Hi everyone!
After seeing a number of people get affected by the dreaded “Keto Flu”. I felt it might be time to write down some of the mistakes that everyone makes when they start Keto in an effort to prevent you from making the same ones.
Please note I am no doctor, I just write down what works for me and write down things I have tried. If you have ideas on how to improve what I have written here Or want to add anything just drop a comment on our Facebook group page and we’ll try to add it!. Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/LowCarbLifeGroup
1. Not eating high fat foods!
I know it’s tough to break the cycle, and the thought that fat is bad for you, But when your body is in a state of ketosis your body is using fat as it’s primary fuel source and is no longer looking for carbs. It helps to start thinking of your body like an engine, Where fat is the fuel for your engine. If you do not eat fat it’s like driving your car around on empty. So time to start living it up, Eat full fat cheese, Full fat Whipped cream (Go check the label) I’m sure you will see that even whipped cream has almost no carbs and is full of fat. Eat lots of bacon and eggs, Eat the skin off of your chicken, Drown your broccoli in butter.. If you want 😉 Of course not all fats are created equal. Be wary of vegetable oils like canola and corn. These don’t help the body at all when there are better choices like bacon grease, butter, coconut oil.
2. Not drinking enough water!
When you are storing carbs, they are stored with a large amount of water. So if your body becomes dehydrated, it can use the carb and claim the water that comes with it to restore some hydration.
If you remove all the carbs by being in ketosis, the body does not have these extra stores of water. So when the body becomes dehydrated there isn’t much it can do.
The only solution is to drink more water more frequently to avoid (even minor) dehydration in the first place.
This is a really really common occurrence, Also you need to watch your electrolyte levels as your body excretes all your electrolytes through your urine and it’s super important to replenish them! I like Coconut Water, You can find sugar free Gatorade, Or bone broth works well too. Your body’s salt levels will also be very low due to ketosis so important to keep your sodium levels up! Seriously you should be drinking at least 2-3liters of water a day! I know this is hard. Trust me I know I came from 2-5 cans of sugar free pop a day to nothing but water and the first few days are tough… But then your body magically starts to crave it, and you will have no problems drinking this amount of water. Get yourself an awesome 1lt min water bottle, Something strong and sturdy and keep it with you all day. Try it for 1 week and you will notice huge improvements in your weight loss and relief from your keto flu.
PS. To help you drink more water, get a good water bottle!
I Love this water bottle, It’s made by Tupperware, I use it every day! it’s 1 liter so I know that i just need to aim for 3 of these a day, It’s super sturdy, I have dropped it so many times and not a mark on it. They also fit big ice cubes through the top, Not many bottles allow this. So i like to fill it up with 12 ice cubes and water and just have icy cold water all day.
You can get the bottles here . To get these specific ones you need to buy the set of 3, but they are the best ones 😛 1 liter and flip top.
3. Changing Too Many Things At Once
Often people will get the craving to “Change their life”, They will start a new diet or lifestyle, start exercising, Give up coffee, Sugar, Carbs, junk food all at once, Then they struggle. Because you just changed everything about how your body is tuned. of course your body is going to throw a fit. Your body is an amazing finely tuned machine that will work for you. All you need to do it give it a heads up and your body will adapt, Keep your coffee just have it with fake sugar and coconut or almond milk, Don’t start going all out at the gym when you are switching fuel sources as you won’t have much energy while your body is adapting. Once you are in ketosis though Fat will give you more energy than carbs do and burn more efficiently too.
4. Giving up too soon.
Here is the tough one, That first week is gonna be tough when you decide to go Low Carb High Fat. It is, There is no way around it, We have been programmed to be fueled on carbs for a long time so when you are telling your body to change fuel source, It takes some time. Fat adaption can take up to a month!, Usually it’s a lot faster than this, And by following the tips in this guide I would estimate your body will adapt in less than a week. But not everyone is the same. Your body will become overflowed with fats and have no carbs, So once it uses up any remaining carbs it turns to starvation mode. Starvation mode means that your body is gonna look for alternative sources for fuel and what do you know, It loves fat. Fat would be it’s first choice in nature, Just humans have adapted to run on carbs since it’s more cost effective, easier to mass produce, and makes more money. So give it time. Don’t give up. You might get diarrhea or constipation in the first week or so, but it will pass and the results will be well worth it.
5. Too much protein!
In the first week or so you will drop a large amount of weight, This is your water weight, When you increase your intake of water your body no longer needs to keep a surpluss of it stocked. So it will use it all up. Hence why it’s very important to drink 2-3 liters a day. If you do stall the first 2 things I will always ask you. How much water are you drinking and how much protein are you eating? Your protein shouldn’t exceed 1g per kg of lean body mass but this highly depends on your activity levels , as someone exercising a lot will need more protein for muscle growth than someone who isn’t. However I highly recommend working out your macros with this handy online calculator. http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
Once you have your results, Post them to the group and we can help you adjust them if needed!
But it’s important to keep track of your macros and reevaluate them every 3 months. As you lose weight, your nutritional requirements will change. The standard macros if you don’t want to work them out yourself are 70% Fats, 25% Protein and 5% carbs.
Ok that’s all i have for now, i plan to do some more write ups when I can, let me know what you think and if these helped you. If you have any suggestions or Things you want me to add You can drop me a comment on the Facebook page or the new group page.
