When do you start feeling great on Keto?

CoconuttyMummy

When do the tiredness, aches, weakness & general grottiness subside after embarking on a Keto diet?

I was fairly lowish carb for 3 months prior to starting keto almost a week ago, around 50-60g a day, and now im on 15g or lower.

Im just wondering, should i still be feeling cr@ppy like this? Is it 'normal'? I mean, when can i expect to get all this energy everyone raves about?

wabmester

It's normal to feel like crap if your sodium intake is too low.

CoconuttyMummy

I've been adding extra table salt to my food (im still waiting on some himalayan pink salt from amazon), and im taking magnesium & potassium pills.

How long does it take to start feeling good on keto in general from when you 1st start on very low carbs (15/20g or below)?

Should i ordinarily feel the wellness and energy boost 6 days in, or is it still early days in general?

wabmester

If your electrolytes are good, you should feel pretty good quickly. The calming brain effects happen within days. The "energy" is partly from the brain effects, but the actual energy to power muscles takes about 3 weeks to adapt, and exercise may speed that up.

Adding salt to your food may not be enough. Salt is about 40% sodium. 4 good shakes of salt is less than 200mg. You need 1000-2000mg EXTRA per day to offset the loss in your urine.

CoconuttyMummy

I see. It's actually physical lethargy, muscle weakness, aches & tiredness that's bothering me much more than mental tiredness, so that makes sense then. I guess ive got another 2 weeks to go before my muscles stop aching a few steps up the stairs.

CoconuttyMummy

If adding salt to food isnt enough how else do you aquire sodium?

wabmester

Pickles for me. Soups and broth for others. I eat sodium as needed. I feel like crap if I'm low. A pickle or two brings me INSTANT relief.

If you didn't get enough sodium, your body will start wasting potassium, and that can lead to muscle aches. The supplements typically don't have a lot of potassium. Eat an avocado or two.

Sabine_Stroehm

wabmester wrote: »

Pickles for me. Soups and broth for others. I eat sodium as needed. I feel like crap if I'm low. A pickle or two brings me INSTANT relief.

It was pickle juice for me.

radiii

I use lite salt for the potassium, chicken broth for the sodium, and take a magnesium supplement. The chicken broth tastes like chicken noodle soup without the noodles, which is a taste i really like, so i never tried the pickles that others like

AreteAndWhimsy

It's important to audition different boullion cubes to find one you actually like. Don't try one and think that because you didn't like it that all broth cubes will be similarly terrible. I also like olives and capers for quick, salty pick-me-ups. Don't underestimate the power of bacon.

Getting the electrolyte thing sorted will make you feel ever so much better.

CoconuttyMummy

Thanks all. I'll hit the bacon at lunch. Like i need an excuse?! Im on BPC with half a scoop protein powder for breakfast b/c im useless in a morning and need something quick, easy, ketogenic, tasty & filling. It seems to tick all the boxes at the moment - hope its not too unhealthy.

CoconuttyMummy

Well its definitely NOT lack of electrolytes that's making me feel so tired, weak and achey - yesterday and today ive had 2 huge mugs of chicken stock with extra salt added just to make sure!, and ive been taking potassium and magnesium supplements, so really it is not that.

I felt amazing on 50g or less of carbs a day on a Primal diet including plenty of veg and the odd bit of fruit, and quite honestly i feel like death on this bloody keto diet. Im getting quite disillusioned to be honest. I have a 3 year old son who i care for all day single-handedly - i just cannot afford to feel this rough for much longer. The house is a mess because i simply dont have the energy to tidy. Less than half way up the stairs my legs start burningand i literally have to haul myself up. My back aches constantly and just lifting my son takes all of my strength and has me nearly falling over. What the hell is happening?! I wasnt like this before i went keto.

I know its early days (6 days in at 15g or below/5% carbs) but the sounds of it everyone else was bouncing around feeling great at this point.

And do you know the worst of it? - Im suffering through all of this and the scale is just not moving! Arrrrrrrggghhhh!

Im on a calorie deficit of only 360 cals, eating 1200 cals a day, as MFP will not allow me to set my cals any lower and frankly im constantly hungry and physically exhausted as it is (i wasnt when eating a bit higher carbs & Primal), so i couldnt function on any less calories. Granted, id hit a stall for 3 weeks prior to embarking on keto, hence why i changed my macros to try and kickstart weightloss again, but.... NOTHING! Not even a pound for God's sakes!

Honestly im seriously peed off right now. I just cant understand what im doing wrong and why my body isnt getting ANY positive effects from keto, other than waking up 3 hours earlier (and frankly i could have done without that as im still tired but just cant sleep anymore).

Even if i just bend down to pick something up my heart starts hammering in my chest from the exertion. What the heck?! I mean i wasnt fit by any means before but i think i could manage bending down or climbing a few stairs without feeling like i just scaled Mount Everest.

I keep thinking "tomorrow i will feel like a regular 34 yr old, not a 94yr old, but nope, 'tomorrow' is now here and i am still feeling like total crap. What gives?!!!

mlinton_mesapark

I'm feeling similar, though I don't think I've been in the Keto range for as long as you have. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but I wonder if eating more than 1200 calories a day might help you get over the hump. If you're only getting 15g carbs a day and you add some overall calories, maybe you can go up to 20g carbs and get some relief (filling the rest in with mostly fat, some protein)?

I overate my calorie budget by about 150 calories yesterday. I still have a bit of a headache this morning, but I'm not fatigued. The scale did tick up slightly, but my inches ticked down slightly, too. I'm not over the hump yet, and definitely haven't found the energy pot of gold at the end of the Keto rainbow.

Best of luck! I know the frustration you're feeling, and how impossible it feels when you're Mom and always on duty--not feeling well is pretty awful in that scenario. I have a 10-month-old, a 4-year-old and a soon to be 6-year-old.

Hopefully the Keto pros on here can give you some pointers. I'd like to know what to do, beyond electrolytes, too! _Virgo_ pointed to me to Reddit to read up on Keto. I haven't gotten there yet, but it's worth a shot.

bluefish86

I would say firstly that it doesn't appear that you're eating enough, which might explain the lack of energy.

Secondly, keto isn't for everyone. If you were feeling good and doing well eating primally then maybe you should keep doing that for a while.

Don't get too caught up in what everyone else is doing. You need to figure out what works for you.

GSD_Mama

It took me about 3-4 weeks to feel better when I first started with 20 grams.
I personally think you need to up your calories and stop being hungry. Eat more food and drink water until you can drink no more!

CoconuttyMummy

Thank Mlinton, its nice to know its not just me that feel so grotty. I meant to reply to one of your posts where you said youd been in a bad mood and shouted at your kids more than youd like. Well, ive been exactly the same. Frankly, im in a stinking mood and slightly bad behaviour from my 3 year old is seeing me go off the deep end and really scold him more than i normally would. Frankly i feel like braining someone - or banging my head against something hard, repeatedly. Im so angry that i should feel like death and still not be losing ANY weight. Arrgghhhhh!

Id be nervous about increasing my daily cals as im not losing as it is, especially with my calorie deficit being so small (im really short so it doesnt give me many cals to play with. I cant quite understand why i feel practically malnourished and so ravenously hungry on only a 360 calorie deficit. So much for fats being satiating. Give me a nice crunchy apple or a carrot and im satisfied. Give me a 200 calorie shot of pure fat and i feel like ive had nothing to eat. Why oh why is this not working for me?

I'll stick with it for 2 more weeks, in the hope that im feeling like this because im not yet fat adapted (apparently that takes 3 weeks?), but i cant allow myself to feel like this much longer with no positive results. I trully hope a miracle happens soon and the scale starts going down and my energy levels up like theyre SUPPOSED to do! (*cries*).

pedidiva

Coco~~

I am 1200 cals/day, too. The experts suggest some type of broth with salt in it. As the low carb is diuretic, you may be losing a few of your electrolytes. Perhaps a cup or 2 of bouillon my be helpful. You may not be getting enough salt by adding table salt. Dr. Eric Westman of Duke says not to worry about the salt.

You may want to watch him on youtube. Excellent talk about Low carb

Now if you are in congestive heart failure or untreated high blood pressure, that may be different.

HTH
Pedi

CoconuttyMummy

Hi Pedi,

Unfortunately its definitely not electrolytes because i drank 2 half-pint mugs of bouillon made with 2 chicken stock cubes plus added table salt to make sure i had all the sodium in the world, plus ive been on magnesium supplements for 3 months and i started my potassium supplement yesterday, and i drink a ton of black coffee and other liquids, soooo dehydration and low electrolytes are out.......

Can some people just not adapt to keto well? I hear so many success stories and astounding claims regards keto (lose a pound a day anyone?) but i dont seem to be getting any benefits at all.... yet.

Seriously i wish i could just know for sure if this diet doesnt suit me so i can move on and start feeling right again, but im desperate to lose the last 20 pounds and i cant help but think "tomorrow my body will have got used to keto and im not going to feel hungry and im going to have bundles of energy and the pounds will start falling off and and and...

Am i kidding myself?

Twibbly

Coconutty, I'm currently hanging out between 30-70g carbs, so not necessarily in ketosis, but feeling fabulous. Some people don't adapt well. You might also try upping your calories, at least temporarily, while you're transitioning. Eat more fat (adding a cup of tea with heavy cream at the end of the day is a nice way to do it) and don't let yourself get hungry.

This calculator is actually designed for keto: http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

The MFP calculator isn't designed for keto, and IMO, should not be trusted for anything.

CoffeeNBooze

Hey, just my two cents. Maybe it was too much too fast? I am sure I would feel like garbage too if I jumped into 15g or less per day. I don't even want to know what that feels like at this point, because right now 40g is hard enough for me to hit. I felt weak with that when I first started, and I finally seem to be gaining some energy back.

Also I don't count calories. It's made things a lot easier with this WOE. My body has known what it's doing for quite some time now and I'm tired of overriding the system. I think I would lose my mind on 1200 calories. I was at 1400 and losing my mind. Now I've been trending over 2000 daily and my weight has been staying down, and hopefully on the way down I read all the stuff on the LCHF launchpad, which further convinced me I need to forget about calories right now.

^^ I'm not saying you should do what I do, but I think we can agree 1200 cals and 15g of carbs isn't doing you any favors. Consider upping your calories or even upping your carbs for the time being. It all seems to be trial and error on an individual level... that's kind of why I love this WOE so much.

pedidiva

Oh Coco, sorry about your struggles. How about upping the carbs a wee bit to maybe 30-40 and then slowly going back down to 20? Kind of a gentler transition?