Hitting the wall in week 2

[Tannedhaggis]

Anyone else been overcome with tiredness in their first couple of weeks? I am averaging 90g carbs per day and it so far has been manageable with forward planning and tracking using myfitness pal. Just wondering if the tiredness is because I used to have a very high carb diet but thought it was healthy eating large subway 12 inch rolls most days along with diet yogurt and plenty of potatoes! What a difference an education from this site makes!

 

[Geordie_P]

Are you getting enough good fat?
Like you, I was on a very high-carb diet before diagnosis, but now I don't really get tired as long as I have an egg and some almonds, salmon, sardines- that sort of thing.

 

[Robbity]

As @Geordie_P says, you need to eat more fatty and oily foods on a low carb diet - these are required to replace the fuel that your body uses and was previously getting from all the carbs.

You may also find that if you've dropped the carbs dramatically over a short time, your body is suffering withdrawal symptoms, also variously known as low carb/Atkins/keto flu - ask Google for details. This should clear up in a week or two, but you've also got the option of reducing your carbs more slowly. Make sure you drink plenty of liquids too, and add stock cubes or home made bone broth to help replace minerals your body needs.

Robbity

 

[Tannedhaggis]

Thanks Geordie and Robbity, I think you may be right. I am still struggling to get my head around eating fat after all these years of low fat everything. I added a tin of coconut milk to my Atkins shake for lunch today, it kept me going all afternoon. I bought some avocados and will add these to my poached eggs for breakfast.

 

[Resurgam]

A lot of people really can't shake off all the bad press about eating fats - even though it is quite well known now that it had no research to back it up when one single, but powerful man decided that it was bad for us. The epidemic of obesity and related illnesses can be tracked back to that single misguided opinion which is now causing so many deaths, amputations and making life a misery for so many people.

 

[Brunneria]

I think (this is based on observation of a few people and isn't at all scientific!) that the more carbs we used to eat, the more 'low carb flu' affects us. Kind of like carb withdrawal

However, (equally small obxervation group) I am fairly sure that it is a one-time-only thing. In future, even if you lapse and go back to high carbs, your re-entry into low carbing will be easier in future. It is as if your body learns the first time, then remembers how to do it the next time.

As Robbity says, have a read around on 'low carb flu', and take on board the remedies - eating enough, drinking lots more than usual, and drinking broth. They make a huge difference.