I Started Atkin's on 9-1 and not having significant carbs is kicking my ass... Headache and just plain fatigued. Hope it gets better soon.

Your body needs carbohydrates and is trying to tell you this.

These fad diets are no good.

Hang in there - it will get worse before it gets better.
Keto Flu ain't fun but survivable.
Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Your body needs carbohydrates and is trying to tell you this.

These fad diets are no good.

NOPE.
You don't have to eat carbs.
Fact - you must eat protein and fats not carbs, and your body will make glucose all on its own.
Low Carb is far, far from a fad.

Low carbs for me too nowadays. Smoked Gouda Triscuits are my primary indulgence. Can’t give ‘em up entirely – for me they’re dessert. I don’t have a sweet tooth.

I seem to remember reading that keto flu is caused by your body dumping fluid. The problem is that electrolytes go with it. Ketorade is nasty tasting the first couple of times but it's worth a try. Sodium, potassium and magnesium supplements are lacking. If you're doing low sodium you can leave that one out or limit it.

Why are you doing Atkins? Is it doctor ordered? Trying to lose body fat?

We dropped off of keto a few months ago and I think I'm regretting it. I'm making gains at the gym but the belly fat is returning.

Type 1 diabetic here. Been basically Keto since diagnosed over two years ago. It does suck sometimes, but there are a lot of great things you can still eat.

At first it really does suck. I had the headaches, low blood sugar, cravings, etc...all made worse with complications related to my obscenely high blood sugar being brought down to normal levels with insulin. Eventually, it gets better. Your body finds a norm and adapts. I still miss certain things, especially when I have to watch other people eat them, but I can live just fine without them.

Honestly, most of the really sweet stuff I really don't miss much at all. Yeah, it would be nice to slam an apple fritter or a big bowl of ice cream, but that's not something I ever did regularly anyway. It's the basics like rice, beans, and breads that are kind of a PITA to not be able to eat.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Your body needs carbohydrates and is trying to tell you this.

These fad diets are no good.

NOPE.
You don't have to eat carbs.
Fact - you must eat protein and fats not carbs, and your body will make glucose all on its own.
Low Carb is far, far from a fad.

This.

It will suck for a few days. Watch your electrolytes. You will need more now. LMNT is good but you can make your own.

Like any eating plan, you can do it wrong if you don’t have balance. A coworker thought keto was eating cheese wrapped in salami. He didn’t do well or last long on it.

While I am currently "off the wagon", when I am eating right for me I do miss them. But it's odd, I think more than the taste of them, I miss the texture even more. Breads, potatoes in particular. Strange.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Breads, potatoes in particular.

Yeah, I never was a big refined sugar junkie but with Italian food as my favorite ~ bread and pasta is dearly missed.
Potatoes as well although I will have a bit of the spud every once in a while.
Only had one real Pizza in the last eighteen months and it's killing me.
I have made some great lasagna with eggplant or zucchini, low carb and delicious.

And yes don't forget electrolytes going through this, intermittent fasting is a plus.

quote:

Only had one real Pizza in the last eighteen months and it's killing me.
I have made some great lasagna with eggplant or zucchini, low carb and delicious.

My wife makes some awesome lasagna with zucchini instead of noodles...I actually think I like it better than the noodle kind. She also found a recipe for a pizza crust made of cheese and almond flour. It's not a "real" pizza crust, but it's pretty darn good. Nice and crispy like a thin-crust pizza. We also like tacos, and Mission and La Banderita both make some zero-net-carb tortillas that are pretty decent... unfortunately they only come in the tiny size.

Those are occasional treats. My daily go-to for meals are omelettes for breakfast, salad for lunch, and some meat-based things with salad for dinner. Snacks are usually mixed nuts (lots of almonds), celery, or cheese sticks...and occasionally pork rinds.

I'm just over a week into a carnivore plan. Feel pretty good and blood pressure is down 10-15 points. Was running upper 140s over upper 90s, now a decent reading is mid 120s over low 80s.

My understanding is Keto flu is withdrawal from excessive carbs. Similar to quitting drinking alcohol or coffee. Maybe try some Gatorade zero for a few days. I did Atkins diet several times, and believe it started me in the right direction. I’m Keto and hoping to head towards carnivor. I’m down 60 pounds and holding for over a year. I’ve been following Dr. Ken Berry for a while, video support helped me. Also like Serious Keto, as he will attach a glucose monitor on himself and test different foods.
Good luck with your quest for better health.
Feel free to email me for support or questions.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I seem to remember reading that keto flu is caused by your body dumping fluid. The problem is that electrolytes go with it. Ketorade is nasty tasting the first couple of times but it's worth a try. Sodium, potassium and magnesium supplements are lacking. If you're doing low sodium you can leave that one out or limit it

Why are you doing Atkins? Is it doctor ordered? Trying to lose body fat?

We dropped off of keto a few months ago and I think I'm regretting it. I'm making gains at the gym but the belly fat is returning.

I have had trouble keeping weight off my whole life. Mostly because I like sugar and carbs. Lost 80 pounds in the past using Atkins and I have lost 80 by counting calories and exercise.

I’ve been pre diabetic for frobably 5 years and want to do something about it before I have diabetes which both my grandfather and father have.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Your body needs carbohydrates and is trying to tell you this.

These fad diets are no good.

Atkins has been around since the eighties. So 40 years isn’t a fad. It’s tough to do long term which is what I have to work on by slowly adding good carbs back into my diet. But I have a 100 pounds to lose. Started at 320. Want to get to 220-240.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Type 1 diabetic here. Been basically Keto since diagnosed over two years ago. It does suck sometimes, but there are a lot of great things you can still eat.

At first it really does suck. I had the headaches, low blood sugar, cravings, etc...all made worse with complications related to my obscenely high blood sugar being brought down to normal levels with insulin. Eventually, it gets better. Your body finds a norm and adapts. I still miss certain things, especially when I have to watch other people eat them, but I can live just fine without them.

Honestly, most of the really sweet stuff I really don't miss much at all. Yeah, it would be nice to slam an apple fritter or a big bowl of ice cream, but that's not something I ever did regularly anyway. It's the basics like rice, beans, and breads that are kind of a PITA to not be able to eat.

Ice cream.. I love it. I definitely feel like an addict. Had to go to Walmart to buy food today and it was torture. Definitely have something going on with my blood sugar..having trouble concentrating..lime brain fog

quote:

Originally posted by TBH:
My understanding is Keto flu is withdrawal from excessive carbs.

That makes sense to me.

Several years ago I participated in a fat loss challenge at my old gym. I reduced my total carbs to an average of less than 50g/day. Had no problems with it at all. But I'd already reduced carbs significantly by the time I did that.

There is nothing wrong with reducing carbs slowly over 3-4 weeks.
Just my personal experience, I lost weight steadily and felt the best eating one meal per day, mostly protein and fat, with a toss salad or veggies and dip (full fat very low carb dressing).
Hot & iced coffee, and water only without any sweeteners.
High insulin= fat storage. Lower and steady insulin = fat burning.
Also, if I’m only eating once per day, it’s going to be a treat! Shrimp, scallops, ribeye, bacon wrapped tenderloin, ect. I have eaten a ton of bacon wrapped jalapeños!
My bride still trims the fat off her steak, but I tend to grab it before it hits the garbage.

One of my struggles has been visiting our kids. They live out of state and I struggle with food while I’m there.
This summer I’ve tried to stick to one meal per day, but with the heat, and back pain I allow myself a couple of beers, or a Bourbon. Had the occasional ice cream, milk shake, or a little grilled hard crusted bread. I’m holding within 5 pounds of my lowest weight.

Hoping after vacation I’ll get serious again and drop another 10-20#.

Having every in the house eating the same way helps. A buddy with similar goals is great support. I also watch or listen to keto videos a lot to give me extra drive.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I seem to remember reading that keto flu is caused by your body dumping fluid. The problem is that electrolytes go with it. Ketorade is nasty tasting the first couple of times but it's worth a try. Sodium, potassium and magnesium supplements are lacking. If you're doing low sodium you can leave that one out or limit it

Why are you doing Atkins? Is it doctor ordered? Trying to lose body fat?

We dropped off of keto a few months ago and I think I'm regretting it. I'm making gains at the gym but the belly fat is returning.

I have had trouble keeping weight off my whole life. Mostly because I like sugar and carbs. Lost 80 pounds in the past using Atkins and I have lost 80 by counting calories and exercise.

I’ve been pre diabetic for frobably 5 years and want to do something about it before I have diabetes which both my grandfather and father have.

As mentioned above Dr Ken Berry on youtube is a good resource. However, he always says "I'll link the research papers in the description below the video" but he never does.

We felt good and looked better on keto, which is slightly more hardcore than atkins but not as hardcore as carnivore. If you're not getting enough of the nutrients required, you should research and find what's missing and replace it. In our case it was magnesium, potassium and collagen. We're not big meat eaters so we also supplemented with other protein powders from time to time.

My wife also had some rather bothersome issues on keto. Well, I'm not sure the wife wants me talking about this in public but we're all adults here. When she stopped eating carbs she began to have issues with sexual penetration. It hurt and was not enjoyable for her. When we recently started reintroducing carbs back into our diets her issue went away. The other thing was her hair thinned out a lot but that was alleviated with a daily scoop of collagen with her lunch.


The biggest issue that we had with keto is our doctor is against it and there are no doctors that understand it. At least not in our area.

The best part about our 3 years of keto is that we have no desire for anything in the candy aisle and we've learned to avoid a lot of processed foods. Our tastes have greatly changed for the better.

I'm on day 5 of the Lion diet and it's been challenging so far. Mostly mental as everything that I would not normally eat sounds delicious. So far I've lost 7lbs which is what I would expect so far. I'm planning to go at least 30 days and see how I feel and probably open up to carnivore. My inflammation is gone, arthritis in my hand joint is 90% gone, knees are great, and I'm feeling pretty darn good.

Cheers~