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  #1   ^
Old Mon, Apr-23-12, 03:03
L00ty L00ty is offline
New Member
Posts: 7
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 225/000/125 Female 163cm
BF:
Progress: 225%
Location: chester, UK
Default Still no energy after 3 weeks on induction

(it was suggested I repost this in here)

I might just be an idealist, but I thought that a switch over to a low carb diet would give me an energy boost, but so far I haven't really noticed a difference. I feel tired all the time and it's a major struggle to get to the gym - although when I'm there I do have a little more stamina for the cardio equipment.

I do suffer from depression, and have done for years, so perhaps this is hindering the energy boost I was expecting to get. I also have sleep apnoea which could be another cause of the tiredness. It's annoying though; if I'm not woken up I can quite easily sleep 12 hours straight, and still feel tired afterwards!

I also have the problem of a lowered appetite, which makes it difficult to follow the 3 meals and 2 snacks recommendation. Sometimes I'll only have one meal and a snack for lunch. I know it's wrong but I can't force myself to eat when I'm not hungry, or if we've no suitable food in the house...

Anyone know of any foods or recipes which are particularly good for giving your system an energy boost, which don't take ages to prepare?
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  #2   ^
Old Mon, Apr-23-12, 15:28
Sam Knox's Avatar
Sam Knox Sam Knox is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 47
 
Plan: My own
Stats: 211/179/175 Male 6'3"
BF:
Progress: 89%
Location: Richland, Washington
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by L00ty
(it was suggested I repost this in here)

I might just be an idealist, but I thought that a switch over to a low carb diet would give me an energy boost, but so far I haven't really noticed a difference. I feel tired all the time and it's a major struggle to get to the gym - although when I'm there I do have a little more stamina for the cardio equipment.

I do suffer from depression, and have done for years, so perhaps this is hindering the energy boost I was expecting to get. I also have sleep apnoea which could be another cause of the tiredness. It's annoying though; if I'm not woken up I can quite easily sleep 12 hours straight, and still feel tired afterwards!

I also have the problem of a lowered appetite, which makes it difficult to follow the 3 meals and 2 snacks recommendation. Sometimes I'll only have one meal and a snack for lunch. I know it's wrong but I can't force myself to eat when I'm not hungry, or if we've no suitable food in the house...

Anyone know of any foods or recipes which are particularly good for giving your system an energy boost, which don't take ages to prepare?


I don't know what Dr. Atkins recommends, so take it for what it's worth, but my opinion is that exercising (other than walking or light cycling) during induction is a bad idea. Fatigue is a common side-effect and forcing yourself to exercise will only make it worse. If you stay in induction, you'll eventually adapt, so if you're determined to go to the gym, I can only counsel patience. (Your exercise performance would almost certainly improve if you added carbohydrate to your diet, but that kind of defeats the purpose.) If you can time your visits to ~2hrs. after a meal, that might help. It's also possible that you're exercising too often. This will cause fatigue in anyone, on any diet.

Having said that, it's a good idea to get thyroid levels checked, especially if you're only able to eat one meal a day. Calorie-restriction can exacerbate hypothyroidism. Low T3 alone is probably just diet-related, but combined with elevated TSH and low T4, it means that thyroid function is impaired.

If your depression is well-controlled (moods are good) it probably wouldn't affect exercise, but SSRI's can cause insulin resistance, and elevated insulin will make fat stores less available as fuel. I've heard that it's common to have non-refreshing sleep with sleep-apnea because of the lack of deep sleep, and that would definitely contribute to fatigue. I don't have any wisdom to offer in that regard other than the symptoms generally improve with weight-loss.

Someone else might know of a way to combine foods or mealtimes in a way that will help.
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Apr-26-12, 03:57
Kirsteen's Avatar
Kirsteen Kirsteen is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,819
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 217/145/143 Female 171cm
BF:
Progress: 97%
Default

I was listening to a podcast which dealt with this issue. Seemingly it takes the body 3-4 weeks to adapt to the ketogenic (fat-burning) mode. After that, clinical studies have shown that there is no difference in athletic performance and endurance, and actually in longer-term studies, there are certain benefits from ketogenic diets. Having said that, these studies were done on healthy people. Anyone with a blood sugar imbalance should find a great difference in their energy levels once they acclimatise to a low-carb diet, because the energy production will be regularised, without all the peaks and troughs of blood sugar, leading to higher and better sustained energy levels.

Here's the podcast:

Dr. Stephen Phinney on energy metabolism and athletic performance on a ketogenic diet.

http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/...-1-episode-170/

I found it really interesting, and hope that you do too.

Last edited by Kirsteen : Thu, Apr-26-12 at 04:30.
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Apr-26-12, 23:23
NotFatNow NotFatNow is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 9
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 250/165/165 Male 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Default

WOW! I've never heard anyone else ever recommend what I learned for myself the hard way... don't exercise at the early stages of your diet. This is the time to STABILIZE in fat burning mode.

I do work out now, but, it was only after months of wasted starts and restarts. The important thing at first is to loose weight, so, just eat low carb food whenever you're hungry. Eventually you'll lose weight, be stabilized, and feel better, and you'll WANT to go to the gym.
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  #5   ^
Old Fri, Apr-27-12, 14:50
Kirsteen's Avatar
Kirsteen Kirsteen is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,819
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 217/145/143 Female 171cm
BF:
Progress: 97%
Default

NotFatNow - I've read posts here by lots of heavier people or people with insulin imbalance who find that vigorous exercise at the beginning of the diet mucks up their blood sugar stability and can be counter-productive. They're better with walking and more gentle exercise. After a while on the diet, the blood sugar stabilises, enabling more flexibility and more challenging exercise routines.
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  #6   ^
Old Sat, Apr-28-12, 01:07
NotFatNow NotFatNow is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 9
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 250/165/165 Male 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Default

Right - of course, walking's always good... but you're right. It seems the main thing you *don't* want to do is get your body "fight back" metabolically (or otherwise systemically) anymore than you have to. Homeostasis is always both a friend and an enemy in cases like this. It's best - especially early on - to avoid shocking the body.
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