Thread: first stages of Keto, something weird

Originally Posted by dogsoldier

I am in what can be called the induction phase of my Keto trip. Plenty of proteins and fats from various source, and a small amount of carbs from things like onions, peppers, salad greens and about a teaspoon of flax seeds to keep thing moving. I am dropping fat at a pretty good rate, 7 pounds in 8 days. However, I can't fall asleep! I get tired. But when I lay down for the night it is like someone flipped a switch. I feel like I am all amped up on caffeine. The strange thing is my sleep numbers have gone down, but I am not mid-day crashing like one would with the lack of sleep. Anyone else experience this while doing Keto?

Congrats on getting going w/ the keto diet. Not to take the wind out of your sails, but most of that 7 lb is water weight and not fat. That is one of the first things you need to be aware of w/ a keto diet or any diet that has phases where you drop carbs. When you drop carbs, and then burn it all up (since carbs --> glycogen are your body's first choice for energy source), you start to dump water - carbs require water to hold them in your body - this is why you look filled out, and sometimes bloated after eating carbs, and flat when you cut them out for a while.

You're probably in that annoying place while you're waiting for all your carbs --> glycogen to be burned up and for your body to switch over to ketones as the primary energy source. This period of time can leave you feel lethargic and possibly w/ headaches or irritability. The lack of sleep may be your body's method of dealing w/ the switchover to ketones. Normally it should pass within a few days.

Thanks Sassy. No, I am aware that the first ten pounds or so is water and other items. I am past that phase. It just was strange to me how amped up I am. Normally when carbs are taken out of my diet, I get sluggish and lethargic. This Keto thing has me running around like a chicken on acid. I am in Ketosis, I think. The "Keto smell" comes and goes through out the day. I am assuming that it is probably normal. I was just wondering about the high energy levels, especially at bed time.

Most of the weight you have lost is water, you will put it back on during carb up.
Kopte is great, make sure you 70% of your daily intake comes from fat.
And if possible get a Blood Glucose meter/monitor to see how different food works on you.
I've noticed that even a small avocado (2g carb) or diet coke (sweteeners) rises my blood glucose thus throws me out of keto.
Keto strips are also usefull.

when i was doing keto i had a hard time sleeping as well. it may have something to do with higher cortisol levels because your body is starving a little

I think the whole switch over from carbs to ketones can leave you agitated or moody.

Heard Vit. C can help with coritsol if that's really the problemo.

im nearing the end of my 7th week on keto and i am just strting to see some big changes in body composition, i have tweaked the diet somewhat to suit my body and things seem to be really flying now. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, stick too it and you will see great reslults.

I have noticed my carb intake has been low for the past few days, in the 6-7% range. I am too busy to track this at work. It is only in the evening when I log my food that I fond out my carbs are down. What do you eat as a snack to up your carbs? Keto legal of course.

It depends on your insulin sensitivity. Some people will be kick out of keto with as little as 3g of carbs.

So unless you have a blood glucose monitor (to see how you react to carbs) you dont wan't wanna have any 'snacks to up your carbs'.

Thanks Danny. I probably should not be too worried about it, but my carb intake has been between 7-10% for the past few days. I had some calorie deficit and though a carb snake would be a good idea to bring it up. Looks like I need to eat more veggies.

You could try having 5-10g dextrose pre-workout if you want. You should get right back into ketosis within an hour or so of training.

(that's 1-2 teaspoons of dextrose btw)

Nice thing about dextrose is it clears your system very quickly. It doesn't need any time to break down, and there's no fibre to slow it down.

you do know theres no special thing that keto does for fatloss that a normal caloric deficit wont. Just sayin...

It's a LOT more comfortable to run a deficit that way though. Kills hunger.

That is true. It has been 14 days now and I have not been hungry once. In fact I had to force myself to eat a couple of times.

And thanks for the dextrose tip Built.

Today was my first carb up. I didn't really eat that much or that bad, but I still feel stuffed.

No one has mentioned this yet, but going keto causes some people to feel ramped up. The most logical explanation is that you have all of the physiological symptoms of anxiety without a psychological cause. This is common for people taking in low carbs, and especially true for people who have pushed into starvation mode. Ask yourself, does your body feel the way it would normally feel if you were intensely worried about something? Do you have the jitters, elevated pulse, sweating?

If so, then most likely your blood sugar has tanked, and your cortisol levels are high. Built's advice on dextrose might be a good way to counteract your problem. You have to listen to your body. Some people are more sensitive to low carb diets than others.

I had the same issue, I couldn't sleep untill 4am and sometimes 5am. I was eating about 40 carbs a day. I lost major weight fast but my muscles get really flat. I would feel sleepy at around 9 or 10pm and fall asleep for about 10 min. Then I would wake up fully awake untill 4 or 5am. Thank God I wasn't working durring this time. Try melatonin, it's a great sleep aid. Once I started my clean bulk I slept like a baby and my libido came back. Good luck, low carbing sucks, but it gets the job done fast.

No jitters. I sweat a lot lately and having trouble sleeping. Since this is only my third, or is that fourth(??) week of Keto, it is becoming apparent my body is still getting use to this. Two weeks ago, it was like I was on speed. Now my ass is dragging because my sleep is off.

did you know your body doesn't like being in ketosis, try the Anabolic diet its similar but your body gets fat adapted, your allowed a little more carbs. Don't do the diet without reading the book because you'll do it wrong but look into it. The book should be somewhere online for free.

Originally Posted by thomassj

you do know theres no special thing that keto does for fatloss that a normal caloric deficit wont. Just sayin...

Originally Posted by Built

It's a LOT more comfortable to run a deficit that way though. Kills hunger.

This. Keto has to be the easiest diet for me to follow consistently. That's special.

Limited menu, quick shakes, or steak and eggs.

I am on my 5th day of keto and i love it i see what you guys are saying. 300 calories from oats or carbs leaves me hungry 300 calories from fat and protein alot less hungry