5 days into keto - really need support!

#1

Sorry if this is jumbled, my brain is pretty foggy. I’m 5 days in and the keto flu is hitting me pretty hard. I drink a cup of broth a day to keep my sodium up, but I feel positively sick. I’m using Myfitnesspal to track macros and so far I’ve been doing really well at hitting my daily goals and it’s really satisfying to keep at it, but today has been a real struggle.

I made a chicken taco soup with a side salad, and I barely touched it. It tastes good but I just feel so tired of eating, and my body feels exhausted. I know I need the calories, especially because I have a kick boxing class tonight, but I just do not want to eat. I’ve had maybe 400 calories today and I feel like I just can’t eat any more, this meaty, fatty food is so repulsive to me.

It doesn’t help that I’m not much of a meat eater to begin with, so hitting my 65gram protein goal every day is a real challenge. I’m already burnt out on bacon and chicken. If anyone has any good protein supplement tips it would be greatly appreciated!

Overall I know this is temporary and I’ll feel better soon, and I even have keto baking supplies on the way so I can make bread substitutes. I’m just really struggling today.

#2

How about eggs? They are a real superfood.

There are many food options so hopefully you can find something you’ll like, keto is definitely not about starvation, boredom or hunger Or forced feeding

(Cindy) #3

Armony, there are vegetarians who do keto, so you don’t have to force yourself to eat things you don’t like. Why would anyone do that? You should enjoy what you’re eating!

I mentioned this on another thread, but try eating a pickle or drinking a bit of pickle juice (if you like it). Broth will up your salt, but not your potassium and magnesium. Pickles have all 3!

I know you’re tracking macros, but I’m one of the ones here who doesn’t track. I keep my carbs <20g per day. That’s it. I don’t force myself to eat anything or at any time. I also don’t go hungry. I eat what sounds good at that time, or what’s convenient, just whatever suits me at the time. I’ve recently made keto creamed spinach. LOVE it! So a meal might just be creamed spinach for me. Or I might have a steak and broccoli. All sorts of stuff…but the key is that I’m not “making” myself eat anything I don’t want…just instead enjoying those foods that were forbidden for so long. Butter on my broccoli, sour cream on my taco meat, mayo on whatever I want to put it on, etc.

So if “eating to macros” is causing problems, try winging it for a while. Just keep your carbs low and get your electrolytes in.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

I had keto flu awful. I started 400mg magnesium glycinate in the evening, and 3g of pink rock salt washed down with a big glass of water every afternoon till it was over. For me about 5 days. I eat avocados pretty regularly so I wasn’t worried about potassium. I still take the magnesium but just salt my food liberally. Many here swear by keto-aide and there are recipes here. I heard about that months after I started. I was winging it on my own for quite a while before I stumbled onto this forum.

Just curious about your reason for going keto? Meats and fatty foods repulse you, your into kickboxing and I assume maybe you’re fairly physically fit or maybe the kickboxing is a strategy for getting more fit. Do you have some metabolic issues or have you just heard some good things about keto and want to try to see if you can benefit training wise or something like that. As has been said we’re all different people with different food likes and dislikes, religious restrictions and medical issues that we’re trying to correct. But we all have this way of eating in common but not the same diets. Jewish and Muslim people need not eat bacon or pork, some have food allergies, ethnically diverse cuisines with different taste in foods. But you can make this work if you want to.

You can eat fish or chicken, drink bone broth, eat some cheese or nuts in small quantities. As far as fats avocados are a good fatty non greasy food. Hard boiled eggs are always in my fridge and nuts too, both ways to get some non greasy fats. You will find your groove soon if you stick with it. Best luck on your journey to better health. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Shanda) #5

From one struggling newbie to another, keep it up you’re doing fine. The sucky part will be over soon and then we can both get on with the progress. Personally I just keep telling myself that I dont want all this suffering to be for nothing. And if we give in that is what will happen. Make it count. If you can get through this part it’ll only get better and eventually we will be like these veterans who feel great and are loving this new healthy lifestyle.

(Carl Keller) #6

Hello and welcome Armony.

I find that cooking with coconut oil and even adding some to my morning coffee is great for my mental clarity, focus and attitude. You could try adding some of this to your diet to try and help with the fog. Just be careful if you do try it because it doesn’t settle well with some people (the runs)

In the beginning, as your body is trying to figure out where to get its fuel, it might be best to go easy on the physical activities. The fatigue could be a problem until things get adjusted. But within a few weeks, if all goes well, you should find that you actually have better energy and your kick boxing will become easier.

Like @Alex99 says, eggs are a good source of protein… as well as broccoli and nuts. You just have to be careful with nuts since there are some carbs in them and some nuts are more carb friendly than others.

The first week is the toughest so hang in there. Hope you are feeling better soon.

(Cari McAskill) #7

Go you – and yeah, electrolytes! Especially when working out, of course. I am a total beginner and so far have had only limited success sticking to keto (holiday cheating days, once again starting over.) But that does mean I’ve experienced that adjustment phase twice so far. And I also have felt the ‘ugh’ result of cheating, which helps with the resolve.

Back on topic: I second all the others!

Magnesium and potassium will help. A LOT. Most of the broccoli-related veggies are high in potassium: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts are among the best. I also noticed a difference taking a magnesium supplement, since I haven’t been eating a lot of magnesium-rich foods. If you’re tracking your intake (which I totally recommend!), I would suggest keeping an eye on both those elements as well as sodium – and get some from your veggies, as much as you can while staying under your carb limit.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #8

I felt pretty terrible for about 36 hours when I started and I wasn’t prepared and didn’t take electrolytes. Once I did, I began to feel better and I also got plenty of rest and let myself sleep and skip meals if I wasn’t hungry or had nausea. You will be hungry later, I promise. Take it easy and remember, this too shall pass.

(JT23) #9

You definitely need to eat more fat. It sounds like your starving yourself which is not healthy. It is harder if you don’t eat much meat. Good luck.

(Amy) #10

Try Collagen protein supplements. I use “Keto Collagen”. I found all the fat and protein hard to stomach in the beginning too, but collagen is easy to digest and has little taste.

(Amy) #11

My favorite recipe in the beginning, when I didn’t feel like eating much, was a Thai coconut/ginger soup. Lots of fat and protein in liquid form.
I started with chicken bone broth, added a scoop of collagen powder, about a third can of coconut cream, a bit of ginger and chili pepper, and salt. Depending on how I felt, I added some shredded chicken and veggies, fresh cilantro, and coconut oil. The ginger settled my stomach, but you have to be careful not to add too much, it contains some carbs.

#12

Yes! I am a newbie too. I found keto collagen, MCT and exogenous base to help. MCT is great for mental clarity and I use electrolytes in a water bottle daily. This helped me with the “flu” and started me on the way.