5 adverse effects of a very low calorie diet

 Having completed my own very low calorie diet I know first hand some of the adverse effects of doing this type of fad diet. So here in no particular order are the adverse effects I suffered.

1. Light headedness and occasional dizziness. This can last just for a few moments or for others can be a real problem. For me I had no problem until week 3 of my diet. I then had to be very careful about doing anything strenuous physically
2. Stomach pains. These occur in the very early stages of a diet because your body is detoxing itself from all the rubbish foods you have been eating for years. The stomach aches will stop usually after the first week. I know someone who did the same diet as me and his Irritable bowel syndrome stopped within days of starting his lighter life diet.
3. Headaches and migraines. Again this is your body re-adjusting to not having regular doses of chemicals and processed food. They usually only last a short time. You just have to work through it.
4. Cold fingers and toes.Because a low calorie diet is so low in calories you only consume enough to keep your core system fed. This means that your outer body parts do not get the circulation and warmth that they are used to. I wore gloves and an extra pair of socks to help but boy it can get cold.
5. Moodiness.OK, I hate to admit this but you will be impossible to live with at times because of your moodiness on this type of diet. You are denying yourself food and your subconscious mind will complain in the most unpredictable ways. I am the most patient and reasonable person but I am told that in the early days I was very difficult to live with - hard to believe eh! I am joking a bit but you have to know this may happen so that you can get through it

The thing to remember about these adverse symptoms is that they do pass once you have stuck to the diet for a week or so. You have to steel yourself and decide nothing will move you from your purpose to lose weight. There are other adverse health signs but these are the big ones. After all what would you expect from a mad very low calorie diet. It works but you have to work through the early hardships to gain the benefits o the fast weight loss.


There are far more long term benefits to losing all the weight fast but they can feel like a distant horizon when you are going through them.