General observations on my journey thus far - hope it helps those out there who are just beginning.
I am a 53 year old pre-diabetic woman, high blood pressure, post menopausal (thanks chemo), cancer survivor, about 25 pounds overweight. I am converting to keto WOE to hopefully prevent a cancer recurrence, improve my BP and my fasting glucose, losing the extra pounds will be an added benefit.
Week one - headachy for a couple of days and out of breath during cardio activities. Once a headache settled in to alleviate it, I ate a tablespoon or 2 of a high fat low carb cheesecake I made. It didn’t take much but it sure made the headache go away quickly. Chicken broth with broccoli was my friend as well. Made me feel good and satiated me if I was hungry. I don’t really recommend exercising during the first few weeks even though I did. I found I was incredibly winded during cardio activities and a little light headed. Probably better to let your body settle in to the adjustment. I did drop about 6 pounds.
Week two - hungry and sometimes fatigued more than normal. Since I was exercising I found that I was famished, even though eating most calories and fat at breakfast. I found I needed mid day naps. I was however, sleeping though the night, soundly and deeply for the first time in years. My husband was completely shocked that I would wake up after 7 hours of sleep and get up. I normally require 9 hours of sleep and have a difficult time getting out of bed. Not the same person. Noticed my blood pressure started dropping to a normal range but not consistently, I am typically 160/95 but a few times my BP was 120/83. It is still all over the place and I hope that it will consistently start a downward trend. I do not like taking meds. I believe I needed to consume more fat during week 2 and possibly supplement electrolytes and salt. I have a feeling this would have boosted my energy levels and fatigue. I lost another pound week 2.
Week three - incredibly thirsty and drinking a lot of water. I was waking up in the middle of the night to drink water and go to the bathroom. I am not sure why I was so thirsty, but I drank a lot of water. Again I might need to supplement electrolytes because my body is releasing all the water. Even though I was traveling week 3 and eating out, I managed to lose 2 pounds. I took coconut oil with me, added butter to my morning coffee, ate omelets and added cream cheese to them to boost the fat. It is a little difficult traveling and maintaining keto but doable. Found I was less hungry week 3 and could go for 10 hours without eating.
Week four - Starting to feel a lot more energy and mental clarity. I do not have energy swings nor do I get “hangry” - I feel stable. I am able to have a BPC for breakfast that will take me to mid afternoon. Blood pressure still all over the place, I am hoping it will drop as I do not want to take meds. Overall I feel really good.
My overall advice is newbies to hang in there - all the side effect are temporary while your body is adjusting to the major change you introducing. The first few weeks are hard but doable. Find recipes you like and enjoy them. I am not a huge egg fan - I can eat them for a few days, but then I am sick of them, but found I could make cream cheese pancakes for breakfast that resembled crepes. The variety helped me.
I finally understand what eating fat to satiety means. If you eat fat, you simply aren’t hungry - its really that simple. Replace carbs calories with fat calories.
Hang in there if just starting - the benefits truly outweigh the hardships the first few weeks.