Ditching keto?

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  • Nonkonzo
    Nonkonzo Posts: 6 Member
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    I tried keto for a month and to be honest it was the quickest weight loss I've ever experienced. On the flip side though, I was always ' semi- tired', had brain fog and it required too much effort: getting your electrolytes, increasing fat intake and adhering to only consuming 20g worth of carbs daily . Additionally, eating that much meat felt unnatural for me. I'd recommend it only as a way to kick start your weightloss journey, just for a short period. For me, it's not a sustainable way of eating.
  • Good_Morning_Glory
    Good_Morning_Glory Posts: 226 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Do what works best for you and your health. If you know you have increased sodium from your normal levels, and you have no health need to eat keto, you are smart to do whatever works best in the long term for you.
    Orphia wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    krissywashington79 wrote: »
    I’ve been following keto thus far. I’ve lost 33lbs but frankly I just don’t feel as great as I should. I’m exhausted by the end of the day. I could not keep my eyes open at 8 last night. The nutrition program at the gym I attend is a well balanced mix of proteins, fats and carbs. I’m going to switch things up and increase my carb and protein intake and lower my fats. I’m struggling with this as I have been losing weight but I need more energy for my workouts. My mood swings have also been off the charts. Anyone ditched keto and went to a well balanced way of eating? Did your weight loss stall?

    The bolded are all symptoms of an electrolyte imbalance, and that does not go away unless you supplement sodium, and possibly magnesium (potassium too needed).

    When I went keto I could not believe that I needed 3000-5000 mg of sodium a day. That is roughly 2 teaspoons of salt (2300mg sodium = 1 tsp salt). I'd bought into the low sodium dogma of the last few decades so I did not add salt. Three weeks into the diet I finally gave it once I was getting muscle cramps that were waking me up in the night.

    Try a teaspoon of salt with water and salty broth a couple of times a day before ditching keto (if you were enjoying the diet otherwise). It may not be LCHF that disagrees with you, but rather an electrolyte imbalance.

    (BTW, other symptoms of low sodium are fatigue, headaches, nausea, moodiness, BM issues, muscle aches and spasms.)

    Hmm, all that, keto flu, stinky breath, fatigue, AND counting calories?

    Or you can just count calories.

    Correction. Less water retention, sweet smelling breath and less hunger so a greatly reduced need to count calories since most naturally eat less. YMMV

    Or you can count calories.

    Dont forget with keto you get increased muscle fatigue and cramping, and worst performance recovery and muscle gains.

    And I have never heard of sweet smelling breath... only bad bread.

    My sarcasm meter is off today. Not enough sleep... You are joking, right? I need sleep.

    Normal or sweeter breath seems to be more the norm. Bad breath rarely comes up in ketogenic topics. When it does, dehydration and high protein intake are sometimes to blame. There are a few who get bad breath though. I'm happy I never experienced that.

    I do miss the delicious breath.

  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
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    I did terribly on keto. I did it for 4 months and was miserable, felt like crap and was exhausted all the time. Tried addressing the electrolyte issue, didn’t help. As soon as I went back to simple moderation, my energy levels were back up and I felt better physically and mentally. My weight loss sort of stalled but not for very long, but I should note that as I’m very close to goal I have largely been working at about maintenance for a while as opposed to eating at a large deficit for more significant weight loss. So it is normal for me to go a few weeks with no loss.

    I did take some positives from keto, such as cutting sugar and (some) dairy, which I am happy with and my body certainly agrees with.

    Someone said it above - keto is not a one size fits all. If it works for you, great. If not, there are plenty of other ways to go about losing weight.

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