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Different this time :(

kvinson80
kvinson80 Posts: 26 Member
edited November 27 in Social Groups
I have done low carb/keto a few times in the past - with great success typically. Most notably I was keto for most of 2016 - lost 60 pounds, was motivated and felt great.

This time around - 45 days in - and I just feel BLAH! I am tired, hungry, and frustrated. I have lost weight, 14 pounds as of today - but last Friday that number was 18 pounds. Yes, I jumped 4 pounds over the weekend, as I was down with a migraine all day Saturday and only ate almonds and low carb ice cream (big mistake I know). I thought I would bounce back this week, but it is just not happening...

Just wondering if anyone has advice on why I may not be having as much luck this time around... I love this WOE not just for the weight loss but for the overall way that it makes my body and mind feel and I'm just not getting it this time.

Replies

  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 831 Member
    Sounds like keto flu..... advice is normally to increase your sodium and that seems to knock it on the head 😊
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    More salt and other electrolytes. Drink broth, salt the foods you eat, add salt to coffee or water (sounds weird bu tit works).
  • kvinson80
    kvinson80 Posts: 26 Member
    edited July 2018
    I didn't think that could be it since I've been keto for over a month (I stay under 20g net carbs) - can this happen at any time while you are keto? I do heavily salt everything and am not doing anything different this time than I have previously - I think that is what makes it so frustrating.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I'm over three years into the diet and I still eat extra salt every few days, especially if my carbs have gone higher than usual. I still get the blahs if I don't supplement. YMMV

    Are you eating enough? If calories are too low for too long, it makes me pretty tired.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    I need to supplement more sodium if my carbs are exceptionally LOW for a few days in a row and I'm a couple years in.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I'm over three years into the diet and I still eat extra salt every few days, especially if my carbs have gone higher than usual. I still get the blahs if I don't supplement. YMMV

    Are you eating enough? If calories are too low for too long, it makes me pretty tired.

    Kpk54 made me realize that my post was not very clear. Oops! I need to supplement sodium after my carbs have been higher than usual - while insulin and sodium I'd falling.

    While eating more carbs, I need less salt and seem to puff up pretty easily.
  • HestiaMoon1
    HestiaMoon1 Posts: 278 Member
    kvinson80 wrote: »
    I have done low carb/keto a few times in the past - with great success typically. Most notably I was keto for most of 2016 - lost 60 pounds, was motivated and felt great.

    This time around - 45 days in - and I just feel BLAH! I am tired, hungry, and frustrated. I have lost weight, 14 pounds as of today - but last Friday that number was 18 pounds. Yes, I jumped 4 pounds over the weekend, as I was down with a migraine all day Saturday and only ate almonds and low carb ice cream (big mistake I know). I thought I would bounce back this week, but it is just not happening...

    Just wondering if anyone has advice on why I may not be having as much luck this time around... I love this WOE not just for the weight loss but for the overall way that it makes my body and mind feel and I'm just not getting it this time.

    Maybe you’re sick - like regular old caught a bug that has nothing to do with your diet ill?
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I'm about 10 months in and I still do extra salt twice a day every day. I do carb cycle, so my carbs are up/down from day to day, and I am very active. I suppose the extra salt might not be necessary for everyone, but it seems to help me, and I definitely get woozy during workouts and long walks if I don't remember to take my salt.


    Regarding the extra weight post-migraine, that's pretty much to be expected for me. Migraines cause a huge inflammatory response through the body, which cause a huge amount of water retention in response. When I have them it generally takes anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks for the extra water to come off, and for me it just comes off all of a sudden one day in that window.

    I looked through your food diary, and assuming it's accurate you do have a few days where your calories are under 1200...if you are feeling tired and hungry it might be helpful to make sure you are getting at least 1200 cal every day.
  • Xerogs
    Xerogs Posts: 328 Member
    kvinson80 wrote: »
    I have done low carb/keto a few times in the past - with great success typically. Most notably I was keto for most of 2016 - lost 60 pounds, was motivated and felt great.

    This time around - 45 days in - and I just feel BLAH! I am tired, hungry, and frustrated. I have lost weight, 14 pounds as of today - but last Friday that number was 18 pounds. Yes, I jumped 4 pounds over the weekend, as I was down with a migraine all day Saturday and only ate almonds and low carb ice cream (big mistake I know). I thought I would bounce back this week, but it is just not happening...

    Just wondering if anyone has advice on why I may not be having as much luck this time around... I love this WOE not just for the weight loss but for the overall way that it makes my body and mind feel and I'm just not getting it this time.

    I had that general blah feeling all week and noticed my allergies were kicking in some. It wasn't a full blown pollinating juniper attack but something decided to affect me this week due to the uptick in precipitation (probably a mold or fungus). It took a few days but I feel pretty good today. Also artificial sweeteners (especially Aspartame) will give me splitting headaches so that might be something that touched off your migraine. Like others have said electrolytes are the likely cause, also stay hydrated. Summer time dehydration will make you feel like poo.
  • jeffjanieb
    jeffjanieb Posts: 2 Member
    Experts say Boullion once or twice a day is important. I've also read that getting your healthy fat at 75% is important (a wide variety of uncooked olive oil, coconut oil and pasture raised butter). Maybe you were more careful about tracking last time. Blessings on your journey!
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    jeffjanieb wrote: »
    Experts say Boullion once or twice a day is important. I've also read that getting your healthy fat at 75% is important (a wide variety of uncooked olive oil, coconut oil and pasture raised butter). Maybe you were more careful about tracking last time. Blessings on your journey!

    This is not true for everyone, though it may be true for some. I'm not sure if I've ever hit 75% fat, I'm usually more around 60%, and I've never taken boullion, unless that's the same as Bone Broth, and if so, I drink it occasionally because I enjoy it, and mine is homemade and not heavily salted.
  • kvinson80
    kvinson80 Posts: 26 Member
    Thank you all for your input and encouraging words. I am finally feeling a bit better today. I think it is probably a combination of the electrolytes, inflammation response to migraine (which I had not thought of but makes sense) and I do have some allergy stuff going on as well. I definitely have also had days where I was only around 1000 calories simply because I was not hungry at all and mentally I just feel awkward about eating just to have more calories when I am not actually hungry.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    edited July 2018
    jeffjanieb wrote: »
    Experts say Boullion once or twice a day is important. I've also read that getting your healthy fat at 75% is important (a wide variety of uncooked olive oil, coconut oil and pasture raised butter). Maybe you were more careful about tracking last time. Blessings on your journey!

    I also think 75% is overkill... I usually come in between 60-65% and I feeling great with the weight coming off.

    I haven't been having allergy problems, but it has been very dry and VERY hot (108 yesterday and at least the again today), so there is a lot of dust blowing around which is causing similar symptoms to my allergies.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    kvinson80 wrote: »
    I didn't think that could be it since I've been keto for over a month (I stay under 20g net carbs) - can this happen at any time while you are keto? I do heavily salt everything and am not doing anything different this time than I have previously - I think that is what makes it so frustrating.

    I’ve been keto for over 3 years and I still need to supplement sodium by literally swallowing coarse salt 2-3 times a day or more.
    Your sodium excretion is higher and that makes low carb diets sodium wasting. Very easily remedied with daily supplementation.
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,757 Member
    In maintenance, I use pink salt everyday.
    It sounds like your body was just being stressed out, cortisol hormone is a real "kitten" to deal with.
  • 2t9nty
    2t9nty Posts: 1,628 Member
    kvinson80 wrote: »
    I didn't think that could be it since I've been keto for over a month (I stay under 20g net carbs) - can this happen at any time while you are keto? I do heavily salt everything and am not doing anything different this time than I have previously - I think that is what makes it so frustrating.

    After being under 20 net grams of carbs a day for a year, I decided I was keto adapted and stopped supplementing sodium. I figured my body had sorted all that out. I stopped and in a week I was feeling bad - I had the keto flu.

    I salt my food liberally and don't attempt to track that. I intentionally try to hit 4000 mg in MFP with the food entries. Where that actually has me, I am not sure - probably in the neighborhood of 5000 mg.
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