How Long to Truly Fat Adapt?

(Rob Grantham) #1

Hello everyone this is my first post. Ive been sub 20 for 5 weeks now and although its getting slightly easier im still having bouts of what seems like hypoglycaemia after meals. Then after eating it seems to take forever for my body to start using the energy from the meal ive just made. I tend to go all sleepy and sometimes dizzy…

I am keeping an eye on protein and fat macros and i am eating enough fat… Im also getting enough electrolytes.

Is it simply a matter of time for these symptoms to get better? Will it take me a while to start feeling good? I think when i was younger i may have caused a fair bit of metabolic damage through high carb eating. Maybe this is the cause?

#2

The question in your title is only loosely related to the symptoms you have mentioned. It sounds like you indeed have some “metabolic damage” involved, as this symptom sounds like postprandial glucose and insulin surges and then the well known drop in blood glucose after perhaps four hours. You can Google “Insulin response curves (images)”. At the very least, you sound as if you would benefit from getting a blood glucose and blood ketone meter in order to get a better handle on what is really going on in your body.

This generally requires more information regarding macros and meal size and meal timing and perhaps other variables in order to get a useful answer.

(Karen) #3

Yes this

(Rob Grantham) #4

Yes thank you. It seems that this is the case for me. Sometimes i get what really feel like Hypos even soon after eating. I am tracking carbs very strictly and im always eating below the 20g however im not tracking fat or protein simply eating to satiety.

Yesterday I ate belly pork at lunch time. It was quite a big piece and because i thought most of it is fat it should be great. I ate half of it and some time later started feeling symptoms of low blood sugar. Its strange because im experiencing this now even after eating keto foods. I get dizzy and feel very disoriented and anxious… I got really bad whilst teaching a class and i had to eat two apples… it felt as if my brain was completely dead.

So could this be Hypos? Could it be the protein causing this issue? Should i be tracking protein and trying to keep this lower too?

Please help I cant cope with the dizziness/hypos

(Omar) #5

IF is the fastest way out of “getting sleepy after meals”
you may have conjugated lymph. over eating or eating until sateity is one of the most wrong but common advice.

flush your lymph and restore the mitochondria. Fat adaption will not help stand alone.

(Rob Grantham) #6

The problem is when i fast i feel lightheaded and i get very irritable it feels like my cortisol levels go up quite a lot. I was thinking to try and transition slowly to fasting to help with this. Ive noticed that yes when i snack on smaller portions then i dont get this feeling as much… its usually after bigger portions usually with protein. I will try to cut back on the protein size to see if this helps.

(Rob Grantham) #7

Also im feeling hungry like every 3-4 hours at the moment. I Think I need to transition to fat burning before i can start moving towards fasting. I still feel like i havnt adapted

(Omar) #8

do you know if you have any IBS or SIBO issues

(Rob Grantham) #9

Without getting graphic i would say it could be a possibility because i do have mucus and sometimes bloody stools. I think this could be something to do with a bowel issue. I would have to test for bacterial overgrowth to make sure. Does the keto way of eating help with this? Maybe i should run tests to find out if this is the case

(Rob Grantham) #10

But ive read oline that this usually comes with gas, bloating, dicomfort etc and i dont have any of that

(Omar) #11

there is good possibility you do not have SIBO but if you have bowel movement issue it may explain the reason for fasting difficulty.

IF you have difficulty fasting my advice is to focus on the digestive track.

Dr John douillard has a YouTube channel most of his episodes are about the digestive track health.

If I were you I will take the time to listen to him.

(Running from stupidity) #12

So much this. Fasting is vastly easier - in fact, too easy. Yesterday I didn’t get enough food in after skipping breakfast (i.e. IF 18 hours) as a result.

As a general rule you’re better off eating more at meals and snacking less in terms of your insulin, so maybe eat a little more in your meals in order to get you along to the next one?

(Tony Battelle) #13

This is a great book by Dr Fung The Diabetes code.
There is a whole chapter on fasting. The book really helps you understand the mechanics of your body in relationship to carbs, protein and fat.
https://www.amazon.com/Diabetes-Code-Prevent-Reverse-Naturally/dp/1771642653

(Rob Grantham) #14

Thanks ive seen his vids on youtube he seems very knowledgeable. I used to do IF regularly even back when I ate carbs but this time round it seems really tough… It feels more of a psychological barrier than anything. However i will keep on slowly trying to fat adapt one day at a time. I think as long as i keep my carbs low enough for as long as possible i should very slowly begin to fat adapt. Every day is difficult at the moment. It really feels like my switch isnt quite on yet but im getting closer every day i just have to go through this long shitty period. Theres some days when i just feel like saying, screw this i just want to eat some fries but im in this for the long haul

(Rob Grantham) #15

Yes im trying to eat larger meals the main issue being is that i also dont want to eat too much protein. I seem to get hypos from eating large amounts of protein. At the moment im putting butter on cheese and eating this with green veggies… Also another staple meal for me is scrambled eggs with butter. i just seem to want to eat a lot… i think it must have something to do with my body craving carbs. I just hope this goes away soon

(Terence Dean) #16

You’re on the right track Rob, just keep the carbs low like you’re doing. It took me 10 weeks to adapt and I was pretty strict on the carbs. The only problem with eating 20g of carbs is that it really limits the amount of vegetables you can eat to get all the nutrients and vitamins you need, so supplements may help. Even though you say you’re keeping the electrolytes up you may need to track them a bit.

Here’s a useful list of symptoms for electrolyte imbalance, I still refer to.

If you are concerned about protein the following article How Much Protein Do You Need In Nutritional Ketosis? written by Phinney, Volek and Volk goes into great detail about it. My protein is currently set at 1.2 grams of protein per kg of lean body mass which is a recommended minimum but you can go as high as 2.0. I use an app to give me a better idea of what my protein intake is.

Other than these suggestions I reckon you’re doing fine, KCKO!

(Rob Grantham) #17

Thanks so much for your support, it really means a lot… Somedays i question why im doing this. Im not carrying much bodyfat but I wanted to do this for my long term health. I didnt like the way i felt eating carbs.

I know what you mean about tracking electrolytes. I actually had sauerkraut today and it tasted really salty. I ate a lot of it twice ( i like the taste) and it seems to have helped me feel better. I heard that as long as you keep the sodium in check the potassium takes care of itself. I also ate an avocado and that seems to have helped too.

Small progress but i do really want to achieve this! There seems to be small moments of absolute clarity where i feel like “wow i feel so great” they are fleeting but im hoping that this will become more frequent. Im ketoing on! What a journey!

(Terence Dean) #18

Yeah that’s why I decided to try Keto too, it brought my blood sugar down dramatically, I was headed for type 2 diabetes for sure.

What you’re going through “keto flu” varies for different people, I had some mild symptoms one bad headache but then I got onto the salt (about a teaspoon a day), spinach was good for cramps, and drink enough water (for me its about 1.5 litres/per day). Cut back on any intense exercise for a bit, moderate exercise is fine.

A lot of symptoms are caused by electrolyte imbalance but you’re also going cold turkey on the carbs, and its just your body reacting to the lack of them, its throwing a tantrum. :rofl:

Get yourself to the fat adaption stage and you’ll be cruising. It just takes a little time, relax, Keep Calm, Keto On as they say.

There are plenty of good folks here to help you though any other problems you experience.

(Rob Grantham) #19

Yes! This and it feels like the fact that its taking so long to fat adapt is surely a sign that insulin resistance is already present and T2D is probably just around the corner. It feels like I am giving my body an oppertunity to heal from decades of metabolic damage caused by carb intake