Day 22 - The first hard day
Kimo159
Posts: 508 Member
I started keto on Jun 2. I've felt really awesome on it, no cravings so to speak, loving the food, strength is down slightly in the gym but it's slowly building back up....BUT last night was the first hard evening, the first time I looked at my boyfriend eating girl guide cookies and thought to myself "Man, I want one of those...". I didn't do it though! Today I'm feeling the same though. Thoughts of carb heavy foods have been dancing in my head, "maybe just one cheat meal this weekend as a reward" says the devil on my shoulder, then the rational side of me pipes up and says it's not worth it. Think of how much better you're feeling! I've been really tired this week. Last night I was so exhausted I didn't want to do anything after the gym. I know I'm still fighting off a virus that I've had for about a month now but yesterday and today I've been excessively tired. Does anyone else get like this when they're tired?
Sorry for the long winded post. I guess I just want to talk it out with some like minded individuals...because I know if I try to talk it out with anyone else in my life I'll just get the spiel about I probably feel like this because I'm keto and how carbs are important, etc.
Sorry for the long winded post. I guess I just want to talk it out with some like minded individuals...because I know if I try to talk it out with anyone else in my life I'll just get the spiel about I probably feel like this because I'm keto and how carbs are important, etc.
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I do periodically have days where my strength feels down, and I get fatigued much, much easier. It's a bone-deep sort of fatigue, not the usual "I'm a little overworked". Typically for me, dehydration, insufficient electrolytes, and/or inadequate sleep are culprits. I like to take in extra sodium and potassium if I feel that way, and it's usually helpful.
With the cravings... for me, they come and go. Mostly they stay away, but I have moments! I've found having an alternative in the house that I can eat is very helpful. I keep a Quest bar or two around, as well as a sugar free milk chocolate and almond bar, and sugar free pudding. When I'm craving something sweet, one of those goodies does the trick.
Hang in there! It gets easier, and you're doing amazing.1 -
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10358179/dizzy-weak-tired-headaches-cramping-muscles-electrolyte-imbalance-may-be-your-problem#latest
You should find the info to help you in this link2 -
Thanks for the replies. I've been pretty good about electrolytes (so I think). I use regular and potassium salt very liberally and I supplement magnesium (citrate) as well. But perhaps I just don't have enough. I'm going to make myself some ketoade and get some more sodium and potassium. Hopefully that helps.
I'll also look into keeping some alternatives in the house/in the office.3 -
You truly can't get enough sodium just by salting your foods. There's no way you'd be able to get 4000-5000mg a day that way. And you probably need even more than that if you dink a lot of water, sweat or exercise.
I like pickles and even drink the juice.3 -
Tbh, I told myself last night if I'm at our close to goal on Thanksgiving, I'll indulge in that meal with dessert.
That's probably playing with fire, as well.1 -
Where are you in your cycle? I started May 26th... did great too till day 26... Then chocolate and PMS won... Then my period started the next morning. LOL1
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You truly can't get enough sodium just by salting your foods. There's no way you'd be able to get 4000-5000mg a day that way. And you probably need even more than that if you dink a lot of water, sweat or exercise.
I like pickles and even drink the juice.
I'm probably way low then! I work out 4-5x per week and I sweat like crazy when I do (more so since starting keto, haha!). And I do drink a lot of water. I'm not sure I could do pickle juice but I can definitely do broth with salt added to it. I'm also fine with licking it off the back of my hand.0 -
SuperCarLori wrote: »Tbh, I told myself last night if I'm at our close to goal on Thanksgiving, I'll indulge in that meal with dessert.
That's probably playing with fire, as well.
I like the idea of setting a "cheat" in the future provided you meet a goal. It probably helps a lot to keep you on track in the moments you are wanting to cheat? Maybe when you've hit thanksgiving you'll want to indulge in a keto dessert instead.1 -
anewlifeat40 wrote: »Where are you in your cycle? I started May 26th... did great too till day 26... Then chocolate and PMS won... Then my period started the next morning. LOL
Haha! I would have thought that! But I'm mid cycle so I don't even have that excuse! TOM can be such a jerk sometimes. I actually didn't get any cravings at TOM this time around, first time in a while. In fact it was one of the easiest ones I've had since I went off the pill 7 months ago. Coincidence?0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You truly can't get enough sodium just by salting your foods. There's no way you'd be able to get 4000-5000mg a day that way. And you probably need even more than that if you dink a lot of water, sweat or exercise.
I like pickles and even drink the juice.Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You truly can't get enough sodium just by salting your foods. There's no way you'd be able to get 4000-5000mg a day that way. And you probably need even more than that if you dink a lot of water, sweat or exercise.
I like pickles and even drink the juice.
LOVE this! im a salt freak! Going to get me some pickles and saladitos (salted dried prunes) I wonder what their carb count is??0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You truly can't get enough sodium just by salting your foods. There's no way you'd be able to get 4000-5000mg a day that way. And you probably need even more than that if you dink a lot of water, sweat or exercise.
I like pickles and even drink the juice.
LOVE this! im a salt freak! Going to get me some pickles and saladitos (salted dried prunes) I wonder what their carb count is??[/quote]
ZERO CARBS for saladitos!! omg im so happy! going to run out and get some on my break lol!0 -
When I first began this woe I read of some drinking pickle juice, and thought it sounded nasty. Then, during a very low energy day, I decided to try it, and oh my, the energy boost was amazing! It definitely opened my eyes to what my body was needing! This was when I truly began looking at food as fuel!
As @Sunny_Bunny_ said, supplementation is vital to maintaining energy levels! I now use sodium tablets (hate the taste of salt!), and stay in a good place with them!2 -
When my daughter baked homemade cookies the other night they smelled SOOO good baking and I was craving them like crazy. I ate my weight in sugar free Hershey Special Dark bars but I didn't give in. I posted here and felt way better but boy was it tough...something about that familiar aroma, you know? The cookies are still on the table in the dining room and I've not wanted a single one since they came out of the oven. I can't say that being tired, whether from a lack of electrolytes or lack of sleep causes me to feel "weak" in the area of cheating but lots of people swear by the increase in electrolytes to stave off cravings. Good Luck!2
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I hit a plateau and decided to cheat. My husband had these custard fill doughnuts he had been eating for breakfast. He needs to gain weight and he eats whatever he wants. They had chocolate glazing and looked sooo good. So, I grabbed one and took a big bite....then I spit it out gagging. He had left them out and had not refrigerated them. The custard cream had gone bad and it tasted awful.
I thought of it as a sign and went back on my diet. Sigh....6 -
^^^^hahahahaha! Sounds like what would happen to me.1
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I have days like this out of the blue: weak, tired, jittery, moody, achy. Like has been said, it usually is PM's, but I also think it is detoxing -like another level of the keto-flu. I drink tea (hot or iced) and I find it helps kill cravings and gives me something to do. It helps up my fluids, and I also up my salts and minerals.
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5 months in, I have had days (thankfully few) where I felt I could have eaten ANYTHING & EVERYTHING! How do I resist?
Firstly, I am on this journey with my husband, and cheating on this feels like I would be cheating on him. Betraying his trust and faith in me.
Secondly, I have taken this time and put in the effort to be in Ketosis and balance my body into this efficient fat burning machine. Why, oh why, would I mess with that?
I would not, under any circumstances, no matter how bad the craving, eat something high carb! There are foods that I know I will never eat again in my life, and I am happy to know that. I feel amazing, I look amazing, my life is fantastic.1 -
When I first began this woe I read of some drinking pickle juice, and thought it sounded nasty. Then, during a very low energy day, I decided to try it, and oh my, the energy boost was amazing! It definitely opened my eyes to what my body was needing! This was when I truly began looking at food as fuel!
As @Sunny_Bunny_ said, supplementation is vital to maintaining energy levels! I now use sodium tablets (hate the taste of salt!), and stay in a good place with them!
Last night I actually tried drinking pickle juice because I figured I shouldn't knock it til I've tried it. It was actually pretty good. I'll probably start drinking it randomly throughout the day. I think I'm going to look into some sodium tablets.
After licking a bunch of salt off the back of my hand, making some ketoade, and drinking some pickle juice I noticed myself feeling a bit more energetic last night. So electrolytes were clearly an issue for me. It's funny, I thought I was getting plenty but I wasn't even close to the mark.5 -
cedarsidefarm wrote: »I hit a plateau and decided to cheat. My husband had these custard fill doughnuts he had been eating for breakfast. He needs to gain weight and he eats whatever he wants. They had chocolate glazing and looked sooo good. So, I grabbed one and took a big bite....then I spit it out gagging. He had left them out and had not refrigerated them. The custard cream had gone bad and it tasted awful.
I thought of it as a sign and went back on my diet. Sigh....
Oh my...ick! Well that would probably make you a lot less likely to cheat in the future.0 -
RowdysLady wrote: »When my daughter baked homemade cookies the other night they smelled SOOO good baking and I was craving them like crazy. I ate my weight in sugar free Hershey Special Dark bars but I didn't give in. I posted here and felt way better but boy was it tough...something about that familiar aroma, you know? The cookies are still on the table in the dining room and I've not wanted a single one since they came out of the oven. I can't say that being tired, whether from a lack of electrolytes or lack of sleep causes me to feel "weak" in the area of cheating but lots of people swear by the increase in electrolytes to stave off cravings. Good Luck!
Oh man, fresh baked cookie smell would be hard. That's awesome that you stayed on course!0 -
JennyJStewart wrote: »I have days like this out of the blue: weak, tired, jittery, moody, achy. Like has been said, it usually is PM's, but I also think it is detoxing -like another level of the keto-flu. I drink tea (hot or iced) and I find it helps kill cravings and gives me something to do. It helps up my fluids, and I also up my salts and minerals.
I went tea crazy yesterday! I probably had three cups of tea, I usually have a cup a week. It did help though.0 -
CaliforniaAJ wrote: »5 months in, I have had days (thankfully few) where I felt I could have eaten ANYTHING & EVERYTHING! How do I resist?
Firstly, I am on this journey with my husband, and cheating on this feels like I would be cheating on him. Betraying his trust and faith in me.
Secondly, I have taken this time and put in the effort to be in Ketosis and balance my body into this efficient fat burning machine. Why, oh why, would I mess with that?
I would not, under any circumstances, no matter how bad the craving, eat something high carb! There are foods that I know I will never eat again in my life, and I am happy to know that. I feel amazing, I look amazing, my life is fantastic.
It must be great to do this with your husband. I think the point about not wanting to mess with ketosis after the time and effort you put into getting there is the thing that prevents me from cheating the most. I don't want to have to spend a bunch of time (and potentially deal with extra cravings) trying to get back in for that one moment of pleasure...which is unlikely to be worth it at all! I mean, of course there's a lot of things I'm no longer having due to keto but there's so many more things I love that I'm eating now. It's really nice to eat a fatty cut of steak without thinking to myself "I can only eat half because otherwise I'll blow my fat macro out of the water". Now I just eat as much of that sucker as I feel comfortable doing. Food doesn't stress me out anymore like it did on IIFYM. I also don't feel like crap after a meal. Heavy carb meals always made me bloated and tired. Congrats to you on 5 months so far!1 -
SuperCarLori wrote: »Tbh, I told myself last night if I'm at our close to goal on Thanksgiving, I'll indulge in that meal with dessert.
That's probably playing with fire, as well.
I like the idea of setting a "cheat" in the future provided you meet a goal. It probably helps a lot to keep you on track in the moments you are wanting to cheat? Maybe when you've hit thanksgiving you'll want to indulge in a keto dessert instead.
3 words:
pumpkin
cheesecake
mousse
dangerously delicious1 -
baconslave wrote: »SuperCarLori wrote: »Tbh, I told myself last night if I'm at our close to goal on Thanksgiving, I'll indulge in that meal with dessert.
That's probably playing with fire, as well.
I like the idea of setting a "cheat" in the future provided you meet a goal. It probably helps a lot to keep you on track in the moments you are wanting to cheat? Maybe when you've hit thanksgiving you'll want to indulge in a keto dessert instead.
3 words:
pumpkin
cheesecake
mousse
dangerously delicious
Oh my....That sounds amazing!0 -
baconslave wrote: »SuperCarLori wrote: »Tbh, I told myself last night if I'm at our close to goal on Thanksgiving, I'll indulge in that meal with dessert.
That's probably playing with fire, as well.
I like the idea of setting a "cheat" in the future provided you meet a goal. It probably helps a lot to keep you on track in the moments you are wanting to cheat? Maybe when you've hit thanksgiving you'll want to indulge in a keto dessert instead.
3 words:
pumpkin
cheesecake
mousse
dangerously delicious
Oh my....That sounds amazing!
It was. I'll see if I can't find it again...
I made a whole pan though. Which was very very dangerous. Next time I'm halfing or quartering it. I had to keep it in the basement fridge to keep me and the dessert apart a little. That stuff was like crack.1 -
I have a bite when my family is eating dessert and I just can't stand it. But usually that's enough for me because I've had the after effects of really overdoing it on carbs when I've been low carbing for so long, and they are not fun. Some people can't get away with just a bite, but it seems to work for me and makes me feel not so left out.
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Good for you for staying strong. Whenever I'm tempted, I play mind games with myself. I always ask myself how many calories would I be eating and what would I have to do to burn those calories. What would it do to my daily and weekly goals. It would taste great in my mouth but how would it feel in body. So far, every time I've talked myself out whatever it is I was tempted to eat...1
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