lemonslover

Hey, everybody! So I recently got on a low carb diet to lose weight. I consume less than 50g of carbohydrates per day, around 120-130g of fat and 160g of proteins. It equals to around ~2000 kcal.

I'm on this diet for 3 weeks already and as I've seen noticeable progress I'm feeling tired/exhausted and I don't really have any motivation to do anything.

I work out for 3 years already and I consider myself to be pretty advanced lifter, but I have never tried this diet before. I would also like to point out, that I'm consuming a lot of carbs after workout in Sunday as my "big" cheat meal, so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. Do you have any ideas?

FitLover4Ever

Well, so as you are pretty much advanced lifter already, you should know that low carb diet is simply not for everyone. I personally cannot handle this diet as well - it makes me feel weak and constantly angry.

It's not because I'm hungry as for most of the time I'm not in opposite to other diets, but I just don't feel well on this type of diet. I need to have at least 100g grams of carbs every day in a diet to feel normal, that's why

I always chose Carb Cycling diets for any cutting periods. Maybe it's just simply not for you as well?

annbee

I personally feel good on low carb diet and I always choose this system when I'm losing weight, but as FitLover4Ever said - a lot depends on the person, really. I also want to ask how overweight are you now?

If you are not really overweight that much, you should consider including a second cheat day.

I don't know if you knew it, but for low carb diet there is one basic principle, that we all have to follow: The less overweight you are, the more you can cheat.

This is very important as for an 40 pounds overweight person one cheat day is more than enough, but if you intend to lose for example 10 pounds only, you should include a second cheat day as well.

If you don't do it, then you may feel weak or exhausted.

lemonslover

Thanks a lot! I always used carb cycling for cutting, but I wanted to try something different. I only intend to lose 15 pounds and my metabolism is pretty fast already - I have already dropped 8 pounds in 3 weeks and I didn't even cut calories that much, just added more cardio :) I will try to include this second cheat day as you have told me, thanks.

If it won't help, I'm switching back to Carb Cycling with only two low carb days and rest of them on high carbs - this model worked pretty good for me in the past :)

Katyaa

Hey, lemonslover. I see you are pretty knowledgeable and you have already figured out most by yourself :) Very often, there is no point in changing things that work well, but I can see your reasons for curiosity.

Do you feel weak/exhausted day after your cheat day or does it occur at the end of the week only?

lemonslover

Usually at the end of the week - so it's probably lack of carbohydrates that is bothering me. I will try adding another cheat day, if it won't help then I will just simply switch back to CC.

I was already suspecting it, that it may be due to carbs deficiency, but 50 grams is really not that small of an amount, so I'm stil worried that I react so badly to lack of carbohydrates

MomLovesIron

Don't worry, everyone is different - some people can go into a deep keto with no issues at all and they feel even better than before and some will be walking zombies after 3 weeks of low carb diet - you're the perfect example of this :) My guess is that you would have to stay on this diet for a bit longer - preferably 1 to 2 months, so your body adapts to new changes. For some this calibration period is much shorter and for some it takes some time, but there is no point in doing this as you have already other method figured out, which will deliver same results with less effort, right?

lemonslover

Yeah, I've read somewhere that some people have to stay on this diet longer and I don't plan on doing this. I already noticed lower performance both at work and at the gym, so there is no point in turning my life upside down just for my whim :)

Dyane

I actually feel great on low carb diet and ever since I have first tried it, I loved it. I felt more energetic and stronger.

My performance at gym was also much better than before and what's most important - I wasn't going hungry and I still kept losing fat, so I guess it really depends.

I'm an endomorph though - I gain fat very quickly and it's hard for me to lose it, even though I'm relatively fit now, not overweight at all. I just don't react good to carbohydrates I guess.

I even feel like my digestive system is working better when I'm on limited amount of carbs, so... stick to Carb Cycling, if that's what works for you :)

neomeena

As we are talking about low carb diet, I could also add that it usually leads to immediate effects, because it basically empties your glycogen stores - which are getting filled again once you starting eating carbs and being on low amount of carbs also cause water retention, so most of the weight that you are losing at the beginning is due to water loss and emptying glycogen stores.

Low carb diet is a wiser choice if you intend to stay on it for quite some time though.

lemonslover

Okay, thanks for your input neomeena. I will most likely stick to Carb Cycling anyway, just wanted to try something new! Thanks again for all those answers :)