How can I write code with a diet brain?

March 11, 2011 5:47 PM

How can I get through an adjustment period of dopeyness at the beginning of a permanent diet change?

There's already a question with good general answers on this topic, but if I take it as given that increasing protein and reducing carbs will help with satiety and that I'm going to have to burn more than I eat, how do I function with 1/2 a brain?

I can work on my anger issues (cranky is not a strong enough word), but I feel helpless to deal with the fact that if I eat lunch at 3 instead of noon, I become so dopey that I can't even figure out how to get away from my desk & go get something to eat. Eat? Food? How will I get there? Hunh? Wha? I'm afraid I'm going to be like this all the time if I'm in calorie debt.

I'm 6'3", 245lbs & 43 years old & male.

posted by morganw to health & fitness (15 answers total)

Carrot juice worked for me. If you can't acquire the taste for it -- mix it half-and-half with orange juice. Gives me the equivalent buzz of a mild cup of coffee without the 'so-called' downside of coffee.
posted by Muirwylde at 5:52 PM on March 11, 2011

Relax, you will get used to it
posted by tiburon at 6:05 PM on March 11, 2011

I'm not sure what the specifics of your diet plan are, but can you spread your food out a little more through the day? If you're not eating between breakfast and 3pm, that's a lot of time to go without food, especially given that 2-3pm is already a natural enegery lull for most people. A snack at the traditional lunch hour might help keep your energy levels more stable and avoid that kind of brain melting hunger.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:25 PM on March 11, 2011

Well, everyone's different, so my experience may not resemble yours at all.

But I've been doing a low-carb thing since the beginning of the year and I have not noticed brain fog; I keep my carbs at or below 50 grams/day. I'm also definitely consuming fewer calories than I was before I started this, but I'm never OMG STARVING NOW. I get hungry, but it's not that frantic feeling where I don't know if I'm going to faint or bite someone.

I keep almonds in my desk. The fridge at work has cheese sticks in it. I usually eat breakfast (two eggs and some cheese scrambled in the microwave, with a dollop of cottage cheese on top) around 8:30, lunch around 1, and dinner anywhere from 6-8 pm. In between, I might have some almonds or a cheese stick or a spoonful of peanut butter.
posted by rtha at 6:29 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

You'll be fine after the first week. Two at most. Just don't cheat, you'll make the adjustment period that much longer.
posted by schroedinger at 7:09 PM on March 11, 2011

Make one change at a time. It sounds as though you're trying to both drastically alter the content of your diet and lower the total amount of food you consume at the same time. I realize that you're likely anxious to jump-start your diet, but you'll have a much easier time of it if you do one thing at a time. I'd change the content first, and then after about a month of that, then look at the amount. In other words, figure out what sorts of foods you want to be eating and allow yourself to eat as much of those foods as you want as often as you want to. Then, after a month or so, after you've adjusted to that change, you can decide whether you want or need to make any changes to the amount.
posted by decathecting at 7:12 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sorry if I'm missing something, but why can't you eat lunch (or something) at noon?
posted by Majorita at 7:19 PM on March 11, 2011

The experience rtha described is almost exactly I've been doing, only I've been doing it for over 8 years now.

When I started watching carbs, I went from low-blood-sugar starving every couple hours or so to being able to go hours without thinking about food. It took about a week for this to kick in - the first few days you'll have that constant "when can I eat next?" feeling but if you really are watching carbs and only eating small amounts of the healthy ones, this should do the trick.

One other thing to keep in mind - you not only want to increase protein, but you want to increase *fat* even though it goes against conventional wisdom. (Conventional wisdom once said the earth was flat, you know.) This was the hardest thing for me to adapt to in changing to low-carb eating, but it's what keeps you from getting hungry. I keep a stash of macadamia nuts in my desk drawer - they have zero carbs and are almost pure fat.

Oh and - it probably goes without saying, but if you are watching your carbs, the carrot juice suggestion doesn't fit into this eating plan at all.
posted by chez shoes at 8:14 PM on March 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

What everyone else said.

1. Wait it out. I felt crappy when I first started eating low carb, and I still feel crappy if I eat too many carbs (or drink a couple of beers, hence carbs) and have to get back to my happy low carb state. It just lasts a few days, but it does kind of suck. Give yourself permission to be cranky for a couple of days.

2. Eat more. More leafy green vegetables, more protein, and definitely more fat. No low-fat dairy products! You can cut down on the food once you've adjusted to the low carb part. If you still need to. I've found that I'm rarely hungry, and just tend to eat less. But don't go hungry.
posted by gingerbeer at 9:57 PM on March 11, 2011

If it's low carb you're doing, you need to eat more. Eat more fat, specifically. On Atkins, you're not supposed to be hungry.
posted by bink at 10:43 PM on March 11, 2011

Make sure you DO eat something before three? Set an alarm, maybe one of those programs that pops up on your computer and won't let you do whatever you were doing for five minutes or so (I have never used one, don't know exactly how they work...). Eat some .... whatever you're allowed instead of a cereal bar (nuts? beef jerky? cheese?), then go back to work. I assume you're Far Too Busy to actually take your proper break at a normal lunchtime, or worried that you'll lose momentum or something. You've now recognised that you aren't functioning properly due to lack of food, the next trick is to accept that the Can't Stop! Far Too Busy! feelings may be part of the disorientation and go and eat something before the anger starts bouncing back off everyone around you. Please. You will probably feel much better afterwards.
posted by Lebannen at 2:33 AM on March 12, 2011

When I first started low-carb, I was pretty miserable for about 4 days. Almost to the point of feeling like I had the flu, but it really encouraged me to stay on my eating plan because it was my body adjusting after years of the wrong type of eating (for me). On the 5th day, I felt awesome and have felt very good ever since.

If you are following low carb, I would suggest you have 3 meals a day, with snacks in between. The trick is to stick to proper portions and make sure you are getting enough fat. A typical day for me is my 3 main meals, plus 3 to 4 snacks and a serving of dark chocolate or a few bites of ice cream. Have real salad dressing with your salad (hold the carrots and croutons!), use real butter, have peanut butter with apples or celery, etc.

I indulged in a little extra bread this week, so this weekend I'm sticking to lots of beef, chicken, green veggies and a small amount of fruit which should get me back on track! I love the looks I get when ordering a 10oz steak with a side of broccoli covered with cheese is part of my healthy eating plan!
posted by lootie777 at 4:27 AM on March 12, 2011

I also just started a "diet" and I've never felt better and I eat as much as I want! I did it cold turkey - its only been 2 weeks now though.

Watch this - this was a true eye opener for me:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dean_ornish_on_the_world_s_killer_diet.html

Its amazing how the developed world has literally made real food not real anymore.

I eat a LOT of veggies with small small portions of meat and hardly any oil of any kind.

Oh, and watch this debate about diets in general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdBDQdOKbJQ

How can there be SO much of a difference of opinion? Its amazing.

I favor Dr. Dean Ornish's science based approach.

And I guess the proof is in the pudding - see former President Clinton's views:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdvAYdr3rkg

And congratulations on being more aware of what you eat.

Health is so important.

Economically, it may be the biggest issue in America in coming years too!
posted by simpleton at 4:45 AM on March 12, 2011

made real food not real anymore
haven't watched the video yet, but when the whole "gee trans fats suck for your health" thing came out, I was talking to my dad who pointed out that crackers we like don't go stale (or the oils rancid) for a whole year because they aren't actually food.
---
Thanks for all the answers and sorry about the confusion I caused with my 3pm lunch comment. I'm not eating well yet, but I was anxious that that extended fast feeling would be with me *all the time* on a diet.

It sounds like it'll pass after a couple of weeks and it might not be that bad.

I'll be trying Atkins, Insulin Resistance or Weight Watcher's low-carb calorie (points) counting depending on what support I can get (I think there's a a WW meeting at work). However, I just moved and I'm still waiting for the fridge in my apt. to be replaced, so I'm eating a lot of take out. (the fridge smells like a severed head was wrapped in a dirty diaper and stored in the freezer for a month. This is after I cleaned it four times).
posted by morganw at 5:38 PM on March 16, 2011

Ah- another thing I was going to mention is that if I don't plan ahead and go into brain fuzz, I'm tempted to eat simple carbohydrates which relieve it quickly, but I've been paying better attention to how food affects me and while protein & complex carbs might take longer, they do relieve the fuzz also. I'll try to remember that *before* it sets in.
posted by morganw at 6:05 PM on March 16, 2011