New’ish To Keto, Having Trouble


(Rj Marvin) #1

Hi All -

I’m very glad I’ve found this site! A lot of great information. Until now I’ve been relying on Facebook groups which seem to be more spam related than helpful.

Im hitting a wall, and could use some pointers.

I’m 40. 276lb down from 326. 15 of that is from Keto, which I started 8.5 weeks ago.
On thanksgiving I ate some pie and I have felt like trash literally ever since.

It seems like no matter what I do I can’t get back into ketosis. I’m lethargic. My joints hurt. Today i woke up to find that I am terribly constipated w/ flu symptoms.
I have also been stalled on the scale and tape measure for 4 weeks.

I drink almost a gallon of water a day. Sometimes with MIO sport for electrolytes. I do use crystal light in my standard water.

My food is essentially meats, some salads, and cheese. (I’m stopping the cheese because I’m blaming the constipation on that)

I’m 6’2” and I consume about 2000 calories a day. I go to the gym 3-4 days a week, light cardio and weights. I aim for 500-700 calories burned at the gym.

With all this. I’m just lost. For a while I had the clarity I had the good mood, and the energy! I was losing and feeling good. Then…everything stopped.

Just looking for pointers. I do not want to give up on this lifestyle.


(Jack Bennett) #2

The thing that jumps out at me is the calorie count: 2000 sounds pretty low for your height and weight. Are you eating to satiety with sufficient fat and protein?


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #3

Welcome, sorry you’re feeling bad. First off, many notice less happening in the BM department because we’re eating less junk and less often. Are you truly constipated, or just not going as often or on your previous schedule.

Secondly, are you sure you aren’t just getting sick?

If not, it looks like you’re pretty physical. Are you eating enough to match your level of activity?

Finally, some people have trouble with the artificial sweeteners found in MIO and Crystal Lite. Maybe you could switch to flavored iced tea or just water to see. They give me aches and pains, for example, like if I had a carb fest with sugar (and the worst heartburn).

Hope you feel better soon.


(Rj Marvin) #4

Valid question. No joke as I was typing that I thought “that sounds low dude” and then did a little calorie calculator app and see I should be somewhere around 2500 a day. Could be an issue, especially why I’m so lethargic.


(Rj Marvin) #5

Ohhhhhh I’m constipated alright! Very painful.
Weird it happed today and I’ve been steady on the keto for a few months.

Good tip on the sweetener. I should go strictly water.


(Windmill Tilter) #6

Welcome to the forum!

Tldr: Stop exercising, stop tracking calories. Stay under 20 carbs/day, and eat simple keto foods (no processed foods) to satiety until you’re fat adapted and keto feels effortless. Once keto feels effortless, and you’ve got energy to spare, add a single day of exercise back in. Continue to add complexity until your weight loss stalls completely. Reduce complexity until weight loss resumes.

Here is my two cents:

The most important thing in keto is eating to satiety. Exercise and carb-free sweeteners scramble satiety signals for many people. If your satiety signals aren’t working properly, eating to satiety is like following a broken compass. You get nowhere.

In your case, you’re not even eating to satiety so you’re already going in the wrong direction. On top of that you’re eating carb free sweeteners that make the body expect a nice dose of carbs that it never gets. On top of that you’re exercising 4 times per week. Even worse, you’ve switched fuels from carbs to fat, so you’re body is gasping to supply energy from a fuel it barely remembers how to use, and it can’t even recover properly before you attack it with an elliptical again. No wonder you’re worn out and stalled!

Here is what I would do if I were in your shoes:

Stop exercising completely until you are fat adapted and your satiety signals are working properly. You’re demanding way too much of your body and it’s starting to fight back. Stop eating to a calorie target. Eat until you achieve satiety. Once you’re body decides you can be trusted not to starve it to death or wear it into the ground, it’ll settle down and stop fighting you. This is good, because it has 1 billion years of practice managing energy balance, and it has complete control of your endocrine systems including your metabolism. That’s not a fight you want to pick. You’ll probably drop a few more pounds, but in 12-18 months you’ll wake up at 335lbs again wondering wtf happened like the other 99.9% of people who pick a fight with their metabolism and eat to a arbitrary calorie target, lose 100lbs and promptly regain 110lbs. Eat to satiety until you start losing slowly but steadily. Really.

If you don’t enjoy exercise, I don’t think you should be doing it all at this stage of the game. Losing weight while exercising is like skipping algebra and going straight to calculus; some folks can pull it off, but most just end up confused and frustrated. Start with simple and add complexity once you’re able.

If you love exercise so much that you can’t imagine life without it, here is what I would recommend. Once you’ve been on keto for at least another month eating under 20 total (not net) carbs per day, reintroduce whatever exercise you enjoy the most one day per week. Keep eating to satiety. If one day of exercise completely stalls your weight loss, you get to choose between weight loss and exercise. On the other hand if your weight loss continues unabated for a few weeks with one day of exercise, add in another day of exercise that you really enjoy. Continue to do so until you have as much exercise you enjoy, or your weight loss stalls completely. Reduce exercise until weight loss resumes.

If you want to make life really easy, don’t buy any food with more than one ingredient. Don’t eat anything sweet regardless of how many carbs it has. Don’t cook things that are “keto” versions of things that got you into this mess in the first place (keto pizza, keto fudge, etc). Wait until you’re losing weight at a slow and steady pace, and keto feels effortless before you start experimenting with such things.

That’s my two cents. There are 1000 ways to do keto successfully though, and a lot of valid perspectives. Take the specific advice above with a grain of salt, but I think the general advice to start simple and add complexity slowly is reasonably sound. Good luck!


(Windmill Tilter) #7

Here is a simple recipe that might be helpful for you; it’s the secret weapon of the folks on here who do a bit of extended fasting (>24hrs) and need to maintain hydration and electrolyte balance.

I’ve been using it all year and it’s really helped me to maintain electrolyte balance. It’s basically homemade gatorade. The magnesium source is actually intended to be a saline laxative (the intended dose is a full bottle, the recipe calls for only 1/2tbsp). It actually tastes fantastic, and you’ve got to be careful with it (as I found out the hard way), adding even a tsp too much will send you to the WC in a hurry. I’m not suggesting that you use keto aide as a laxative, just that it seems to balance electrolytes and keeps folks regular with an extremely modest dose of an essential salt. It might be helpful to you in the short term while you’re getting fat adapted and electrolytes are finding a new equilibrium. :slight_smile:


(Scott) #8

It took me three months to get back to having workout energy. Keep it simple and give it time.
Limit carbs.
No sweeteners of any kind.
Lots of quality fats.
Drink water, coffee or scotch. Okay the last one is not required.
Don’t count calories
No snacking even if keto snacks.
Exercise if you like but you may feel sluggish at first. Stop or power through it.
Give it time before you make big changes.
KCKO


(Rj Marvin) #9

Electrolytes have been an issue. I’m going to look into the ketoade.

Lots of great advice on here. Really happy I found this site!


(Allie) #10

Stop the water, drink to thirst only.
Keep salt up.


(Windmill Tilter) #11

Same here! This site has some really great people that have helped me ton all year long. I love how positive and supportive folks are and how little drama and nastiness there is (compared to most of the interwebs…).

One great resource you should consider availing yourself of is Dr. Fung’s book “The Obesity Code”. I’ve read lots of books, and tried lots of things, but Dr. Fung’s book is far and away the best book I’ve read on the subject of what actually works and why it works. If keto feels like a good fit for you, I really recommend picking up a copy; you won’t be disappointed. Dr. Fung is the man!