Eating healthy, exercising regularly, and getting good quality sleep are three healthy behaviors that play a major role in how you feel on a daily basis. If you’re ever feeling anxious, depressed, or a little blue, then these three key factors can naturally improve your mood and make you feel more positive, energetic, and overall happier.
When you’re trying to lose weight, there are times that you may feel irritable, grumpy, and agitated. Sometimes these feelings are directly related to your frustrations over not meeting your weight-loss goals, but most of the time, these feelings can be triggered by a poor diet and unhealthy eating habits.
Get your mood swings under control by learning more about these five reasons your diet is triggering your mental instability.
1. You’re not eating enough
If you’re starving yourself to lose weight, or not eating large enough portion sizes, then you may be feeling “hangry,” which is defined as being hungry and angry at the same time. In fact, hunger pangs can trigger low blood sugar — leading to low energy levels and headaches. If you’re feeling especially hungry or starved, try to add more high-fiber foods to your diet to create a lasting feeling of fullness.
2. You’re obsessed with thinking about foods you can’t eat
Some dieters restrict themselves so much that they end up binge-eating at some point down the road, and destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to maintain in terms of diet, fitness, and weight loss. Instead of omitting certain foods out of your diet forever, limit yourself to a small portion once or twice a week just to stave off your cravings.
3. You’re feeling left out in social situations
It’s hard to stick to your diet when your friends are constantly going out for after-work drinks, or you’re regularly attending birthday parties and events that offer desserts. Instead of feeling pressured to join in on fun that could impact your weight-loss efforts, tell your friends about your weight-loss plan so they can be more supportive, or eat dinner before you attend parties so you’re not feeling too tempted to snack.
4. Workouts are leaving you feeling exhausted
If your fitness routine is making you feel exhausted enough to be cranky, you may need to change your routine. Either change the time of day you’re exercising, or start a new routine that will leave you feeling refreshed instead of tired. Do shorter spurts of workouts, or limit workouts to four days per week instead of five or six so you can get the extra rest you need.
5. You’re getting tired of tracking calories
Keeping a food journal can be time-consuming, and you might just be fed up with having to keep track of all the foods you eat and all the calories — all the time. There are a few ways to overcome this factor. First, you can start eating the same types of foods everyday, such as salad, which will save you time on having to calculate calories. Or, start incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet so you won’t have to track calories as much. Just remember that 300 calories of fruits and vegetables are usually far healthier than 300 calories of foods such as bread and pasta.
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