Atkins Flu? Please help!

I have search here and the atkins site. I'm still not clear on atkins flu but I'm wondering if it could be what I'm experiencing. I'm super tired, every time I eat I fall asleep, I don't have my normal energy to jog...barely have energy to walk up the stairs, my knee is killing me, brain fog, and an overall feeling of blah. I'm on day 9. I can't keep going like this and I have to figure out what to fix.

I have no idea what the atkins flu is but it sounds like you need to pick a different diet. Your lifestyle change should make you feel better not worse. You cant go the rest of your life feeling like pure crap! I suggest you look into other diets!

What does your food log say, are you eating enough fat and protein? Are you eating enough veggies (6 cups raw & 2 cups cooked)every day?
I had some trouble at first with feeling quezzie but, it went away in about 2 days. Also, they say to drink broth, that iw suppose to be the cure for the atkins flu from what i have read.

Good luck and you feel better soon!
Robin

A few general thoughts:

1) If your food diary is correct, you're not eating your foundation vegetables. I don't have my book on hand, but I believe it recommends something like 5 cups per day. You seem to be averaging 0.

2) The newest book recommends drinking chicken stock to combat Atkins flu.

Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to get the book, read it and follow the steps. You're doing your self a disservice by following "Atkins as portrayed by the media" instead of "Atkins as written by scientists and doctors."

@Heals~ I have the book, 2002 and 2010 version. I've read both multiple times. I started feeling bad when I was getting my veggies. I cut back to see if it would make me feel better. People suggested adding more cals in the beginning b/c I was constantly hungry. At this point, I'm hungry and tired. I've tried both versions of Atkins. I started with the 2010 version. Then I said let me try the 2002 and see if that helps. Nope

What you are experiencing is certainly side-effects of your body changing it's energy souce, known as the Atkins Flu. You are two weeks in and this is normal. I went through the same problem with chronic fatigue, nearly falling asleep at work several times, popping No-Doz and downing coffee in a desperation for energy... and nearly quitting, assuming that those feelings would never end. Around the time I couldn't take it anymore (a few weeks in), I noticed a change in my energy level. It is like my body became accustomed to using fat stores for fuel instead of my previous intake of carbs and sugars, which would bring me up and down throughout the day. I no longer feel tired all day, I also appreciate not having a sugar/carb rollercoaster effect like the way I was living before Atkins. My body knows what to do now and it has become a fat storage burning machine. Your body will catch up and you will be feeling great soon and running more than before. Please give it a little more time. It is just around the corner

BTW, I'm afraid of drinking the broth b/c I'm on a potassium sparing prescription diuretic. I take it every other day.

Thanks Holly

Your journal says that you can't finish your runs. I assume that means your running. Stop exercising. You're eating nuts. Stop eating nuts. I didn't read much further because I am short on time, but basically, follow the books you have read. It works. It's an easy diet (other than cooking all the time it seems, but since you bought the book, follow it. Not tryin to show tough love, just gotta go and stayin to the point.

@Tig- thanks but I'll stop the diet before I stop running. I'm determine to do the half marathon. I'm trying to make the diet work with the running. If I can't I will have to give up.

Oh the nuts! Yeah, I know they are a prob. I threw the rest of the can out last night or night before last. I have a serious mac habit.

Hey and good day Tikilon, how about postponing Atkins until after rather than stop it altogether? It's a way of life, not a diet. Then again... when is the run? If you have long enough till the gun goes off, can you put off training until you get the first Induction weeks done, and your energy back? You're a week in, just can't sabotage yourself like we talked about with the nuts, stay strict as you said, tossing them and you will get through it quicker.

8^ )

Won't do you any good tryin to run and nap at the same time. I was also super sleepy in the first... maybe even 3 weeks, then picked up from there, started working out again after that. There was no way I could have done my workinout in the first few weeks.

Some ideas anyway, and hopefully it will go away anyway real quick! Drink lots of water, Chicken Broth, water, dont skimp the fat, take multivitamins (no iron) and some water.

Because you are having hardly any vegetables, you may not be getting the nutrients that you need. They're a really important part of Atkins. Just something to consider.

@Tig-I'm going to take a week off and see if that helps. I just adjusted my RDI to low active. I'm debating if I want to do the elliptical or not. If I don't I will change it to sedentary for the next week or so. Hope my energy goes up. I'm going to go back to the 2010 version starting tomorrow.

I'm with iamtig and dogwalk - if you are going to do the diet, you need to follow the plan. Excercising during induction is not impossible, but you are advised to lighten up while your body adjusts. And you need the veggies. They are the foundation of the Atkins WOE. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

What abut reduced sodium broth. I know the book says full sodium, but with your special need, maybe it would work. Did you ask Collette about "potassium sparing prescription diuretic" and Atkins? She might be able to help you.

This doesn't sound good! I see things here that bother me. Potassium is one of them. An inability to metabolize the stuff can give you exactly the symptoms you're describing. Did you check with your doc. that this diet is okay for you?
Digestion itself uses a vast amount of energy. If you're falling asleep after eating you've either just eaten far too much Thanks Giving Turkey Dinner or you don't have the available energy to do a proper job on the digestion. Your body's going to re-route resources to get energy to crucial systems. Digestion is a crucial system! Without digestion there's no replenishing readily available and stored energy.
I don't believe there's one diet that fits everyone.
Be careful with that body. You only have one.

Why not choose a diet that's better fitted to your lifestyle? Is there some reason that you think that Atkins is the magical right diet for you?

please don't pay attention to people like RedHolly who call 'diet induced tiredness' Chronic Fatigue. CF is an actual medical condition that is not relieved with changes in diet or anything else. Exercise exhausts you more. Resting is never refreshing. CF is exhaustion, weakness, brain fog, etc that is not relieved by exercise, diet, or sleep and lasts for more than 3 months continuously. I have CFID. You can't believe the suggestions from people appearing to be intelligent I and others have heard. I had a nurse recently tell me to drink more coffee and she works at an M.D.'s office that has provided care for patients with autoimmune diseases since 1979. I had a girl in town tell me I needed to do crafts and my CF would go away. If getting a hobby took your tiredness away it wasn NOT CF. As years progress it gets worse and now I'm debilitated. Still haven't given up hope for recovery some day.