1 week in- Headaches etc?

Hey everyone I’ve been 100% for 6 days now. Loving the convinience especially as I’ve got my final med school exams coming up so have little time between revision, work placements and the gym. I’m trying to cut down on a lot of fat I’ve put on since the summer. Currently I weigh 69kg and am 152cm(5ft) tall, 24yrs. For the first 3 days I tried 1200cals of Huel but I ended up getting so hungry I upped it to 1300. 6 days in I’m getting horrendous headaches and flu like symptoms - is this the sugar withdrawal? I’ve been drinking loads of water but wondering why I’m feeling so bad especially having read about people’s great experiences on here. I’m pretty sure I’m not under estimating the amount of cals I need but if anyone has any advice that would be great! Thanks :slight_smile:

What was your diet like before in terms of food/snacks/coffee?

Coffee only if particularly tired and if then no more than once a day. Alcohol hardly ever- only on special occasions like birthdays etc. never been a snacker. My diet for the last couple of months has been pretty rubbish though especially with Christmas, lots of crappy carbs and probably far too much cheese!

“You need 2,097 Calories/day to maintain your weight.” Why go as low as 1200 calories? http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

I’m trying to loose weight not maintain which according to this means 1300 is ok right?

How many times a week do you exercise?

I was doing Crossfit 4x a week but have recently started half marathon training so am now just running 3x a week.
I think my headaches were the start of a pretty nasty flu I came down with a couple of weeks ago but am still wondering why I am getting such bad hunger pangs- is it simply getting used to no longer overindulging/over eating?

Sounds obvious but it’s easy to forget that if you eat less calories per meal than your body is used to then you’ll feel hungry afterwards. Soon passes as your body gets used to being healthier :slight_smile:

I do worry a bit about you only having 1300 calories a day whilst training, I’m on 3100 calories per day with 4x gym sessions and running each week, couldn’t imagine having half that.

@Medstudentuk the calculator is a bit weird, there are two options “moderately active” an “light active” both which have 3 times a week as an option.

I think you should go with the “moderately active” this would increase the numbers which should make you feel better, often when people say they feel bad on Huel it’s due to a lack of calories.

Hi @Medstudentuk, you might also want to try adding a tool like myfitnesspal (free; available for android, iphone and web: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ ) to your arsenal. It is extremely easy to use and allows you to record both your meals (which is a breeze with Huel) and workouts. When you set a goal (e.g. lose 0.5kg per week) it automatically calculates your nutritional requirements (calories, protein etc.) and each time you record your workout it increases the amounts for that day (so that you get all the additional protein and calories your body needs and still loose 0.5kg per week).