I am doing a low carb diet, not the Atkins plan since I don't like meat & eggs much. After 2 weeks, I have been feeling sleepier and more tired than ever during the day. I have been exercising on the station bike for 30 mins everyday. I drink at least 80 oz of water excluding food. As for work, there is no more stress than usual.
The fact is that I have been getting to bed every night around 10:00pm and sleeping though the night. In the morning, I can't get up without an alarm clock. I suspect that I am feeling this way because of the low carb diet but I am not sure. Does anyone else share similar experience? Please help me figure this out.

My sample menu for this week:
B. 2-3 servings of dairy (fat free sour cream or fat free plain yogurt)
L. 2servings of veggies, 2 servings of protein (tofu or seafood)
S. 1/2 C of fiber one cereals
D. 2 servings of veggies, 2 servings of protein (seafood or tofu)

Hey, NWGal!

I don't know much about Atkins, and I don't know what low-carb plan you're following, but I do know that that looks like not enough food.

Do you know how many calories it adds up to? If you're not eating enough, that could be a cause of your feeling so tired.

Also, I believe that after 2 weeks being strict with low-carbs, you're supposed to add some carbs back in, so maybe that would be worth trying.

Be sure to take a good multivitamin supplement also.

Hope it helps!
Jay

Does the diet plan you're doing have a name?

When I did phase 1 of South Beach I felt exhausted too. It completely eliminates starches and fruits for two weeks. Dairy and beans are recommended for getting some good carbs in. Unfortunately I didn't have that advice when I was doing Phase 1. You look like you're getting some carbs from the yogurt and Fiber one atleast.

I'm guessing your body is having a hard time adjusting to the lack of carbs, plus exercise. Mine sure did. My only suggestion is if your diet allows beans, maybe a serving or two might help you feel better. But I remember going to bed at 10pm every night for those two weeks I was on Phase 1. Hopefully your hardest low carb phase doesn't go on for too long.

Take a multivitamin! Also, I would suggest more veggies, and beans are great for giving you energy. I had to find creative ways to add in veggies at all meals, it was hard at first, but really helps with the energy thing.

What plan are you following? I also did South Beach, like Neko, and the first week was really hard for me. I would say it doesn't look like you are having enough calories, your breakfast looks REALLY light to me.

-Aimee

The first time I did South Beach, it was super tough on me.

The most recent attempt was less so. I think it's because, in part, I actually ate enough food this time.

I agree with the others -- you need more food! I plugged your menu into FitDay and came up with 929 calories. (I used one meal broccoli & tofu and the second as roasted veggies with baked cod fillets.)

You're on a starvation diet, if that number is correct!

If you're eating yogurt for breakfast, consider adding a small handful of nuts to your yogurt, and plan for a mid-morning snack about 2 hours after breakfast. Celery with FF cheese, cheese and nuts, ricotta cheese, or half a can of garbanzo beans with a little garlic and chili powders.

Think about eating a little more at your other meals, as well. Even the snack seems low, unless my calorie count is way off. Are you having the cereal with milk or yogurt of some sort?

How long is your strict induction phase? Options for healthy snacks, in particular, become a lot more plentiful after the induction phase is over.

Good luck to you.

Guys, thank you so much for your input! You have helped me out a lot in figuring things out.

I am not on any particular low-carb diet. I just figure that if I cut down carb, then I'd be able to lose weight faster. However, I did do a lot of research on low carb diets before I started my own version.

The food I eat comes to around 1200-1400 cals( I add a lot of olive oil to all the steamed veggies and seafood.) I have found myself less hungry than I did before I started my weight-loss journey.

I am going to take a multi-vitamin as you guys suggested. And perhaps I will add more carbs back into my meals. I will report back if anything changes. Thank you again for your help.

I'm so glad you're eating more than 900 calories a day! 1200-1400 sounds reasonable. Please keep us posted on your progress.

I personally cannot do low carb-not just because I like fruit and rice, etc. too much-but because I get so tired, and because I can't *think* after about 2 days on it (I am assuming when I would go into ketosis) and it just isn't worth it to me.

I felt like Goldie Hawn in Overboard when the kids were driving her nuts, and she was jabbering and sounding like nonsense.

For some people low carb works great...for others, calorie counting and portion control type plans (WW, etc.) work better.

I said I'd report back if anything changes. Here goes...
I have increased my exercise level to 40 mins/day on station bike.
I have been taking a mutli and added a cup of brown rice and 1/2 C of berries to my diet everyday. Result after just 7 days? It's remarkable. I feel less tired and the weight came off easily.

Thank you all again for your advice.

Carbohydrates are essential for fuel, especially if you're exercising. If you were eating that tiny amount of carbs plus working out every day, no wonder you were exhausted.

Just something I've read over and over about extreme low-carbing;

1. Low carb (ketogenic) diets deplete the healthy glycogen (the storage form of glucose) stores in your muscles and liver. When you deplete glycogen stores, you also dehydrate, often causing the scale to drop significantly in the first week or two of the diet. This is usually interpreted as fat loss when it's actually mostly from dehydration and muscle loss. By the way, this is one of the reasons that low carb diets are so popular at the moment - there is a quick initial, but deceptive drop in scale weight.

Glycogenesis (formation of glycogen) occurs in the liver and muscles when adequate quantities of carbohydrates are consumed - very little of this happens on a low carb diet. Glycogenolysis (breakdown of glycogen) occurs when glycogen is broken down to form glucose for use as fuel.

2. Depletion of muscle glycogen causes you to fatigue easily, and makes exercise and movement uncomfortable. Research indicates that muscle fatigue increases in almost direct proportion to the rate of depletion of muscle glycogen.

Bottom line is that you don't feel energetic and you exercise and move less (often without realizing it) which is not good for caloric expenditure and basal metabolic rate (metabolism).

I totally believe in balancing your foods and eating GOOD carbs. But your body just can't go without them completely. Sometimes when I get stuck, I'll drop my carb intake back some (like when I'm eating too much bread and pasta) but I never completely eliminate carbohydrates. And like most articles say, the weight loss you see is mostly water anyway.

I'd like to add that I did the extreme low-carb for a while as well (just one of the many diets I tried before I learned calorie-counting) and kind of like aphil said, I was a basket case. I felt like a walking corpse 24/7.

Good for you, NWGal!!!

Way to GO! Glad to hear you're feeling better and are losing!

Jay