I have been on keto for five weeks and have felt unwell for most of those five weeks. I have zero energy. A headache and generally feel low.
I’m a 55 year old woman and have about 14 pounds more to lose. I’ve lost 14 in the first three weeks then nothing since.
Any ideas where I’m going wrong. I was hoping for the energy burst that others talk about. Not sure how much longer I can continue like this.
Please help!
I sometimes wonder how much of that 14 pounds of weight lost might be muscle, not body fat but then again it is said the more body fat you have the less muscle is catabolized but only if the weight loss is slow?
Sudden weight loss usually indicates glycogen stores have been depleted and skeletal muscle volume is still in the process of eating itself?
How any one could lose that amount of body fat in such a short amount of time seems impossible to me?
References:
[1] What Is the Required Energy Deficit Per Unit Weight Loss?
[2] Effects of Resistance vs. Aerobic Training Combined With an 800 Calorie Liquid Diet on Lean Body Mass and Resting Metabolic Rate: Conclusion: The addition of an intensive, high volume resistance training program resulted in preservation of LBW and RMR during weight loss with a VLCD. …More
I think it’s fair to say that a lot of that 14 pounds would be water.
I just really expected to feel a bit more ‘normal’ by week 5!!
I am perfectly sure keto isn’t for everyone. But I can’t say if it’s for you. 5 weeks time isn’t much and so many things can affect your well-being.
Keto is totally for me but I never felt I would have more energy or clearer mind, they are just common in ketosis but not everyone gets them. Ketosis feels about the same for me. Fat adaptation changed things and that took more than 5 weeks.
Another thing. I felt AWFUL on keto so I quit on the first or second day when I first tried it. I am a hedonist, I don’t suffer willingly. But after a long time on low-carb, keto was easy and nice. If you come from high-carb and not just that but your food items were really bad for you and you have lots of addictions to carby food, I expect a hard time even if keto is for you.
I lost 4lbs water and nothing else in my first 7 weeks. Keto doesn’t guarantee fat-loss. I was hungry and ate a lot, of course I lost nothing (water doesn’t count) but I felt very good. Maybe losing a lot is part of the reason you have little energy, who knows? But maybe it’s just the changes that keto brought, they are serious. Everyone is different, our circumstances are different too, of course we don’t experience the same things. We don’t eat the same either on keto.
If it’s not very bad, be a bit more patient - but I would tweak something regarding my food. Other items, more calories…
I’ve heard someone who was super hungry and unwell keto after months and zillion others who liked keto. It should be rare that keto is bad and a part of the cases surely have some other problems, not ketosis itself. Keto is “too effective” for some people and they are starving, of course they don’t feel well. There are electrolyte problems. Maybe some important nutrient is missing. And some people need a longer time to get used to the changes. A more damaged body probably has more problems…
Thanks for this. I can honestly say I was super addicted to carbs and sugar. I don’t think I ate a bad diet but from a keto perspective it was very much carb loaded.
I guess it’s a massive change and I will stick with it - and I think you’re right I need to review what I’m eating because I’m reaching 20g of carbs but my calories are way down. So could be I’m not choosing wisely. Back to the drawing board.
Fingers crossed it gets better soon.
Full keto-adaptation generally takes six to eight weeks, so give yourself a bit more time. Also consider whether you are allowing yourself enough protein, as lack of energy can be a symptom of needing more food. More fat will also help. We strongly recommend eating to satisfy hunger, not to some arbitrary caloric target, because the body responds better in all sorts of ways when properly nourished. As long as carbohydrate intake is low enough, you can trust your appetite to guide you to how much to eat. In any case, if you wish to follow the recommendations of an app, be sure to set it to Maintenance, which will raise your caloric target to something more reasonable.
Your mention of headache makes me wonder if you are getting enough electrolytes. The kidneys excrete sodium more readily in the absence of dietary carbohydrate, and insufficient sodium levels can throw of levels of magnesium, potassium, and calcium, as the body tries to compensate. Ignore government recommendations for salt intake, as they have been shown to be woefully low.
I’ve just started taking electrolytes again - I got scared because my bp went crazy high in the first week and I put this down to too much sodium. Stopped taking electrolytes and it returned to normal. So now trying again. Hoping it was just the change in diet! I’ve also started drinking boullion- see if that helps.
Fingers crossed the above help.
Thanks for the advice.
@Lisamariap Welcome to the forum. You will get much valuable advice and suggestions from experienced and knowledgeable folks. I would only add to what’s already been said that keto is a long term metabolic normalization process, not a quick weight/fat loss diet, although normalization of weight usually occurs as well. Lots of stuff happens when you start keto and all at the same time. Frequently, other stuff takes precedence over weight/fat loss. There’s a lot to get fixed and your metabolism fixes it by its priorities not your conscious wishes or expectations. Stay sub-20 grams of carbs to remain in ketosis as consistently as possible and good things will happen. Just maybe not as fast or exactly the way you want or expect.
As others have mentioned, most likely an issue with electrolytes:
Sounds typical to me:
https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq#wiki_what_will_my_weight_loss_progress_look_like.3F
You dropped a lot of water weight because as you went into ketosis, your glycogen stores dwindled, and all the water bound to the glycogen was released. That sometimes can cause the “keto flu” (i.e. electrolyte imbalance) , because some electrolytes can get “flushed out” with all that water.
It takes time to lose (or gain) a pound of fat (or muscle).
I’m a bit older than you but it took me 3 months to lose 20 lbs, another 6 months to lose 10 more lbs and another 9 months to lose the last 10 lbs.
So you are doing fine!
Baby steps. Why don’t you just start with cutting out all wheat, Rice, potatoes, other grains. Ride that for a while. Eat leafy green vegetables, moderate protein, and some animal fats. Maybe you jumped in too hard
