One week and one day in

(Jane Srygley) #1

Just checking in! I’ve been eating keto-friendly foods and my net carbs have consistently been anywhere from 25-35g… not sure if this is considered “lazy keto” but I feel like it’s workable for me as a starting point. After I get used to all this, I’ll start working on a max of 20-25 net g per day.

I notice that I’m feeling less anxious overall and especially less anxious about food, but today I definitely feel hungrier… not sure if I need more protein or what, but I felt this way yesterday and today. I eat 1750 calories per day, which has been plenty for me up to now. I’ve lost about 1.5 lbs. Any thoughts, suggestions, encouragement appreciated thanks :smiley:

(Scott) #2

My keto is lazier than yours. I aim for <50g carbs because I like wine with dinner. I don’t track anything calories included. I also do a fair amount of exercise so I think that gives me more headroom in the carb quantity. I would advise you to continue onward and see what works for you. In a couple of months when fat adapted you can start playing with things to see how it affects you. Good luck, it only gets better from here.

(Carl Keller) #3

I started at <50 total grams per day and gradually lowered it to <20g net over a month. My weight loss became much more dynamic after I lowered it to 20 and I didn’t find it restricting because I’ve always been happy to eat mostly fat and protein.

Sounds like you are doing just fine Jane. Your hunger should normalize as more time on LCHF passes. Just keep making the right response by pacifying it with mostly fat and protein. If it requires a little bit more of each on some days, then so be it. Don’t let yourself stay hungry for long and eat a bit more at meal time if necessary.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

I would suggest that the sooner you cut to <20g. of carbs daily the sooner you’ll get past the lingering hunger, it’s probably cravings for more carb foods triggering that and the sooner you get your body off that “drug” the better you’ll feel and the cravings will stop very soon after. You may just be prolonging the sugar withdrawal process. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Patrick) #5

As others have said, you can kind of get stuck in a weird zone where your carb intake is just high enough to prolong the body’s switch to fat burning. That may be what you’re going through here, although at only a week into your (assuming) first Keto experience, you may just need a little more time for your body to adjust.

In either case though, in my experience, dropping your carb intake to as close to zero as possible for a couple of days will deplete your glycogen stores quickly and your body will switch over pretty rapidly. I would recommend going shopping and planning out a few ultra low-carb days and I’ll bet you’ll feel much better. At that point you can probably not be so strict and add a few carbs back in. As your body first adjusts to Keto it’s important to keep your carbs very low so that it stays firmly in that zone while it gets used to the new processes. Usually after a few weeks to a few months, folks become more tolerant to carbs without disturbing their metabolism.