Keto Frustrations

[els6246]

Hello all,

After it was suggested to me and after I read up on the diet I decided to give Keto a shot. I started it last Tuesday and by Friday I had lost a little under 2 lbs, which I'm sure was just water weight given what happened to me next. By the end of Friday I noticed I was really wore out; legs aching, sore joints, and just flat out tired. I had no problem going to sleep that night, but around 1am I woke up with my heart racing--at one point my fitbit was reading 120bpm! This was alarming to say the least. I managed to get my heart rate down and go back to sleep, but the next day I felt like I had a hangover and was still dealing with an unusually high resting heart rate. I decided I needed to spend the day re-hydrating, so I loaded up on some Powerade Zero and felt much better the next day. The whole experience really concerned me though and had me questioning the diet, and I ended up falling off the wagon a bit on Saturday and Sunday by having some sugar and carbs.

[Alicat2104]

@els6246

Electrolytes need to be managed in the early stages. 

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/ will be a better place to talk about this.

[DanielleinDC]

Maybe keto isn't for you. After all, you need carbs for energy. Just eat healthy carbs.

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hi @els6246 - agreeing with @Alicat2104 that Ketogenic Forums is a great resource.  Keto works for me, but I wouldn't recommend anyone just casually give it "a shot". I ate low-carb for about 3 months before trying ketosis and still had some adaptation issues. 

Unless you have a specific reason to eat Keto, you may find that a paleo or "slow-carb" diet is better for you, as described in this video by Tim Ferriss.  You get the benefit of weight loss without the adaptation.

[Dominique]

Although I have no personal experience with it, the ketogenic diet is quite demanding (because it’s so extreme), it requires careful planning and you can’t just wing it. As @Daves_Not_Here suggested, why not start with a less extreme version of it (lowering your carbs), and see how you react to that approach.

All diets work in the same way. I like to post this comparison:

It’s just a question of finding the approach for creating a caloric deficit that works best for you. 

[els6246]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I'll definitely look into the Slow Carb diet. 

[Dominique]

Although it’s possible to distinguish between fast- and slow-absorbing/digesting carbs (for instance, based on their glycemic index, fiber content etc.), I take it you meant low, not slow, carb.

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hey @DanielleinDC - I agree with you - Keto is definitely not for everybody.  I have a different take on the "carbs needed for energy" idea.  I would say glucose is needed for energy, but it doesn't necessarily need to come from dietary carbohydrate -- people who fast and/or eat Keto have plenty of energy despite the absence of dietary carbohydrate.

@Dominique and @els6246 -- the "slow carb" diet is a named coined by Tim Ferriss, described in his book, The 4 Hour Body, and summarized here.  It is specifically designed for losing a lot of weight fast.  The mainstream weight-loss orthodoxy is dismissive of it, which is a huge point in its favor (People who say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it).  Everyone I know who has tried it found it worked very well for them.

I'm glad this came up -- if I get re-stalled I may try it to grind off the last stubborn pounds.

[Dominique]

I was vaguely aware of Tim Ferriss, but didn’t know/realize he was also active in the dieting arena, so thanks for pointing this to me, @Daves_Not_Here!

Don’t know if this would qualify as "fast" weight loss in his books, but I’ll note I’ve lost almost 8% of my body weight in 9 weeks so far (starting from BMI 21.3), and every single day I’ve been eating two of the foods that should be avoided (dairy and fruits) according to the Slow-Carb Diet