Plant Based Keto HELP

vegan
(Meagan) #1

I just started Keto on the 1st of January. eating Plant based with the inclusion of eggs. I’ll make pretty good sized meals with plenty of fats (avocado, hemp seeds, olive oil, avocado oil) and will feel full after I eat. I’ve been drinking an electrolyte powder (no carbs or sugar), taking B complex vitamin, and D vitamin. I sleep usually around 8 hours every night. I’ll keep track of my carbs and most days I get all the fat and exactly the amount of carbs I’m supposed to with my breakfast and lunch, (usually I’m not that hungry by the end of the day) but then I wake up in the morning feeling weak and light headed as if I’m not eating enough. Even though I eat until I’m full…???

I’m desperate to hear from someone who has been successful doing this plant-based. I know it’s possible but I just don’t understand why I feel so ridiculously weak. Is it just because I’m only a couple weeks in?? ALSO why is my weakness only in the morning??? I would love to get into an exercise routine in the mornings but when I wake up I feel like an ill patient crawling out of a hospital bed desperate for sustenance and then I can barely even do a gentle yoga. But then I go to my job where I work nights and I’m lifting heavy things and running around with little problem… WHY…

(Allie) #2

Salt.

Magnesium and potassium too.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #3

Do a search here to find the vegan threads, lots of good references in there. Not too many active vegans in the forums, but there are a few that can probably help you out.

(Diane) #4

I see the good advice others have given you. I would just add that at just a couple of weeks in, your body is still adjusting to a new fuel source. You are (probably) producing ketones, but all the different types of cells are not yet good at using them efficiently for fuel. You are still in the process of becoming fat adapted.

This process of fat adaption usually takes at least 6 to 8 weeks for most people. Some take considerably longer. It took me about 5 months, but I believe I was particularly metabolically deranged. Here is a link to an article by Amy Berger on her tuitnutrition website about ketosis and fat adaption. It has a lot of good information and is well written.

Hang in there and good luck!

#5

You mention you’re getting enough fats, but are you getting enough protein? Protein-deficiency would make you feel crummy.

(Robert C) #6

I would second the suggestion from @anon2571578 to check on whether you are getting enough protein.

Also, I’d like to add a perspective - you should not assume there is a solution for every individual.
A carnivore diet is simply not going to work for some of the population (for example, if you have iron overload).
A keto diet is simply not going to work for some of the population (for example, if you have fat malabsorption syndrome).
A vegetarian/vegan diet is simply not going to work for some of the population (for example, people like Robb Wolf - tried carefully for a long time to debug a non-animal based diet for himself and developed several health problems - he’s a professional, you can’t really say “oh, he just didn’t do it right”).

The point is that there is some percentage of the population that - even if they were rich, had nothing to do but research and cook and hire scientists to go down every rabbit hole about their diet - might not be able (physically) to adhere to what they want to.

So, if you want to - try try try, seek help and ask questions, but be careful to not go so far that you end up with a variety of maladies (auto-immune problems, deep depression, job loss etc.).

(Meagan) #7

thank you so much for sharing!

#8

Just a few references that may be helpful:

Google Dr. Carrie Diulus. She is a keto vegan cardiologist. She has been on many keto-based podcasts including @Daisy 's Keto Woman. You might find her story very interesting and helpful.

Also, Dr. Will Cole just put out a book called, Ketotarian, which tells you how to do a keto vegetarian or vegan diet. I haven’t read it, and I am not specifically promoting it. Just heard about it on his podcast.

#9

That is so freaky. I have just this minute messaged her! She is an orthopaedic spine surgeon.

#10

Freaky indeed. Love your podcast. I found Dr. Diulus very interesting. Sorry I screwed up her specialty. Thanks for correcting me.

#11

I am hoping she will be a speaker at Ketofest 2019. I think she is awesome.

(Janet) #12

The more liberal types of vegetarian have more options than vegan, here are some considerations and recipes. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/vegetarian

(Sapna Sricharan) #13

Hi Meagan.
I’m a vegetarian and I have been one all my life. I am not vegan though. I eat eggs and dairy. I have been doing keto for 20 weeks now and I am doing very well. Being a vegetarian never really got in my way because between the eggs, the vegetables, the nuts and seeds and the variety of different cheeses, there is plenty of good food to eat.

I have lost 20kgs (44 pounds) so far and I feel better than I ever have before. I have so much energy now and my head is clear and I am calm and focused and I feel stronger and happier than I have ever been. And I spent years believing that I have chronic fatigue because I was just so tired all the time.

Ever since I started keto, my health, my mood and my life got better. The fact that it is keto on a vegetarian diet made no difference. It is keto and keto works.

You say that you’re hungry and weak in the morning. That will go. But it might take a few more weeks. You need to give your body 4-6 weeks to adapt and ideally, you should not exercise until then, unless you’ve already been doing it for a while.

You say you started on 1st January. So it’s been a little over three weeks since you started. Give it a few more weeks and in the meantime, eat when you’re hungry. And make sure you are getting enough sodium, potassium and magnesium. Not getting enough of these can cause weakness.

Each one of us has a different hunger pattern. I have always been hungry in the mornings and I’m talking years. Now that I have been on keto for a while, I don’t get that hungry anymore, but given my hunger pattern, I eat breakfast and lunch and I skip dinner every day. And if I am only doing one meal, that tends to be breakfast.

So I eat in the morning and I exercise in the evening because that is what works for me. I never feel like exercising in the morning. I just don’t want to. But come evening, I can’t stay home. I have to go for a walk. I have to cycle a few kilometres. It’s about listening to your body, really.

I hope this helps.

(Meagan) #14

This is very helpful and encouraging! I’m really hoping Keto is going to be the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for. Thanks for writing. :slight_smile:

Also just out of curiosity, how long after going Keto did it take for you to begin losing weight?

(Sapna Sricharan) #15

I started losing wight immediately. I lost 8 pounds in the first week. By the end of week 3 I was down 24 pounds. Then the weight loss stalled for four weeks and it’s been a stop start process since then.