No longer feeling Euphoria on Keto

(Kelly Silverman) #1

Hey guys, I remember when I first started Keto there would be certain times during the day when I would begin to feel “euphoric”… It would just kick in so to speak. Sometimes after a workout, sometimes while walking… one time while shopping. I remember I’d have so much energy it would hard to sleep! :raised_hands:

My plight is, this is my 4th month on Keto and I notice I haven’t felt like that in these last TWO months :thinking:

I’m wondering if the euphoric feeling just wears off after awhile… OR is it because I’m not as STRICT as I once was when I started. And I was seriously STRICT.
OF course I’m not eating sugar, but I have discovered making Keto desserts with swerve, almond flour etc etc

What are y’all thoughts?

(Robert C) #2

Stop doing that and see if the euphoria returns?

Those things might be Keto from a macro perspective but, you are still putting heavily refined, processed and chemical laden “food” in your body.

You might find that the euphoria was not due to something you ate on Keto but instead was due to the absence processed / fake foods.

#3

Could also be that it has become more ur default feeling so theres no contrast, feeling good all the time. :upside_down_face:

(Kelly Silverman) #4

Dammit!! I kinda figured that Robert! I almost hate I discovered them and now I understand why alot of people aren’t big on Keto dessert because, some may eat them more often than they should.

I do miss that feeling, so its just time to get back to basics and be strict. I remember being so strict in the beginning that I shocked my own self with the discipline I had.

(Kelly Silverman) #5

I’d like to think so!! :joy: LoL

But I haven’t been feeling extremely energetic either. Honestly, I had begin to “scale back” on the fat because I wanted to force my body to use its OWN fat, however after researching… I came to the realization that perhaps I wasn’t providing my body with ENOUGH fat :thinking::thinking:
Fat=Fuel

(Kristen Ann) #6

For me I only get that feeling when my ketone levels are really high. Might explain why you feel that way after working out or walking… Do you get that feeling after fasting?

(Kelly Silverman) #7

I don’t! Unless I haven’t fasted long enough :thinking:
The other day I fasted for at least 18 hours and didn’t get that feeling. So it could be the working out.

I’m definitely cutting out the Keto desserts though. I’m going to start there.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #8

May I suggest:

(less is more, more or less) #9

I like the cut of @RobC’s thinking, but with a small tweak. If you come from the standard American diet, and depending for how long you’ve been under its spell, you’ve lost the ability to listen and assess your body’s needs. For example, some people here swear that artificial sweetener is as bad, or worse than, sugar. I don’t care to argue the merits of either side of this debate. I can say, however, that I enjoy small daily amounts (1 - 2 teaspoons a day) of sweetener without negative consequence. I respect that others don’t eat it and experience difficulty with it. Find your own preference and what is sustainable for you.

So, as @RobC asks, what’s changed and what you should try differently, and see how it goes. 2 years in, and I’m still trying new things or shaking things up. (All while sticking to Page Four, of course. That’s proven to be non-negotiable. Again, that’s just me.)

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #10

I’d just like to add that your OP is a beautiful example of defining something primarily in terms of subjective experience. You can read similar accounts all over this forum. “Since I started keto I feel x or y”. Or: “Since I started keto I don’t feel x or y”. Please don’t misunderstand: I am not discounting subjective experience. Positive personal experience is a strong motivation. The problem is, feelings change and if you place too much emphasis on them your motivation can die along with the good feelings.

You’re in 4 months and you’ve “lost that loving feeling…” Rest assured others have lost it, too. That’s when you fall back on more objective criteria. If you are consistently eating sub-20 grams of carbs per day, you ARE in ketosis whether or not it feels like it did last week or last month. You can confirm that you are in ketosis by urine, blood and/or breath tests that are easily made. If you’re doing keto to lose weight you can use a scale, calipers and tape measure to verify.

Hang in there. Feelings come and go. Don’t get attached. Enjoy the good experiences and learn from the not so good ones. The long-term benefits of keto far outweigh any short-term ups and downs of transitory feelings.

(mole person) #11

I have to be in deep ketosis for both the euphoria and the high energy. All sorts of things will mess it up including keto treats and overdoing protein.

(Kelly Silverman) #12

Extremely good point! :raised_hands:

(Kelly Silverman) #13

Extremely good point and I’m going to take that into consideration this week as well

(Jennibc) #14

" I remember I’d have so much energy it would hard to sleep! " That almost sounds like mania or hypomania unless the hard to sleep is an exaggeration.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #15

Save this for special occasions, holidays birthday etc. If you want to make something keep a couple of portions out and freeze the rest. Have one occasionally but eat it with a meal, not as a snack.

If you can completely leave them behind that’s good but if you feel like you’re about to get off the keto way and it helps you stay on track that’s okay. KETO has to be sustainable so you can stay with it for the long haul. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Carl Keller) #16

For me, I was so used to feeling like crap that when I began LCHF and started to feel normal, it felt amazing and euphoric. Every day was a cause for celebration and I look back and call it my honeymoon phase.

My theory is that part of the euphoria is caused by an increased amount of adrenaline. I believe this adenaline is given to us because our bodies sense that we are losing lots of body fat and is encouraging us to stop it. It says “Here’s an extra boost to go out and hunt us something to eat!”. It doesn’t know that we are fat and can afford to lose a substantial amount. It’s just trying to reverse the trend.

Once our weight loss stabilizes or slows down enough for our bodies to give a sigh of relief, we get less hormonal encouragment and we go from feeling like Batman to feeling more like Robin. I’m ok with that. It sure beats feeling miserable. :bat:

(Kelly Silverman) #17

Agreed! Next time I make something (like cheesecake) I’ll freeze the rest.

And I’ve actually been doing decent in that area David once I found out that almond flour was flammatory.

(Edgar) #18

There may be something to it having to do with artificial sweeteners. I have been hitting the artificial zero-carb drinks heavily and I’ve also come to realize that I don’t have quite the energy/clarity I used to when I was stricter.

I’m like a year behind on my podcast catalogue and I just came up on a Keto Talk episode with special guest Dr. Nally (around the time of the Keto Cure book release) and I remember when he was the co-host of the podcast that he always used to say that his blood ketone levels were never really high and he just chalked it up to people being different, he always hovered around .5 to .7 mm and he also had a big Diet Dr. Pepper vice. Well in this episode he talked about giving up Diet Dr. Pepper and about 3 months later he started getting constantly high ketone readings in the 2.5 - 3.5 mm range . He said that, according to some studies released around that time, even though artificial sweeteners may not cause an insulin spike that they can still affect the gut bacteria and inhibit their ability to use insulin and glucose. He was basically just talking about sweeteners’ effect on his blood ketone levels and how after giving his gut a rest from the sweeteners he was finally hitting those high readings that always evaded him, he didn’t really quantify his before and after “performance” if you will, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re at the root of our less than optimal state.

(Kelly Silverman) #19

I that settles it. I need to leave the sweetner alone. I’m thinking that’s the direct link between not having that laser sharp clarity and I do miss that.

And I understand we’re all different… absolutely. Some of us can get away with certain foods while others cannot.

But leaving the sweetners alone is definitely a start and I’m willing to stop this week. My glucose strips arrive this week and I’m interested to start keeping tabs on blood glucose.

(mole person) #20

I’ve been in maintenance for close to six months now and my feelings of intense euphoria still persist every day that I am in deep ketosis. I have never had a drug that feels this good.

There is a downside though. I’m very intolerant of carbohydrates now. They don’t just make me lose the euphoria they cause a deep heaviness and exhaustion that is pretty much identical to a hangover that lasts almost two days. It doesn’t take much either. An extra 35 grams of carbohydrates will set it off. Further, eating too much protein has the exact same effect. My euphoria goes out the window and with real excess will also lead to the ‘hangover’.

I think so too. I don’t use them myself but recently my neice made me some coconut fat bombs because she knew I was keto and I couldn’t disappoint her by saying I didn’t eat sweeteners. I saw no harm in the indulgence for a few days given that they were still keto. I was very surprised at how it completely wiped out my energy and keto high.