Lchf

[Chelsea51]

Hello everyone. I’ve decided to follow the LCHF diet as opposed to counting calories. Can anyone help me please, does it give you headaches and make you tired. I was very tired all day yesterday and have had headaches also.

[Tiggerr]

It's my impression that headaches occur with some people and even flu like symptoms but I believe this is only to some of those who decide to go through the keto induction, which requires a pretty strict carb reduction.

I know Lytham did the induction and lynne0_0 is near the end of her 2nd week. They may be able to provide some personal feedback.

My route was one of reducing my carbs over time and eating more and more fat. I cut out any obvious carbs for my evening meals straight away because those were the worst times when carbs would create my worst cravings and that helped bring my eating under control.

Maybe have a look at the Daily Diary where there are a number of people following lchf. This is today's (Saturday)... healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Susie71 in reply to Tiggerr]

Thank you Tiggerr. I’ve just downloaded the Carb manager app and very surprised at the amount of carbs that are in vegetables. I thought they’d be pretty low but they would soon add up to 20g. In fact they added up to 24g and that was only half a cup of some veggies. I thought the LCHF would solve my problems but this looks hard too! Guess nothing is easy.

[Tiggerr in reply to Susie71]

Try not to be put off Susie. 20g is the induction level and like you say pretty difficult to stick to. If you look at Dietdoctor dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto you may get a good idea of how to progress. One of the food types picture is a good visual aid of how you could keep those carbs low.

As I mentioned to Chelsea, I never followed the induction and I couldn't tell you what my carb levels are but I do know that 'normal' lchf (when not in induction) is anywhere between 50-150g of carbs.

[Susie71 in reply to Tiggerr]

I will check out Diet Doctor. I don’t know why the site logs me on as Chelsea and the next time I reply it logs me on as Susie cos I’m using the same iPad for myself all the time. Hubby uses a different iPad and neither of us uses the other one. Confused!

[Tiggerr in reply to Susie71]

Ahh ok... that is weird and maybe one to log with HU (Click on Profile/Help/Contact Us).

Good luck Susie/Chelsea

[lynne0_0 7lbs in reply to Tiggerr]

That's exactly where I was going to send Susie71

[Hidden in reply to Susie71]

One reason I don't do the 'strict' end is that, apart from potatoes, I wouldn't cut out any veg. It's counter-intuitive to me to cut out something most of us simply don't get enough of. Get rid of obvious carbs where you can, as Tigger says, and reduce that way.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

My advice to you both, is not to count carbs, as it complicates things and will dissuade you from eating vegetables. Stick to very simple 'rules' to start with, ie no bread, potato, pasta, rice, grains, sugar, no low fat, or fat free products, no fruit, except for occasional berries, limit root vegetables and legumes and eat mainly those vegetables that grow above ground and make sure you drink plenty and have enough salt in your diet, to avoid the tiredness and headaches. I lost 7 stone using this approach, so can personally vouch for its efficacy

It's normal to experience some 'withdrawal' symptoms at the beginning, but these will soon disappear and you'll probably feel better than you have for a long time.

Have you both joined the forum using the same email address, as that will explain why you're logged in as the same person, across all of your devices? To avoid this, you need to change the email address on one of your profiles - I suggest the Chelsea51 one, as it's the more recent. Do do this, when using the Chelsea51 profile (you can tell by the avatar, it's the purple flower), click on that avatar, scroll down to change email address, change the email address, then click on save changes.

I hope this helps

[S11m in reply to moreless]

Yes, moreless and Susie71 - I lost five stone using similar rules (and Intermittent Fasting) but I have always had two or three fruits with my breakfast.

I did have a mild headache for a month or two - but that was before I started having a heaped teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt in my green tea every morning.

Have you found the LCHF forum?

Are you combining LCHF with Intermittent Fasting?

[Susie71 in reply to S11m]

Hi no I haven’t been able to find the LCHF forum. Well done on your weight loss. That’s a brilliant result

[S11m in reply to Susie71]

Here is the LCHF forum:

healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, yes as Tiggerr says, I did the two week keto challenge and I was fine, but I had already drastically reduced my carbs for some time. If I remember correctly I did have a headache for a couple of days early on but that was it. Tbh I'm prone to headaches so it may not have even been that?

I find the food gorgeous and love the not feeling hungry all the time, do let us know how you get on and just shout up if you have any questions, Good Luck! x

[Susie71 in reply to Lytham]

Thank you for your reply. I will indeed keep you posted

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to Susie71]

Brilliant, enjoy! x

[lynne0_0 7lbs]

Hi Susie71 I myself am on day13 of keto. I agree with Tiggerr re:dietdoctor.com

Last time I did keto I followed this and by day4 I felt very unwell with gly like symptoms. This time however I have been more strict with calories too, staying closer to my recommended calorie intact to lose weight. Also, of course controlling macros to roughly 70% good fats 20% protiens & 10%carbs.

I have experienced firstly muscle pain then achy body and headaches. My ketones were quite high when tested with urine sticks, which can be an indicator of not enough fluids or salts. But after going out for an indian meal(obvs no carbs) my ketones dropped to a better level and I felt much better the day after.

So in answer to your question YES but hang on in there because brain clarity, energy, smaller appetite & weightless are just around the corner.

NB day 13 weight loss 9lbs x

[Susie71 in reply to lynne0_0]

Thank you for your reply and advice. It helped me understand what might be happening. Good luck with your goal and weigh in day

[lynne0_0 7lbs in reply to Susie71]

Thank you x

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

I have been a low carb eater for approx 1 year but have let some things slip so am having a couple of weeks going very low carb i.e. keto. I'm not having any of the headaches etc that some people have. As I understand it, they can be relieved by having enough salt in your diet including drinking bouillon, and anyway, it doesn't last long

[Susie71 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thank you for telling me that the headaches won’t last long. I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong

[Susie71]

Thank you for your reply and the advice. Gratefully received

[Susie71]

Thank you for your help. I will give it a try later on today. Thanks also for your advice on not counting carbs. I was wondering what I could eat with the low carbs if vegetables have them too. You’ve done fantastically well losing 7stone. Well done.

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to Susie71]

Think this was meant for moreless , I've tagged her in so she sees it x