Have the flu, Keto style

I’d made it a week and thought I’d gotten lucky and skipped the Keto Flu.  Instead, I got hit later than most.

Keto ‘Flu’ or Atkin’s Diet Induction Flu are a series of symptoms that result from your body finally realizing that you’ve eradicated the carbs it was using to fuel your energy. Common symptoms are fatigue and headaches.  Less common are nausea and  chills. Eventually your body catches up to your plan, and substitutes fat as an energy source.  Some people never get symptoms at all, or only have them for a few hours or a day.  Other people get hit up to a couple of weeks.

I had the day off, so no alarm set, and slept until 1pm.  Woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept at all, rather than the 11 hours I’d just had. Even after 5 cups of coffee, I dragged around all day, simply exhausted.  I was supposed to be doing my second day of yoga and biking, and could barely force myself to eat, much less exercise. I’m super crabby too, plus found myself on the verge of tears over nothing (that happened to me on my third day of Keto too).  I have suffered depression on and off in the past, so will be adding Inositol to my vitamin regimen this week, since Keto seems to be hitting me with a bit of that.

I’m also craving carbs like crazy.  In my previous SAD diets (Standard American Diet: low-cal, low-fat, high carb), I’d never experienced cravings. I keep thinking about foods that I don’t even particularly  like (cake and ice cream) on top of stuff I love (bread and pasta).  The funny thing is, I’m eating a lot, so not hungry at all. It’s an odd experience to be craving food while totally full.

Hopefully this will be short lived!
Lis+