• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

How long to adjust to keto

benjo123456 said:
I started Keto for 3 days last week then gave up. Around those three days I had basically been eating less carbs.

So you advice very little food even fats?
Click to expand...

I think you may be confusing some of the dietary advice.
In general we don't advocate "going keto" like hurling yourself off something.

The main aim is to steadily reduce the amount of carbohydrates eaten each day but still eat a balanced diet.
As you progressively eat less and less carbohydrate per day and more and more fat your body becomes "fat adapted" and you gain nearly all your energy from fats and proteins.
Adapting can take two weeks or more and people do have a reaction called "carb flu" sometimes but it usually wears off in a couple of days.
The basic idea is that you eat as much as you want of fats and protein and only restrict the carbs. Usually this does reduce your total calories because you feel fuller sooner but you don't count calories.

Atkins induction phase is fairly similar.

I think you have been too "Rah!" about the whole thing; especially given that you hurled yourself into it then had to give up after three days. Take it gently and hopefully you will be swimming in ketones without the pain.
 
My own take on a diet to get rid of visceral fat is to eat twice a day. I feel a lot better when eating my meals fairly widely spaced rather than a long period of fasting, but that might just be me - experimentation is the key. I did not intend it to target visceral fat, just to control BG levels, but my middle is shrinking quite noticeably and is no longer a rock hard 'bay window' which stopped me bending over.
I am basing what I do now from long periods of controlling my weight doing Atkins. I work from Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution from 2002.
I do not bother with calorie counting, as the numbers just do not add up for me. I can eat any meat fish shellfish eggs and small amounts of cheese - I eat salad stuff just about every day, add low carb foods but limit low carb fruits to a small portion, and not every day. I drink coffee with cream and I make ginger beer and ferment all the sugar out of it, then add either a sweetener or low sugar orange and pineapple squash.
I have been thinking of putting my shopping list on my blog if that might help - there is the low carb section, but somewhere I probably have my alternate week shopping list which I used to use - having different ingredients seemed to do a lot to help me not be bored with the way of eating.
 
Hi, again, @benjo123456

You are having symptoms of carb flu. You have only been going keto for three days, that is not enough. Because of the nagging symptoms of you feeling rough as you describe them. You have to persevere.
You have to remember to take the process slowly but surely, it is necessary for you to take the time for your body to adjust to low carb.
Having symptoms of reactive hypoglycaemic, your body is continually on your case to provide the carbs it demands but will only make you worse.
Stick to the two to three hours small meals to stop the hypos from whatever carbs you do have. Once your blood levels of insulin come down and your blood glucose levels return to normal, then it will become easier.
You need to break that cycle of hyper, hypo.
Only eating regularly and doing low carb will work.

I know it's hard, but take it easy on your body and yourself, this can take up to a fortnight or even three weeks to start getting the benefits of more energy and the craving to go away, the hunger to stop and the brain fog to lift. Your eyes will focus and that headache will go. You will feel normal again, whatever that is!

Keep asking, keep learning, keep posting.

Best wishes
 
Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm kind of being forced into low carb by some strange but powerful symptoms I get every time I eat any form of carbohdrate. I have been testing myself with different foods over the last few weeks and recording the results, and it looks like carbs are going to be out for me from now on. However, I have always felt terrible when I try low carb, but I'm sure it's because I haven't been patient enough.
 
benjo123456 said:
Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm kind of being forced into low carb by some strange but powerful symptoms I get every time I eat any form of carbohdrate. I have been testing myself with different foods over the last few weeks and recording the results, and it looks like carbs are going to be out for me from now on. However, I have always felt terrible when I try low carb, but I'm sure it's because I haven't been patient enough.
Click to expand...
You could try a week of bacon and eggs. I know it sounds crazy but you should be close to ketosis at the end of it.
 
benjo123456 said:
Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm kind of being forced into low carb by some strange but powerful symptoms I get every time I eat any form of carbohdrate. I have been testing myself with different foods over the last few weeks and recording the results, and it looks like carbs are going to be out for me from now on. However, I have always felt terrible when I try low carb, but I'm sure it's because I haven't been patient enough.
Click to expand...

I always resort to a a couple of pieces of roast meat, preferably pork, with salad vegetables. After a breakfast of gammon and eggs in the morning with small bits of fruit like ape or pears, even a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt and a few berries.

It has to be your choice to your tastes.

Don't let the carbs get you!:):banghead:
 
Back
Top