New and Trying to get back on track
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BRobertson23
Posts: 150 Member
Nearly 13 years ago I tried Atkins for the first time, while in college. I lost 30 pounds and felt really good. However, I didn't sustain the way of eating and, of course, gained the 30 pounds back and tacked on more. In the spring of 2014 my husband and I decided to take back our health and began watching calorie consumption and walked daily. In total I've lost 40 pounds since that date, but I noticed I was allowing myself to go back to some old habits...partly because I plateau'd for several months and I couldn't seem to drop the last 8 pounds I was wanting to drop. In the past month I came to the conclusion that I wanted to try going low carb again and be smarter about my food. 48 hours into it and I'm doing well with my choices, but I do feel more lethargic and emotional...reactions I don't remember the first time I did low-carb...anyhoo, just curious if my first two weeks of induction are going to perpetuate this or if after the first week I'll start feeling a little more peppy. What's been your experience with energy levels?
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Welcome back to the Light Side.
Fatigue, light-headedness, and headaches are common symptoms. Especially in the first couple weeks. So common that people have dubbed it the "low-carb flu" and most people just suffer through it.
But you don't have to suffer through it if you understand the mechanism:
http://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-1-2
With these supplements maintaining daily intakes for sodium at 3–5 g/d and total potassium at 2–3 g/d, our adult subjects were able to effectively maintain their circulatory reserve (ie, allowing vasodilatation during submaximal exercise) and effective nitrogen balance with functional tissue preservation.
Yup. The cure is sodium. People resist salt due to the bad press it gets, but if you embrace sodium, you'll feel a LOT better. Broth, or just about any soup, is an excellent source.0 -
I was reading an article that was talking about increasing sodium during the first 2 weeks and I've been adding salt and working in lots of water....guess I need more sodium! Thanks!0
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It takes a lot of sodium to combat that lethargy! I use sodium tablets daily to keep my levels up! Many will drink very salty broth to help, or pickle juice! Hope you feel better!0
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I am with ya! Jumped into keto yesterday after many days of research(again) and am feeling good. Added more salt to the menus for today and the mild lightheadedness I was having is gone. It will be a change for sure! I do not plan on keto forever but I kept debating so will give it a shot. I typically keep my diet at about 100gross carbs a day so will end up back there at some point.
Good luck and stick to it! You will feel better soon I bet!0 -
BRobertson23 wrote: »I was reading an article that was talking about increasing sodium during the first 2 weeks and I've been adding salt and working in lots of water....guess I need more sodium! Thanks!
The more water you drink, the more sodium you need. Just drink the amount of water you feel you want. There's no need to specifically force down extra water. It just throws off the sodium/water balance.
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Ive never actually had the keto flu but did get leg cramps once. However way back when I tried Atkins the first time a friend who had done it a long time told me to have a shot every morning with 12 t lite salt ( potassium salt), 1/2 t iodized salt in a small shot of lemon or lime juice. It seems to work well for me. Im glad someone reminded me about salt the other day so I remembered Patty's old tip!0
