carb and ketosis...ketosis is when the body switches from burning glycogen for fuel to burning fat for fuel, not muscle...eating enough protein helps keep the body from using up muscle mass

back to the OP, you definitely need to be fueling your body with something to prevent the shakes...i second/third what others said about small, healthy snacks to avoid the shakes without hurting a diet

ditto to the take a healthy snack break comments

and look at your fluid intake too, dehydration can do funny things and can mimic low blood sugar (headache, shakes, queasiness etc)

You said in another thread that you weren't really concerned so much about the scale but rather 'toning up' ie. building muscle to fill out your frame while losing body fat.

Any extreme calorie cutting is the complete opposite direction of this goal ^^^. That figure is achieved by higher protein, filling fats, maintenance and/or slightly under maintenance calories (ie. 200 calories less) with a solid strength training and cardio program.

You should never ever have the shakes from a calorie deficit in that process. A sign of too little calories. You will burn muscle and that's not what you want.

That's blood sugar lows.

For immediate fix -- get some OJ or other juice.

For medium term fix -- get a decent snack/meal with some protein and fat in it. The quick bump from the juice will solve your immediate problem but you still need to need something with a slower rise in blood sugar to avoid another crash.

For longer term fix -- analyze why this happened and be better prepared. Don't try to cut too low, eat every 4 hrs or so with nutritious meals. Perhaps have some "go to" food handy.

A.

I guess I should have been more specific; I am not starving myself.

I switched my eating habits. I am not eating junk. Not a whole lot of ("bad") carbs in my diet. No fried food. No chips. Switched to things like lots of greek yogurt, smoothies, tuna, salads... I have stuff at work to snack on (100 cal packs of nuts, fresh fruit, kashi bars). I was under the impression that the cut back is what is causing the shaking, not lack of food - since I am not by any means starving myself.

Thanks to everyone who answered.