I can feel myself losing motivation

(Michele) #25

I wonder if you need to eat more organ meats? Any group of people who eat solely or mainly a meat diet consume everything with little waste. In addition different animal flesh and organ meats give you different nutrient profiles (chicken livers compared to beef or lamb for instance).

#26

Many people don’t do well on ZC, I’ve done it a couple times and for me if I didn’t watch myself very closely I’d wind up going WAY over on protein and slacking on my fats. We all know what too much protein and not enough fat does, give your #'s a second look and make sure your not doing that to yourself. I’ll also agree it’s a nightmare trying to eat with others when your doing it, Keto makes you feel like you eat “normal” compared to that.

(Olivia) #27

You could try eating more fish and in general, increasing the variety of meats. Your description of fatigue reminds me of my vegetarian friend who every couple of years had to replenish here nutrient stores with fatty fish. After a while, she felt better again.
Then again, maybe you are feeling a little stressed. Last year, I had a period where I felt continuously tired and woke up with a headache every morning. My GP could not find any irregularities and suggested it was down to stress. I grumbled at that “diagnosis” but did indeed take a vacation. Afterwards everything was back to normal.

#28

I’m no expert on ZC (only been doing it a little over a week), but I have tried a number of different ways of eating over the years, and one of the things I have learned is that for me, for my body, I can definitely eat too much protein.

It has been interesting over the last few days - as I adjust to ZC - that I have noticed the too-much-protein feeling creeping up again. It is a kind of heaviness, a feeling of 'meh’ness, and a disinterest in eating meat again, plus a preoccupation with the skin/fatty parts.

So the last couple of days I have eased back on the meat, and upped the butter, skin, fat. Last night I had around half the meat, and added butter, garlic and cheese with it. And I am feeling better already.

Also, after years of very low carb and cheerfully eating only once or twice a day, I am finding that on ZC my body prefers to eat 2 or 3 times a day. Maybe a way of spreading the protein load? Dunno.

I do know that it is v early days, and I expect things will change, and change again, before they settle.

#29

I don’t think there’s a single way of eating that’s ideal for everyone, but I’ve found ‘zero carb’ to be ideal for me.

I lost all my weight eating very low carb (and counting calories) and have maintained for 8 years, eating <20g a day (closer to 10g). I decided to ‘try’ 30 days of zero, inspired by Amber O’Hearn’s blog, and that was 2 years ago. With zero, no counting anything. I just eat whenever hungry (usually 2-3x a day) and until satisfied. I maintain my weight effortlessly and feel great.

I don’t recommend this to others; I have just found what seems to be ideal for me. I get regular blood tests (hypothyroid), and all my lab values are ideal, so whatever nutrients my body needs it’s getting.

(Kathy L) #30

I’d just simply say, if you don’t feel well, don’t do it…

(Erin Macfarland ) #32

@Mare how much did you eat starting out? How much do you eat now? Did you “hit a wall” so to speak with your energy levels? Are you physically active?

(Erin Macfarland ) #33

I have been experiencing headaches as well!

(Erin Macfarland ) #34

@Brunneria I agree I have noticed things have changed daily for me while transitioning to ZC. Initially I wanted to eat in a similar way to how I’ve eaten on keto, usually fasting 16 to 20 hours a day and wanting fatty steaks when i ate. Then fatty meat became unappealing to me so I ate leaner cuts. Then I starting getting hungrier earlier in the day. I also missed the texture of crunchy things (I’d eat nuts or veggies on keto for this) so I’d start eating an entire bag of pork rinds or cracklings every day. Sometimes I’d want lots of dairy or when I found myself craving something sweet after a meal I would eat sour cream or whipped cream. Throughout this time I still have used salt and taken electrolytes (which are not encouraged on ZC) but I can’t seem to drop the habit of taking them. Lately my hunger has increased dramatically whereas initially I only wanted to eat just over a pound of meat a day now I find myself being able to eat three pounds or more. It’s so different than keto and I’m trying to trust my body. But once I started feeling like sh*t my natural reaction is to figure out what’s going on and if this is working for me.

(Tim W) #35

(Please bear with me, this might take a minute to get to my point):

There’s a guy who does a podcast called keto savage. He and Danny Vega (Danny is also on the keto athlete) did a self experiment where they ate high protein for one month, high fat for one month and a “balanced” keto diet for one month. Both of these guys are hard core exercisers/ketoers/trackers.

They both felt the worst when eating a high protein diet. They felt the best on high fat.

In my experience, if my protein is too high/not matched with high fat, I don’t sleep well, I toss and turn, and I feel like crap for days, until I bump the fats back up to higher levels.

When I’m fasting, I often suffer a period of apathy/mild depression after 72 hours or so. I’ve found that adding some MCT oil, eating an avocado, or a couple of boiled eggs will pep me up (I think it’s due to the cholesterol, I seem to be in need of daily cholesterol intake).

All that being said, I think you might want to increase your fat to mediate the high protein (SondraRose said it first…) and UP your calories. You replied that you eat fatty meat, maybe you could add some MCT oil to your coffee or work in some more olive oil with your eggs? I had to put down a TON of calories yesterday to aid in recovery from a 24 mile training run so I poured olive oil on anything I ate and had a couple of spoon fulls of MCT oil, that might help in your case as well.

Why up your calories? Protein takes a “haircut” (Richard explains it in latest 2KD podcasts) when it’s processed and it may not supply the calories we think it does since some of it is used in the processing of protein (I hope I’ve got that right, someone will correct me if I don’t). So, although you think you might be getting enough cals, maybe try a couple of days of just going gonzo, really consuming as much as you can, see if that bumps the mood?

I’m no expert, just offering my POV from my own experience, readings/listening to podcasts. I hope that you find your triggers and can make it work for you, if that’s the desire. I hope that if I’ve stated anything “wrong” here someone will help me correct it.

Best of luck,

Tim

(Erin Macfarland ) #36

@infromsea you went on a 24 mile training run?? That is amazing…I did listen to the keto savage podcast where they discussed their results from the higher protein protocol. I know that most “vets” of ZC do not advocate adding fat but having been keto I know that favoring fat has helped with my energy levels in the past. I think I will try and go that route to see if it helps, because I certainly don’t want to just keep suffering through and then lose my motivation entirely. Do you do ZC as an endurance athlete? I’d love to hear more about what you’re training for.

(Karen) #37

Talk to a doctor to rule out illness. Also if your pic is current, you appear young. Could you be pregnant? It always exhausted me, and I had one surprise pregnancy.

(Tim W) #38

Oh lord no!

I’m low carb/keto but not ZC, it’s on my list of things to try this year (want to do an eggs and bacon only thing too but that’s for later).

I’m training for the yearly shamrock marathon, which I run without eating before the race, or during, a little bit of water, maybe some salt caps and I’m good. I’ve also done a 31 miler with zero intake, it was a great run. This year, I’m training for a 50 miler next Feb. It will take me all day to do that (50 miles) but it will get done!

I’m not opposed to trying ZC while putting in so many miles but I’d probably take time off from running, adapt to the ZC diet, then start my running protocol again, I don’t like to try too many things at once.

I hope that you gain your motivation again, if the high fat works, please let us know, it will be a good data point for anyone considering it in the future.

(Adam Kirby) #39

If there isn’t some underlying medical reason then I say just cycle to regular keto or whatever. No reason to dogmatically stick to any one way of eating forever IMO.

(Erin Macfarland ) #40

@Keto6468 no chance of pregnancy, as my husband is “fixed” lol and I haven’t been sneaking around with the milk man :wink:

(Karen) #41

Mine fixed that too, but…surprise!!!

Happy surprise!

K

(Erin Macfarland ) #42

Omg don’t scare me, my kids just went back to school after being off for over two weeks for the holidays. No way am I giving up my freedom now ha ha!

#43

As I think I mentioned, with zero, I don’t count anything, so I have no idea how much I’m eating–but it’s a lot more than I was with just very low carb. In fact, I stopped counting because when I started zero, I had enormous cravings for fat, and I added it to everything–buttered burgers and steaks. I knew I’d stop if I counted how many calories I was consuming, but when I weighed after a week, I’d actually lost a few pounds (although I was only trying to maintain).

I am not very active because I’m a ‘senior’ woman with mobility issues, but I haven’t experienced any loss of energy with zero eating. In fact, I had foot surgery last summer and feared gaining through inactivity, but I also knew I need to eat for healing. I ate to hunger, and healed faster than
my surgeon had predicted–and lost 2 lbs although I was in a wheelchair for a month.

(Erin Macfarland ) #44

Amazing!

(CharleyD) #46

It is winter these days… how’s your sunlight exposure?