Having a hard time! please help

keto
newbies
(simone) #1

Hello! This is my second day at a low carb/keto attempt. I am a pretty active(hot yoga, gym, walking) 23, female, 5’8" and 145lbs.

Yesterday (the first day)
-I ate 3154 calories! (148g carbs/18%, 241g fat, 66%, 130 g protein, 16%)

  • I took a multivitamin, two omega 3s, extra vitamin c
    -I was feeling pretty good until around 730 pm.
    -Started getting dizzy, cranky, tired but wired
    -Didn’t want to eat anymore because I had already eaten almost 3000 calories and I feel like just because I am doing keto doesn’t mean I can eat unlimited calories, correct?
    -Well when I went to go to sleep, my head was hurting, my muscles were cramping and i could NOT sleep - an issue i am very unfamiliar with.
    -I did not have cravings majority of the day until this point
    -I tried licking some salt
    -I tried a 200 mg magnesium pill
    -i ended up eating 12 chocolate covered almonds which = 275 calories of the 3154 so I still had almost 3000 for the entire day.
    -before keto i was eating 2500 max.
    -After “binge” went into a half sleep like state for the rest of the night - night sweats and weakness until 7 am when i woke up unable to fall back asleep.

Day 2:
-Ate 3152 calories (130 g carbs, 16%, 230g fat, 64%, 155g protein, 20%)
took two multivtamins this time (one in morning, one in evening)
-two omega 3 supplements
-One emergen-C packet (includes electrolytes)
-1 200 mg magnesium pilll
magnesium salt bath
-eating plain salt
-drinking and peeing my life away
-Felt nauseous in morning
-Ate my eggs and ghee anyway
-Took a giant poop ! (tmi?haha)
-Felt really really good until about 11:30 am - refed my keto friendly foods which helped for about an hour and then it all went downhill from there.
-Super weak, irritable and foggy
-was in cooking class for nutrition school (I am new still, that is why I cant answer this question yet!) and only had a small taste of the hummus we made on a cucumber
-no cravings at this point, just weakness
-Went home and had almond milk with two tbsps of coconut oil and spices and salt to try to help.
-helped a bit so i went to hot yoga (weaker than usual)
-Got back took the magnesium bath
-thought i was going to nail it
-laying in bed googling things and then my muscles started twitching like crazy! I aleady took so many supplements i didnt wnat to take more so i ate some salt (quite a bit of salt)
-insomnia once again
-weird sweaty feeling
-ended up eating 10 chocolate covered almonds
-didnt help
-ate a bun and a knock off quest bar.

  • my “binge” cost me around 600 calories from my total above
    -i am feeling still starving but a little sleepier and the cramping has mostly stopped.

Does anyone have any advice or explanation?
It seems to be the biggest issue at night, especially because I can not sleep!!
I suppose the second day (today) i could have tried eating more fat, but I didnt want to eat much more than 2500 calories.

Should I even be worrying about how many calories im eating at this point?
Could I have been in ketosis with that amount of carbs?
Why even with all the suppllements/water/salt, etc. am i experiencing muscle cramping ?!

(German Ketonian) #2

My plain and simple advice would be: further cut down on carbs and stop exercising. You are putting a lot of strain on your body if your that active and try to transition to a new fuel source.

your current nutritional profile isn’t keto, so if keto adaptation is your goal, then I would go that router described above. Also try upping your magnesium and potassium intake from keto-friendly sources like nuts and leafy, green vegetables (preferably spinach, kale etc.) it seems your muscles need more of that stuff.

also: don’t restrict calories for the first week(s). Just listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full and eat mostly fat with a bit of protein in it every meal. Only eat nutrient dense foods e.g. avoid eating pure butter just for the sake of hitting macros. You can supplement every meal with butter, though!

(MooBoom) #3

You’re not keto, by a long shot. Your target carbs (total) should be 20g or under. Protein as a rule- = 1-1.5g per kilo of lean body mass. With the exercise you’re doing I’d go 1.5g. The rest- eat fat to satiety.

Eat when hungry. Stop when full.

You will need potassium, magnesium and salt to get you through the first few days/weeks as your body kicks the carb addiction. Drink tonnes of water- don’t exercise unless your body has abundant energy- rest.

I thought I was keto on 50g carb a day, but I wasn’t and still had the keto flu for 2 weeks when I cut down to 20g a day. So worth it now those weeks are behind me though.

Check out the FAQ’s section here on the forums, and I highly recommend that you listen to the dudes podcasts on getting started. You have much to learn grasshopper but we are here to help you!

(Sjur Gjøstein Karevoll) #4

The amount of carbs you’re eating is way above what’s considered ketogenic, even higher than what most would consider low carb. You would have to be really active throughout the day to burn that amount of carbs and get into ketosis. I have heard of some elite athletes that stay around 100-150g per day and go in and out of ketosis, but even most low carb athletes stay below 100g carbs per day most of the time.

From what you say you eat though you shouldn’t be getting that many carbs in the first place, unless your late-night snacking really packed it on. Also, how many carbs were you usually eating before? If you were at somewhere like 60-70% carbs and had been all your life then it’s possible you have an unusually poor starting point. Feeling tired and cranky points to low blood sugar, which suggests your metabolism is very carb dependent and not flexible at all given that you’ve still been eating about 150g carbs per day.

Most people experience keto-flu, but the degree can vary a lot, from people who don’t experience it at all to people like you who feel like they have an actual flu. The good news is it gets better really quick if you push through it, and while you may be a little more tired and weak in your body for a little while the brain only takes two to four days to get over it. During this period you shouldn’t worry about calories at all, just eat as much as you want of fat things. If you’re exercising a lot maybe tone down the intensity for a little while and accept that initially you’re going to become weaker until you have become more adapted.

You might still not be getting enough salt. Reducing carbs can really drain your body of electrolytes at first until your body readjusts how much it needs to hold on to. Try eating a whole teaspoon more salt than you usually do throughout the day. You haven’t eaten too much until everything salty becomes unappealing to you. Also, you don’t need to force yourself to drink a lot, just drink when you’re thirsty. The more you drink the more electrolytes you’re pissing out.

As for cramps, they’re a bit of a mystery. They can be caused by several things and so you can’t just solve them by fixing one thing. When I first started keto I too got leg cramps pretty often the first week. Before that I got cramps about once every month or two, but after that initial week of keto my cramps have been gone forever. If you’re sure you’re getting enough electrolytes (including calcium) then all I’ve got to offer is give your legs a good massage before you go to bed, and make sure your feet don’t get cold.

#5

Honestly I am surprised you are feeling anything negative given what you are eating. Are you extremely athletic? Since you are not yet fat adapted your muscles are looking for glucose, especially when you are eating fewer carbs but I really do not see 150 grams as all that low. I was still a sugar burner when I ate 150 grams (eating between 1500 - 2000 total calories).

150 grams of carbs is a normal amount to eat for someone eating a regular diet. Maybe not a SAD diet but pretty much any relatively healthy non keto diet.

If you want to be in ketosis, try to get your carbs under 50 and your net carbs under 20. As others have said, cut out or down on exercise while you adapt.

As for protein, it should be 1 gram per kilo of lean body mass or ideal weight (different standards depending on who you ask). Protein in excess of what your body needs can stimulate insulin which turns it into glucose through glucneogenisis in the liver. Everything else should be fat to satiety but not past that. Avocados, guacamole, extra virgin coconut oil, butter, bacon if you eat it

(Jacob Wagner) #6

Eat more fat, don’t worry about calories. Once you are keto adapted your body will get less hungry if you are over your ideal weight for your resting insulin levels.

Every body is different, but if you are at those carb levels it would be extremely unusual.

The general wisdom is that most people can get into ketosis if they eat 50g per day or less, the founders of this site recommend 20g or less, especially for those who are insulin resistant.

–Jacob

(Jo O) #7

I just listened to this old podcast interview of Mark Sisson. It explains a lot. http://llvlcshow.libsyn.com/1071-mark-sisson-helps-athletes-become-a-fat-burning-beast-with-primal-endurance

And from what I’ve learned from other podcasts, atheletes can take longer to adapt. Elite athletes take 6-12 months to fully adapt.
Basically, you are use to consuming your glucose reserves for your muscles. Remember your brain takes first priority for those reserves. Glucose converts to energy fast and easy by the body. You are not use to using fat first. The process of your body learning to fat adapt could take a while.
So right now, your exercising is consuming your glucose reserves in the muscles/liver without any available backup. No one has said this but seems to me like marathoner’s bonking.

Hope this helps.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #8

Ditto to everything MooBoom said above.
So I will just add in this bit on a supplement you seem to be missing. If you have muscle cramps and trouble sleeping add in calcium citrate. Do a site search here to learn about it and how much you need there are several threads on it.