I’m super new to keto… I’ve been on it for about a week and half now. Since day three, I have tested my urine for the presence of ketones and it has been showing a moderate to large amount. However, I don’t believe I have experienced the “keto flu” yet. Is this normal? I usually eat under 20g of carb a day and most definitely never above 30. My macros at the beginning were 68/25/7 and now are 80/15/5. I lost 4lbs in the first week and have gained a lb so far this week, even with increasing my fat intake and keeping about a 500kcal deficit (I work out 4 days a week).
So, I guess my questions are: is it normal to gain a little weight in the 2nd week? And, with my consumption, is it normal I haven’t gotten the dreaded “keto flu”?
Also any advice or tips for a newbie like me are greatly appreciated!
Novice alert!
Keto does not work on a CICO method.
Keto works by controlling insulin.
So creating a deficit at the very beginning is not in your best interest.
It’s not normal to gain in the second week, but for some it’s not normal to lose either.
Keto Flu is related to lack of electrolytes.
I didn’t gain but rather held on to food in my intestines during the second week. I’m on week 3 so it’s fresh in my mind; my body is adapting fast but still is trepidatious about this method of nourishment so I think some jocularity in digestion, energy, weight, mental capacity, mood is symptomatic of newness. Tonight I probably didn’t need to eat dinner from a hunger perspective or a calorie perspective but I did anyway to keep my metabolism up and because it tasted good. It will also fuel my mid-distance run tomorrow morning.
I echo not nursing a deficit for the first month or two. If you want the feeling of progress, I would extend your total weekly time in regards to low-intensity aerobic exercise.
My experience was similar when I began Keto, there are changes going on your body as it tries to adapt to this sudden decrease in carbs, and increase in fat. Using an app is fine in the beginning so long as you don’t get hung up on the numbers, its more important to teach your body to adapt to using fat as the primary energy source rather than carbs. So that’s why 20g carbs is the number to stay below, its sort of like forcing the body to switch over to fat by just not giving it enough of what it really wants which is more carbs. All the side effects, little pains, weakness, constipation, head aches, and cravings are your body protesting. It doesn’t like what your doing to it and its throwing a tantrum. Calculate your protein level for your height and weight, BMR etc but the other thing is just eat fat to satiety. It doesn’t matter if you go over 100% fat at this stage, just work on eating enough fat so you are not hungry. If you are eat more fat.
That’s the advice I was given by the good folks on this forum and they were correct! Research the science, focus on feeding fat to your body. It will eventually fold and start using fat, it has no alternative. Someone said it can take 6-8 weeks to become fat adapted, it took me at least 12-13 weeks I don’t know exactly when because it just happened. Took me 9 weeks for my digestive system to settle down and for me to become regular again, I wish someone had warned me about that. Relax, and enjoy the journey! Keep Calm, Keto On!
Thank you all for the awesome advice! Ironically enough, the following day after posting this I dropped the weight. I’m everything you all said into consideration and will be applying going forward. On week 3 and still waiting for the impending doom known as the keto flu.
Thanks again to everyone that responded. Good vibes for the day! 