Does Losing Weight Make You Tired?

Shedding extra weight that you have put on lowers your risk health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. But can it prove to be detrimental for your stamina? In any case, losing weight by diet restriction has never been considered ideal as it leaves you feeling tired when you want to be rejuvenated. You need to choose a diet plan after consultation with a nutritionist or your health care provider to start a diet that is suitable for your body.[Read: Healthy Indian Diet Plan]

So, does losing weight make you feel tired?

Adverse effects of having too little calories

People who starve themselves by dieting soon realise that all their effort was futile. The insufficient calories that they consume may make them lose weight rapidly but it results in fatigue. Lack of concentration, apathy, depression, anxiety and irritability can also occur. Low calorie intake affects your muscle structure and even your heart is a muscle.

So, it gets affected by deficiency of calories leading to problems in pumping blood to all your body parts and the eventual low blood pressure. Tiredness and feeling dizzy are two major symptoms of low BP. A diet low in calories also depletes the essential vitamins of the body through water loss.

Know your ideal weight

You should learn about your ideal weight and look to maintain it. Do not go by the height and weight measurements of insurance companies. Everyone of a specific height would not necessarily have a particular weight. It is natural that this varies. Each individual is built differently and in some the body shape is such that they are more adept in carrying more weight without it being unhealthy. [Read: Learn about your Ideal Weight]

Moreover, bear in mind that fit women actually weigh more because of the weight of their muscles. Muscles weigh more than fat. So, even though a woman shows normal weight on the scale but if she has high levels of body fat, she cannot be called healthy. That is why you should give due importance to the BMI (body mass index) rather than any arbitrary weight measure when looking to lose weight. [Read: How to Measure BMI]

Imbalance of carbohydrates, proteins and fat

If the diet plan you embark upon is not based on inclusion of adequate amount of macronutrients, i.e. proteins, fats and carbohydrates, it can lead to fatigue. If your diet is too high on protein but does not provide enough carbohydrates, losing weight would make you feel tired. This is because it leads to excess fluid loss from the body. Your muscles would lose glycogen, the major source of energy supply for them. This would naturally lead to fatigue. So, while focusing on protein, it is recommended that you make sure that you get enough of carbs. Protein helps to convert food into energy while fat is needed as a reserve of energy. Fat content of your food should be restricted to 30 per cent of calories consumed.

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