So Tired!

navydentalchic
navydentalchic Posts: 234 Member
Hello!

This is my first week in..and I was feeling great the first couple of days. But yesterday and today, I feel like I have hit a wall. I am so tired...I am having trouble functioning...

Has anyone else experienced this at the beginning? Thank you!!

Replies

  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    It's normal, I went through this in first 3-4 weeks but after my body adjusted it was nothing like before.
  • navydentalchic
    navydentalchic Posts: 234 Member
    Ok, just making sure this is normal! lol I couldn't even finsh my work out. I will maybe just stick to walking till this feeling passes! thank you!
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    I didn't work out for first 3 weeks, the work outs in week 4 were horrible. But now, I can run half marathons every week. Just like anything else , be patient and slowly build the work out. Your body needs time to switch from carbs to fat as fuel.
  • Caeyla
    Caeyla Posts: 42 Member
    Yep, I've been there too...multiple times lol. Bulletproof coffee helped me make it through a few afternoons when all I wanted to do was curl up under the covers and stay there until the next day! It does pass, and for me, energy levels end up being higher than before I started.
  • Tontus94
    Tontus94 Posts: 22
    Are you taking any supplements? At the beginning you are losing a lot of water and that means you are low on electrolytes. Try adding some potassium, magnesium and sodium. I take a potassium in the morning and evening, 1 magnesium in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 2 at night. For sodium I drink a cup of chicken bouillon. This combo really helped me!
  • navydentalchic
    navydentalchic Posts: 234 Member
    thank you so much for the responses! this does ease my mind a bit. I was starting to worry there was something wrong. I do take prenatal vitamins, but no other supplements.
  • FXOjafar
    FXOjafar Posts: 173 Member
    Have more fat!

    I've been keto adapted for well over a year and today after a BPC I went for a 7.5k walk before lunch, and now I'm sitting at my desk doing the restless bouncy leg thing.

    I have to MOVE! :)
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    This might help -- http://whole30.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/ It's not keto-specific, but in my experience, there's a lot of crossover in the withdrawal/induction process.

    Here are a couple of suggestions I have:

    1. Don't intentionally restrict calories during the induction period. Induction's hard enough on your body, and a caloric deficit also causes stress. The combination of the two is a set up for misery. The keto ratios generally have a suppressive effect on the appetite, so while it may seem like you're eating a ton of food, you're probably actually not eating as much as you think. Besides, it's only a couple of weeks, which isn't much in the long run, even if you do manage to eat over all the time and gain a couple of pounds.

    2. EAT ALL THE FAT! If you're hungry, eat, even if it feels like you're eating all the time, but eat high-fat foods. Hell, if you can handle eating it straight, even a spoonful of coconut oil is acceptable (you could also use butter or other healthful fat, but coconut oil is said to have a beneficial effect on the ketosis process).

    3. Make and drink bone broth. Take a bunch of bones, stick them in a stock pot or slow cooker, cover in water, add a tablespoon or so of vinegar and bunches of favorite veggies, bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 8-24 hours (longer for larger bones), in last couple of hours add favorite herbs/spices, strain liquid into container to cool. Add to drinks, food, or drink straight. Bone broth is full of all sorts of nutrients, including most of the electrolytes. It will also help calm any GI upset the new diet might be having on you.

    4. Don't fear salt. Ketosis is naturetic. That means it causes your body to dump sodium (NA = sodium). This is why electrolytes are important. When sodium levels get too low, the body will start going after potassium, and so on down the line of electrolytes in an attempt to keep them balanced. So, not only do you not have to avoid sodium, but you might have to add salt to things in order to make sure you're getting enough. (Yeah, basically, keto turns conventional advice on its head, anything conventional wisdom says to do, do the opposite, basically.)

    5. Drink plenty of water, especially when exercising. Lower carbs means lower glycogen stores, and lower glycogen means less stored water. It can be easier to dehydrate in certain circumstances, so make sure you're getting plenty of water. Dehydration makes induction even more miserable.
  • Chaskavitch
    Chaskavitch Posts: 172 Member
    As far as getting more fat by eating coconut oil straight, I can't do it. HOWEVER, if you mix it 1:2 with some unsweetened shredded coconut, add some crunched up slivered almonds for flavor/texture, and some unsweetened cocoa powder, it is pretty delicious. Now that it is warm out I have to chill it a little before I eat it, but yum. It is definitely my snack of choice when I'm not getting enough fat or when I'm hungry between lunch and dinner.
  • sljohnson1207
    sljohnson1207 Posts: 818 Member
    coconut butter is also a low carb, high fat treat right out of the jar. Less oily feeling than coconut oil, a little higher in carbs.