2nd week of low carb need help

joyfullee

Hi, I'm in my second week of low carb. I've lost 6 lbs so far, and I couldn't be more happy! I'm doing the Atkins way...trying to stay under 20 carbs. I have two issues I'm struggling with.

#1- I have diverticulitis...and am supposed to have a lot of fiber every day. I'm NOT getting enough. I have been careful to use my carbs for leafy greens, and have even made the approved Level 1 flax meal muffin in a mug, but that hasn't helped much. I have read of people on low carb starting to take magnesium to help. Unfortunately, I have been taking magnesium for a few years, the suggested dose, and it stopped helping me in the "bathroom" a few months ago. I assumed my body got used to it finally. My husband suggested Metamucil, but even the sugar free kind has 6 grams of carbs...not really wanting to use up that much of my daily carbs. Plus, I am afraid it will slow down my weight loss.

#2 - I am following the rules of phase 1, but am not getting into Ketos stage yet. Just "trace". For about 2 days over the weekend I was in "mild", but then it went down again. The only thing I can think of is that maybe too much cheese? I don't feel like I'm going crazy with it though, but I'm not counting the oz...just tracking each portion. I am also keeping track of me calories, and feel that I'm doing well...staying under the allotted amount each day.

Can anyone offer me some advice? I'm still plugging away at this diet, but I'm a little discouraged today. I NEED to loose weight for health reasons, and this is the life change I felt led to make to do that. I know it can be done, I just need some guidance. Thanks!

Sunny_Bunny_

I don't really know anything about diverticulitis, so forgive me if I seem ignorant. But, other digestive issues where the standard advice is to get more fiber actually seem to respond better with less fiber and enough good fats with this woe.
I myself had IBS (D I guess they call it when it's a loose issue). It's completely cleared up for me. I only get about 6g fiber a day from vegetables.
I'm sure this isn't the same, but just using my situation as an example.
I have had some issues with actual constipation, which for me happens when I eat too much cheese and/or protein. I say "actual" constipation because there's a difference between not going every day and constipation. Not going every day is fine. You're eating more nutrient dense foods, less fillers from the processed stuff and grains and there's simply less volume of solid waste. Actual constipation will give symptoms like feeling heavy in your gut, tightness, discomfort or pain and stuff like that in addition to not going.
So the first step is making sure the definition of constipation is correct.
As far as the magnesium, you may need a higher dose than before due to having recent losses. The reason magnesium is a good laxative is that any excess that your body cannot use will be eliminated through digestion. Magnesium acts like a sponge by pulling water to it, which brings water into the bowels, loosening stools. If your body is using all the magnesium you're providing, there won't be any traveling through the bowels.

Dragonwolf

Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable in diverticulitis can chime in, but from what I've found on fiber in general, you might not need as much as you think. A quick search turned up this paper - http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/030314p46.shtml - which talks in the "Fiber Hypothesis Revisited" that the fiber hypothesis (the one that says you need a high fiber diet) is actually pretty poorly supported (not surprising, considering most of the claims of fiber are pretty poorly supported). The recommendations in that paper still tow the Western Diet party lines, so a lot of it doesn't apply to LCHF/keto, but that section is probably the more relevant.

Here are a couple of more articles that may be of interest to you -- https://www.gutsense.org/gutsense/diverticular.html (the author of the site is on the pretty extreme end of anti-fiber, but there's a lot of useful information), http://bodyecology.com/articles/natural-diverticulitis-remedy-a-high-fiber-diet-may-not-be-the-answer (the author promotes a number of products, but they're probably not required and you can probably find "generic" alternatives)

As for your second question -- I assume you're using ketostix? It's not uncommon for the reading to go down the longer you're in ketosis. It doesn't mean you're falling out of ketosis, but rather that you're not excreting as much in the urine, which is a good thing (it means you're using more of it for fuel and wasting less). If you want to keep track of your ketones, you'll want either a breath or blood meter, as those are more accurate. However, if you're just using ketosis for weight management (and don't need to be in a certain level of ketosis for health reasons), it's not a huge deal and as long as you follow the guidelines for maintaining ketosis, you're going to be in it to some degree.

nvmomketo

6 lbs! That is a great start. Congratulations!

I don't know a lot about diverticulitits. I myself had constipation my entire life due to undiagnosed celiac disease. I was a fibre maniac back then. I drank Metamucil and took multiple fibre supplements a few times per day. I think if anything that it was made worse by fibre due to all of the bulk.

The extra fat, mostly in the form of coconut oil, and magnesium supplements keep things regular and easy for me like fibre never could. If I am eating too much cheese, which can slow things down for me, I will increase my magnesium citrate and things will pick up the pace. I don't worry about taking too much because it is water soluble so overdosing would be very difficult to do, if not impossible.

I am no longer a believer in fibre's necessity if one is not eating a lot of carbs. Fats and Mg seem to do it for me, but I am very low carb. If I took fibre and counted net carbs, I would be in the negative values.

Some find they have less bulk when switching to LCHF too. Animal products tend to digest a bit more thoroughly so there tends to be less bulk.

I don't know if that will work for you though.

And I wouldn't worry about how dark the keto test strips are. If you are getting any colour change, you are fine.

I am one who rarely goes above trace and the occasional small ketone readings. Even when my carbs are below 10g a day I still get trace readings. Fasting will sometimes get me to moderate but low calories is about all that will do it for me. Conversely, too many calories (often from cheese too) will lead to some negative readings.

You could experiment and cut back on cheese to see if it is better for you, bathroom and ketostix wise.

Best wishes.

carom

I occasionally use psyllium husks, 1 tbsp. mixed with 1/2 glass of water. Its not great to drink but it does work!

Yi5hedr3

Metamucil is the worst thing you can do - That'll plug you up for sure!!! The coconut oil idea above is a good one. Also Magnesium Citrate Tablets taken twice a day, morning and night will keep you flowing fine.

Yi5hedr3

carom wrote: »

I occasionally use psyllium husks, 1 tbsp. mixed with 1/2 glass of water. Its not great to drink but it does work!

Insoluble fiber will just plug you up. Take a soluble fiber like Inulin instead! (Read the book "Fiber Menace")