Shaky every afternoon?

[Kellylou]

Most days by 3pm I feel extremely shaky, maybe even a little bit nauseous. My arms feel tingly, and it's sort of like a low blood sugar feeling...

Someone I spoke with mentioned I needed more protein, so that was the point (a few weeks ago) that I upped my calories (to 1900) and my protein... but it still happens. And when it does, it comes with a STRONG desire to just chow down on some serious hearty food.

It's a very low energy, BLAH feeling, and I feel pretty strongly it's stemming from something I'm missing in my daily nutrients, I'm just not sure.

Could it be healthy fats? Most of the things I eat are fat-free or low-fat (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc).

I am hitting pretty close to a 40/30/30 every day in macros, but if anything is off, it's typically carbs are a bit higher, fat is a bit lower.

Any thoughts?

[ivanishe]

Pregnancy?

[Kellylou]

Pregnancy?

Haha, not so much. But you're not the first person to come back with that response!

[ivanishe]

What you're describing sounds like a descent from some stimulant.

If you drink a lot of coffee or take pre work out supplements like NoXplode (taurine+caffeine) then what could be happening is a spike in your metabolism (especially if you have a sugary pre-work out something or other)

After you deplete that boost ... you crave healthy food because your afterburners are all spent so to speak . Used to happen to me all the time.

Stimulants mess with metabolism.

[Kellylou]

What you're describing sounds like a descent from some stimulant.

If you drink a lot of coffee or take pre work out supplements like NoXplode (taurine+caffeine) then what could be happening is a spike in your metabolism (especially if you have a sugary pre-work out something or other)

After you deplete that boost ... you crave healthy food because your afterburners are all spent so to speak . Used to happen to me all the time.

Stimulants mess with metabolism.

Nope, no caffeine or any type of hyped up supplements at all. I literally don't drink anything but water, and the only non-food stuff I use is protein powder.

[ivanishe]

Then I'd say its the fat - eat more healthy fat and eat regularly = )

[kimm4]

Most days by 3pm I feel extremely shaky, maybe even a little bit nauseous. My arms feel tingly, and it's sort of like a low blood sugar feeling...

Someone I spoke with mentioned I needed more protein, so that was the point (a few weeks ago) that I upped my calories (to 1900) and my protein... but it still happens. And when it does, it comes with a STRONG desire to just chow down on some serious hearty food.

It's a very low energy, BLAH feeling, and I feel pretty strongly it's stemming from something I'm missing in my daily nutrients, I'm just not sure.

Could it be healthy fats? Most of the things I eat are fat-free or low-fat (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc).

I am hitting pretty close to a 40/30/30 every day in macros, but if anything is off, it's typically carbs are a bit higher, fat is a bit lower.

Any thoughts?

Sometimes the increase in protein will give you these symptoms. The only other thought is are you eating any of your meals with just protein and no carbs...this will cause these symptoms as well.

You're getting a good amount of healthy fats so that's not the problem.

[Kellylou]

Sometimes the increase in protein will give you these symptoms. The only other thought is are you eating any of your meals with just protein and no carbs...this will cause these symptoms as well.

You're getting a good amount of healthy fats so that's not the problem.

Today lunch was tuna with zucchini and spaghetti squash, carrots, and my completely useless but tasty sugar free pudding. I know those are a waste to eat, but I dig the chocolate. :/ And that's a pretty typical lunch for me. Breakfast is my highest carb intake of the day, because I always have oatmeal as a part of my breakfast.

The other thing I am thinking is that, by 3, I typically still have around 1000 calories left for the day. At 1900 cals a day, with my first meal at 7... if I'm splitting my calories evenly for each meal, and eating every 2-3 hours, maybe I just need to eat more earlier in the day?

I don't know. I'm grasping at straws. It's really annoying, and I wish I could fix it!

[kimm4]

Today lunch was tuna with zucchini and spaghetti squash, carrots, and my completely useless but tasty sugar free pudding. I know those are a waste to eat, but I dig the chocolate. :/ And that's a pretty typical lunch for me. Breakfast is my highest carb intake of the day, because I always have oatmeal as a part of my breakfast.

The other thing I am thinking is that, by 3, I typically still have around 1000 calories left for the day. At 1900 cals a day, with my first meal at 7... if I'm splitting my calories evenly for each meal, and eating every 2-3 hours, maybe I just need to eat more earlier in the day?

I don't know. I'm grasping at straws. It's really annoying, and I wish I could fix it!

At lunch time I would eat a carb with a little more substance like rice, potatoes, yams, whole grain bread, etc. Throw in some type of healthy fats as well.

Hope you feel better.

[nunu713]

You may want to try taking a B-complex vitamin with lunch. I have trouble in the afternoon hours as well. I don't get so much of a low blood sugar feeling, but I do feel completely lethargic - the B-vitamin helps. It helps your body extract energy from your food. Your body can usually use more than what's contained in a daily multivitamin, and there aren't too many food sources that will get you an adequate amount. Except nuts - excellent amounts of B-vitamins in nuts.

[Kellylou]

Thanks guys, for the advice!! I am definitely going to try those things out and see how it goes! I appreciate it so much!

[Nightbird573]

Most days by 3pm I feel extremely shaky, maybe even a little bit nauseous. My arms feel tingly, and it's sort of like a low blood sugar feeling...

Someone I spoke with mentioned I needed more protein, so that was the point (a few weeks ago) that I upped my calories (to 1900) and my protein... but it still happens. And when it does, it comes with a STRONG desire to just chow down on some serious hearty food.

It's a very low energy, BLAH feeling, and I feel pretty strongly it's stemming from something I'm missing in my daily nutrients, I'm just not sure.

Could it be healthy fats? Most of the things I eat are fat-free or low-fat (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc).

I am hitting pretty close to a 40/30/30 every day in macros, but if anything is off, it's typically carbs are a bit higher, fat is a bit lower.

Any thoughts?

It could be any of the things these ladies before me mentioned, but you might want to have a blood test done at your doctor's office just in case.

[emilyslowiak]

I used to get this same thing. It turned out to be just that my calories were too low as I was eating a lot of my calories after I got home at night. I like that someone else told you to get some blood tests done because it really could be anything. My doctor did screen out a bunch of other ideas before we came to that and problem solved. Good luck!

[Kellylou]

It could be any of the things these ladies before me mentioned, but you might want to have a blood test done at your doctor's office just in case.

That's been floating around in my head, but wanted to try to change up a few things first to see if I could figure it out before going to the doc! I am so bad about that!

[NOVA888]

Aloha Kellylou!

I would check that out if I were you. I used to get similar symptoms, and went through years of experimentation and attempts at self-diagnosis. I found out that I have extremely low blood pressure, and that I need a great deal of added salt in my diet.

But it could be a number of things in your case, including issues related to sugar lows (or even highs), or maybe nothing other than a simple dietary issue warranting some minor adjustment.

[kpettitt]

I would definatly say go see your doctor. You don't want to be trying out different things and just do damage or avoid a problem that could turn into something more. Its most likely nothing, or that you get hungry, but better safe then sorry IMO! good luck and I hope you feel better!...

side note- I get shakey, hungry, panic-y feeling if my calories are low too.