I put a half teaspoon of pink salt in a pint of water and drink it down. You sound like you're sodium deficient. Seriously, get the sodium UP.

Your profile indicates something to the effect that you have lost weight many times only to gain it back so I'm thinking that the other ways of eating did not make you "nauseous, dizzy and extremely fatigued" and you were able to adhere to them more easily? You know the discomforts you are feeling are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance and you have tried to remedy the situation but find it "hard to get it much higher" (in sodium). You've indicated if you eat anything too high in fat in one sitting you feel very ill.

I'll go out on a limb here and speak the unspeakable on a low carb site of which keto and/or LCFH are a part....perhaps another method of weight loss that has worked for you in the past will be more effective? No matter what method you choose for weight loss, principles other than those that caused you to regain, will have to be applied in order to maintain the loss. You're best served by finding a way of loss that you can carry over into maintenance.

I lost all my excess eating @ the high end of low carb without need to increase sodium since low sodium was also a part of my weight loss plan due to being on blood pressure medication at the time. I maintained the same way. I now maintain via keto and am one who chooses to "eat all the fat" yet do not really favor meat fats. I have many choices for fat that suit me: avocados, nuts, unsweetened coconut, cream cheese, a little mayonaise, full fat yogurt, etc. This way I get the fats I want/need and don't feel like I have to bathe everything in butter and eat the skin of the chicken (which I personally don't like). I also rarely eat bacon. Imagine that.

There are many ways to lose weight. You have already found that to be true. Try another way. If you want, you can surround yourself with friends who eat low carb, just not LCHF or keto. JMO.

You have GOT TO up your sodium. This is not just for LCHF, but for everyone. Research shows we need a MINIMUM of 3000 mg a day.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1311889

Between 3000 and 6000 is how we function best. If you are LCHF, some of the short term symptoms are more pronounced like sluggishness, constipation, poor sleep, muscle cramps, etc. Understand this is a good thing. Long term problems of not getting enough is premature DEATH. I would much rather have this immediate feedback from my body to let me know I need more sodium than just find out when I end up have CVD or other potentially terminal issues.

This is science. The government recommendation to stay below 2300 mg per day has absolutely no science data to support it. Historically speaking (looking back hundreds of years) we had much higher intake of sodium due to preserving so much food using salt. It wasn't until refrigeration came along that our sodium intake went down.

kpk54 wrote: »

Your profile indicates something to the effect that you have lost weight many times only to gain it back so I'm thinking that the other ways of eating did not make you "nauseous, dizzy and extremely fatigued" and you were able to adhere to them more easily? You know the discomforts you are feeling are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance and you have tried to remedy the situation but find it "hard to get it much higher" (in sodium). You've indicated if you eat anything too high in fat in one sitting you feel very ill.

I'll go out on a limb here and speak the unspeakable on a low carb site of which keto and/or LCFH are a part....perhaps another method of weight loss that has worked for you in the past will be more effective? No matter what method you choose for weight loss, principles other than those that caused you to regain, will have to be applied in order to maintain the loss. You're best served by finding a way of loss that you can carry over into maintenance.

I lost all my excess eating @ the high end of low carb without need to increase sodium since low sodium was also a part of my weight loss plan due to being on blood pressure medication at the time. I maintained the same way. I now maintain via keto and am one who chooses to "eat all the fat" yet do not really favor meat fats. I have many choices for fat that suit me: avocados, nuts, unsweetened coconut, cream cheese, a little mayonaise, full fat yogurt, etc. This way I get the fats I want/need and don't feel like I have to bathe everything in butter and eat the skin of the chicken (which I personally don't like). I also rarely eat bacon. Imagine that.

There are many ways to lose weight. You have already found that to be true. Try another way. If you want, you can surround yourself with friends who eat low carb, just not LCHF or keto. JMO.

While switching to a different plan is an option, I'd argue that they, or something about them, wasn't successful if the OP stopped and regained the weight multiple times. Additionally, hitting a common newbie pitfall doesn't really justify abandoning ship just yet. Besides, at this point, she'll need to do some supplementation to get balanced, regardless of how she continues.

Whether someone needs to supplement sodium or specifically seek it out is pretty individual. A good example is my son and myself. I can go zero carb and do just fine with salting to taste (which isn't often). My son, however, gets deficient to the point of sleep and mood issues, despite consuming sodium rich foods and consuming many more carbs, without seeking out extra salt. His lunches for spring break camp right now are literally Gatorade, salted peanut butter, salted chips, and salted veggie straws, just to keep up with his electrolyte needs, and that's after adding a bunch of salt to one of his drinks to raise his levels the last time.

Trying to greatly increase fats quickly is also known to cause digestive issues, especially in people who have historically restricted their fats. Getting sick from them is a common newbie issue, as well. For some people, it's better to start lower and work their way up, not everyone has to dive head first into keto, even if that's their ultimate goal. Likewise, not everyone needs to go keto at all. While we generally believe around here that limiting carbs is good for most people, we believe that each person has their own level that works best for them, and that level may be higher for some than others.

If you've been low fat, low sodium for decades, you're not going to be able to switch overnight without some adjustment. Supplement sodium now, to correct the balance, and work to get the necessary amount through food, over time. It's a learning process. Just like learning anything else, it's not always going to be a walk in the park.