Just began a LC2HF Diet and it's working!
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JohnnyLowCarb
Posts: 418 Member
Never heard of LC2HF? Ok, I made it up. I was on a Low Cal diet and it worked ok, but once I started a Low Carb Low Calorie High Fat diet, man did I start to see results. I am in a Biggest Loser contest at work and I want to crush it. So for the next three weeks I will keep the calories set at 1,250 with a 60% fat, 10% carbs and 30% protein. Once the contest is over I will open the calories up a bit. BUT so far so good! I am looking forward to interacting with this group...
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Good luck, and welcome to the group.
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welcome to the group. I'm new here also. good for you. if you have any good meals or snacks please share.2
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Good luck! Remember that water and salt is super important!2
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Can you please explain the salt thing. I understand the electrolyte balancing but doesn't salt make you retain water and feel bloated? I can feel the swell in my fingers in no time. What am I doing wrong?1
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Can you please explain the salt thing. I understand the electrolyte balancing but doesn't salt make you retain water and feel bloated? I can feel the swell in my fingers in no time. What am I doing wrong?
THIS! Thank you for asking this @MALS71. I have the same issue with fluid retention and I'm on a low daily dose of HCTZ to help flush out the excess fluid.1 -
Can you please explain the salt thing. I understand the electrolyte balancing but doesn't salt make you retain water and feel bloated? I can feel the swell in my fingers in no time. What am I doing wrong?
When your in ketosis your body is LOSING a lot of sodium every day through the nateuresis of ketosis. With low insulin levels, your kidneys do NOT hold sodium like they used to. You are only REPLACING your body's required sodium to stay hydrated. Hydration is waaaaaaay more than fluid intake. Actually, drinking too much water will actually make you dehydrated because it cause you to lose too much sodium throufh urination.
Sodium is an electrolyte and it's actually only one that is NECESSARY to supplement upon going keto. The others are optional and is actually suggest not supplementing potassium as it can be dangerous. Magnesium in the right form can be very good though.chubbychickruns wrote: »Can you please explain the salt thing. I understand the electrolyte balancing but doesn't salt make you retain water and feel bloated? I can feel the swell in my fingers in no time. What am I doing wrong?
THIS! Thank you for asking this @MALS71. I have the same issue with fluid retention and I'm on a low daily dose of HCTZ to help flush out the excess fluid.
In your case, I can only say to learn about the nateuresis of ketosis and understand that things may be different for your keto body than they were before. Be prepared to be your own advocate by becoming knowledgeable on this because your doctor may not even understand it.
You will need to be aware of the signs of low sodium and make your own decision if you're having a problem with it or not since you're on a medication.1 -
@Sunny_Bunny_ Thank you for your knowledge! Electrolytes are such a huge thing with our WOE and so hard to understand in the beginning but very important. 3
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@Sunny_Bunny_ has all the details here. I, too, suffer from inflammation and swelling. It's getting much better with this WoE. It feels counter-intuitive, (if you're like me in the carb-heavy days I used to be able to measure my salt intake by the degree of swollen hands in the morning) but trust us, what she says is exactly right. Once you're in ketosis you need to hit the salt, not just by adding it to your food but by dosing with at least 1 1/2 tsp a day (I take it with water and lemon, my DH has it with boullion).
Then you can drink lots of water and your swelling will actually go down, not up. And you won't be dizzy or get headaches. If your legs and muscles ache along with the current swelling, I'd say supplement with magnesium as well.2 -
What is the danger with potassium? I don't recall that one from last time I LCHF'ed (2015).1
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »
When your in ketosis your body is LOSING a lot of sodium every day through the nateuresis of ketosis. With low insulin levels, your kidneys do NOT hold sodium like they used to. You are only REPLACING your body's required sodium to stay hydrated. Hydration is waaaaaaay more than fluid intake. Actually, drinking too much water will actually make you dehydrated because it cause you to lose too much sodium throufh urination.
Sodium is an electrolyte and it's actually only one that is NECESSARY to supplement upon going keto. The others are optional and is actually suggest not supplementing potassium as it can be dangerous. Magnesium in the right form can be very good though.
OK - today I was experiencing some muscle achiness, and I will confess I have dismissed the sodium stuff since I salt my food (somewhat sparingly - but still) and figured I would just get enough by eating and salting a few things like eggs. I also fill a gallon jug with Crystal Lite every morning and keep it in the fridge. I finish this by the end of the day.
I checked my sodium levels in MFP for the day and I was at 1600. It was a little higher due to a few shakes here and there, but this is a lot lower than people seem to recommend. I dutifully mixed a teaspoon of sea salt in a glass of water and drank it. Maybe I need to start being more aware of the sodium.
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hellobaconplease wrote: »What is the danger with potassium? I don't recall that one from last time I LCHF'ed (2015).
If you take too much sodium, you'll get diarrhea.
If you take too much magnesium, you'll get diarrhea.
If you take too much potassium, it can kill you. Even if it doesn't do that, it can cause scary symptoms like heart palpitations.
Since potassium is not required info to be included on nutrition labels, you actually get more through food than you realize. Even coffee and tea have it. But it doesn't show up when you enter it on MFP except rare entries where someone did actually look up the full details. But most people only care about calories so, you're not going to find much accuracy on the micronutrients.
I will say, it is also important to get enough potassium but a couple shakes of potassium containing salt substitute is generally plenty of supplementation that is most likely safe.
Also, if you keep sodium up, you don't need to worry about potassium getting low since the body works very hard to keep things balanced. If sodium gets low, it must reduce potassium and magnesium to stay balanced. Keep sodium up and potassium shouldn't become deficient in the first place.6 -
Excellent! Thank you everyone for taking the time to explain. I will up my sodium intake. I take magnesium every night before bed in the way of natural calm. It helps with a few different things and I definitely miss it when I don't drink it before bed.1
