Hi, I just really need to share the magnificent feelings that I am going through thanks to keto. I started keto before month and a half (or two? I am really bad with dates :)) because of my Health issues. I was never overweight, I am very active in several sports and weightlifting. But because of all sorts of by-simptoms of my autoimmune illnes I was on the path for stopping the sports. and that was the last thing that I wanted. So I decide to give keto a try. I had previously one unsucessful keto episode. This time around I prepare myself the right way and everything went great except the really bad and unbelivable keto flu period. I donāt remember when was the last time I got so sick and nauseous. It was like hell, trust me and it happened several times in the last desirable situations: at work, at family gathering, at the Business meeting. But I survived. And I can say that NOW I canāt remember when was the last time I felt soooo good! I am TOTALLY asymptomatic from my autoimmune illnes!!! I can go hours without eating and the feeling is awsome, and I stopped thinking about food in unhealthy way (and be sure I did). Yeasterday I was at the gym in the morning (I am not at my old self because I initially lost some strenght, but it is coming back!), I walked 6 miles with my dog and later in the day another 1,5 mile with my husband and dog again :). I did all the houseworks, went at the evening in the mall and do the shopping. I was full of Energy the whole day and ate just 2 times. Plus, felt so good āin the headā. Do I need to say something more? The only issue I see at the moment is the thing that everytime after weight Training, the next day, I had some headache and some muscle cramps. But I think this is due to the process (I am not fully adapted yet) - but I trust the process and this will fall into place soon.
When does the Magic start? Feeling down
Iāve been keto for 3 months now, and I still donāt feel the energy or the mental clarity either. Iāve lost 12 pounds, which on my tiny person is a lot and something I couldnāt do on any other diet. So now Iām super slender, but still no mental clarity or energy. So Iām guessing for some of us girls, itās can just take a long time. So hang in there! There are others in the same boat!
If you are wiling to share the macros it maybe an intake issue, at 3 months you should be fat adapted by now or nearly so unless you have some metabolic issues.
Iām a month in now. I went on for the mental alertness and clarity. And while I donāt fall asleep on the couch anymore, and I donāt get dizzy anymore (something keto worsened at around 1-2 weeks in, but I fixed with lots of water and salt), I still donāt have close to the same feeling of alertness and energy, that I did during days 3-5.
During those days I actually performed better in the gym than usual, and I felt very awake and lucid, and Iām still confused as to why it hasnāt come back by now, when I experienced it so plentifully after just 3-5 days.
I did have issues with some very light muscle cramping along with dizziness, which lots of water and salt fixed. Recently my muscles have started to be sore a lot more easily. I donāt have much endurance, but wouldnāt say Iām fatigued. Have also had some minor elbow pain, which is also not usual.
I suspect I might still be undereating on caloriesā¦ Itās hard to eat enough. I was used to eating a large fastfood meal once every 3 days or so, and I think that kind of āstocked me upā. I find it hard to stuff my face as much with the keto meals, because they have no carbs.
I feel like people exaggerate about the magic sometimes, either that or itās more subtle for some of us. My mental clarity never changed. I did feel an increase in energy but only to bring me back to normal, back up from when I had keto flu and felt super tired. After a month and a half, I finally noticed a decrease in appetite. But it wasnāt like āI forgot to eatāā¦thatās such a foreign concept to me. It was just like, I had a meeting one day so I had to push off eating longer than normal, and all of a sudden I realized I didnāt feel like I wanted to die, like I would have in the past. It was subtle. I still had some hunger pangs but I didnāt feel like I HAD to eat. I think you will soon experience some subtle changes. Stick with it. Even though subtle, itās a great feeling.
Also, I have only lost 3-4 pounds. But I donāt count calories. It totally makes sense that I wouldnāt lose weight until I got to the point where my appetite decreased and thus I started eating less. Soā¦I expect the weight loss to happen very soon, now that my appetite has decreased. Hopefully!
This post sounds familiar to me- I am totally a newbie but after nearly a month one of the most important benefits of this WOE is that my anxiety has reduced enormously.
I still donāt have the mental clarity or āmagicā that people reefer to, and my energy is pretty much the same, but I have lost the stressed out panic I was walking around in- which I used to assign to my life, but now realise may have been an artefact of all the garbage I was eating! My life is exactly the same, yet the stress response is completely different. Who knew?
I didnāt find this board until a month after I went ālow carbā and then didnāt start reading regularly for another month at least.
I didnāt know about fat adaptation, keto flu or anything else. I just knew I had to cut my carbs to 20 or less. I had no expectations about the way I would or should feel after becoming fat adapted since I was uninformed.
I donāt remember feeling bad so I guess I didnāt get the keto flu. Iāve always used a lot of salt in my food so maybe that helped.
I remember when my hunger went away and I could go a long time w/o eating - probably around 6 weeks I would guess.
I am 4 months into keto and feel great. Iāve lost 22 lbs and 2 jeans sizes so I am thrilled. I know some would be discouraged at 5 lbs/month but not me.
Currently I am about 4+ months in. My Max loss is about 22, although today itās only 16. The ups and downs are so frustrating! I have decided to tell myself that is just my bodies way of fighting with, and adapting to a new body size. Maybe, if I am patient with the process my body will accept this weight as my new normal and not want to go back up to my pre keto weight again. No, science here, just me talking to myself. I get discouraged when I hear how fast others lose, but I know better than to compare my keto experience to anyone elses.
How are you doing? Did you decide to keep at it. Im 5 weeks. Looking for HOPE