Advice on Keto transition, any similar experiences?

FocusonHealthy

Hi All,

I've been Keto for only 8 days now and I'm looking for advice as I'm feeling pretty weak. In preparation for the Keto flu, I'm drinking a lot of broth, eating fat, salting my foods, and drinking a lot of water and I haven't gotten any headaches or other symptoms.

However, my hunger is VERY low. My macros are 70+% fat, 2-5% carb, and the balance protein, but my calories are consistently between 1000-1200 with me feeling satiated. Likely because I'm not eating enough, I feel weak and lightheaded at times but I'm honesty not hungry! I try to force myself to eat when I'm not hungry to increase my calories or put a tablespoon of butter in random foods to help.

Has anyone else faced such low hunger from Keto that it's hard to get calories in? Should I be trusting my body and only eating when I'm hungry or trying to force it to stay in a higher calorie range? Is the weakness possibly just from Keto flu and I need to wait it out?

Thanks so much for any help/advice!

FocusonHealthy

Also my food diary is open if looking at it would help! I don't use any zero-cal sweeteners or other types of substitutes - I just went cold turkey. I also don't exercise at all (more than walking to and from class) so my energy expenditure is low.

I'd also welcome any new Keto friends for mutual motivation/support

Sunny_Bunny_

So, "Keto flu" is just a name given to describe the symptoms of electrolyte loss that often comes with the water loss and is 100% preventable. It sounds like you would be doing what's needed to prevent it, so assuming you're getting around 4000mg or so of sodium a day, every day, and enough water to satisfy thirst, you should be fine. The weakness may just be due to the transition from sugar burner to fat burner. Your body essentially has to build all your little fat burning factories so that you can use fat more effectively. I think that's something that continues to happen for a long time, but I guess the energy increase often comes a few weeks in. Seems different from person to person. What are your sources of fats? If you're not eating the right fats, you may not be able to get the energy you need from them. Basically, stay away from vegetable oils and margarine and anything low fat. Coconut oil, specifically MCT, can be a good fat for quick energy and is particularly ketogenic.
Another question would be, do you do any exercise? You may feel less energy if you're used to exercise already and are new to Keto. That might continue for a few weeks, but many just continue their normal habits and do what they can, until it gets better.
The only other thing I can think to consider is how much water do you drink? If you tend to force yourself to drink beyond thirst because you think getting a certain amount of water is good, which it may be, I don't know, then you probably need even more sodium than the average person because drinking extra water flushes out more sodium.

Kellryn

I'm also 8 days into LCHF eating and I'm barely hungry most times as well. I've been eating about 1300 calories a day, but for about 150-200 of them I have to "encourage" myself to eat them.
I have mild weak feelings occasionally, but they haven't gotten in the way of my daily activity.