New to this diet, I have some questions

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #1

I tried to search on the search bar and couldn’t find it.
I’ve been on keto now for 8 days now( Not much, sure. So, maybe what I’m having is just because of the adaptation period)
I’m feeling extremely tired and my concentration is worse than it was when I was eating carbs.
I’m also using Greenwon breathalyzer and it says I’m on keto only in the morning. As soon as I eat, it says I’m not on keto anymore. But I’m just eating eggs, meat, butter, avocado, arugula, nuts, bacon, sardines, olive oil, etc.
And I’m very irritable. I’ve been taking magnesium, putting salt and light sault(potassium) in my waters.
I wonder if I’ll continue like this or things will get better?

(Allie) #2

Need more salt.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #3

Hi and welcome to the Forum …:grinning:
I’m new too so not much help sadly.
I do know everyone can tolerate a different amount of carbs … if you going out of ketosis then somewhere I guess you must have eaten carbs … I can only see them in the nuts!
Things will get better. After a time you should feel great. I actually had moments of euphoria and limitless energy!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #4

Yeah, the Lo Salt is good but … errr 4-6 grams a day I think. seems a lot right?

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #5

This measures alcohol though?

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #6

How do you distribute the salt intake?

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #7

It can measure alcohol but also gives an information if you are in ketosis or not. And it works!

(Bob M) #8

8 days is not a lot. It’ll take at least 2 weeks, and personally I think a month or more if you’re exercising.

That breathalyzer is probably not a great indicator of ketosis. You could also try urine strips, though those only work for a while. But really, if you’re not eating many carbs, you’ll be in ketosis.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #9

The guys here say trust signals from your body, so I salt my food. If it doesn’t taste salty I add more.
I put it on everything because I only eat twice a day.
Your system is now working differently, it’ll take a while to adapt.

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #10

Yeah. Im just trying to figure out how to eat so much salt during the day.

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

First thing to check is how much salt you are getting. Don’t restrict salt; without all the carbohydrate in your diet, you are excreting more sodium. So you can increase your intake without fear.

Second thing to check is how much you are eating. Eat as little carbohydrate as you can manage, under 20 g/day is best. Also completely avoid sugar, grains, and starches. With that low a carb intake, you can afford to eat enough food to satisfy your hunger. It will take a lot at first, but then, if you have extra fat to get rid of, your appetite will drop to a level that allows you to digest both the fat you eat and some of your extra stored fat. Without the glucose in carbs, fat becomes our main source of energy. Keep eating enough protein (meat, fish, dairy, or whatever), too; but you were probably eating enough before and won’t need to make much of a change there. Just be sure to eat enough fat to keep your energy up (and it takes a lot less fat than carbohydrate to get the same number of calories.)

So eat low carb, keep up the salt, and get enough protein and fat. You’ll be fine. Keep calm, and keto on!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

Salt can come from food as well as from a salt shaker, so you might not need to add as much as you think. Just don’t fear it, the way they tell us to. But you don’t need to go overboard, either.

There is a sweet spot, I find. Too little salt, and I get constipated and my migraines com back. Too much, and I start having diarrhoea. With a little experimentation, you’ll find your sweet spot, too. But if you taste some salt and it tastes bad, spit it out. That means you’ve already had more than enough.

#13

Too much of any salt is fatal. K can induce cardiac arrest.

Check your sources, have your bloods done.

This is starting to get weird.

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #14

So, today I was feeling so bad, I threw up all my lunch. I can’t sustain it. Maybe i transitioned too fast from carbs to strict keto? I may try to do a low carb diet first.

#15

Yeah- take it slower, see if that works for you.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #16

Defo Tarik.
To start I had nausea, had headaches, felt weak, got cramps … would I go high carb again? No way.

#17

Maybe that’s the way for you.
I only felt awful when I tried keto too early, very strongly physically missed my carbs (I only needed a little more)… So I quit on day #1. I don’t do things I don’t enjoy if possible, you see.
I had success with low-carb afterwards, it was really great, effortless, I only won!
But I “grew it out” and tried keto again. And it went smoothly that time. There was some hardship but not much and it’s not like I don’t have eating hardships when I eat any other way, sometimes it happen.
I had much carbs even on keto though :slight_smile: 40g net and unlimited total. But I only could do that much without feeling super restricted (where I just quit immediately).
Later I went lower and I start to feel I am close to my final destination :wink:
(But I never will go below 20g for long term I suppose. Very close to carnivore will be enough for me.)

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #18

Thanks for your answer. May I ask what you were eating in your low carb diet( not keto)?

(Tárik Ng Dabbous) #19

I’ve read it’s common to feel thirsty on a keto diet. I don’t feel thirsty at all. It’s even kinda hard to drink water. This weird.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #20

Listen to your body. The message to stay hydrated got hijacked by sport drink manufacturers, and now runners are winding up in the hospital from over-hydrating. Dr. Tim Noakes, who started the hydration fad, has had to revise his advice to “drink to thirst.”

So listen to your body. It won’t let you starve, and it won’t let you die of thirst.