Feeling dizzy/lightheaded and tired?

[aeonminded]

I have been vegan for 3 and a half months now and the last 2 weeks i have felt dizzy and lightheaded at times. Especially when weight lifting, although i can do an hour of cardio no problem. I also feel very fatigued and tired during the day. Im thinking i am missing something in my diet. For breakfast every day i have 1/2 cup grape nuts, 1/2 cup oatmeal, tbsp flaxseed, tbsp wheat germ, tbsp chia seed, banana, blueberries, and some almond milk. For lunch everyday i have a big salad with spinach, kale, collard green, tomato, cucumber, mushrooms, and my own balsamic dressing, with a home made bean burger on the side. For dinner i usually either have a meatless stir fry or a soup of some kind or another salad with bean burger again. i also drink nothing but water and plenty of it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[Blueberries]

Heya, first of all I'd recommend splitting your meals up into 5 or 6 small meals rather than 3 big meals, it's much better for your blood sugar. It's also possible that you mightn't be getting enough calories as you seem to exercise rather intensely.

[Robinwomb]

Like Blueberries I would guess you are not getting enough calories either based on your activity. You could maybe add a bit more healthy fats, like whole nuts or seeds (I see you only have one serving of chia seeds listed) or avocado, olives, or coconut. You could also add more variety to your diet. Do you ever make smoothies with fruits and vegetables? Or try different grains such as millet, buckwheat groats, rices, quinoa, spelt etc. You can add nutritional yeast to soups, grains or salads and even make a sauce with it to get in some B12 and extra protein (2 T has 8 grams of protein). And there are so many different kinds of fruits and vegetables to experiment you will never get bored.

When I first went vegan I had tremendous energy (to this day I still overdo it with cardio sessions because of my energy level) but I started to lack the strength for weights, canoeing, and rowing. It took a while to adjust to my diet and I realized I needed to eat a lot more because I lost a good bit of weight very quickly and became quite underweight. I eat a LOT more than I did back then and I gained the weight back and I feel much more grounded and stronger. I still need to work on getting a little more protein because I go through periods of straining muscles too much, especially with weight lifting (I am not a huge weight lifter/body builder or anything like that more of an endurance person and I am quite small but I do lift 10 to 40 lb free barbells/dumbells on a regular basis). I also absolutely have to include several servings a day of nuts/seeds or other fats in my diet for stamina and sustenance. I used to be terrified of fats but they have truly helped me, as long as I don't go overboard (I can not have almond butter in the house lol). If you are not much of an eater or cook try getting a vegan cookbook or two and experimenting with off the wall recipes. I find it very relaxing to do this when I have a little free time from work, school, and exercise. Keep in mind these are just suggestions based on what you shared so if you already do these things I apologize.