Hypoglycaemia, normal for someone to develop when starting working outs?

[Locut0s]

So I lost about 100lbs in the past and on a separate occasion 60lbs but I put most of the weight back on in between. I'm on another weight loss kick again and I'm hoping this time to keep it off. Mainly I've used portion control and exercise though I'm going to slowly modify my diet. My diet has never been all that good but it's not a nightmare. I'm 1/2 Chinese so I eat a lot of traditional Chinese foods along with western foods. That means too much rice and sodium I know. Too much starch in general I'm sure. Sweets aren't really a problem for me, never had a big sweet tooth. I drink about 4 or 5 diet sodas a day which I know isn't healthy but I'm probably never going to quit those. Also eat out far too often as a family (2 times a week or so). Mainly I've just eaten too much and snacked too much. I've cut out all the snacking and I've got my 3 meals down to reasonable portions. I have not yet changed the contents of the meals however. On top of this I am doing a 40min workout on the treadmill at a 10% incline every day at 2.8 miles/hr. While this is not fast it's still enough to DRENCH me in sweat and exhaust me fairly good. Feel great afterwards too. I have other health issues too like SEVERE problems with depression and anxiety.

eits here gave me a daily food chart to work towards, thanks eits, so I'm not looking for that. I know what healthy eating looks like and I'll begin to SLOWLY transition towards something that looks like it.

However I have noticed recently something that I noticed in the past when starting my workouts. I seem to be either Hypoglycaemic or my heart rate and blood pressure seem to go all over the place after my workouts. Today after my workout me and the family went out for a diner and I noticed feeling odd in the car, like my heart rate was too slow or fast, upon getting out of the car I felt REALLY light headed and had to hold onto something for a min. It went away in a few mins and I was min during dinner.

I went to a clinic tonight and the doctor there said I had a fast heart beat, 100, but by blood pressure was normal 110/80. He wants me to get a full blood test panel which I'm going to do. Other than that there wasn't anything he could tell me though. We DO have a family history of heart problems so this is something I want to run to ground but I'm not really convinced I have something yet as I've experienced this before when I was doing my workouts.

So the question really is, are these normal symptoms for someone who is starting a workout. Someone overweight and not in shape that is. Is it normal to get Hypoglycaemic in these cases!?

 

[RbSX]

You drink diet soda but aren't willing to give them up? Do you know what aspartame does to your insides?

Seriously, you need to evaluate your priorities. Getting back into shape isn't as simple as cutting a few things out and exercising more. It's a commitment to a lifestyle.

Everyone here who's serious about working out knows

1. Eat healthy 1st
2. Excercise

Without the former, you can't do the latter.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

You drink diet soda but aren't willing to give them up? Do you know what aspartame does to your insides?

Yeah, nothing at all. There is some physiological plausibility in very high doses of aspartame causing neurological disorders, but the dose required is so astronomically high you'd nearly have to be swimming in it. To the OP, I would much rather drink diet soda than normal. Of course, I would rather drink neither, but that is just my taste preference.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yeah, nothing at all. There is some physiological plausibility in very high doses of aspartame causing neurological disorders, but the dose required is so astronomically high you'd nearly have to be swimming in it. To the OP, I would much rather drink diet soda than normal. Of course, I would rather drink neither, but that is just my taste preference.

Well here's my take on it.

I view drinking soda like I do beer or wine. It's not water, and it's not something to be drinking all the time.

When I drink soda, I drink it to enjoy it. I don't drink soda to replace water, and I certainly don't drink soda because 'im thirsty'. I can't stand the way most diet soda tastes, and because of this, if I have to drink a diet soda, I just won't drink it, because it's cancelling out my reason for drinking it in the first place.

I LOVE an ice cold CAN of coca cola. I know it's bad, and I rarely have them. I might have one towards the end of the day on Friday at work, but that's about it.

 

[TechBoyJK]

So I lost about 100lbs in the past and on a separate occasion 60lbs but I put most of the weight back on in between. I'm on another weight loss kick again and I'm hoping this time to keep it off. Mainly I've used portion control and exercise though I'm going to slowly modify my diet. My diet has never been all that good but it's not a nightmare. I'm 1/2 Chinese so I eat a lot of traditional Chinese foods along with western foods. That means too much rice and sodium I know. Too much starch in general I'm sure. Sweets aren't really a problem for me, never had a big sweet tooth. I drink about 4 or 5 diet sodas a day which I know isn't healthy but I'm probably never going to quit those. Also eat out far too often as a family (2 times a week or so). Mainly I've just eaten too much and snacked too much. I've cut out all the snacking and I've got my 3 meals down to reasonable portions. I have not yet changed the contents of the meals however. On top of this I am doing a 40min workout on the treadmill at a 10% incline every day at 2.8 miles/hr. While this is not fast it's still enough to DRENCH me in sweat and exhaust me fairly good. Feel great afterwards too. I have other health issues too like SEVERE problems with depression and anxiety.

eits here gave me a daily food chart to work towards, thanks eits, so I'm not looking for that. I know what healthy eating looks like and I'll begin to SLOWLY transition towards something that looks like it.

However I have noticed recently something that I noticed in the past when starting my workouts. I seem to be either Hypoglycaemic or my heart rate and blood pressure seem to go all over the place after my workouts. Today after my workout me and the family went out for a diner and I noticed feeling odd in the car, like my heart rate was too slow or fast, upon getting out of the car I felt REALLY light headed and had to hold onto something for a min. It went away in a few mins and I was min during dinner.

I went to a clinic tonight and the doctor there said I had a fast heart beat, 100, but by blood pressure was normal 110/80. He wants me to get a full blood test panel which I'm going to do. Other than that there wasn't anything he could tell me though. We DO have a family history of heart problems so this is something I want to run to ground but I'm not really convinced I have something yet as I've experienced this before when I was doing my workouts.

So the question really is, are these normal symptoms for someone who is starting a workout. Someone overweight and not in shape that is. Is it normal to get Hypoglycaemic in these cases!?

have you actually had a blood sugar test done? I had a problem with hypoglycemia and I had to stay away from sugary stuff for two weeks, and then go to a lab and drink a super sugar drink so they could compare the before's and afters.

 

[PrayForDeath]

OP what is your height and weight? And can you list an example of what you eat in a typical week day?

 

[Locut0s]

You drink diet soda but aren't willing to give them up? Do you know what aspartame does to your insides?

Seriously, you need to evaluate your priorities. Getting back into shape isn't as simple as cutting a few things out and exercising more. It's a commitment to a lifestyle.

Everyone here who's serious about working out knows

1. Eat healthy 1st
2. Excercise

Without the former, you can't do the latter.

Yeah, nothing at all. There is some physiological plausibility in very high doses of aspartame causing neurological disorders, but the dose required is so astronomically high you'd nearly have to be swimming in it. To the OP, I would much rather drink diet soda than normal. Of course, I would rather drink neither, but that is just my taste preference.

What Pedantic said for the most part. My diet is nowhere near that bad. A few too much of this and a few too much of that. I should eat out less but all and all compared to many it's somewhere between okay and so-so. The only thing that was really out of whack before is portion control.

Funny you are tired of listening to me and I'm getting tired of listening to you. You want an all or nothing approach to my problems. I know very well the path I need to take to solve my problems and I know it can be solved in 100 small steps or 5 or 6 large steps. I'm not going to take 5 or 6 large steps just to make you happy. I know the pace at which I need to go at for my own mental well being. I'm sure you will say I'll never get there at that pace or you need to take an all or nothing approach to life. I know this not to be true.

I know you think you mean well in all your posts and you DO offer good advise, don't get me wrong on that. But not everyone is the boring, buz cut, hormone laced, pabulum eater you seem to think they should be. The arrogance and lack of actual factual insight in your tone is more than a little apparent. You may know a thing or two about socializing that I, more than a thing or two. But I've seen enough of life and the world, yes I don't just stay in my little hidy-hole my whole life, to know that one size doesn't fit all and the scope of the norm is much broader than you think or maybe have attempted to think. Don't be mistaken I'm not saying you are stupid here. I've met you for a total of less than 1 hour over several years and unlike you I do not find that an adequate amount of time to divine a persons intelligence or personality. But I have read enough of your posts here to get at least an idea.

 

[Locut0s]

Well here's my take on it.

I view drinking soda like I do beer or wine. It's not water, and it's not something to be drinking all the time.

When I drink soda, I drink it to enjoy it. I don't drink soda to replace water, and I certainly don't drink soda because 'im thirsty'. I can't stand the way most diet soda tastes, and because of this, if I have to drink a diet soda, I just won't drink it, because it's cancelling out my reason for drinking it in the first place.

I LOVE an ice cold CAN of coca cola. I know it's bad, and I rarely have them. I might have one towards the end of the day on Friday at work, but that's about it.

Last time I drank a full sugar soda on purpose was years and years ago. All I drink is diet.

 

[Locut0s]

OP what is your height and weight? And can you list an example of what you eat in a typical week day?

6'1 about 250lbs currently.

Breakfast - bowl of cereal

Lunch - varies all over the map but could be any of the below

• 6in subway sub with drink
• 2 slices of piza with drink
• Home made sandwich (could be anything) with drink
• Plate of rice and leftovers from dinner (see dinner)
• Fast food meal
• Other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head

Dinner - Also varies a lot but is a LITTLE more consistent

• Plate of rice with homemade stir-fry (stir-fry usually has vegetables and egg and or tofu)
• Plate of noodles with stirfry
• Plate of Chinese dumplings and noodles
• Rice and various side dishes ordered from restaurants or leftovers
• Dinner out at restaurant (we eat out about twice a week for dinner)
• Other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head

My parents are vegetarian so for dinner I don't often have that much with meat in it. I eat meat but usually get my meat from meals eaten out of the house.

I USED to eat a LOT of the above. Like 2 plates of the dinner above, twice the amount of lunch above and 2 bowls of cereal. ADD on top of that I would snack a LOT.

Since cutting back and starting my exercise I've cut back to just one item from each for breakfast lunch and dinner, no larger portions, no 2nd helpings. And NO snacking whatsoever. I still drink the same amount of diet soda.

I DO plan on making this diet healthier as I know it's not all that good. However I also know that I've cut back enough to loose weight. A similar diet and exercise regiment allowed me to loose the weight in the past and quite quickly.

 

[Locut0s]

have you actually had a blood sugar test done? I had a problem with hypoglycemia and I had to stay away from sugary stuff for two weeks, and then go to a lab and drink a super sugar drink so they could compare the before's and afters.

Nope last time I had my blood sugar tested was over a year ago or more. It wasn't bad. My cholesterol was really bad one time I had it tested but I was able to bring it WAY down by cutting back like I talked about above and exercising.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I would go to see a GP or something, get it evaluated in person.

have you actually had a blood sugar test done? I had a problem with hypoglycemia and I had to stay away from sugary stuff for two weeks, and then go to a lab and drink a super sugar drink so they could compare the before's and afters.

If OP is normal, he could be feeling tachycardic and shaky even if his blood sugar is completely normal, because the body uses epinephrine to prevent hypoglycaemia.

 

[Locut0s]

I would go to see a GP or something, get it evaluated in person.


If OP is normal, he could be feeling tachycardic and shaky even if his blood sugar is completely normal, because the body uses epinephrine to prevent hypoglycaemia.

I went to the clinic as I mentioned and I have a full blood panel test lined up that I'm going to be doing on Monday.

 

[RbSX]

What Pedantic said for the most part. My diet is nowhere near that bad. A few too much of this and a few too much of that. I should eat out less but all and all compared to many it's somewhere between okay and so-so. The only thing that was really out of whack before is portion control.

Funny you are tired of listening to me and I'm getting tired of listening to you. You want an all or nothing approach to my problems. I know very well the path I need to take to solve my problems and I know it can be solved in 100 small steps or 5 or 6 large steps. I'm not going to take 5 or 6 large steps just to make you happy. I know the pace at which I need to go at for my own mental well being. I'm sure you will say I'll never get there at that pace or you need to take an all or nothing approach to life. I know this not to be true.

I know you think you mean well in all your posts and you DO offer good advise, don't get me wrong on that. But not everyone is the boring, buz cut, hormone laced, pabulum eater you seem to think they should be. The arrogance and lack of actual factual insight in your tone is more than a little apparent. You may know a thing or two about socializing that I, more than a thing or two. But I've seen enough of life and the world, yes I don't just stay in my little hidy-hole my whole life, to know that one size doesn't fit all and the scope of the norm is much broader than you think or maybe have attempted to think. Don't be mistaken I'm not saying you are stupid here. I've met you for a total of less than 1 hour over several years and unlike you I do not find that an adequate amount of time to divine a persons intelligence or personality. But I have read enough of your posts here to get at least an idea.

Because most shit requires you to actually be committed to it, and moreso than anything else, losing weight and getting in shape does. I've been sick the last week and I haven't been eating much, so I've lost roughly 15 pounds of lifting ability.

Like I said, read sociallychallenged's post, it isn't rocket science here.

By the way, keep up your pace, in 60 years you'll still be in your parents basement.

 

[RbSX]

6'1 about 250lbs currently.

Breakfast - bowl of cereal

Lunch - varies all over the map but could be any of the below

• 6in subway sub with drink
• 2 slices of piza with drink
• Home made sandwich (could be anything) with drink
• Plate of rice and leftovers from dinner (see dinner)
• Fast food meal
• Other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head

Dinner - Also varies a lot but is a LITTLE more consistent

• Plate of rice with homemade stir-fry (stir-fry usually has vegetables and egg and or tofu)
• Plate of noodles with stirfry
• Plate of Chinese dumplings and noodles
• Rice and various side dishes ordered from restaurants or leftovers
• Dinner out at restaurant (we eat out about twice a week for dinner)
• Other stuff that I can't think of off the top of my head

My parents are vegetarian so for dinner I don't often have that much with meat in it. I eat meat but usually get my meat from meals eaten out of the house.

I USED to eat a LOT of the above. Like 2 plates of the dinner above, twice the amount of lunch above and 2 bowls of cereal. ADD on top of that I would snack a LOT.

Since cutting back and starting my exercise I've cut back to just one item from each for breakfast lunch and dinner, no larger portions, no 2nd helpings. And NO snacking whatsoever. I still drink the same amount of diet soda.

I DO plan on making this diet healthier as I know it's not all that good. However I also know that I've cut back enough to loose weight. A similar diet and exercise regiment allowed me to loose the weight in the past and quite quickly.

Everything you just listed is shit and heavy on the carbs, no wonder you're pudgy.

If you're hardcore you go 20/40/40 (carbs/fats/proteins as a percentage of your diet)

A decent balance is 30/35/35. It's hard as hell to cut carbs though unless you just shove chicken down your mouth all day long. Watch the saturated fats in red meat and dairy.

Right now you're looking like 45/35/20 the exact opposite of what you need to lose weight in a healthy and effective manner.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Funny you are tired of listening to me and I'm getting tired of listening to you. You want an all or nothing approach to my problems. I know very well the path I need to take to solve my problems and I know it can be solved in 100 small steps or 5 or 6 large steps. I'm not going to take 5 or 6 large steps just to make you happy. I know the pace at which I need to go at for my own mental well being. I'm sure you will say I'll never get there at that pace or you need to take an all or nothing approach to life. I know this not to be true.

I know you think you mean well in all your posts and you DO offer good advise, don't get me wrong on that. But not everyone is the boring, buz cut, hormone laced, pabulum eater you seem to think they should be. The arrogance and lack of actual factual insight in your tone is more than a little apparent. You may know a thing or two about socializing that I, more than a thing or two. But I've seen enough of life and the world, yes I don't just stay in my little hidy-hole my whole life, to know that one size doesn't fit all and the scope of the norm is much broader than you think or maybe have attempted to think. Don't be mistaken I'm not saying you are stupid here. I've met you for a total of less than 1 hour over several years and unlike you I do not find that an adequate amount of time to divine a persons intelligence or personality. But I have read enough of your posts here to get at least an idea.

Not sure where this came from? (unless you two had something going on in another thread, lol)

Your diet is actually far from optimal. You may be eating small portions and whatnot, but the quality of the food is still bad. After looking at that list, the first thing that comes to my mind is "way too many carbs"

Your breakfast is all carbs. Lunch also has plenty of carbs from those pizzas, sandwiches, and rice. Dinner is a bit better, but still has lots of noodles/rice.

Try to balance your carbs/protein/fat intake. If you just eat small portions of bad food, you'll end up feeling hungry while hurting your body. lose/lose

Try looking into the slow-carb diet. It lets you eat as much as you want from certain food categories, while cutting others out entirely (bad stuff like white bread, rice, etc.) It also gives you a cheat day to eat w/e you want once a week.

 

[Locut0s]

Because most shit requires you to actually be committed to it, and moreso than anything else, losing weight and getting in shape does. I've been sick the last week and I haven't been eating much, so I've lost roughly 15 pounds of lifting ability.

Like I said, read sociallychallenged's post, it isn't rocket science here.

By the way, keep up your pace, in 60 years you'll still be in your parents basement.

I AM committed to it and I managed to loose more weight than I plan on doing so this time in the past. And no it was not all muscle loss lol. I won't say I was amazingly healthy at 180 but a lot more so than I was at 250 and I felt 100x better. And no it will not take me 60 years to get out of my parents house. But it may take you 60 or more years to broaden your mental horizons. If you every choose to do so.

 

[Locut0s]

Not sure where this came from? (unless you two had something going on in another thread, lol)

Your diet is actually far from optimal. You may be eating small portions and whatnot, but the quality of the food is still bad. After looking at that list, the first thing that comes to my mind is "way too many carbs"

Your breakfast is all carbs. Lunch also has plenty of carbs from those pizzas, sandwiches, and rice. Dinner is a bit better, but still has lots of noodles/rice.

Try to balance your carbs/protein/fat intake. If you just eat small portions of bad food, you'll end up feeling hungry while hurting your body. lose/lose

Try looking into the slow-carb diet. It lets you eat as much as you want from certain food categories, while cutting others out entirely (bad stuff like white bread, rice, etc.) It also gives you a cheat day to eat w/e you want once a week.

Long story. Yes I know my diet now isn't all that good. Heavy on carbs and starch.

 

[Locut0s]

Everything you just listed is shit and heavy on the carbs, no wonder you're pudgy.

If you're hardcore you go 20/40/40 (carbs/fats/proteins as a percentage of your diet)

A decent balance is 30/35/35. It's hard as hell to cut carbs though unless you just shove chicken down your mouth all day long. Watch the saturated fats in red meat and dairy.

Right now you're looking like 45/35/20 the exact opposite of what you need to lose weight in a healthy and effective manner.

You seem to have missed the part where I said "I know it's not all that good". Indeed I do know this. But the larger reason I'm as fat as I am is that I've been eating TWICE the amount I listed above. I lost weight rather quickly in the past eating not too too differently than the above but with the same portion control I'm using now. Which is NOT to say I'll be healthy. Just to say I will not be as fat. Yes I know skinny fat I might be but I large portion of the reason I'm losing the weight is for my mental well being.

 

[RbSX]

You seem to have missed the part where I said "I know it's not all that good". Indeed I do know this. But the larger reason I'm as fat as I am is that I've been eating TWICE the amount I listed above. I lost weight rather quickly in the past eating not too too differently than the above but with the same portion control I'm using now. Which is NOT to say I'll be healthy. Just to say I will not be as fat. Yes I know skinny fat I might be but I large portion of the reason I'm losing the weight is for my mental well being.

Okay well I'm going to stop being a jerk for a moment and give some practical advice.

Stagger your meals, eat smaller, but more frequently. Try every 2-3 hours, if you're in a pinch, get some protein bars. Costco sells 12 packs for 12 bucks with 30g of protein and a total of 270 calories. Every OTHER meal for sure should be solid food if you take protein shakes. It will make you less hungry. If you are dieting to cut, avoid protein shakes because of satiation issues, your body doesn't absorb liquids as well as it does solid food.

Crash dieting isn't the way to do it, because as you noted, skinny fat isn't a great solution either. If you're going to do all of this, try and do it in a way that will leave you feel as good as you can at the end of the process.

 

[PrayForDeath]

I would also add some good fats to your meals/snacks (olive oil, nuts, etc...) to help keep you full/not hungry. Make sure you don't go overboard on nuts though. They are very heavy on calories.

 

[Locut0s]

Okay well I'm going to stop being a jerk for a moment and give some practical advice.

Stagger your meals, eat smaller, but more frequently. Try every 2-3 hours, if you're in a pinch, get some protein bars. Costco sells 12 packs for 12 bucks with 30g of protein and a total of 270 calories. Every OTHER meal for sure should be solid food if you take protein shakes. It will make you less hungry. If you are dieting to cut, avoid protein shakes because of satiation issues, your body doesn't absorb liquids as well as it does solid food.

Crash dieting isn't the way to do it, because as you noted, skinny fat isn't a great solution either. If you're going to do all of this, try and do it in a way that will leave you feel as good as you can at the end of the process.

Okay. Now thanks for some actual useful advise. Yes I've heard much of the eat 5 small meals a day advise. Only problem I see with protein bars is that they are a little too easy to eat, the shakes or something like them might be a better route. Or. I've been thinking of eating a lot of fruit. Like replacing a significant portion of the volume of food I eat with something like Apples. I could eat one or two between meals. Very filling. They are relatively high in sugar though.

 

[Locut0s]

I would also add some good fats to your meals/snacks (olive oil, nuts, etc...) to help keep you full/not hungry. Make sure you don't go overboard on nuts though. They are very heavy on calories.

Yeah nuts are good but OMFG are they easy to go overboard on. Love nuts. I'm thinking of adding a medium sized salad to my dinners, replacing some of the food with salad that is. I like veggies but I've got to find the right mix of raw veggies that I wouldn't mind eating every day. I could use a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.

 

[RbSX]

Okay. Now thanks for some actual useful advise. Yes I've heard much of the eat 5 small meals a day advise. Only problem I see with protein bars is that they are a little too easy to eat, the shakes or something like them might be a better route. Or. I've been thinking of eating a lot of fruit. Like replacing a significant portion of the volume of food I eat with something like Apples. I could eat one or two between meals. Very filling. They are relatively high in sugar though.

Fruit is ALL carbs, granted their good sugars, but sugars tend to inhibit muscle growth.

Right now you're trying to shed carbs.

Also watch what nuts you choose to eat, ALMONDS are the best probably for your needs.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Okay. Now thanks for some actual useful advise. Yes I've heard much of the eat 5 small meals a day advise. Only problem I see with protein bars is that they are a little too easy to eat, the shakes or something like them might be a better route. Or. I've been thinking of eating a lot of fruit. Like replacing a significant portion of the volume of food I eat with something like Apples. I could eat one or two between meals. Very filling. They are relatively high in sugar though.

Don't eat a lot of fruits. I see too many people making the mistake of replacing meals with a bowl of fruits, thinking it's a great way to lose weight.

That's too much sugar, especially stuff like apples and grapes. I would stick to orange/bananas. If you must eat apples, don't have more than 1/day.

 

[JellyBaby]

I'd recommend creating a free account at FitDay.com (or whatever) and start tracking your food and activities. Do that for 2-3 weeks so you can check out your nutrition in detail. You can then easily see your macros breakdown (carbs, fats, protein), total calories and more.

Tracking allows you to spot issues like, "holy crap I'm eating 350g of carbs on average each day!". It shows you where you're doing good, too.

Exercise is important but for getting to a healthy weight but nutrition is absolutely vital.