Low Carbs - One week test

Myxalplyx

Tried to do low carbs for one week. I started last Monday trying to put focus on eating tuna, eggs and salad for three days. Then switching over to eating some pre-cut chicken, turkey with eggs in the mix. Dinner time mainly was just a protein shake. I was doing this with moderate exercising and 30 minutes of cardio. Here are my results-->

Starting weight: 6/10/13 210.6lbs
6/11 206.8lbs
6/12 206.2lbs
6/13 205.2lbs
6/14 203.4lbs
6/15 203.8lbs
6/16 203.8lbs
6/17 204.8lbs

My body went into Ketosis sometime between Wednesday 6/12 and Thursday 6/13. I tested this using those Ketone strips. At about the same time I developed a nasty chest cold (Ketosis flu) that is still slightly ongoing today. I drank a TON of water. Nothing less than 16 cups a day. If I went to the bathroom, I'd drink four cups of water. Urine generally stayed clear or light yellow. Body was weak and exercise increasingly became difficult. This was expected. Yesterday, I hit a weakness height since my legs burned just walking up and down the stairs of my home. I only felt nauseated once and I did have a headache between 6/14 and 6/15.

So....a tough week for 5.8lbs of weigh loss. It was very interesting to see that even though I went harder at my exercising on 6/14 by doing adding an extra hour of cardio (60 minutes of treadmill at .40 speed), my weight then began to stabilize. My diet became very strict by Sunday (6/16) and my weight then went up.

I had no expectations throughout this experiment. Just tested it for one week and wanted to report my results. Not sure on my learning of the weight stabilization since I should've been burning pure fat (based on my Ketone strips). I'm sitting back now trying to access my learnings before figuring out where I want to fit in low carbs into my overall diet plan.

Honestly, I have no weight goal. I do want my % body fat to be around 10-15%. I want an awesome six pack (I know, I know). I test my body % at my job every Thursday and document it at the nurses office. It is currently at 23.3%.

I'm 5'11
204.8lbs as of today
23.3% body fat
41 years old.

That's all for now! Glad to be a part of this community.

h9dlb

Hi Myxalplyx, your stats and goals are very similar to mine :

5'11 - 5'11
204.8lbs as of today - 199 lbs
23.3% body fat -22.4%
41 years old. - 42 yrs

I also tried very low carb just over a month ago, and yes had good loss, but after a week I was very week, I was struggling in the gym, struggling to get through the day at work, once came out of work, sat in my car and fell asleep for an hour.

However the weight loss was not just fat - I noticeably lost muscle, I was weaker on lifts and I could feel and see in the mirror my shoulders were smaller, so low carb is one to avoid I think.

I have done ok with 100g net carb a day though

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Ketosis flu, aka carb flu does not include a chest cold..............it is nausea, feeling weak and tired for a couple of days and then a burst of energy comes and you feel great again.

One week does nothing to prove anything. It takes at least 3-4 weeks to produce viable results.

Myxalplyx

One week does nothing to prove anything. It takes at least 3-4 weeks to produce viable results.

What are considered viable results?

And h9dlb, thanks for sharing your experience and results. I'm not sure if I saw visible muscle loss (it could have been in my head) but I definitely was MUCH weaker than normal. That sucked! I certainly didn't have a lack of protein in my diet.

LexiAtel

Yes, I would test it out more. Your body needs more than a week to adjust. I think 2-3 weeks is a good number, a month is better though

20-25lbs (depending on your starting weight, and other factors) is great result... Many people who do low carb are VERY over weight (400lbs+), and this helps these over weight people who can hardly move around due to damage to their body from al lthe weight they are carrying.

I have seen it done, it works...