‘Keto flu’ - worth fighting through it?

[GonkDroid]

I have been on the keto diet (well, probably just a very low carb rather than true keto - trying not to overdo protein and keep fat high without doing ratios) since last Monday.

I am in the healthy weight range, but trying to target some fat on my thighs.

I lost 3 pounds within the first two days - mostly water, I’m guessing.

Then lost another pound in the next three days.

About a week in, I’ve been feeling rough. Yesterday was just the worst; I had no energy most of the day, all limbs felt heavy and felt a bit nauseous too. I felt a bit better by the evening and then took a teaspoon of metatone (vit B1, calcium, potassium, sodium and manganese), after which I felt almost normal again.

It could have been the heat, and today is better as I feel more energetic, but I defo still feel ‘not right’. I still feel slightly woozy/faint at times. I am drinking loads and keeping as cool as I can.

Weight has plateaued a bit; have lost 5 pounds in total and suspect at least 3 or 4 of those might just be water.

Is it worth fighting through this?

Yes it is.

Keep going. Keto flu is the pits but it will get better. You should be nearing the end of it now.

Make sure you are eating enough fat.
Speeds up weight loss and really helps to get you feeling good again.

Yes I felt better than before after getting through it.

Yes keto flu goes off quickly once your body gets fully into ketosis usually in about a week or less, most people feel great and full of energy in ketosis and of course less hungry. One reason you feel lousy until this kicks in is you are not getting your usual energy from glucose but you are not getting your energy from ketones yet either. There can also be an issue with hydration especially in this weather you need to keep drinking and replace your electrolytes.
Remember keto isn't magic you do lose a lot of water weight at first but most of the weight loss is steady fat loss and the main advantage over other diets is that it helps to reduce your appetite and reduce cravings.

Fab responses, thanks so much all. Just what I wanted to hear (especially as DH muttering about my crazy diet is pissing me off right now )

I am feeling quite a bit better today and think my energy is coming back.

One other thing, since you experts are here - I have always gained a lot of water whenever I eat salty foods.

Since a lot of the food I am eating now is quite high in salt (e.g. cheese), I am definitely holding more water right now than usual (my scales show my body water content right now is in the ‘high’ category).

Is this anything to worry about? Will this calm down as my body adapts or do I need to be a bit more careful with my salt intake?

I was going to eat some samphire tonight with oily sardines, but now wondering if that’s a good idea given samphire is very salty!

My husband avoids keto flu by drinking electrolyte tablets dissolved in water (from Amazon).

The fine women on the Bootcamps would say to drink more water. Then some more, and some more.

I find bloating disappears after a while but you have to carry on with the fluids.

I am in the healthy weight range, but trying to target some fat on my thighs

You do know you can’t target fat loss? If you’re healthy weight range I can’t imagine losing 5lbs in a week is good for you.

How much do you plan to lose?

@Reallyreallyborednow Yes, I do, and fair point! However, pretty much my only body fat is on my legs, so I would have thought at least some of the fat loss will surely have to go from there!

I’ve been looking at some old photos and am aiming to get back to the weight I used to be when my DS was aged 0-5. I used up a lot of energy breastfeeding, picking him up and then running around after him while he was little.

Life in the home has been somewhat more sedentary now I have a pre-teen - nagging takes up less energy, apart from the occasional finger wagging when I’m particularly vehement

I want to lose 6 pounds. But because keto also involves some water loss, I think I need to give it a bit longer to start burning the fat, as I’m guessing 3-4 of those 5 pounds I’ve ‘lost’ will pop straight back on once I come off the diet.

Now I’m feeling more energetic I will walk more as well (bad knee joints so can’t run, annoyingly.)

God this thread is depressing.

Just eat some food woman. You are worth more than the size of your thighs.

You may be low on electrolytes. adding some to my water sorted me straight away.

BIWI recommended the zero electrolytes from amazon I have one a day. I'm not sure it's worth it if you are already a healthy weight tbh.

Try exercise for the thighs!

@Evianlife I am eating food, plenty of it in fact! Just specific types. Of course I’m worth more than my thighs and I realise that in the grand scheme of things I’ve very little to complain about. Sorry if this thread depressed you.

Definitely look at electrolytes, it really does help the flu thing as does water, lots and lots of water. Salt behaves differently when you are on a low carb diet so try not to be too concerned by that.

I found I needed to up my water to around 3ltrs a day to keep ketosis going.

I suspect you need to continue with the metatone and making sure you’re getting potassium, magnesium etc.
Because you’re pissing out more fluid than you’re holding on to, there’s always a danger your mineral levels are low, especially when upping the water intake.

I’m doing strict keto right now for carnival (usually just generally no processed carbs bread) and definitely had to up the salt significantly the first week as my body dumped all the carb water.

Certainly gets easier though, keep on trucking as you’re getting through the worst of it.

Thanks all. I must confess I didn’t realise that not drinking enough water might stall ketosis - would anybody be able to explain how that works? I am definitely in ketosis at the moment; my pee smells really fruity.

Thanks for the heads-up re: the zero electrolytes.

I believe you need the water to replace the burned off fat in the cells until the body cleans the cells out permanently (have you experienced whooshes where you plateau and then lose a lot in one go? That’s what happens.)