Two Questions from A New Dieter

For the headaches, make sure you're getting lots of water! Hydration is key. I would also go to bed early if possible (if you're bothered at night). During the day, having an advil or two will most likely help. As for cheat days, I do not recommend them, especially if you have a history of overeating/binge eating like I do. I just try to incorporate my cravings into my everyday goals. For example, I assure that my calories are distributed so that I can have dessert after dinner every night. Doing cheat days can definitely affect your progress if you go overboard with caloric intake, and if the next day you can't stop yourself from eating things you shouldn't because now you've had a taste of what you've been missing!

Hi, CF! I was on Atkins a few years back and lost a lot of weight with it until medical issues interferred and I gained it all back. Bummer. For the headaches, are you normally a big coffee/caffeine drinker? Maybe a bit of caffeine would help. As far as the fatigue, after day three or four, wow, your energy is going to SOAR. You just have to wait the fatigue out. I looked at it this way: Your body is used to doing the easy thing, getting energy from the junk carbs and sugars you used to eat. It's basically having to re-wire itself to get its energy from your store of energy; i.e., fat, instead. Your body is not happy with this extra work, so it makes you tired and headachy trying to get you to go back to the easy way. However, once it realizes you're not going to give into the demands, it will start using your stored fat (and a little muscle) to convert to energy, and voila! Your energy goes WAY up.

As far as a cheat day, hmmm.....I would wait a month or two, depending on how much you have to lose. You want your body to make it a habit of taking energy from your stored fat, rather than the instant carbs you put into it. Maybe when you're half way to goal a cheat day every now and then is okay. You'll still not GAIN weight if you have a cheat day, but you also will not be losing weight for that day, and maybe a few days after as well. The one thing you do not want to do is get your body back to using the "easy" calories and have to go through the headachy/fatigue deal all over again.

Keep with it, keep clean, and you WILL do well! Be sure to transition correctly when nearing your goal so your body (and your mind!) know how to eat properly for YOU. Meaning you add back one carb thingy at a time, wait a few weeks and see if you're still losing weight (good), maintaining weight (neutral) or gaining weight (bad food.) Hope you are able to stick to it, as it really DOES do good. I can't go back on due to health problems, but seriously. I lost 60lbs in 5 months on it. And, hey, any diet that says you can have lots of bacon is good to me! LOL

1. I get Sunday headaches sometimes. I realized it was because I just don't get enough to drink on Saturday. It feels like a hangover (which, hangovers are pretty much major dehydration).

2. I'm not a big fan of cheat days. I try to fit food in, either through lighter meals during other parts of the day, or adding calories through exercise. I'm not standard though - I struggle with binge eating and while I'm in a good spot now where a cheat meal would probably be fine, they may also serve as a trigger and make a nice evening into a session.

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

1. Have you suddenly stopped drinking sodas/coffee with caffeine? If so, this could be the issue. You could try to wean yourself off instead of cold turkey.

2. Depends on the #s. If you eat at a 750 deficit 6 days a week but eat 4500 over maintenance one day, you'll wipe out your deficit and maintain. "Cheating" is a matter of personal opinion and means something different to each person. If by cheating you mean stuff your face full all day without regard to calories then you'll probably have trouble succeeding in weight loss. If you mean eating a bit more one day here & there, but still at a reasonable amount overall where you stay in control of your food choices, you'll probably be fine.

As a former heavy (as in a whole lot of coca cola) soda drinker, I can vouch for that. When I did Atkins years ago, and it didn't work because I cheated, the cold turkey cutoff gave me huge headaches. When I got into meticulously counting calories, I realized that I could include some sugar, carbs and "bad foods" along with my "healthy foods" and budgeted everything. Now, I have Coke whenever I want, provided I have the 'budget' for it. Never had the associated headaches, despite sometimes going a week or two without. I think the double-whammy of caffeine withdrawal and sudden carb withdrawal probably work together - but that's not scientific, just my own experience.

OP, as far as cheat days go, that does depend entirely on what you define as a cheat day. Within the context of low-carb, I'm not sure what a spike in carbs will do for you. A "cheat" day for me is eating up to maintenance, but as of right now I'm working with a 750 calorie deficit. I have yet to actually eat at maintenance in several months. I also tend to let my deficit vary within a few hundred each day with the eye on the weekly deficit that matters. (That will change as I get closer to goal I'm sure).

Headaches are most likely dehydration or caffeine withdrawal. Sugar lows will make you moody and tired, but won't give you headaches. If you had a high sugar diet before, then it will take about a week for your body to adjust to a new diet (providing you don't have diabetes). I would suggest getting some caffeine pills from the drugstore and pop half a pill in the morning or early afternoon. 50mg pill should keep the headaches away. Otherwise drink black coffee or tea, no calories in there.

Low carb eating causes you to offload a lot of water at first. It's what makes it encouraging, because you can suddenly find yourself 5 or more pounds lighter, but it also can lead to dehydration. Drink a lot more water than you usually do. You will pee it out.

I lost a lot of weight on Atkins several years ago. I found that after a month or so, I needed to have something high carb or I wouldn't stick to the diet at all. So I would either have a 'cheat meal' or just one or two foods on a weekend that were not on the diet, like a baked potato, ice cream or beer. Some people can limit themselves that way; others end up binging and destroying weeks of hard work. I suggest you try to eat to plan for at least a month, enjoy the feeling of watching the pounds disappear, then see if you need to "cheat" or not.

I wouldn't do a cheat day or meal on a low-carb plan. I might eat a higher quantity of something high in fat, like natural peanut butter combined with unsweetened cocoa powder, or avocado. There are some good paleo desserts. You have to watch sugar if that's your plan or the cravings will come back.

The headache you describe sounds like the "low carb flu" and it goes away. If you go off plan and come back to this, you probably won't experience this again as much.

Water

A lot of water and a lot of sleep will definitely help. In addition to that, maybe think about starting slowly and just eating lower carbs than what you're used to. I can't imagine eating low carb, I would have a hard time sticking with it long term.

I'm not a doctor or professional but I have lost a good amount of weight and tried a lot of different things. Many people will have opinions but what has worked for me is doing it the good old fashion way.

Sleep plenty. Drink a lot of water. Eat healthy. When you want that pizza or cupcake, eat it just eat reasonable and account for it the rest of the day. Exercise, cardio and lift 3-5 days a week-make it count. Don't give up. You will have ups and downs both mentally and on the scale, keep your eye on the prize. Take a daily selfie and cardio pic so you can see your progress. Put you first. Save a few calories for before bed snack. Most of all when you feel like giving up, don't. When you screw up, tell yourself it's time to look forward.

My personal opinion....skip the cleanses, skip the pills, skip the fads, the apple cider vingegar. It will be a lot easier to maintain for life.

Nutritionists are covered fully due to legislation in the US for many. Try checking it out if you need that boost.

I know many will tell you otherwise, this is just my opinion. Friend me if you'd like

Google Keto flu. When you first drop carbs you pee out a ton of water and with it you get your electrolytes out of whack. I've actually found I lose better eating 40-50% of cals in carbs but when I did low carb I got the Keto flu and my headaches and fatigue were bad the first week or two. Drinking broth and/or Propel helped tremendously. Just drinking more water will not really help because it doesn't help replace the electrolytes. Pickles have a lot of sodium and seemed to help too.

If you're eating low carb you need to make sure you're getting magnesium - a supplement will help (main symptoms are muscle cramps etc). The headache you are experiencing is due to lack of sodium. You need to have at least 3000-5000mg of sodium on a low carb diet. Drink some broth, eat a few pickles, salt your food - you'll feel lots better.

Cheat days are dangerous. For some people they are a trigger to slip back into old habits. Also, if you're eating at a 500 cal deficit every day for 6 days, then you over eat on the 7th it's easy to cancel out your hard work and not lose any weight. I think "mindful" cheating is okay. As in, allow yourself something you want, record it in your diary, own it. Then you know what effect it has had on your progress.