Day 3 - Weight Gain, Bloating, Nausea, Headaches

(Ricky Lopez) #1

Hello community, I am new to Keto as you can tell, and am at the end of a very grueling day 3. Although I limit my carbs to be 15-39g per day (I work out daily) I have stuck true to eating lots of fat and protein. With that being said, I feel like I want to throw up all the time, am never hungry, and worst of all I’m bloated to the point where I actually gained a little weight!! I keep my calories below 2300 (I’m 24 and 6’4”), and have vigorously exercised all 3 days. The headaches are active every night though (even though I eat a ton of salty foods) so would that mean I am transitioning? I just want to see if this is normal, or if my body is not reacting well.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #2

Keto is moderate protein, not lots of protein. You want to eat the minimum your body needs because excess protein turns to glucose and stores as fat.

Also, are those carbs total or net? This forum advises no more than 20 net grams through the adaptation phase. After that you can experiment with adding more in.

The bloating, nausea and headaches are most likely Keto flu from lack of electrolytes. Make sure you’re getting lots of sodium and watching magnesium and potassium levels. Lots and lots of salt.

(John) #3

I’m on day 5 starting today. I have experienced headaches 2 of the previous 4 days. Last night my headache was pretty bad. I rarely got headaches before starting but I was a carb junkie too. Up until yesterday I had been drinking a ton of water. I suspect that’s why my headache was worse yesterday. The first headache I got, I mixed up some salt water and drank it. It seemed to get rid of my headache.

#4

Hi there, I had headaches every evening for about 10 days. And I was taking mineral supplements and eating lots of salt. They probably would have been worse without those extra measures.

It sounds like your body is adjusting still. I highly recommend apple cider vinegar and adding lemon juice to water because they seem to help the body switch from burning sugar to burning fat.

Are you taking MCT oil? It’s not necessary, but it can speed up the transition. For me, it made a huge difference.

The hunger will be much lighter once your body gets used to using fat for energy.

(Clara Teixeira) #5

Keto for 15 months here and this is what I do. I mix 1/2 tsp hymalayan salt, 1/4 tsp NoSalt in a big bottle of water and add lemon juice and some sweetener to taste. Drink 2 of these a day when the keto flu strikes! You will also need to supplement magnesium (preferrably in the form of malate or glycinate) if you begin having muscle cramps. Your body is going through an incredible transition and intense workouts will make it flush even more electrolytes. If anything you are raising your cortisol levels by working out so much while transitioning. That can cause you to bloat. Take it easy for a few days, take your electrolytes and let your body adjust.
Also listen to The Salt Fix episode on the 2ketodudes podcast. It disspelled my fears about taking extra salt.

(Jessica Carranza) #6

Hey Ricky,
Sound like you have the Keto Flu, yes transitioning is kind of horrible. I found taking a keto friendly electrolyte water really helped me with headaches and fatigue, I exercise 5-7 hours a week and really struggled with figuring out how much protein to take, currently I take 20 grams of protein a day ( 113lbs and 5’5) I do know if you take too much it can kick out of ketosis, also I stay under 20 grams of net carbs a day. I think if you eat veggies before a work out you could probably get away with eating a little more carbs, but I don’t really mess around with that, because going in and out of ketosis kind of sucks.
Hang in there!!! Hopefully soon you’ll be feeling the goodness of ketosis

(Ricky Lopez) #7

Thank you for the help everyone, it sounds like I just need to increase my electrolyte/salt intake and decrease protein. I didn’t realize that at 4000-6000mg of sodium a day, it still isn’t enough to get past Keto flu. I’ll give the MCT oil a shot too and hold off on the gym. Thanks again, I can’t wait to finally go into Ketosis!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #8

If you’re going to do MCT oil, start off slow and build up. Otherwise you will be spending a lot of time in the bathroom.

(Ricky Lopez) #9

Good to know, although since I haven’t been in two days (after eating what seems like tons of food) that might just be just what I need! :joy:

#10

I thought about that too, the cortisol. A year ago, I gave keto an honest try and gave up due to weight gain and bloating. I wish I would have known about this forum back them. I’m sooo glad I tried again.

(Ricky Lopez) #11

Very true, if it wasn’t for the information people provide here I would have quit in fear of getting fat.

#12

Try this: