Experimenting with a Keto Diet – Blog#10

Day 20

It’s Day 20 of my Keto Diet.

How I’m Feeling

I wrote the other day how I was finding that the Diet wasn’t uncomfortable like it had been in the beginning. That still stands. I’m not aware of that same buzzing throughout my body some time after eating a meal. Sometimes I have a lot of energy, and other times not as much, but I never feel really lethargic for no reason. So my energy levels are good.

Headaches

I’ve had a few headaches, albeit very mild headaches since I’ve been on the Diet. So mild that if I were to describe them in terms of pain level, I would call them a “pre-headache” – like a headache is about to come on. I haven’t kept track of the exact number, but at a guess I’d say I’ve had 3 to 5. This is quite a big headache count for me, although I’ve go through stages in life where it could reach this frequency.

I don’t get many headaches, and when I do they are nearly always mild. Nothing some water and a sleep, or one or two paracetamol or ibuprofen tablets won’t fix. When I do get them, it seems to be when I’m stressed, dehydrated or if I have some muscular tension (eg from exercise or stress). Other times I don’t know why.

Keto Flu

In my research into Keto Diets before I began mine, there was mention of the Keto Flu. This “flu” was a combination of symptoms associated with a change in diet, symptoms such as headaches and lethargy.

I never noticed any of these symptoms, except one night in the first week when it felt like a headache might be coming on.

In my readings about the Keto Flu, one source said it was due to dehydration – that there is water loss associated with going on a Keto Diet, which is associated with electrolyte loss. It was suggested that a bit of salted water could help with electrolyte loss. I know magnesium is an electrolyte and I had the magnesium citrate powder in my pantry. I had bought at some stage a while back to aid my sleep. I tried it sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, and I’m not sure that it ever helped much.

So, at that time I felt that headache coming on, which was just before bed, I had some magnesium citrate powder in water. I woke up without a headache. And perhaps if I hadn’t had it, I would have woken up without it too.

Sometimes when I’ve felt like a headache was coming on, I’ve made up a solution of magnesium citrate and pink himilayan salt in water and had that.

In the first five days of my Diet, I went from 84kg to 81.5kg, and I’m guessing a lot of that was fluid loss.

I was aware of this water and electrolyte loss related to the Diet, so in the first days of my Diet I was generous about the amount of salt I used when I made food.

When I went shopping for keto sticks when I first started this Diet, I also had a look in a couple of pharmacies for an electrolyte powder or drink. Most of the brands had glucose in them, which isn’t compatible with a Keto Diet. And those that didn’t contained sucralose, which I’ve read must be approached with cautiously on a Keto Diet. Apparently it can cause an insulin reaction. So, other than one flavoured protein shake after the gym on Day 1 or 2, I’ve steered clear of sucralose.

One pharmacist mentioned that Glucosade Original is sweetener-free, but is hard to find and somewhat difficult to palate! I couldn’t find it. And at another pharmacy they mentioned coconut water – but then amended that to say that it was quite carb-rich, so wouldn’t be suitable for a Keto Diet. They then suggested what I had already read – to drink a solution of salt in water.

My Weight

I weighed myself this morning, and I was 78.2kg. I bought some bathroom scales the other day, so I’ve weighed myself over the last couple of days. This is about the same weight I was two days ago. So in no more than 18 days I’ve lost about 6kg. I haven’t been weighing myself at the same time in the day – I might start weighing myself first thing in the morning if I continue to weigh myself, so there’s some consistency with that.

My Waist Size

On the 5th November, Sue mentioned in a Comment in one of my blogs that she was more interested in my waist size, rather than my weight. She asked if I noticed a difference in how my clothes fit.

Well, yes, I have noticed some change. What I’ve noticed is that my pairs of shorts are falling down compared to when I have worn them before. They’re all size 32 waist, so I guess I need smaller than that now. I’ve usually shopped for size 32 waist. I wonder whether this means I’ve also lost some of my arse? That wasn’t what I wanted. I’d like to keep my arse! But perhaps I can’t pick and choose which fat to lose. I mentioned my possible posterior reduction to a friend the other day, and he suggested I do some squats to fix this.

Got the Hang of It

I’m used to this way of eating now. I’ve got the hang of what to eat and what not to eat.

Two days ago, I stopped doing my twice daily keto stick readings. They generally showed readings of Moderate-Large, with a Large and Moderate reading thrown in. I decided that because of the consistency, it wasn’t useful for me to keep doing readings anymore.

Stay tuned. More to come…