I am on day 3 of Atkins and I am feeling dizzy and have a headache and just feel!


Question: I am on day 3 of Atkins and I am feeling dizzy and have a headache and just feel plain BLAH....any advice?
I started this past Monday, I thought it would be hard but I have been doing pretty good, I read that once I get past this I should feel way better but its not a good feeling, am I really THAT addicted to CARBS???!!!

Answers:

Hey :)

You're feeling dizzy because your body is shedding its addiction to carbs.. Don't worry- you should feel better as soon as you go into ketosis. Make sure you consume a lot of vegetables- with 12-15 net carbs- get your other 5-8 grams from cheese/cream. and so on.

Get magnesium, calcium and as much vitamins that your RDA allows- it'll help a ton!

Also, drink a lot of water and don't exercise until you feel that you have your energy back. Eat monosaturated fats/ cheeses- they'll help you load up on good fats to give you energy.

Remember, the worse you feel in the first week, the better- it shows that your insulin is out of whack- Atkins will help you maintain it.

All the best :)



I recommend dissolving half teaspoon each of UNrefined salt, potassium & ascorbic acid (vit.C) in 6-8 oz of water & drink every morning to replenish electrolytes. I buy a salt substitute (NuSalt, NoSalt, Morton's Salt substitute, etc) for a cheap form of potassium. This should alleviate fatigue, headaches, dizziness or constipation caused by dehydration. Make sure you drink lots of water.

Refined salt may not be healthy, but UNrefined salt is vital to good health.

Salt and water work together to do important work in your body, including stimulating your metabolism, helping you detoxify, support your adrenals and making sure your nerves, hormones and immune system function properly.

Unrefined salt contains over 80 minerals. Natural (unrefined) Salt is 85 % Sodium Chloride and Processed (refined) Salt is 98 % Sodium Chloride. The refining process ensures that salt won't go rancid, but eliminates all of salt's life-sustaining properties.

These 4 foods which should be eaten daily during induction, gives you 33.5grams of dietery fiber - well over the RDA of 25g. After 2 weeks, you are allowed almost all nonstarchy vegs (less than 25g net carbs in week 3)

21g total carbs - 13g fiber - 8g net carbs - Lettuce, Romaine- 1 head
12g total carbs - 8g fiber - 4g net carbs - Celery - 4 cups chopped
6g total carbs - 4.5g fiber - 1.5g net carbs - half an avocado
8g total carbs - 8g fiber - .5g net carbs - Flaxseed 1 ounce 4T
--------------------------------------
47g total carbs - 33.5g fiber - 14g net carbs

Every day you should be eating these 2 items. If you need additional fat or calories, you can add a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil to the ground flax seed cereal. I highly recommend virgin coconut oil for people needing quick energy - coconut oil is the only fat that is converted to quick energy like a carb.

Half an avocado mashed with 2 ounces of mayo seasoned with cayenne & eaten with pork rinds or celery.

Ground flax seed (4 Tbsp) 1/4 cup water, artificial sweetener, mix in a raw egg - let sit 10 min. to absorb liquid, put some cream cheese in the middle & nuke 2 min for daily fiber needs.

The body won't release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate & store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing & store fat on anything. The body will only release it's fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food.

The core of Atkins program is converting the body from glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) to ketosis (burning fat as fuel). Dietary fat levels need to be at >65% of total calories, if not, the body will still remain in glycolysis by converting 58% of excess protein into glucose (via gluconeogenesis).


High insulin levels promote inflammation, weight gain, hunger & unbalance other hormones. Controlling insulin levels will balance out other hormones & allow human growth hormone (HGH) to be produced naturally so lean muscle will be gained even without exercise.

There is no reason to ever go off a low carb way of eating, you slowly re introduce carbs to your way of eating & as long as you don't exceed 9grams of carbs an hour (144 carbs a day) you won't trigger insulin (the fat storage hormone) no matter the calories. Most of us do low carb most of the time & if we cheat & slip back into low carb the next day.

The rungs to reintroduction of carbs in 5 gram units - all available to very active people in as little as 11 weeks. Make sure you do them in order & you can skip a rung if you do not intend to include it in your permanent way of eating, such as the alcohol rung.:
* (minimum week 3 - maximum 25grams day) Acceptable vegetables, larger quantities
* (minimum week 4 - maximum 30grams day) Add 5grams Cottage cheese
* (minimum week 5 - maximum 35grams day) Add 5grams Nuts & seeds
* (minimum week 6 - maximum 40grams day) Add 5grams Berries
* (minimum week 7 - maximum 45grams day) Alcohol can be added if desired
* (minimum week 8 - maximum 50grams day) Add 5grams Legumes
* (minimum week 9 - maximum 55grams day) Add 5grams Other fruits
* (minimum week10 - maximum 60grams day) Add 5grams Starchy vegetables
* (minimum week11 - maximum 65grams day) Add 5grams Whole grains
If you are continuing to lose or maintain (whichever is goal) in week 12 & beyond, you continue to add 5grams a day per week til you reach your personal carb level. As long as you have <9grams carbs per hour, you will maintain insulin control & shouldn't gain weight, no matter the calories because insulin, the fat storage hormone is not activated.

Dr.Atkins was a cardiologist, low carb was a health plan easier sold as a "diet" Read any of his books for easily understandable science. Normalizing blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, triglyercerides & hormone levels are all bonus features of doing a low carb way of eating. Lutz "Life without Bread" & Taubes "Good calories, Bad calories" are excellent books that dispel all the nutrition myths.
http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/Wha…
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazi…

I can NOT recommend the Atkins bars or shakes for weight loss. They claim "sugar alcohols don't count" but I have heard from hundreds of people that can't lose with them included in their plan.

low carb recipe websites -
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.…
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/low-ca…
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.htm…



Well, carbs are your main source of energy, so I never really understood the Atkins diet anyways.. Without carbs, your body is tired and cannot produce energy as well, so it takes it from fat. Make sure you are eating enough, because if you are starving yourself you will eventually just gain that weight right back.

Aim for 4-6 smaller meals a day, and eat fruits/veggies to get your carbs for energy.



It's because your body isn't producing ketones for energy yet, but your energy stores are drained because of your elimination of carbs from your diet. This feeling will go away, but in the mean time you might find it useful to have one small pickle. They contain potassium which may help with your headaches.



You will be feeling better in a day or two. Stick with it, it is the only diet that ever worked for me, and I have kept the weight off for five years.



Maybe this will encourage you. If you can stay loyal to the Atkins plan, I have known many people who have lost loads of weight using it. I mean everyone of them did really well.



The symptoms you describe tell me that your fat and have no self control. Your the problem with America




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