LCHF - no energy

Hi and welcome to the forum @EmilyW1801

I'll tag some type 1 low-carbers who may be able to help you out @Spiker @tim2000s @robert72 @Dillinger

Hi Emily,

How long have you been low-carbing? There is a well recognised period called 'carb flu' that can last around 2 weeks where you essentially feel terrible as your metabolism shifts from glucose to fats.

Are you drinking enough water and are you getting enough salt? The shift to low-carbing can have a diuretic effect making you pee more which leads to obvious dehydration and can lower your salts. Is that possible with you?

Are you also replacing the carbs with healthy fats and enough protein? What are you eating at the moment?

Low-carbing requires a bit of a mindset adjustment!

Best

Dillinger

Hi,

I would try adding salt to your food (when we give up carbs, we give up a lot of salt too, in bread and potato and stuff, also, the kidneys flush salts very easily when we LC).

Have you had any cramps, muscle weakness, apathy in the big muscles?
If so, potassium and /or magnesium supplements help me tremendously.

I try and remember to have a mug of broth/soup every day. If you are busy, just drop a stock cube in 500mls of boiling water. Depending on the brand, it can be delicious - although home made broth is going to be better.

And I agree with D about eating fat. If you have switched to fat-as-fuel, you need to be getting enough. Mayo on salads, fat on meat, butter, cheese snacks... No need to go over board, but enough to give you that long, sustained, endurance that low carb high flatters are famous for (no 'hitting the wall').

EmilyW1801 said:

For breakfast I will have two eggs in one form or another with half an avocado and some meat like sausage or ham

For lunch I have a salad with either chicken/tuna/egg - homemade of spinach tomatoes cucumber pepper

Dinner varies with different meats and veg, and a whey protein shake that has 2g carb. If been training in the gym I have berries and Greek yoghurt so I don't hypo in the night.

I've been doing it for about 4 weeks but have had a few slip ups in between. Perhaps it's that.

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That sounds like you are doing great. Have a think about salt and also the magnesium/potassium supplements mentioned by @Brunneria and see how you go; perhaps you have some non-related bug? If it still persists after another couple of weeks you may need to try upping the carbs to see if that is what is causing it.

I'm not generally aware of people having a persistent problem with this; there are lots of anecdotes about big energy increases though. I didn't really feel any different myself; I just had much better blood sugar control and lost weight.

Best

Dillinger

EmilyW1801 said:

Thank you both! My muscles do feel weak definitely so will look at potassium supplements.

I feel like I'm getting bigger though as opposed to losing any weight. Will see how I can keep it up

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If you're feeling like you're getting bigger, are your bathroom habits regular? Constipation is quite often an issue for new low carbers, due to dehydration.

If that's the case, drinking more, and if necessary adding some fibre should fix it.

EmilyW1801 said:

Will get drinking more water. But I do worry that I eat too many eggs and cheese. I often put cheese in my omelette

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Only time will tell what your personal, ideal proportions will be, but don't forget if you have given up carbs, you have also given up a highly calorific food group, and in reality, many people go into calorie deficit when they start.

If, as you say, your relationship with food isn't the best, it could be you're over-thinking it and getting hyper-vigilant, in terms of how you are feeling. None of that will help.

I know you state clearly you don't want to gain weight with this way of eating, but what is your primary objective and motivator for adopting it?

EmilyW1801 said:

My objectives is to get my bloods level and my hbA1C down. I am currently reading Dr Bernstein and have done much research in to low carbs in relation to insulin and blood levels which it does appear to have done for me.

I also have a terrible history of not injecting because of fear of gaining weight with no support as I drove myself shut away not wanting to gain weight after having to take up a regular office job.

Fortunately finding places like this has helped but I am very conscious of every think I eat and it is what I think about most of my time unfortunately. I am taking part in Berti course (sorry for the spelling, I'm unsure of the actual spelling of it and what it fully stands for) which is so nice to meet diabetics and learn more.

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Sorry, I hope you don't think I was prying.

If you are so very attuned to your body, do you weigh yourself regularly? If you do, I think I would expect to see some less usual movements up or down in your weight as your body gets used to prioritising metabolising dietary fat for energy. As I have previously said, some people experience initial weight gain, which can be due to constipation or simply eating more bulk, in the form of vegetables and they simply have more food in transit. Conversely, so see immediate weight loss, as their bodies experience some dehydration and calorie deficit, so please don't be alarmed either way, for the shorter term. Those things, provided the diet is about right, will sort themselves out.

It takes a while to settle into any new way of eating, and the body sometimes objects and tries to rebel, but provided you stick with it, it usually gives in, in the end!

I'm really pleased your bloods are improving. Reduced carb really works for that, as so, so many of us know from experience.

EmilyW1801 said:

I also have a terrible history of not injecting because of fear of gaining weight with no support as I drove myself shut away not wanting to gain weight after having to take up a regular office job.

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That's just it though; insulin adds to weight gain but also is essential - you're dead without it. So the solution is to follow an approach that will allow you to keep alive and lower your insulin needs and that is low-carbing.

In a way you can think about low-carbing as a way of drastically reducing your insulin needs without harming you.

I remember when I was about 18 thinking along exactly the same lines as you about insulin; but I was always too much of a coward to abandon the stuff (luckily as that ends badly whoever you are).

It was only when I was introduced to low-carbing that the pieces fell together; you can have low levels of insulin, you can lose/control your weight and you can eat pretty much anything that doesn't spike your blood sugars (I'm thinking butter, cream, cheese and all those other 'evil' fats). Those are all wins.

You are doing the right thing Emily - you just need to tweak it a bit and don't worry that you are eating stuff that previously you would have been horrified by; cream cheese, butter and the like.

The other great benefit of low-carbing is control; not just in the sense of blood sugars but taking back control of our diets and our bodies. It is so difficult to follow a prescribed NHS diet without feeling like a fool and a chump. I cannot eat porridge and the like without spikes and hypos. I just can't do it. I can with minimal will power regain control by ditching the carbs.

Best

Dillinger

Hi @EmilyW1801 , good to see you here. A couple of observations I'd make relating to Lower Carb and how you are feeling.

1. When I first went low carb, I also started taking Magnesium, Zinc and Omega 3 supplements. This massively helped reduce the low carb flu feeling.

2. If you have been doing it for four weeks, but have fallen off a few tiimes, you've probably not properly adapted, which means that every time you go back in, you tend to go through the "Low Carb Flu" feeling all over again. In order to get past this point, you will just have to stick to it.

3. Your diet looks relatively high in protein compared to fat. With only 50g of carbs per day, you are probably missing out on calories, as others have said. It's worth trying to work out what you are actually eating (MyFitnessPal is a good free way of doing this). You will find that you need more calories than you thought due to the way that your body changes when burning fats.

Good luck with it. I found that lower carb really helped me manage my glucose levels superbly and has been very effective in reducing my Hba1C numbers to good effect.

Once you get over the "flu" you'll be surprised at how little the change in diet affects you, but the most important things are to get through this early stage in one piece - falling off means you redo this process over and over, and make sure you eat enough.