Been on Keto for over a month now. Why am I still so stinking tired?

[Daisy]

Believe it or not, not eating enough is worse than not eating anything at all. My wife had similar issues, I started looking at her logs and she was in the ~600 Cal range because she was simply not hungry. She bumped it up to ~1200 and the weight started coming off. (she was 5’6, 250lbs at the time)

This is a very good point. Restricting energy input too much simply pushes your body to slow your metabolism. This could easily be the reason you are feeling tired.

[Daisy]

I bonked continuously

Look up the British meaning of that

[Midji]

Look up the British meaning of that

I can guess!

[larry]

I am taking daily vitamins, my high blood pressure and cholesterol meds.

Have you taken your blood pressure?

I’ve seen reports of:

1. People on blood pressure medication experiencing low blood pressure as their BP improves naturally on the ketogenic dieting, resulting in a need to reduce medication. . .

and, conversely:

2. People with controlled hypertension who experience a worsening of symptoms on keto.

So, in addition to all the other dietary advice, get BP checked out if you haven’t already.

[ketana]

3 years in keto- but it took a year to not feel tired all the time. A year to solidly be a fat burner. In the beginning it was easy to fall out of ketosis from just a little elevation in carbs and it took a week to return to ketosis- for a year it was an oscillation in different degrees of keto flu. It was not enjoyable. Electrolytes proved essential but not all magnesium potassium supplements are the same either- magnesium potassium aspartate has done wonders, all the others had unwanted side effects.

[Svetlay]

May be a random idea, but it is winter and you might also be Vitamin D deficient - cutting off non Keto things such as milk with vitamin D additives could be contributing. I’d consider getting some sunlight and maybe even supplementing for a test period maybe.

[jkungcho]

Thanks for the tip on the BP, Larry! I was wondering if that could be part of my problem when I’m not slipping out of ketosis from not properly tracking my macros. So many things to consider…Yay me! LOL

[jkungcho]

Definitely not vitamin D. I take a daily D3 supplement (doctor’s orders). I get plenty of sun even during this time of year in California. I appreciate the suggestion though!

[jkungcho]

I think I’m experiencing what you’re experiencing. I need to look into better ways to track what I’m eating to make sure I stay within my macros. Thank you!

[Jwebbtrumpet]

People on blood pressure medication experiencing low blood pressure as their BP improves naturally on the ketogenic dieting, resulting in a need to reduce medication. . .

A friend had this exact issue. He was on such a strong dose of BP meds that when His diet started self correcting his BP, the meds sent him way low.

Try tracking your BPs and if they seem low, a chat with your doc may be in order to see about reducing or laying off the meds.

[Daisy]

I’d consider getting some sunlight and maybe even supplementing for a test period maybe.

Get a blood test done to see what your levels are first but, yes, most people in the Northern hemisphere need to supplement IMO.

Definitely not vitamin D. I take a daily D3 supplement (doctor’s orders). I get plenty of sun even during this time of year in California

What is your blood test level? How much do you take daily?

[Izerian]

People on blood pressure medication experiencing low blood pressure as their BP improves naturally on the ketogenic dieting, resulting in a need to reduce medication. . .

Truth, for me at least.

[Brenda]

@jkungcho
NO. Definately don’t eat if you aren’t hungry. Tiredness such as can be from lack of sodium, medications (such as statins) thyroid issues, any number of things.
I have never encouraged anyone to eat on keto if they are not hungry.

[jkungcho]

Thank you very much! I’ve also noticed my weight has been slowly going up the past few days. I’m hoping this is temporary since I have eliminated veggies for now in case I’m over-indulging in my vegetables.

[janknitz]

Brenda, I do think there is good reason, particularly in the adaptation phase to encourage people to get sufficient calories. My personal experience was that my TSH went up (indicating hypothyroidism) when I first started keto. I was only getting 900 -1000 k/cal/day, which was too low. I simply wasn’t hungry. And I was experiencing hypothyroid symptoms (hair loss, lethargy, always cold) but not much weight loss. When I upped the calories to over 1200, weight came off more steadily, hypo symptoms went away, TSH came down again.

I think this is consistent with what Dr. Fung has said–that too few calories will cause the body to slow down the metabolism to preserve energy, whereas true fasting will rev the body up so you can go out and look for food.

[jkungcho]

I’m making sure I’m getting plenty fats, keeping sugar substitute usage to a minimum, eating protein and watching how much carb I’m eating (limiting veggies). I want to get back into ketosis and back to losing weight. I don’t understand the creeping weight gain since 3 days before. Maybe it’s related to over-indulging on my spaghetti zoodles dinner? Ever since the severe energy loss yesterday, I’m in a much better space today. I went to bed early to get extra zzzs and woke up without a struggle.

[Brenda]

Having thyroid levels checked would be important in that case.
I still would not tell a ketoer to force food if they aren’t hungry. If they are withholding food in an attempt to lose weight, that’s different.
My experience is with the insulin resistant with 30 or more pounds to lose.

[Fiorella]

Good to hear, @jkungcho. Looks like baby steps to progress is happening. Getting up without issues is good news.

Give your body some days to switch from carb burning to fat burning. It’s not an instant switch…needs a several days. Maybe 3 or a week???..different for people, we are not all the same.

Eat to satiety…stop when not hungry.
Carbs limit 20 grams net carbs.
1 to 1.5 grams protein per kg lean body mass.
Eat fat to satiety.

I am really keen to follow your journey. Hope you stay in touch with your progress. I was very happy to learn of your good news today. One step at a time. Hang in there.

[jkungcho]

Thank you, @Fiorella! I clearly did something wrong the last few days and have been working on correcting since that time. I made chicken bone broth for the first time today. It was a milky creamy color. Added salt and salted butter. It tasted like Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup, but a million times better!!! I’m still struggling with calculating how much protein I should be eating based on lean body mass, but I’ll look into that more if I’m still struggling. KCKO!!! Happy Wednesday!

[Fiorella]

Good for you I’m so happy!!

Here’s a link to estimating lean body mass:

Lean body mass

Another way to look at it is if you were skinny/lean as an adult in the past, use that weight instead. Hope this helps.