Keto Beginner

LowCarbHighFatNat
LowCarbHighFatNat Posts: 50 Member
in Getting Started
Good Morning! I am on Day 2 of Keto. I was wondering if anyone who is a little more experienced than myself could look at yesterday's diary and tell me your thoughts? Thanks :)

Replies

  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Good morning! Have you heard of the "Keto Flu"? It is when your body starts moving from Carbs to Ketones for energy. You loose a lot of fluids and you also loose "electrolytes" (Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium).

    The Keto Flu sucks. I missed it - or, maybe better stated - mitigated it because I consumed a lot of sodium in the beginning. That (the Keto Flu) is one of the things that makes people think twice about doing Keto - but it is so easy to mitigate (and, since everyone is different, that might mean something different for you).

    I did look at your Food Diary. I will look again and comment...I just saw the amount of Sodium and wanted to address the Keto Flu and how to mitigate | avoid it!
  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,239 Member
    Good luck with KETO. I considered it but decided a balanced macro diet at a deficit was much easier for me to do for the rest of my life. As soon as I seen banana's were off the recommended KETO food list I bailed...lol
  • debcarv
    debcarv Posts: 256 Member
    My husband and I are considering the keto diet but we or I have tried Atkins in the past with no results. Atkins gave me alot of stomach issues I might add. What do you mean by balanced macro's diet, considering it.
  • Emw148
    Emw148 Posts: 22 Member
    Good luck to you! I've been trying to do keto for 2 1/2 weeks now - down 11 pounds! I have lost some weight on low carb/Atkins in the past but always reached a plateau way earlier than I wanted. I'm having some trouble getting all the fats in, but I must say I'm not at all hungry most of the time. I've also added intermittent fasting trying to go 16 hours without eating most days of the week.
    I did experience a little "keto flu" this time around day three lasting two days, but nothing too bad.
    I had some muscle cramping yesterday after climbing stairs so I may need more Na and water, but other than that it's going well!
  • Glends77
    Glends77 Posts: 4 Member
    Ive started Keto three weeks ago down one stone already. Another five to go. Any tips
  • vgentile990
    vgentile990 Posts: 50 Member
    Keep it super simple early on ... eggs... rib eye steak ...coconut oil... olive oil .. brocolli.. asparagus.. spinach
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 849 Member
    I agree the easier to follow, the better. My choice of foods were/are different but I basically set up a balanced I tried and mostly did so meal planning. And to make it easier I would pretty much eat the same thing for two-three days in a row. It also helped set the pattern for me. And helped me know what to put on my grocery list each time. I did go through Keto-Flu mostly because I really do not like salt and have always used sparingly so did not stop to think = sodium you need for this diet type. Plus the real big monster I did not even think of was with being a type 2 diabetic on Insulin how fast my readings for Blood Sugar would go haywire along with my Electrolyte numbers for my kidneys in blood tests. So now I am being asked to have blood tests every 10 days to check all the kidney numbers. Why? Well with all water input/output I need to make sure daily I am drinking some type of sports drink sugar free loaded with Electrolytes. So a word to others who are diabetic. Watch out for this. I knew to watch for the Blood Sugar reading to swing around but not kidney blood test readings based on input/output. Been doing for a month now, kind of have the hang of it, but take time every day to read more on Keto from all the topics and learn.
  • mcash540
    mcash540 Posts: 11 Member
    If you plateau at a certain point try using a 24 hr carb refeed a few times a month.
  • Misty_1375
    Misty_1375 Posts: 759 Member
    I’m strict keto since January. I was fortunate enough to avoid the keto flu. However I made sure to eat spinach everyday, drink chicken broth/pickle juice and Powerade zero. I’m down 20lbs.
  • lexiewilson31
    lexiewilson31 Posts: 4 Member
    Congrats! That's awesome!! I'm just starting Keto, mainly for mental health and I'm excited to see the progress but i definitely want to avoid the Keto flu so this helps me a ton!
  • Duelltolose
    Duelltolose Posts: 119 Member
    First full day today on Keto for me, so I'm here for the suggestions as well.
    I'm not big on almonds/nuts. What's an easier way to enjoy them? I got sea salt almonds but it's still not tasty to me.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Duelltolose wrote: »
    First full day today on Keto for me, so I'm here for the suggestions as well.
    I'm not big on almonds/nuts. What's an easier way to enjoy them? I got sea salt almonds but it's still not tasty to me.

    If you don't like nuts, just skip them. Eat eggs or olives or guacamole or something else instead.
    :)
  • EternityEyes
    EternityEyes Posts: 1 Member
    First full day of keto for me too. Fighting a pretty harsh headache right now. Been binging on carbs and sugar for the last month or so - I don’t expect a smooth transition.
  • AtLeastOnceMore
    AtLeastOnceMore Posts: 304 Member
    Oh, I'm still a relative newbie (4 months and 27lbs in) but here are my experiences:

    1. You'll lose a lot in the first two weeks. A lot of that is water weight, so don't freak out when weight loss slows or even stops a month or two in - your body is undergoing a major change, particularly if you were on a very high carb/sugar diet, and it'd going to take a while to find a new level.
    2. I am yet to find an upper limit on salt. I often hit 5000mg salt.
    3. I drink >2L of water a day (with a squeeze of lemon). This is vital. Your poor liver and kidneys are going to have quite to job ahead of you whilst you're losing. Look after them.
    4. Keep it to basics for a while.
    5. https://www.pinterest.com.au/coolchick207/ketogenic/ <--- when you're wanting a change from simple, there are hundreds of keto compliant or adjustable recipes here.
    6. When I got on keto, I presumed I'd lose all the weight quickly. That hasn't happened and, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm really grateful. I lose, on average, 0.7kg (1.5lbs) a week and that's allowing my body to keep up.
    7. Just like any diet, there are weeks you either won't lose or will go up a little. Keep calm and keto on. It'll adjust itself within the week. If it doesn't, ensure you're tracking correctly and staying below your chosen carbs (for me, that's 30g)
    8. If you can afford good butter, invest in it. Kerrygold is the standard in the keto community, but any grass fed butter is better that the cheap stuff.
    9. Don't forget your veg. Fibre is your friend.

    Overall, I love it. I'm never hungry, my headaches have decreased, as has my problem with inflammation. My mood swings are significantly fewer (I have bipolar II) and I sleep an average of 7.5-8hrs a night, which is amazing for me who used to struggle to get into the 6hr mark.
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    luckycharm9334 wrote: »
    EternityEyes wrote: »
    First full day of keto for me too. Fighting a pretty harsh headache right now. Been binging on carbs and sugar for the last month or so - I don’t expect a smooth transition.

    Make sure you eat lots of fats drink tons of water and chicken bouillon! Also when the body starts producing ketones in grand fashion you may experience a backache. That is the lkidneys producing lots and lots of acid in the urine. To combat this until it subsides you have to make your blood alkaline. Luckily, easy to fix. 1teaspoon baking sofa + 1 teaspoon lemon juice (it will fizz yes) in 8 oz water a couple times a day toned it down quite a bit.

    Hope this helps! B)

    Should be noted that it's extremely difficult on purpose to change the pH of your blood. Your body fights tooth and nail so to speak to maintain its' 7.4pH. I don't know what the backache actually is, but I doubt it's kidneys producing acid and that recipe won't do squat to anyone's blood pH.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    EternityEyes wrote: »
    First full day of keto for me too. Fighting a pretty harsh headache right now. Been binging on carbs and sugar for the last month or so - I don’t expect a smooth transition.

    That's the low electrolytes. Eat a few cups of salty broth or a teaspoon of salt with some water. It will do the trick.
  • vaskaxtumir
    vaskaxtumir Posts: 16 Member
    I'm doing keto, too, and it's working very well for me so far. As others have already said, the headache is most probably electrolyte depletion, which can be corrected very easily with some Himalayan or sea salt (plain white table salt will not help). I do make sure to get in plenty of vegetables (2 cups cooked veggies and a salad of 4-5 cups lettuce a day), take a vitamin supplement, plus magnesium, and potassium in Low-salt, and have not experienced any keto flu at all.

    Best wishes! :-)

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