So tired

(Laura ) #1

I posted this on the Facebook page and received “likes” but not comments. I’m looking for information on Keto flu; its symptoms, run time, how to get past it, etc.

Today is day 19 for me so every day is s new experience with changing my eating habits and sticking to my resolve. I’ve been able to maintain 5% or less of carbs (I see it as a challenge and I’m very competitive) and while I’ve passed the point of wanting a piece of toast so badly I’d have sold my left tit, yesterday I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open and went to bed at 8pm and slept hard until my alarm went off at 5:20 this morning. Feeling more awake today but wondering if that tiredness is the start of my body switching gears?

(Laura ) #2

It’s about 1pm central time and I’m starting to yawn again.

(Guardian of the bacon) #3

Are you getting enough fat. A spoonfull of coconut oil can be a quick energizer. Also make sure your body is well stocked up on salt and electrolytes.

(Richard Morris) #4

Well done on taking on the challenge and making 19 days.

Was yesterday a more active than usual day? I found when I exercised during adaptation I would go for 10 mins and then feel like someone had pulled my cord out of the wall. But after I was adapted I had abundant energy.

Next time that happens try eating just a teaspoon of fat - butter, or coconut oil, and seeing if that gives you a rapid relief of the symptom for half an hour or so. That may also speed the adaptation as well as alleviating immediate symptoms.

(Guardian of the bacon) #5

Always better to overdo the fat while your body is becoming adapted. You can tweak for optimum benefits later on.

(Larry Lustig) #6

Are you sure you’re eating enough? The adaption phase is not the time to cut calories. I ate a lot during my first month or two, and certainly not fewer calories than I was eating before.

After that, once I lost my cravings for rice and potatoes, I was able to cut back substantially to the point where I’m eating a lot less than the old carb-crazy Larry did. But if I had tried to do that up front I’m sure I would have just quit.

#7

When I started out, I noticed I felt better after eating huge ass salads with variety of types of lettuces (romaine, endive, radicchio, arugula, etc) with homemade simple salad dressing (red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt). Also, lots of broth and olives helped, too. I think it was the craving and need for lots of salt, minerals and micro nutrients.

#8

Also make sure you are eating food that are rich in B vitamins, like liver for example.

(Laura ) #9

Ewww liver. Big cup of nope!
But I appreciate all of the responses. I think I need to look into supplements. I was thinking that I’m eating too much because I seem to be consuming more calories than I used to, pre-this way of eating. I thought I read on one of the posts that calories do count so I’d been trying not to over do. For us newbies to this woe we have to read everything and then hopefully thin out the incorrect white noise. It isn’t easy. Yesterday I was at work and didn’t have any more snacks so the the first thing I did when I got home was make a BPT (BPC with caffeine free tea) and I felt immediately better. But I still went to bed early and had zero problems falling asleep.

(Larry Lustig) #10

Do not try to cut calories before you’re completely fat adapted. You won’t last.

Avoiding the noise is important, but reading absolutely everything is not the way to do it (at least, for me). Try this:

#11

Being tired and having cold extremities are two signs that your body is lacking energy and cutting back on optional activities, so extra fat might help while you’re still adapting. B vitamins will help you with the tired part if you are deficient. And yes, until you get a diet plan sorted out long term some supplements may be a good insurance policy for micronutrients.

(Laura ) #12

I’m not cutting calories, but I AM tracking my macros. I don’t know how to put a picture on here but today so far I’m: 1% carbs 78% fat and 21% protein. And given the response here today I will probably go home and eat something drenched in butter or maybe have a few chocolate truffle fat bombs with my BPT. (Delish to me but my co-worker’s face told me it wasn’t what she was expecting!)

#13

Make sure you’re counting grams of carbohydrates, not just doing percentages. I aim for 20 grams net carbs.

Another thing that helps in the beginning is upping your sodium. Drink 2 cups per day of bouillon or salty broth. When we switch over to using fat as fuel, our bodies dump a bunch of excess water. With that water goes salt and other electrolytes so we need to replace those. This can make a huge difference in how you feel!

(Laura ) #14

Like I said, I don’t know how to post a picture here or you would be able to see the number of grams as well. New to this, but don’t let my blonde hair fool ya. wink

(Kerri Hines) #15

Aim to get at least 3500mg sodium a day. Many people do best at around 5000mg or even more. Getting low on sodium can also create a magnesium deficiency which most people already have anyway and either of these getting low can make you feel quite wiped out.
Have you had any lightheaded feelings, especially upon standing, moments of nausea or headaches? All symptoms of low sodium.

(Chris McRoberts) #16

I have no idea, today is only day 2 for me (under 20 g carbs). I thought keto flu t in the first week. Good luck

#17

Sodium is so important!!!

(Adam L) #18

I read lots of great info over a few months going low carb to lower carb & quite honestly it only clicked for me once I listened to the first few episodes of the 2 keto dudes podcast, took some notes of what Richard was saying & applied it - there’s info on keto flu in episode one. My first few months of low carb were absolutely brutal in terms of feeling half dead as I started it by doing Dr Michael Mosley’s 8 week blood sugar diet (800 calories per day). Only 17 days of that as a non fat adapted T2D sugar burner made lchf look like some kind of heaven but I never fully embraced the fat until I listened to the @dudes
Sounds like you are doing a lot right, I’m sure you’ll get there much quicker than I did, good luck!

(Mark) #19

Like fiorella said salad may help because dark leafy greens provide a source of potassium, make it a fairly large salad there will be some carbs but they will be negligible throw in some other green vegetables cucumber broccoli and to add some fat there is a good recipe for blue cheese dressing on the 2 keto dudes website

(Ben) #20

I’ll just add stick with it @blondecoyotee. When I started I was so tired I had to go for a nap each afternoon. Fortunately I didn’t realise what this was otherwise I might have given up.

So don’t give up - you’ll soon be through this stage, especially if you follow all the advice here.