doing a keto- what did i do wrong?

[DepressiveJuice]

i started doing a keto diet two weeks ago (Jun2). ive noticed alot of problems with this type of diet. depression, unmotivated, lethargy, loss of libido, no hunger, thirst. i started out weighing 226lbs and am now down to 198lbs (water i know). pants are very loose so i am liking the results. the problems are the ones ive stated above. im having a hard time eating all my meals, ive been skipping some of them. ive been eating less than 2kg of cals/day for over a week because i feel so full. water intake is fine. ive been so thirsty im driking 1+gal/day. im working out 4days/wk nd just recently added cardio yesterday. today, i noticed that i look smoother and i feel very bloated. i feel as if im rebounding and gaining weight now. what could have caused this bloated feeling? im only taking eca, nyc, t3 and green tea.

 

[KWKSLVR]

Feeling bloated is normal on a keto diet. You need to do your best to eat all of your meals. It may take a little longer than 2 weeks to adjust. I've had zero problems with energy. Try to eat your meals properly and stay active and i think you'll be fine.

 

[trial0rzgrl]

keto does have those sides, however, nyc and eca together have that effect on me. Together they make me very tired, sepeerate they are fine. But whatever works!!!!!

 

[plornive]

I remember looking either smooth, stringy or both on a keto diet. It doesn't mean it's not working. Get some calipers and watch your calories and just ignore how you look. I found ECA and tyrosine very helpful.

 

[FatChops]

yup yup

I remember looking either smooth, stringy or both on a keto diet. It doesn't mean it's not working. Get some calipers and watch your calories and just ignore how you look. I found ECA and tyrosine very helpful.

Yeah Eca and some tyrosine will help you out. Good luck
Are you eating enough fats?

Fatchops

 

[strong island]

TWENTY EIGHT POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS!!! That is not all water. Maybe 10 pounds is water.

Damn...that is some deficit you are eating.

Is it a CKD with a carb up. If not I recommend having a two day carb up.

What are your complete stats?

 

[MS]

It will mostly be water in your first two weeks. Geesh you must have had some serious fluid retention probs. How was your blood pressure at 226lbs??

Strong Island, no matter how well a keto diet is executed, there's no way someone is going to create the equivalent of a 4500 cals deficit of pure fat per day for 14 days straight. This is what would need to occur if he lost only 10 lbs of water and the other 18 was fat. I would be concerned about so much weight loss since you only need to burn up 400-500 cals worth of muscle to lose a pound of weight, versus 3500 cals to burn a pound of fat. You may have suffered some catabolism of muscle, which would explain why you've lost so much weight and also have been feeling lousy. You should check to find out if you're dehydrated and also if you're eating enough calories. Are you sure you've been in ketosis??

 

[DepressiveJuice]

hey thanks for the replies everyone. i'll look into tyrosine and check it out. fatchops, im trying to eat enough fats. i know im not but its so hard to force myself to eat. i think its the synephrine thats suppressing my appetite, thinking about dropping it.

i havent had a carb up for 13 days. the reason for that is because when i did do the carb up the first time, i felt very tired the followng 3 days. i noticed that last week i was struggling at the gym and this week im doing fine, although still tired, but not as i was the first two weeks.

i dont know what you mean by clompete stats strong island. im 24yrs old, 5'10. i would guess my bf% was at 20% when i started this diet. dont know what % it is know as i have no calipers. i'll get some though.

MS i dont know what my blood pressure was, havent taken it in years. why do you ask? is it a bad idea to do a keto if you have high blood pressure? im using t3 so im sure im losing muscle. i dont care really i just want to lose the fat, although i am using 400mg of test. how would i know if im dehydrated? im drinking so much water throughout the day. the funny thing is that sometimes durin the entire day, my urine is yellow and sometimes its white. like i said, ive been eating less than 2000cals for around a week. i have managed to up the cals some, im sure im eating 2000cals if not more than that. i have no idea if im in ketosis. guess i should go buy some ketostix huh? i was assuming that, as long as my carbs dont go over 20g, i would always be in ketosis.

again, thanks for your replies everyone

 

[DepressiveJuice]

by the way, here is what i ate mon, tues and wed.

(4:30am w/cardio)5-6:am workout

6am 40g whey

7am 4 whole eggs

9am 40g whey, 2tablespoons flax

1pm 6oz tuna, 2tabespoons flax, 2tablespoons mayo

3pm 2oz cheddar cheese

5pm 1 whole egg, 2oz lean beef, 3oz tuna

7:30pm 1 whole egg, 2oz lean beef, 3oz tuna

9pm 40g whey, 2tablespoons flax

thats around 20-30g of carbs which should keep me in ketosis. not sure what the total cals are though. i'll do the math tomorrow, im too tired right now. heading for bed. by the way, any advise on how to eat more on a keto would be appreciated. thanks in advance

 

[strong island]

It will mostly be water in your first two weeks. Geesh you must have had some serious fluid retention probs. How was your blood pressure at 226lbs??

Strong Island, no matter how well a keto diet is executed, there's no way someone is going to create the equivalent of a 4500 cals deficit of pure fat per day for 14 days straight. This is what would need to occur if he lost only 10 lbs of water and the other 18 was fat. I would be concerned about so much weight loss since you only need to burn up 400-500 cals worth of muscle to lose a pound of weight, versus 3500 cals to burn a pound of fat. You may have suffered some catabolism of muscle, which would explain why you've lost so much weight and also have been feeling lousy. You should check to find out if you're dehydrated and also if you're eating enough calories. Are you sure you've been in ketosis??

I agree...I never said it was 18 pounds of fat....and I never said it was good. I think his deficit is too much and is probably very catabolic which is the reason to go on a CKD in the first place.

The benefit of a CKD is that it is not that catbolic and once you are in ketosis you don't feel lethargic like you would on a low carb low fat diet.

You must buy ketostix...they are like five bucks at CVS or Walgreens etc. It is possible 20-30 g of carbs ill keep you OUT of ketosis. Maybe you have been in and out of ketosis and this is why you feel like shit. You must get enough fat. I followed Mr. X's CKD to a t and had great results.

If you haven't had carbs in 13 days you should not be weight training ...this will eat up more muscle. Weight training is anaerobic and needs glycogen...which you don't have.

You want to lose FAT NOT WEIGHT...right?

You should have a two day carb up with as little fat as possible.

I'll get back to you later...got to get to work.

SI

 

[DepressiveJuice]

$5 for ketostix damn. i was thinking it would be $100 or so. i'll go during my lunch hour and get some. ok i'll start adding carb days then. i suppose it wouldnt hurt to use ALA on these days right? im aware on what types of foods to eat for the carb up days but im guessing that mocha fraps and bagels w/cream cheese would be too high in fat. oh well. and yes, i want to lose fat not weight. although im not walking around with 20' arms. i didnt think muscle loss wouldnt matter if youre not a big guy.

the total cals im eating right now are 1800 (give or take). yea i know its way too low. i was sure i was eating around 2k. the total carbs are 17g. there are trace carbs from the eggs, mayo, cheese and whey shakes.

cant post a progress pic here but i did at another board. here is the link for that post. and remember, i know my physique is out of shape which is the reason why im doing this diet.

http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=236144#post236144

 

[KWKSLVR]

For someone who is severly obese, 2 week results like that are fairly typical. I see it constantly with people who low carb. Hell, my first 2 weeks i lost 25lbs (285 when i started) and it plained off after that. Now i exercise 4 days a week and still eat right and i average about a pound a week. Believe me, this guy is not destroying all of his muscle. I remember even MS telling me a while back that i was probably retaining a good 15lbs or so of water.

 

[NY Muscle]

Maybe its just me but not only do I find this diet the EASIEST DIET to follow (you know what to eat and what you cant eat, end of discussion, no guessing) my energy levels are great, stable all the time, my moods are great…I’m losing on avg 2lbs a week after the initial 4-8lbs of water loss the 1st 1-2 weeks…I don’t understand why so much drama over the diet? And if you are complaining about strength decrease, well I’m sorry but its time to throw the ego out the window and focus on the issue at hand and that is losing fat and not impressing some douche bag juice heads in the gym with how much you can bench.

Also, if you are worried about not enough cals because you have no appetite…you have to eat CALORIE DENSE FOOD, like cheese and fatty meats and flax seed oil or mct’s..that’s a no brainer..and will get your calorie count up with ease.

 

[strong island]

You definately aren't obese.

Bro you look like you have made some progress in your pics.

Try a carb up day or two to refill your glycogen so you can have a decent workout.

Good work.

Did you measure your waist before and after? Looks like you lost a few inches. Your pants probably don't fit?

 

[DepressiveJuice]

not complaining about strength loss, complaining about lethargy. and i am eating cheeses and flax. i'll have to redo my diet and up the cals. didnt measure my waist no. but my pants are very loose.

well i bought some ketostix and it said that i have a trace amount of ketones in my urine. is that good or bad? does the amount of ketones in your body matter w/fat loss or is having a trace of ketones ok? also, what kicks you out of ketosis, aside from carbs

 

[plornive]

Try adding some whole eggs to your diet if you aren't eating any already.

 

[strong island]

You are either in or out. So you are in. Doesn't matter how dark the stick is.

I believe citric acid kicks some people out of ketosis. Citric acid is found in most diet sodas.

If you like diet soda test it out. When you are in ketosis drink a can and test yourself afterwards.

I think Diet Dr. Pepper doesn't have citric acid but I could be wrong.

 

[MR. BMJ]

I probably am not gonna add much more that hasn't been already mentioned, but I normally only eat 3-4 meals for a day, and it still works out fine.

Of that 28 pounds, not only is it gonna be a loss of water weight, but there should be a fair amount of glycogen lost as well. Say you lost 5-6 pounds of fat (hopefully), which is not uncommon at the beginning of most diets, especially if you are obese, then that will leave 22-23 pounds to divide up for water and glycogen loss. Regardless, that is still a LOT of weight lost in 2 weeks...damn!

The feeling of lethargy and energy loss is not uncommon on this diet, you must prepare for this ahead of time before starting the diet. Same goes for feeling "flat". Ephedrine, caffeine, and Yohimbine can all help in this aspect if you decide to partake in their use. Drinking lots of water is very important as well!!!! After doing a CKD for 3-4 weeks, your body will start getting used to this style of eating, and you will not feel as bad.

Try to train on the days that you are most glycogenated...the first days after your carb-up, which by the way you SHOULD be doing once a week anyway. I have great results doing 1/2 the body on Monday and half the body on Tuesday. These 2 days I train heavy to positive failure. Then cardio and abs on Thursday. On Saturday, I will perform a full body depletion workout that helps deplete the muscles further of their glycogen stores. DO NOT TRAIN HEAVY ON THIS DAY! Then I begin my carb up. This usually starts around @pm on Saturday and lasts until 5-6pm on Sunday.

I could add more, but I think i must have written that last paragraph about a hundred times these last 2 years, so if you want do a search on my name, as i have explained in detail exactly how I do things in greater detail. My CKD plan is very similar to MR. X's, except I believe I do my training a little differently.

BMJ

 

[MS]

I only asked about the blood pressure out of curiosity because it is POSSIBLE to lose 28lbs of just water (or gain it!!!) in 2 weeks, but it seems likely that your blood pressure would have been elevated if you were retaining that much fluid. If that's the case then the keto diet is prolly good for you since it will get your BP down very quickly.

I agree that you should be having some carb-up days if you want your weight training to maintain any intensity. otherwise you can expect some decreases in strength in the gym. As long as you stay in ketosis and are taking enough test then you hopefully won't be losing too much muscle. As for the energy problems, i don't know what the solution is. My energy levels remained pathetic the whole time I was on CKD and I felt sick and headachy except during my carb-up day even though my ketostix showed moderate ketosis from Monday night each week. I was also constantly thirsty and dehydrated feeling and the more water I drank, the worse the dehydration got. Give it another couple of weeks and see if it improves. If you don't feel better by then, keto may not be the best diet for you!

 

[strong island]

This diet is definately not for everyone..you either hate it or like it.

I loved it and felt great while in ketosis. It was very easy to follow.

I believe I read somewhere that you can split your meals however you like....3 meals, 6 meals...etc.

I have read that most people can store 100 g of glycogen in their liver and 400+ in their muscles.

So lets give hime the benefit of the doubt and say 600 grams of glycogen..when fully loaded.

This is app. 1.32 pounds of glycogen. Plus the 3.97 lbs. water to store the glycogen.

This is app. 5.29 pounds of glycogen and the water used to store the glycogen.

But of course, then there is the extracellular water...

 

[dieslgrl]

you should try to add some nuts or have more red meat or fatty fish.... I find that when I keep those things in during keto phase, I feel just fine... when I keep my fat lower is when I get those shitty feelings...

I like to eat meals of chicken and walnuts
or steak and chicken, or ground turkey, or salmon..

I usually have a lower fat protein source and then something higher in fat in the same meal... keeps me consistent throughout the day.. also.. you might want to try adding food in with your whey shakes... you are simply starving.. I ate more than you on a contest diet. (and I am 138lbs contest!)-- except, there was no mayo or cheese or shakes... all meat and nuts... caveman diet.. lol

dg

 

[FitnessFrk]

dude WTF ? you've been using AS and dieting for like the past 2 years in a row, how in the hell can you not be totally ripped by now ??????

 

[DepressiveJuice]

havent used AS in a year and havent done any cardio or weight training in 6 months. kinda let myself go w/donuts, pizza, burgers.....god i miss those foods. does anyone else have dreams of binging on junk food? once i lose the fat im not going to let myself fall into that type of depression again

 

[FitnessFrk]

that sucks man ! glad to see you are training again...

 

[Gingerly]

Keto and fatigue

If you're still feeling fatigued and generally 'blah' check your potassium levels. Adding in approx 400mg of potassium can make a HUGE difference in energy levels. Low Carb diets are very diruetic, you lose a lot of electrolytes with that water. Try using a potassium salt like nuSalt, 1/8th of a teaspoon is over 500mg potassium. And make sure you're drinking a gallon of water a day.

G

 

[Lumbuss]

who gives a shit if you are depressed. i saw your pics on wbb and you have lost a shit load of fucking fat. you look like your on dnp.