Haven't hit the "more energy, brain clarity" phase yet

(Julie Barron) #1

Hi all, I’ve been doing keto for @33 days now, and was LCHF for a month before that. I haven’t yet hit a higher energy phase that I’ve read about. I’m very up and down actually in terms of energy and clarity. There’s a lot going on in my life right now so maybe it’s not realistic? Or is it just too soon? I’ve lost on average 2 pounds per week but had a few stalls along the way. I’ve lost 16 pounds in 8 weeks and my overall goal is 25. TIA.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Different strokes for different folks. I’ve been keto since Jan 2017 and I have yet to hit the ‘more energy, brain clarity phase’. Maybe you’re like me and were already there but just didn’t notice. Don’t be too concerned about it. There’s a lot of wishful thinking and wish fulfillment going around. And lots of individual variation.

You’ve lost 16 pounds in 8 weeks and that’s pretty good. Congratulations! Stick with keto and the excess fat will stay off and you’ll be lots healthier for it overall in all sorts of ways you never imagined. Whether or not you hit the more energy, brain clarity phase, going keto is the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself. :sunglasses:

(Kathy Timmons) #3

Hi Julie,
Congratulations on your rapid weight loss! You are doing great. As a woman with only 25 pounds to lose that is fantastic.
I have been keto since March 2018 and I have not hit that “energy and clarity” as yet. I don’t care at this point. LOL I have lost 80 pounds with multiple health problems and I am 63 years old. I only have 13 pounds left to goal and the scale is not moving right now. I have been quarantined since Feb and where I live in Mexico is at the height of the virus. I am going to blame stress and not being able to get out and walk!
Did you measure when you started? I keep a running total of each months loss in inches and it keeps happening even when the scale stalls.
Keep doing what you are doing and it will just get better and better!
Thanks for posting…you don’t know how many people this will help!

(Julie Barron) #4

Thanks Michael, t hat’s really helpful and supportive. Yeah, maybe I already had the energy and clarity before :slight_smile:

(Julie Barron) #5

Thank you Kathy, that’s very kind of you. Yes, I measured when I started and stopped measuring for four weeks because it seemed nothing was happening, but I measured a few days ago and sure enough, had lost one more inch around hips, waist and bust. So that was very encouraging.

(Karen) #6

Many people do not get the clarity. Or the energy. I certainly never have. However I have seen some weight loss and health gain

#7

Sounds like you’re doing awesome, some of us don’t hit ketone levels high enough to get that limitless feeling. I lost the majority of my 100lbs in the 0.5-1.2 range. Only times I ever got that feeling was when I either did a multi day fast, or when I took exogenous ketones, awesome feeling though! If I had to guess, it’s when I was over the 2.0 mark that I got it. I haven’t measured that stuff in a long time now so rough guess.

(Allie) #8

Me neither, in my sixth year :rofl:
Stress will affect things for sure.

#9

Not everyone get these.
I don’t even understand the brain clarity thing. My brain is normal on every diet… But I could use more energy. It seems to me that carnivore is better for me even energy wise but I couldn’t test it well yet.
Months on keto surely did no significant change except unlocking some level of fat adaptation, that was good and important but my energy, bodyfat and everything else stayed the same as on low-carb.
My eating window diminished after fat adaptation, that was nice. Fasting suits me, I always did IF on keto.

Maybe your food items choices could be better. I feel that it matters a lot what carbs I consume (the less the better, not surprisingly, at least now, I needed different things when I started).

Maybe you are simply like this, it can’t be helped. It still can change later… 33 days is a short time…

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

Give it another month, first of all.

Second, what you feel will depend on your starting point. I had a bad viral infection in 2006, which left me with some kind of fatigue syndrome afterward. After I started eating a ketogenic diet, I found that I can now engage in physical activity, such as spending four hours mowing the lawn, without needing three or four days in bed afterward to recover. Unlike many others, I don’t feel anything better than my old normal, but I’ll sure take it! Last September, I had another virus that lasted for over a month and left me dragging, but this time, I slowly returned to my new normal, instead of being stuck with the old fatigue again. Your mileage is guaranteed to vary, but I feel that stories like these can be helpful.

Third, if you are losing a couple of pounds a week, on average, that’s really good, so keep up the good work.

#11

Your doing fab!! Keep on going. Big change takes time.
Also detox/adaption etc. can cloud other changes that come.
We lose fat, it releases toxins in those cells that have to be dealt with ton top of other adaptions, so hold strong.

I tell ya I got it. That switch to massive clarity that where you wake up and think…wow I am thinking different and reacting diff to my life and issues. It is friggin’ wonderful actually. Many on zc get this, and many others can never understand it unless they ‘feel it and are there’ thru healing eating so well on our plans. You will get yours, just hold strong. All good things come to those who wait, and stay on their plans LOL

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #12

After more than two years, I’ve never had any dramatic nirvana moment either… but I’d say I have had more subtle mental health and physical endurance improvements.

One day it was 4:00 and I still hadn’t eaten, but starting to think about eating, and suddenly found out I had to make a 6 hour round trip right then (#expatlife, had to make a mad dash to the border for a crossing before corona shut it down.) It’s okay, I’ll grab something at the train station. No time. Grab something in Macau. Most things are closed, don’t feel like McD’s, just go home, whatever. Meanwhile at the border they were training a new officer I guess, and pulled me aside for inspection for no apparent reason. Everyone was nice, but it is still nerve wracking. So. No food since yesterday, normally slightly stressful day turned super stressful by both borders shutting down and being a trainee’s practice dummy.

All calm, all fine. No blood sugar crashes, no panic. A situation that would have stressed me out and left me in choked back silent tears on the train home… and I was fine, grateful to have gotten it done without any real problems.

Sometimes the benefits aren’t wreathed in halos. Doesn’t mean they aren’t real.

#13

An amazing feeling that you’ll wish would never stop! “Normal” is overrated. Although once you cross that line you’re pissed that you can’t (or at least I can’t) afford to always force it. The only time I’ve hit that feeling aside from exogenous ketones is usually around day 3-4 of an extended fast. No mistaking when it hits you!

#14

Normal is clearly different for everyone… Okay, there are difference for some people but how can I know if their clarity is like my normal (I doubt it, I am not that good :D) or their non-clarity is like my normal? Or they never experience anything like my normal? I can’t know these as I only feel what I personally feel… (Of course, my normal varies too, I can be very tired or sleepy and it affects my brain but apart from extreme cases, the differences aren’t that big.)

My brain was abnormal after 3-4 days of fasting but well, I ate no sodium :smiley: I don’t know if I can go that long again from my own will… It would be interesting to try…
But it may be personal. Just like the energy thing, some people have it on keto at some point, some people are high energy on every at least vaguely okay woe and some people are low energy on every woe…

#15

It’s definitely a weird thing that can’t be explained properly. The comparisons to Limitless are the best thing I can come up with, don’t think your going to hallucinate math equations and figure out cold fusion or anything… but it’s fun! I think everybody should slam some ketones and experience it. If you do just don’t cheap out, many of the affordable ones are a friggen scam! The energy level is the hardest to explain, it’s like amphetamine energy… but without the jittery side. Total contradiction. I think that’s why most people kinda disbelieve it.