Keto week 6 feeling horrible

(Sarah Elizabeth) #1

I am 15 years old and have been on keto for about 6 weeks and my first week I lost about 10lbs and haven’t lost anything since really and no inches lost either. The past week I have been super tired and irritable and today I have been super dizzy and lethargic. I have a ketone breathalyzer and it has been above .20 which means that I’m definitely in ketosis. I have been eating about 1400 calories per day with 5% being carbs 75% fat and 20% protein. I don’t know if I am somehow adapting to keto like two months in or if it just doesn’t work for me. Any help would be much appreciated

(Kimberley) #2

I’m new to this. Not quite 3 weeks in, but I’ve done quite a bit of reading on Keto Flu and supplements that are suggested to help. If you google that maybe some of the symptoms will resonate with you. I also use the KetoDiet app and was surprised by hidden carbs in my food choices. Neither of those may be what you are experiencing personally, but taking supplements and using the calculator has helped me. Good luck!

#3

Sounds like your electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) may need a boost. I’m sure a more knowledgeable person will be on shortly.

1400 cal is low. Don’t be afraid to eat more (much more) if you are feeling weak or tired.
At 15 years, I wouldn’t track calories or keep a ridgid macro goal as your body is going to need more or less depending on what’s going on at the moment (growth spurt, hormone cycle, and all that other shitty stuff that goes along with being a 15 yo female.)

If you can learn to trust your body signals at this point in the game, you’ll have developed a life skill that the rest of us would envy.

(Doug) #4

THIS. :slightly_smiling_face: And…

THAT (again), considering you’re a teenager. 6 weeks may not be enough to get fat-adapted all the way. Sarah, you may not be getting enough calories, and you’re feeling it.

Agreed.

#5

My 2 cents…
EAT more during mealtime.
Keep your carbs low and feast. Drink water and get salt and electrolytes.

Just remember if you’re hungry eat a MEAL until you are satisfied. Don’t snack.

(Ron) #6

Read this. It will help explain.
https://www.perfectketo.com/keto-micronutrients/

(Sarah Elizabeth) #7

thank you so much for the help!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

Some of what you are experiencing is low sodium. Recent research has demonstrated that people are healthier when they are eating about twice as much salt as the dietary guidelines recommend, and on top of that, our kidneys excrete sodium at a higher rate when we stop eating all that carbohydrate.

The other part of what you are experiencing is lack of enough protein. At 15 years of age, you are in the middle of your growth spurt. You need more protein than we normally recommend to adults, because you are adding bone and muscle. If you continue to keep your carbohydrate low, increase your protein, and add enough fat to satisfy you for a few hours between meals, then you are giving your body the energy and the raw materials it needs to be happy. It will take all your extra fat off the places where it shouldn’t be, build your bones and muscles, and put fat in all those lovely places where it belongs.

Just a bit of science, to help you understand: eating carbohydrate keeps insulin high, which promotes fat storage in all the wrong places, so keeping carbohydrate to a minimum allows that excess fat to be burned. But the body also needs enough calories to do its job, and fat, which stimulates insulin the least, is actually the safest source of calories, if you don’t want to gain weight. Given enough calories, the body can find lots of things to spend energy on, and it will burn both the fat in the diet and any excess stored fat in the process.

So keep your salt intake up and don’t go hungry!