Low stamina

#1

Hi everybody

Quick background… I’ve been trying out keto for maybe a year and learning about how and what to cook. And during thet time I had a few periods were I tested things and got out of ketosis. It takes me about 3 to 4 days to get back in keto after a few days of csebs so I’m pretty lucky that way…i think.

The past 20 weeks I’ve been pretty strict and keto has been working great weight wise with a total of 15kg (33lbs)

I got all the extras in my cabinet like mct oils, potassium powder, magnesium powder, coconut oil etc… I even take some alive all day vitamins for some extra veggies…

My biggest concern is thst my stamina is totally gone. I used to play basketball about 45min none stop and still have energy left and now I do a couple of court runs and I almost have to sit down and rest for a minute or two…

The main difference is that I also kinda do an OMAD with a caloric defect. Balck Coffee around 6am, coffee with some cream around 8am, lunch around 12 typically some meat, eggs, cheese, almond flour bread mayo contraption… But generally about 1200 to 1500kcal I would guess.

I should drink more water and probably get a little more potassium in me each day… But would that really kill my stamina so much?

Just trying here haha…

Cheers

(Janelle) #2

Welcome to the forums. Maybe to have more energy, you need more food. That would be my first guess. You don’t say how much you still have to lose, how tall you are or whether are a man or woman but unless you’re fairly small, your calories are very low to have anything extra for exercise.

(Robert C) #3

Long term OMAD can become viewed by the body as calorie restriction.

This might lead to stamina problems because your body stops getting calories from your fat stores and instead tries to lower metabolism to match the lower calorie level.

You might be in for a seemingly unexplainable weight rebound.

If this is happening it is best to become inconsistent - several 2000+ calorie days and then skip a day of eating or some 3000 calorie days and a few 800 calorie days mixed in. Make your body pull from fat stores with unpredictable input vs. slow down with restricted daily calories.

#4

Wow this is what I call an active forum… Im so impressed thanks guys!

Haha so sorry I got so exited about sharing for once with some people who actually are on keto and live it.

I’m 194cm about 6’4, 89kg so… 196lbs and I’m a 43 summer old man…wow sounds old when I wrote it like that, I feel more like 24 in my head haha. I used to be a dancer up to my 20s and got good size thighs and muscles but years of office work kinda replaced it with a nice thick although well formed layer of fat.

I probably got another 20-25lbs of fat and my goal would probably be to loose 10 of those and gain 10 in muscles…

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

The closer you get to your goal weight, the more slowly the weight is going to come off. That’s the first thing to remember. Your caloric intake is not important if you are eating to satiety, but you are likely to have trouble if you are picking an arbitrary number and limiting yourself to that. Even on very little carbohydrate, the body is reluctant to dispose of excess fat if it thinks there is a famine going on. Fasting, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game.

How much energy you will have depends on whether you are fat-adapted or not. From your story, I wonder if it’s possible that you are not quite fat-adapted yet, in which case your performance will suffer until you are. But once you are, you should notice a significant improvement in performance.

#6

I did try something yesterday and it kinda worked. I took a whole teaspoon potassium chloride in a glas of water before I played basketball and I didn’t get the extreme fatigue I got before. I actually managed to play a full game to my surprise. However I did get tired but not the exhaustion I felt before… So the extra potassium definitely helped

Thanks

#7

Glad you’re feeling better but just a heads up - you need to be careful with potassium supplementation. Too much can mess with your heart rhythm in a major way. If you keep your sodium in check then you shouldn’t need more than 1/2 tsp or so of lite salt per day - preferably in two separate doses of 1/4 tsp.

#8

Yeah I have read about it quite a bit, but the amount of potassium you actually need per day is scary almost… No way anybody on any diet can get 3000mg for a man and about 2000mg for a woman… A full tsp of NOW potassium chloride is about 2900mg and I mostly forget it… So from now on I’ll at least get 1/2 a tsp a day… Or ill try at least…

I tried making a shake of a filipino type spinach to get it naturally… The whole 3000mg…belive me it was a fight I ended up with a quart of thick green slime and still it wasn’t the full recommends daily amount…

Anyway ill keep testing a few things…i do find it so hard now to eat more then once a day… I’m so used to a nice lunch and a few peanuts for dessert… Hard to eat more…

#9

Just so long as you’re aware of the risks :slightly_smiling_face:

#10

Yes tpu are absolutely right… I don’t like drinking salt water to much anyway haha

Thanks

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

If you keep your sodium intake at the right level, it will help you maintain your potassium level as well. The mechanism that regulates one interlocks with the mechanism that regulates the other. Same for magnesium and calcium, too, is my understanding.

I don’t know any studies that show this, but I suspect we’ll find out that on a truly healthy diet (i.e., ignoring government recommendations for a start), we have no need of supplements. After all, supplements have been around for 150 years, maximum, whereas the human race is a couple of million years old. . . .

#12

You’re absolutely right… The problem is that most of what you buy now a days is processed and as you said a short time ago (150 years) nothing was processed as well… And it takes a little effort to stsy fairly healthy in this climate of over processing.

And I can say I’m an addict to all this cornsyrup infused processed foods so it is and has been a fight trying to detox my taste buds from all the sweetness.

Luckily I have seen a huge increase in keto friendly products and hopefully soon larger food companies like Unilever and the likes start making keto products… Lets hope…

(Katie) #13

That is quite low. When the body has a low-caloric intake, it holds on to weight/fat because it does not know when it is going to get enough nutrition. Perhaps try adding higher caloric days, or increasing calories a week at a time. Look at information for “reverse dieting”. You will be able to have more calories, which may help your energy levels, and it will let your body know that it does not need to hold on to weight to protect itself.

(Carl Keller) #14

Most of us have been there. Big Food actually uses a lot of science to manipulate our senses, our hormones, our health and our wallets. Keto is the best way to say “enough is enough”.

I think it’s more like insane how much potassium they recommend. I would have to eat 4 avocados or 8 bananas (which I won’t) or 100 grams of nuts or 5 salmon filets every day to hit the RDA. I also think 95% of people don’t even get half the RDA, on any diet. The exception would be people who farm or raise the above mentioned items With that being said, if you can get 40%+ potassium RDA (wihout supplements) you are way ahead in the mineral game.

#15

Thank God it’s not only my thinking this potassium amount is ridiculous… I’ll experiment a little with the levels. Although I have to say that the almost full tsp the other day I took before a game of basketball did help a lot…

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

Don’t forget the ultimate keto-friendly products: beef, pork, duck, goose, chicken (with the skin on), goat, lamb, butter, heavy cream, and of course, BACON! :bacon::bacon:

#17

Hahaha Paul of course! I’ve really gotten a thing for fatcrust now… Making my own pizzas, tortillas with all kind of meaty toppings… Really great as I’m a bread fanatic and the mozzarela in the dough really makes it feel like regular bread :bread:

But yes… Where I’m at its chicken and pork thst rules… Beef here is sad and chewy… But I won’t complain life is good I’m about to go for a morning basket game and I just downed 1/2 tsp of potassium chloride and 1/2 tsp of magnesium with some lime juice and a few drops of sucralose…

Have a great day!

(Mike W.) #18

Just be careful about carbs in fathead and other “bread” substitutes. Almond flour is notoriously high.

#19

Yeah… I have a breathalyzer the cheap one $5 to check my levels and I usually don’t use more than 1/2 cup in any meal and I do OMAD so I don’t think I over do it… But thanks for the tip. I have basically stopped counting macros and just go with a gut feeling. Counting Macros takes away too much from the joy of eating. So I just check my breath once a day or so… That is if I feel I have gone over on something.

Girlfriend has her birthday on Sunday so I’m about to make my first keto chocolate cake and top it with some keto ice cream hahaha. pretty sure I’ll go over my carbs that day but with a little luck it will only be with a little and I’ll get back in the horse on Monday

Cake

And keto connected ice cream

(Mike W.) #20

[quote="Zozew, post The main difference is that I also kinda do an OMAD with a caloric defect. Balck Coffee around 6am, coffee with some cream around 8am, lunch around 12 typically some meat, eggs, cheese, almond flour bread mayo contraption… But generally about 1200 to 1500kcal I would guess.
[/quote]

This doesn’t really sound like OMAD unless I’m misreading something…