Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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OK, so self-admittedly I haven't exercised besides speed walking and some light yoga in any serious way in more than 8 years. I'm 10 months post-partum and down 50 pounds with another 50 to go on a lacto-paleo diet. I tried to work out today and it was raining so I turned on my Xbox Kinect EA sports and just doing the heart rate test made me light headed with dark spots, I couldn't even finish it!!

Don't worry, I've already set an appointment with my family doctor who is a WAPF follower himself but is that normal for an out of shape person to have this problem? I'm extremely frustrated because I know I need to do something more than walking. The only other time I get dizzy is if I get out of bed really fast or stand up quickly with my infant from a chair. Is there a natural way to deal with this? I'm feeling very discouraged right now.

edited Oct 13 2011 at 20:34

Dragonfly
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asked Oct 13 2011 at 19:24

Aughra
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R/o hypoglycemia. Measure BG when that happens. – Namby Pamby Oct 13 2011 at 20:16

Do you take Magnesium? – Dragonfly Oct 13 2011 at 20:37

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haha, thanks Dragonfly. I typed this on an iphone. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 20:38

yes, I take Magnesium citrate but only before bedtime. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 22:06

JayJay · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-13 19:44:47Z UTC

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Sounds to be orthostatic hypotension. There could be several causes, but postpartum mothers are one group that its prevalent in. If walking does not cause this I would recommend just sticking to brisk walking until you get a full check up to rule out other causes, and proceed from there.

More exercise variety is of course going to be preferable, but walking is AWESOME in and of itself.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 19:44

JayJay
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	I used to have low blood pressure as a teenager and in college. My last blood pressure check was fairly normal but I will get it checked again. Thanks – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 19:50
	Another thing could be the sleep factor...10 month old, are you getting a good nights rest? – JayJay Oct 13 2011 at 19:53
	we cosleep and I usually nap with him so there isn't a lot of sleep drama at our house. I'm pretty sure I get adequate sleep. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 19:55
	I dealt with orthostatic hypotension for YEARS while on blood pressure meds. I think the main cause for me was being dehydrated due to the water pills. – sherpamelissa Oct 13 2011 at 19:55
	Just asking because when my wife works third shift she has these exact issues....switch to day shift and they disappear. – JayJay Oct 13 2011 at 19:57

Andy · Answer 2 · 2011-10-13 19:38:35Z UTC

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are you doing low carb? you may need more carbs if you want this to go away.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 19:38

Andy
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	no I'm not doing low carb. I eat about 25% of my calories from carbs mostly green leafy veggies, squash, and tubers. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 19:44
	I stopped eating low carb about a month ago to shake up a plateau. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 19:45
	You mightwant to add some safe starch carbs. Paul Jaminet said he eliminated this problem when he added starches back to his diet. – AdrianaG Oct 16 2011 at 21:28

NickTheRealEater · Answer 3 · 2011-10-13 19:48:07Z UTC

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Maybe you are not drinking enough water and your glycogen stores are too low before exercise.I feel crap when i'm low on glucose and my performance is suffering too.Eat some tubers,or make an occasional fruit smoothie to fuel yourself!

answered Oct 13 2011 at 19:48

NickTheRealEater
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I make a point to drink plenty of water and I don't eat low carb. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 19:54

Evelyn aka CarbSane · Answer 4 · 2011-10-13 20:01:14Z UTC

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This may sound nutty but are you taking a lot of Vitamin D? When I decided to self-mega dose I got sort of dizzy spells, and such. Cut back to normal levels and it went away.

Otherwise if it's low BP related, have you tried adding some salt to your diet? That might be a simple fix. Just getting more fluids w/o something to help retain them can make the problem worse.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 20:01

Evelyn aka CarbSane
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	I take about 1000iu a day from my cod liver oil. Do you think that's too much? I live in New England so I don't really get any significant sunshine. I am breastfeeding so I'm nervous about not taking it. – Aughra Oct 13 2011 at 20:15
	1000 IUs is not too much. It may not be enough to keep you at 65 ng/ml going into winter. – Dragonfly Oct 14 2011 at 3:53
	I agree with Dragonfly, 1000 IU should not be the problem. – Evelyn aka CarbSane Oct 14 2011 at 10:36

Rogue Nutritionist · Answer 5 · 2011-10-13 21:43:23Z UTC

My first thought is adrenal fatigue, which would be fairly normal with a baby...your WAPF friendly doc would likely know some easy ways to test your adrenals. Low blood pressure could be a factor, like someone else mentioned. Every once in a while, this kind of thing happens to me, and it's invariably when I have not eaten yet that day. So I wonder if you eat prior in the day to your exercise? You don't mention if you are nursing or not, but if you are, just be sure to keep your food intake plentiful as well. Oh, and I agree with Dragonfly's advice to take more D...I recommend taking 1000 iu per 25 lbs. of body weight, and up to twice that much when you are fighting off any sort of illness or infection.

Light headed while exercising??

5 Answers