Help.. Headaches & hunger

(Susana Rubio) #1

Hi everyone!!! I have been keto for 7 weeks now and everything has been going great. I am 4’10 and I started at 171 lbs and I am already down to 152 lbs which has been amazing. But as of this week, I have had headaches every day and as of late this week I find myself getting extremely hungry. I usually fast for 16 hours every day if I can or at least every other day and weekends I fast longer and I feel great but this week by the 14th hour, I am extremely hungry and then I get hungry again at bed time. I usually am done with dinner by 7 but by 10 I’m feeling hungry. I have no hunger in between lunch which is at 11 and dinner at 7.

My macros are 79g of fat, 54g of protein, and 14g of carbs. I am usually pretty good about keeping it around that number and have only occasionally gone over fats or maybe proteins but have felt fine. I’ve been making sure to up my salt intake, stay hydrated, eat only when hungry but I can’t justify eating at 10 or 11 PM when it hasn’t happened before. Any tips or suggestions? Is something off my foods? Honestly I feel my calories are too low but they have been like this for a bit and haven’t struggled with hunger so I’m not sure.

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(Daisy) #2

To oversimplify things: eat!!! My last go of strict keto (August to November) I had a couple days like that. I felt super hungry and had massive headaches for a couple days. People gave me lots of suggestions, and so I spent an evening drinking lots of extra water and eating a large amount of (salty) food (more than I normally would). By the next morning I was back to feeling great and could go back to IF.

Unfortunately I got off track through the holidays and had to basically start from scratch on Christmas Day. I still haven’t gotten to a point where I can comfortably fast again, even though I’ve been back to being fat adapted for a couple weeks. But I still have days where I am hungrier than others.

(Susana Rubio) #3

So if I get hungry at 10 I should eat?? I’m just not used to eating that late. I haven’t been able to fast much because I’ll have half my lunch for breakfast because I’m hungry but the headaches still won’t go away.

#4

If you are hungry eat! You shouldn’t be resticting calories.

(Daisy) #5

10 am or pm? Lol. If I’m feeling hungry at 10 pm, I just go to bed. If I’m hungry at 10 am, I’ll eat. Try increasing your sodium and water for the headaches. What helps me the most is taking a (very generous of each) pinch of pink salt, lite salt (containing potassium) and table salt. I swish it together in my hand and eat the salt, followed by a glass of water. The headache goes away within an hour.

(Susana Rubio) #6

I get hungry at 10pm. I’ll eat if I get hungry in the morning but won’t at night.

(Susana Rubio) #7

@Ketodaisy I’ll try the salt thing and see if it helps.

(Daisy) #8

My suggestion would be to maybe eat a little more at dinner or push dinner by a half hour to keep you from getting hungry later.

(MelissaH) #9

I’ll second the salt @rubiosusy7! Eating salty foods or sucking on salt helps with headaches for sure. Also make sure your supplementing with electroyles. Any imbalance causes a headache for me

(Susana Rubio) #10

@Monurse any suggestions for electrolytes?? I’ll make sure to salt my food well from now on to see if it helps the headaches.

(Susana Rubio) #11

I changed all my macros on carb manager as well to up my calories. I work better with visuals so me seeing it will help me up my calories and cut back on the deficit and everything else to make sure I’m eating enough and to see if that also helps.

(MelissaH) #12

Ultima Hydrating Electrolyte… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IIGVUQA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I like this a lot, I add a grind of pink salt 2x a day.

(Charlotte) #13

Maybe your body just isn’t ready for IF. Like everyone else said, eat when your hungry. It seems counterintuitive to eat more when you want to lose weight, but I personally waited until i was fully adapted to IF. Generally When you are adapted your hunger curbs and a 16/8 feels really natural and doesn’t take work. That’s just how it worked for me.

Your progress is fantastic, but its very easy to go overboard on doing things that you think will speed up the process, but those things could actually slow you down like restriction. Weight loss with keto should be taken slowly and patiently. Its not a sprint, its a marathon and you want to be able to maintain sustainability. Feed your body when your hungry and keep things simple. Don’t over complicate too soon. That’s a mistake I made early on. That’s just what I learned.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

You may need more food. Perhaps you’re ill; perhaps it’s simply time in your monthly cycle to get more food. A thousand calories a day isn’t all that much. Are you getting enough protein? Are you getting enough fat?

Listen to your body. If the intermittent fasting is a challenge this week, try eating three times a day, instead of only two. If you have to have a snack, just be sure it’s low-carb.

My bias is on the side of not over-thinking things.

(Susana Rubio) #15

I’ve been doing IF for a few weeks now and have never struggled. This week has been the only week I have had a hard time with it. I just started coughing this morning so maybe I am coming down with something and its throwing everything off. For the most part I eat until I’m satisfied. Once I feel I’m getting full I stop eating. I’m just concerned my calories are too low and it’s starting to catch up. Or maybe it is that I’m getting sick. ( I work with children and they have been dropping like flies all week with illnesses.) I eat the amount of proteins and fats my macros suggest some days I go a little over but most days i hit everything.

I guess another question I have is, when I do the macros/keto calculator do I put in a deficit or just keep it at 0 to maintain?? And if I do so, will I still see the wight/inches come off? I’m ok with not seeing results overnight as I haven’t taken care of my body for years. This has been bugging me a while and I figured I might as well ask now.

(Charlotte) #16

Everyone is different and it takes trial and error to find what works for you. A lot of people will say set the calculator to maintenance and you will still see weight loss as long as you have weight to lose… I have mine set to a deficit because I literally can’t eat more than 1400 calories. 1400 calories of my usual intake has me full for hours. I have restricted myself for so many years my stomach is small. My problem was never how much I ate, it was WHAT I ate. I don’t live and die by my macros. I use them as a suggestion. I only hardline my carb intake at 15g.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #17

Could very well be. The old adage was “Feed a cold, starve a fever.” I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not really advice, just a statement of how we feel when sick. It came clear to me after I’d been keto for several months.

#18

Wait - is that all of your food for those two days? I would be famished! combined, all that food would be one small meal for me (and I’m somewhere in the vicinity of 130 lbs). I can fast for a few days in a row with no trouble, but on my eating days I definitely eat.
You can eat at a deficit if you’re accessing your fat stores (and it sounds like you have been!) because they make up the difference between what you’re taking in and what your body needs. But if you’re hungry, then you should eat. Not at 10pm, but enough at 7pm that you don’t get hungry at 10!

(Susana Rubio) #19

@Madeleine no that’s my food for just one day. It was just as an example of a meal this week. That was my lunch and dinner no breakfast because of IF. Ok so I’ll increase my food for dinner and see if keeps me full until my next meal. I’m just shocked because I’ve been doing so well, my appetite had decreased a little, I had no hunger between meals but this week it’s as if I’m starting over again.

#20

Ok, got it. It looks like two days because there are two screenshots (and seems like two lunches and two dinners?).

In any case, it’s totally normal for hunger to fluctuate!