Feel like I'm bonking

exercise
(Heather Meyer) #1

K, so me… 3.5 weeks into Keto re-start. I started 16:8 first week in…it came on naturally. Then i eventually switched over to 20:4.

This past week i have started adding in exercise. I swam two days ago… and then again today… accomplished my best which is 2.4 km. I have a specific Swim watch that calculates burned calories. On swim days at my weight…i burn 1200. I thought maybe it was off but i checked it against a manual swim calculator online and its almost dead on…off by roughly 20 calories. I do my workouts fasted except for ingesting electrolytes and tea with MCT

However… those days i burn 1200…im only getting 900-1200 calories in food but that should be okay right? Cause then my body should be pulling fat stores from body? On the day after i am easily eating 1300-1500 and i make sure to add in one day a week of 1800-2000. But my non-day of swimming i wake up feeling so tired and lethargic… like i cant wake up. Doesnt matter what i drink…I drink a litre of electrolytes and chicken tea and a litre of tea with a scoop of mct powder. But i dont feel awake. Only time i seem to get energy is when i pop back two vitamin b12 tablets and 5000iui of vitamin D.

So whats causing me to be so tired and bonk every second day? Am i missing somth8ng in my diet?

(Robert C) #2

If you were fat adapted, you might get a lot of calories from stored body fat - but I’m not sure you’d be fat adapted after less than a month on Keto.

Also, I think most of the conversation around here is making up a 300 to 500 calorie deficit from local fat stores - for a gradual weekly 1 pound weight loss. You’re talking about making up an entire day’s expenditure.

So, it might just be a case of going to hard too fast with too little caloric intake (the kind of thing that might make your body look everywhere for fuel - not just body fat - leading to going after the wrong things and giving you a stern signal to slow down). Have you thought of adding calories on your workout days so the total minus your workout expenditure is closer to 300 to 500 calories - giving your (eventally) fat adapted body a reasonable challenge (liberating 300 to 500 calories of just body fat daily)?

Of course, the other option might be to move to 1K swims and gradually increase the distance if you don’t feel so beaten down the next day.

(Katie) #3

I think you are eating too few calories.

The Fallacy with calories in balancing calories out is that until you are fully fat adapted your metabolism will just slow down to match your calories in.

All this contestants onBiggest Loser had their metabolism slow down so much by the end of the show…it basically wrecked them (see class action lawsuit). The only guy that was able to get his metabolism kick started again did it through having gastric bypass…basically a surgical force fast.

Anyway…bring your calories up by increasing the fat…fat bombs are a great way to do this.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #4

Agreed. 900-1200 cals is super light. How big are you Heather ? I mean height and weight ? How much do you want to lose ?

(Heather Meyer) #5

Im 5"11 and 265 lbs 33 years old

#6

I second the opinion that you aren’t getting enough food for your activity level.

But if you’re noticing an improvement with vitamin B12, then make sure you are eating foods rich in B vitamins, or take a supplement. If you’ve done a genetic test, you can look at your MTHFR status and see if you might have issues with methylation. In that case methyl B6 and B12 should help. The vitamin D though, shouldn’t give you an immediate response but needs to be at appropriate levels over time. There’s a blood test for D levels as a starting point if you think that may be an issue.

P.S.
Some “B12 pills” are also energy supplements with caffeine or other stimulants like guarana, so check the label.