I've looked but haven't seen a post about extreme lethargy

[coffeekittie]

Shout out to you! My story has some big similarities. Fatty fish is great, and the dark meat w/skin of poultry works too.

[CaptainKirk]

Are you measuring your blood glucose and ketone levels?

here’s my first blush take:

1. You are eating ENOUGH Carbs to release insulin, which is DEPRIVING you access to your fat stores.
2. I would try IF (Intermittent Fasting), and do a FAT FAST (1-2 foods ONLY for 1-3 days until you are bored to death with them), and then FAST
3. Here’s the thing. If you feel BETTER (more energy fasted), then it is MOST LIKELY an insulin response to ANY food. Insulin turns OFF your access to your fat cells.

And if that is the case, I would use OMAD and a more carnivore diet, but certainly OMAD. Reduce those insulin hits. One meal of suffering. And about 5-7 hrs BEFORE bed, so you sleep better. Which reduces stress/cortisol, and lowers your future insulin responses!

You’ve got this!

[ketoandabs]

Do you drink coffee or black/green tea? I don’t think it is always a good habit, because caffeine can have many unwanted sideeffects, but a Cup in the morning can be very helpful to overcome those keto fatigue.

I had the same problem for seven weeks. I was soo tired and weak all day, every movement was a big challenge.

It got better when I
-decreased magnesium (in my case I think I overdosed it, but you may have a deficit, if you haven’t supplemented yet)
-stopped eating so much cheese and almonds (what leads to less snacking!)
-started drinking some coffee

[KBG]

@Skrdykat Welcome. You are only 1 1/2 weeks into this. Please be patient. The extreme fatigue, for me, is normal. I’ve gone on and off keto a number of times and always have days of fatigue. This is your first time and your body has not learned how to use fat for fuel. It is still looking for sugar. And it’s desperately trying to convince you to give it some. (That’s how I think of it anyway. Don’t give in!) Fat adaptation, from most reports here on the forum, takes around 6-8 weeks. From my experience, the fatigue doesn’t last that entire time but there are definitely difficult days in there until the body adjusts and easily uses fat for fuel. I’d recommend accepting that this will be a bit difficult and doing all you can to prepare for your days and set yourself up for success. Definitely eat whenever hungry. You already know what to eat. Have plenty of keto foods available all around you including some quick foods that don’t require cooking time. For me, cheese for snacks early on when getting through adaptation is a must. For some reason my body just needs and craves it. Oftentimes hunger would hit and fatigue would set in kind of abruptly, making it difficult to prepare a nice meal. This is when the quick foods come in handy. I also rely on things like bratwursts or sausages or quality hot dogs for a quick emergency meal. Then, usually about a month in, I’m fine and cut back or completely cut out the cheese. By that point I’ve settled in to a meal routine that is getting the proper amount of fuel in me to last until the next meal and also my body has adjusted to look to fat as fuel rather than carbs so the energy crashes are less frequent and eventually non existent. The salt recommendations above are a must too. I found that drinking bouillon really helped. I keep beef bouillon around and make it like a cup of coffee.
Good luck and just stick with it. If you push through the difficulty, you will see the benefits.

[KetoCancerMom]

In case it hasn’t been posted yet…

Keto Is This Easy

Keto is this easy (aka Keto for beginners) Quick Version This is for Phase One—the starter phase. It’s still not complicated later, but this is the really easy-to-explain version which will help you no end. Eat under 20g of carbs a day (usually 20g net when starting, but for some people 20g total carbs works better). Don’t worry about the scale. All it tells you is weight, it tells you nothing about body composition, even the “smart” scales. Eat plenty of good food—fat and protein—whil…

I wouldn’t jump into any fasting, fat or otherwise, at this point. You are still transitioning from a carb-burner to a fat-burner.

I suggest using either:
Chronometer or
CarbManager

to track what you are eating. Have you done any tracking? There are lots of hidden carbs everywhere, and they can be very sneaky. It’s also possible to think you are eating right and then discover that it’s all wrong.

If you are willing to share a day or two of what you ate and how much we can help see if changes should be made.

If you can increase fat at meals then you might not be so hungry in between.

Also, checking your glucose and ketones isn’t necessary for many people.