Looking for Advice from Low Carbers

the initial dizziness thing is very common - Google 'Atkins flu'. When you cut out carbs your body releases sodium to urine, leaving you with less salt on board and consequently reduced blood pressure. Bump up the salt, drink bouillon or stock drinks etc.

5% carbs / 25% protein / 70% fat typically. Atkins induction is <20g net carbs, Dr Eric Westman uses <20g total carbs.

20% carb is ok but not "that" low. eg at 2000 cals it's 100g a day.

Yes, walk a bit, some running, have run both 5k and 10k events on low carb, walked 14 miles, cycled 19 miles. (not all in same day, obviously)

I'll admit I only have a vague understanding of Atkins but this is what I think it is trying to accomplish.

With Atkins you are trying to change your body from metabolizing sugars (carbs) as its primary energy source to metabolizing fat instead via an alternative metabolic pathway (Ketosis). To basically trick your body into doing this you have to eat very VERY little carbs (like 5-10% carbs).

With low carb you aren't trying to do that, you are trying to just lower the amount of carbs you eat because its easier to eat at a deficit if you fill your diet with more satiating foods that are high in protein. A low carb diet is something in the 30-40% Carb range.

If, however, you go half way. Eat something like 20% carbs for example. It isn't enough to trigger the ketosis pathway and so your body is still trying to rely on carbs as a primary energy source but yet you aren't giving it much at all which might cause things like weakness, lethargy and light headedness.

I could be wrong but it seems like you'd either want to go full on Atkins or you would want to eat more carbs than you are. Personally I'd recommend just eating some more carbs bringing it up to the 30-40% range. I don't really like Atkins as a diet.

Wait. You said 20% carbs. Now you're saying 40g. Is it one, or the other?

If it's both, I'd suggest that it's the lack of calories that's making you feel dizzy rather than anything to do with carbs. 40g carbs being 20% of your intake has you eating about 800 calories/day.

If it's 20%, that shouldn't be low enough to trigger dizziness except possibly at the end of a workout, and you mentioned that you're not working out at the moment. Have you been hydrated, etc.?

If it's 40g, yeah, suddenly cutting carbs can do that, googling Atkins induction flu as others suggested will guide you to advice on what to do with it.

FWIW I've been eating low carb for a while, I didn't experience that but I do have some more carbs before a major event.

Good point. 20% carbs and 40g carbs does not add up unless you are eating way fewer calories than you should be. 40g carbs is just 160 calories!

I feel that way every now and then. It's part of the transition. I'm just starting week 3, and I'm feeling a little foggy today. It gets better as you become fat-adapted. For some people it only lasts 1 week; for others it lasts 5-6. So hang in there.

I wouldn't worry too much about how much fat you're eating; on a low-carb diet you need fat. The goal of low-carb is not to restrict your fat intake, but to control your calorie intake while getting all the nutrients you need (without the stuff you don't need, like sugar or wheat). Remember that part of the goal is to retrain your body to burn fat; you can't do that if you're not eating any.

I find using percentages like MFP does really doesn't make much sense for low-carb, but I've found a way to make it work.
Basically, I stopped paying attention to the pie chart and just look at the numbers.

I set my carb limit at 50g. That works out to be less than 15%, so I selected 15% in MFP just to ball-park it. If I increase my calories, I'll still hold that 50g, so the percent will go down. Also, I don't beat myself up if I go a bit over 50. I look at the whole week, so long as the whole week is less than 350g, than I don't worry about it.

I estimated how much protein I need and did the same thing (88g/day for me).

As for calories: I set my limit at 1500, but by following the other rules I usually only need 1300-1400. Sometimes I exceed 1500, but on other days I'm under 1200. So long as I'm meeting my carb and protein rules, and I'm satisfied and not hungry, I don't worry about my calories. Mostly I only track calories to force myself to decide if I'm really hungry, or just bored. I don't want to exceed 1500 calories just because I'm bored. But if I exceed it because I truly need to (and I don't have any tricky carbs messing with my appetite) than I don't worry about it.

So my rules are:
- Don't exceed carb limit
- Get the necessary amount of protein
- Eat if hungry; don't eat if not hungry
- Avoid trans fats
- Minimize polyunsaturated fats

I've been doing low carb but more recently keto for a while. I'm alot bigger I started at 350 and down to 314. I felt HORRIBLE at first on low carb. I am down to under 20 g of carb a day but usually I am under it. There are sooo many low carb recipes that mimic bread and other bread like things like cauliflower pizza. I would start out at a higher carb content and than go lower. I am at the point where I pretty much eat meat and protein and hardly any veggies. Fruits are out of the question for me.