Why do I feel sick when trying to lose weight?

[wonderwoo]

Am trying to lose weight slowly and sensibly. I have given up snacks, other than a piece of fruit mid afternoon, and am trying to make sensible choices, watching portion sizes, and not too many carbs.

However, I am finding that as I get near to my next meal time, I am feeling quite sick. It's not pleasant. I am not sure why I hunger makes me feel sick or what is best for preventing it.

This morning I had half a bread muffin and two scrambled eggs for breakfast at 7.30am. By 11am I was feeling sick. I am sure I should be able to go 4-5 hours before hunger sickness starts? I wanted to have lunch about 12.30pm, but ended up eating a banana to see me through, and it did make me feel better. It also happens before my evening meal (again, there is about a five hour gap between meals, but I tend to eat a piece of fruit as a snack mid afternoon.).

Does anyone else feel sick when they try to eat less? How can I change my breakfast to prevent this? I would appreciate any advice people can give.

Would you try have a tea or coffee and see if that would help get you through to the next meal? Maybe its a drop in sugar levels?

Can you have a snack? I would say your blood sugar is too low

Are you drinking enough? I always find I need a cup of tea or massive glass of water 30 mins before a meal to avoid the sicky gaggy feeling.

Some people are just better suited to several small meals a day instead of three big ones. If you are one of them, then maybe make your main meals smaller, but build in more substantial snacks with lots of protein to keep you feeling full. As long as the total calories are the same, the snacks shouldn't hurt your weight loss. Besides, the most effective diet is the one you stick to and if you are feeling sick with hunger on the diet you are on now then you probably won't stick to it!

Do you have an acid stomach? Or an ulcer?

Personally I find any meal with significant carb element leaves me feeling that way. Your bread muffin would be enough. Have you tried even lower carbs and not going low fat? Or would that not be for you?

Ah, thank you for all your replies.

I don't think I am dehydrated because I have been drinking a lot. Looks like it could be low blood sugar then. Maybe I will have my piece of fruit as a snack mid morning, instead of after my lunch and if that doesn't work I will try a high protein snack (thanks spuriouser).

user3459 I don't have an ulcer but do get indigestion quite easily. Maybe that isn't helping matters.

I really want to stick to this diet this time, so am trying to work on these things before they push me over the edge and I binge on cakes and chocolate!

I am having acid reflux issues myself at the moment, so my mind went to that.

Keep trying, OP. It's annoying when you are trying to do something good and something like this happens. Frustrating.

lostsight I am a bit scared of going low carb to be honest! My compromise at the moment is to try and be mindful of them and not eat more than I feel I need. But I have it in the back of my mind as something to try if weight loss plateaus down the line. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to maintain it and would fall off the wagon so wanted to try something a bit easier to start with. I also need to do more research about what to actually eat on a low carb diet, especially as I don't eat meat and fish. Its an interesting point you make though so I will keep an eye on whether the sickness happens more when I have more carbs in a meal.

Thank you user

I would definitely feel sick if I went 5 hours without eating! I eat approx every 3 hours, but always try to choose small, healthy options. I'm not sure what your diet was like before or how much weight you have to lose, but I think if you are choosing healthy meals and having a snack of fruit in between you will definitely lose weight. You could also try sipping ginger tea during the mornings as it calms your stomach, but I don't think you should skip the healthy snack

I'm the same, OP. I'm massively overweight and can't go more than 3 hours or I feel super sickly.

I'm trying to do breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-tea now