Signs that you might be under-eating

When you think of losing weight, the first thing that comes to mind is usually cutting calories. The thinking is that if we eat fewer calories, we’ll lose weight.  On the surface, that seems to make sense, especially if we burn more calories than we are ingesting.

Now, eating nutritious, balanced meals and exercising moderately are sure-fire ways to lose weight and get to a healthier, happier space, but some people take their health routine to an extreme and don’t eat enough nutritious food to sustain themselves.

Under-eating–which happens when the energy you intake is less than the energy you expend–can have serious negative effects on your health and create the very opposite of what you’re trying to achieve:   make you gain weight rather than lose it.  Under-eating is compounded when you over-exercise, because your body is being overworked and isn’t getting enough nutrients and energy to do its job efficiently.

So, given that under-eating is a serious concern, I’d like to share with you some symptoms you may inadvertently experience if you’re under-eating.

Disclaimer:  Many of these symptoms might indicate that other conditions or illnesses are at play.  However, if you know that you have cut calories and are exercising more than normal, it’s worth paying attention to what’s going on if these symptoms appear.

Your moods are wild and wooly

I always tell my clients that a good mantra to maintain is “good food, good mood.”  Unfortunately, under-eating turns that mantra on its head!  We know that hunger and hormones affect your mood, so it’s no surprise that if you’re not eating enough, you are more liable to be hangry (hungry and angry), irritable, anxious, or even depressed. In addition, your self-control starts to fade, as does your ability to rein in your emotions and rationally process your thoughts.

The answer:  eat sufficient food, especially healthy fats and complex carbs, along with lean protein and fiber, so that you are satiated and your moods can level out.  You can definitely eat the right amount of calories while you lose weight effectively.  Food and mood do, indeed, go hand in hand!

Your concentration is impaired

An inability to focus on tasks is another side effect of under-eating. Your brain needs sufficient glucose to work as it ought to, but when your caloric intake and blood sugar levels start tanking, you most likely will feel lightheaded and fatigued. That lack of nutrients will cause your brain to be less than at its peak, which will weaken your  concentration and diminish your productivity.  Lessened productivity and concentration can cause frustrating consequences in your work, school, and home life, so you want to keep from getting mentally weak and wobbly at all costs.  So, eat up (in a balanced, nutrient-dense way)!

Your skin and hair are messed up

If a restricted diet or under-eating cause you to cut back on good fats and healthy protein, your nails can become brittle, your hair can start to fall out, and your skin can start to age and break out in acne and/or rashes.  Hair loss is a major sign that you are low in key nutrients, and it’s made worse because sex hormones start dropping off when you under-eat. Hair loss can also show up as a sign of hypothyroidism if you’ve been limiting your caloric intake for a while.  These are more than cosmetic issues and can affect you for years. Your skin also suffers when you take in less fat because the fats we eat give our skin the necessary suppleness and healthy glow, and those fats directly impact the bio-availability of vitamins A, D, and E.

You’re vitamin deficient

Speaking of vitamins, not consuming sufficient quantities of essential vitamins and minerals can be quite detrimental to your body in the long run, and under-eating can create serious vitamin deficiencies. For instance, Vitamin A–often not as well appreciated as its more popular sister vitamins C, D, and E–is essential for your immune system to operate effectively and for tissue growth.  Vitamin B-12 deficiency can lead to permanent nerve damage, and Vitamin D deficiency can lead to brittle bones. Research shows that 15 percent of the population doesn’t get enough Vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant that directly impacts body fat and waist size.  And when it comes to the sunshine vitamin–Vitamin D–nearly three-quarters of us are deficient.  Not good at all, because Vitamin D is crucial to maintain healthy bones and teeth and keeping certain cancers at bay.

Your blood sugar is see-sawing

Conventional medical wisdom focuses on too many carbs in the diet as the reason for blood sugar vacillations, but under-eating is another culprit when it comes to blood sugar imbalances, especially hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  If you’re feeling anxious, shaky, dizzy, weak, or confused, it might be that your blood sugar has swung very low (normally below 70mg/dL) due to under-eating, especially if you’ve been working out extra hard in order to lose weight. The key is to bring your blood sugar levels back in balance by eating regularly and making sure to adhere to a combination of protein-fat-fiber in all your meals.

Your sleep pattern is off

The effects of under-eating go beyond blood sugar issues to sleep issues.  A restrictive diet can lead to a disjointed sleep cycle, so that you don’t get the deep, restorative sleep that your body needs for you to awaken refreshed and ready to go. Without sufficient glycogen in the liver to help stabilize your blood sugar, the body leans heavily on stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to build new glucose.  If those hormones spike too much, they can make you wake up midway through the night, or even keep you from falling asleep at all. In addition, that restlessness might make you want to go out early and work out, which may add to the other under-eating symptoms you’re experiencing.

Combat these pesky sleep-related symptoms by adding a pre-bedtime snack with carbs and fats (think cottage cheese with a bit of peanut or almond butter) to stabilize blood sugar overnight and keep sleep interruptions to a minimum.

You’re constipated

You run the risk of damaging your digestive system when you under-eat, just as much as if you over-eat.  If your intestinal lining loses its effectiveness and you don’t digest your food properly, you lessen the amount of nutrients your cells receive, and that can lead to constipation.  If you’re creating less waste (because you’re eating less food), then it becomes harder to create bulky stool and pass it out of the body. 

 

The truth is that it’s completely possible to lose or maintain weight by eating a healthy, plant-filled diet with sufficient lean protein and complex carbs, along with exercising moderately. There is no reason why anyone should have to suffer the symptoms I just described just because they believe that eating less is the only way to reach their weight-loss goals.

Have you ever been an under-eater?  What symptoms did you experience? How did you get back on track with your eating and health goals?