Three questions (Primal / ketogenic)

ahjenny

I'm on day four of going back to Primal and the ketogenic diet. I haven't followed a Primal diet for two years, and I wasn't that experienced when I was on it then. I know that when you go from SAD to a lower carb diet, you'll be tired and get the carb flu. I am curious when the tiredness goes away. I made sure to go to bed early last night, and I still overslept after getting nearly 8 hours of decent sleep. It's hard to go to bed earlier than I have been, because my little ones can't go to bed after me.

My second question is, I have been careful to take in a lot of water (at least 6 cups when not exercising and well over that when I am). My tongue feels weird, like I am parched and it's dry, even though I know I have a lot of saliva and I'm not dehydrated. My tongue doesn't have a pleasant taste or texture to it. Brushing my teeth and scraping my tongue doesn't seem to help too much.

Lastly, I've been looking around and haven't found many ideas on good breakfasts. I start work early in the morning, and I just have access to a microwave and toaster oven. The cafeteria at my work has limited offerings. I'm getting sick of two scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon/ham. I would love suggestions on what to eat for breakfast that is quick, easy, and doesn't need to be cooked or has a minimal cook time. I can do protein shakes, but I'd rather have real food to eat. I am aiming for 30g of protein.

Thanks, I look forward to being more active here again, and reading the wisdom you all have to share. If you want, feel free to add me as a friend.

ColwellCat

On the breakfast front - I'm not breakfasting at the moment, but my go to high protein breakfast was a variety of breakfast sausage/meatball/slider recipes, pre cooked and frozen. I had a stash in the freezer, appropriately bagged into breakfast size servings. Then all you need is a microwave to reheat.

My favorite is a bacon wrapped beef & rosemary "slider"... so tasty.

For me the tiredness lasted about a fortnight. I also found I experienced a kind of pseudo dehydration as my body got used to the change - which sounds like what you're describing. Not sure why, but in my case it went away relatively quickly.

Akimajuktuq

It's only FOUR days. Push through. How long it takes to feel better varies from person to person. For me it's a few days. For some people it can be almost a month. Varies and much depends on what you are eating as well and whether you are eating enough.

Drink as much water as you need without forcing. It's only four days. Push through.

Cook-ups on weekends can provide all kinds of quick on the go breakfasts and lunches. Yup, stick to real food rather than shakes. I'm not a big fan of breakfast personally, but I like bulletproof coffee. I can also eat whatever leftovers are on hand or an avocado.

Be sure to invest in some glass dishes (cover with papertowel) for use heating things up in the microwave. Some glass dishes can also be used in the toaster oven, such as Pyrex.

punchgut

One of the best ways to get over this quickly, is to get up and go for a walk first thing in the morning.

Mizzy58

When dinner is done I just take some leftovers in put in a glass container. Or like Akimajuktuq said bullet proof coffee. It really holds you a long time. If I'm in a real hurry I just grab a avocado and a piece of fruit and nuts. I like smoothies also. I'm not of a breakfast person, so the thought of making something early is not to pleasant for me.

cindytw

Low carb flu is very individual, and I find it is also dependent on your starting point. If you are used to eating 350g. of carbs a day, you are likely to have a worse time of it. If it's more like 200g, or lower, it might not be that bad. Also the level of processed foods, there can be a detox from that. Make sure you are not skimping sodium, that can make you feel bad going low carb.

There are a million breakfast options that can be made ahead! Pinterest is where I get ideas, then I modify to my liking. I make stuff ahead on the weekend and portion it in containers so its grab and go. I call it "breakfast" but I really don't eat first thing. My meals are all a bit later, I am a night person. I generally take 2-3 hours to get hungry once I am up.

Dragonwolf

I'm kind of a fan of smoothies, but I do them with real-food ingredients. My go-to for a while was unsweetened almond milk (coconut milk works too, but even the canned version is kind of carby), heavy cream, cocoa powder, and nut butter, and maybe a little sweetener of some sort to cut the bitterness of the cocoa powder (but might not be necessary if using coconut milk or a sweeter tasting nut butter). You can even toss in some spinach or other greens to get some of your veggies in for the day.

Mark Sisson also did a "Primal egg coffee" which was basically bulletproof coffee with a couple eggs. The eggs act as an emulsifying agent, and you'd end up with a more custardy texture than standard bulletproof coffee. A good amount of fat and a little protein to keep you going for the morning, and in an easy to go form.

myhealthhack

As far as the weird tongue feeling goes, make sure your electrolytes aren't low.

Here are some natural ways to get it back up if you feel like it might be off.
http://foodbabe.com/2012/07/10/the-secret-behind-gatorade-how-to-replenish-electrolytes-naturally/

KombuchaCat

The tongue thing could be dteoxing, in ayurveda I learned your body gets rid of quite a few toxins through the tongue. I scrape mine every morning with a spoon. Try it, it's a good general cleanse thing to do.

ahjenny

Thank you! I upped my water intake and started taking an electrolyte stamina supplement, which has helped a bit. I'll try scraping my tongue when I get home to see if it helps too.