Hi. I’m on day 7 of the BDM. I have to admit I struggled on 800 cals a day so have gone up to 900 ish. Still, I have lost 1lb per day, so 7lbs down this first week. I’m really pleased, as I’ve never managed weight loss like this before; I’ve always been overweight and on diets, but I’m by far the heaviest I’ve ever been.

Today has been very difficult though:( I’ve felt lethargic, dizzy and SO irritable. It’s the irritability that has taken me by surprise. I’m drinking a lot and constantly running to the toilet!

Could the irritability be a symptom of Ketosis? How do I know if I’m in Ketosis? ( and, er, what exactly is Ketosis 😳)
Thank you.
Cherub.

It’s more likely to be carb withdrawal symptoms. These have actually been christened the carb flu on the forums.
Most have had them to a greater or lesser extent during weeks 1 – 2. Don’t worry, it means you are doing things right and the symptoms vanish pretty quickly.
Try to make sure you keep your water intake up and take painkillers for any headaches, in a few days you will feel much better.

Thanks very much for your reply Bill, looking forward to feeling better!

Ketosis is when you are burning fat rather than carbs or protein. As such, its the holy grail for us dieters. You do it by keeping your carbs low and your protein at moderate level (rather than a high level). A few of us are using ketostix now which tell you if you are in ketosis or not. You can get them from supermarket chemists and Amazon

Hi, can I ask a little more about this please? I have been reading about Ketosis and was unsure if it is what I am aiming for or not!?

If you are in Ketosis is this ok or should you increase your protein or fat levels to be out of it? I am only in Day 3 and haven’t felt too bad but unsure if I feel weak and hungry should I up my cals as I am hovering around 760 cals a day. I do realise this is only Day 3 so I have no idea yet what my body will do, but so far so good! should the Ketosis sticks be used as a guide and is it to aim for being in Ketosis or not? thanks all

Hi iamdoingit, good basic questions! This is important so I always appreciate someone asking about it again so we can refresh the info for new starters!
Being “in ketosis” is just a term that applies when you are burning mostly fat for fuel, not carbohydrate or protein. It is a totally natural process — your body (your liver) actually makes the ketones out of your fat stores.
Ketones can be used for fuel in all cells of the body and particularly in the brain, so do not believe the old mantra that your brain needs a certain amount of carbohydrate for fuel — that is not up to date thinking.
You go into ketosis when you lower your daily intake of carbohydrates — everyone is a little different and some people can be in mild ketosis at 60-80 grams of carbohydrate per day and others (like me) need to drop their intake to 20-30 grams of carbohydrate per day.
The reason ketosis is desirable is that when you eat very low carbohydrate, your hormone (called insulin) drops very low. As insulin is your “fat storage hormone”, getting it down very low allows your body to reverse the fat storage activity and instead USE the fat you are carrying for fuel.
I always say insulin is a bit like the fat sheriff — it locks up your fat in your fat cells and won’t allow it out for your body to use. When that happens, you get very hungry and the hunger is real, on a cellular level, because although you are carrying fuel on your body (fat) you literally cannot access it when your insulin-sheriff is in town. You ARE starving at a cellular level.
The problem with the other diet plans like Weight Watchers is that they still encourage the eating of carbohydrates — the BSD recognizes that simple carbohydrates need to go and some of us have discovered that ALL simple carbs need to go.
You would benefit from watching some of Dr. Bikman’s podcasts or Dr. Fungs podcasts about insulin and fasting — they are exploring the newer research that our bodies don’t just do a calories in/calories out calculation but instead are responding to hormones. Also Gary Taubes book “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” is fantastic and practically my bible for weight control.
Going low carb made all the difference for me and now almost three years into following this diet it still keeps my weight stable. I also have “cured” my low blood sugar episodes.
Ketosis sticks are notoriously inaccurate — but if you drop your carb intake very low, you will go into ketosis.
It took a while for me to learn what I can eat and what was too high carb for my body — you will have to play around with it too — it takes some changes in how we think about fat and food!! You will be eating very low carb, moderate protein and high healthy fats.
Just start cutting the carbs and listen to your body, evaluate and change as you go on — as you get into ketosis your hunger drops and you usually get more energy.
By the way, there is also good research that cutting out all those carbs will also protect your brain from dementia as you age.

Wow! That was so informative and helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.

That’s a really informative post, Californiagirl ! It summarizes very clearly everything I have been reading
It seemed a natural progression for me after my first round of BSD. Keeping low carb and slipping in a fasting day now and again. Trying to track my carb levels etc.

iamdoingit …I am sure you will find the post very useful. I often go to
the dietdoctor website for info and they have lots of links to Jason Fung videos among others.I work well with visual information and I bought the book
Carbs and Cals: Carb and Calorie Counter which has lots of pics of food with their carb, protein and calorie amounts. I log everything in my notebook .

Keep reading, keep posting, keep going !
You will find lots of support on here