On day 5 of BSD and I’m feeling very tired, grumpy and a bit low.

Any way to help me feel better? I walk my dog and toddler alot, get out and about to places. Just seem to be struggling …. Help please

Hi spenloven
This sounds to me, like carb withdrawal and although it’s not fun to go through, it will pass as your body adjusts to the new eating regime. Good that you are getting out and walking, as this helps with the feel good factor. You should find the tiredness subsides as you progress, but unfortunately I’m not aware of any quick fix.

Stick with it though, you will come out the other side and soon be feeling more vital.

I think SunnyB has hit the nail on the head – carb withdrawal
It does go fairly quickly and most of us feel a lot better in ourselves when it does.
Put it another way, if it is carb cravings, you’re doing it right so keep going, it will get better.

Hi Spendloven,
SunnyB is right, this week is the tough one. Treat yourself kindly and take time out to do some things you enjoy. Rest when you can, have a nice long soak in a warm bath, get an early night ( assuming toddler will settle and sleep quickly lol), drink plenty of fluids and keep your fat intake up.
Getting out in the fresh air does help too. You are nearly through the worst of it, so take a deep breath and keep on keeping on. 🙂

Bill, just wanted to say I love the way you reframe things to look at the positives – you’d make a great expert patient 🙂

Thank you everyone. Just seem to be struggling. Just focusing on the weight loss and my prize goal….run raggeded at the moment with the terrible 2’s in the littlest human….
I don’t drink caffeine/tea and sugar/carbs were my only stimulates and pick me up, was quite chronic…

Toddlers can do that to us… I have 5 grandchildren, the eldest 5.5years, the youngest 10 months. I’m glad I’m the grandma and can have time off from them – as wonderful as they are they are completely exhausting! 🙂

I’m day 10 on the diet and haven’t been following the menu plan (waiting for the book to arrive) and today is my first ‘low’ day. I had a grumpy session the other day which I put down to the effect of the diet too. I’m scared of losing motivation and giving up – that’s been my pattern with diets forever. But I’m desperate to lose this weight and I am ready for the challenge. So I’m doing whatever I can to help balance my energy levels so I don’t get too exhausted. Extra sleep, naps, just sitting and doing nothing whenever I can (meditation is a great alternative to doing nothing). And I’m finding that if I don’t drink enough water my mood and energy levels slip really quickly.

Good luck and hang in there Spendloven

Hi Beverly

I felt as tired & drained as I was when I was first diagnosed type 2 diabetic. It lasted the first three weeks of the diet but I knew I would get through it & be ok.
I’m 9 weeks in & much better in health & temperament. I didn’t realise that I was a bit sad really. Hard to describe , but I’ve noticed that I’m happier & laugh like I used to now.
Maybe it’s a bit of mindfulness creeping in
Eureka

I seemed to be ok – mostly – for the first 2-3 weeks but now I’m heading to the halfway point I feel dreadful. Exhausted, headaches and really low. Has anyone else felt like this at this stage? My nails are in a complete mess too which I always took as a sign of poor health/nutrition. I’m not giving up but would be good to know I” not on my own.
Thanks
Emma

Hi Emma

Sorry you’re feeling so grotty. My nails held up during the BSD but though my skin felt all right, I did notice it wasn’t great the whole time. Couple of evenings in bed at 8pm as felt a bit duff generally.

But I think the thing to do is to work through it and – just like carb flu – certain symptoms don’t go on for long, and so you don’t want to think this is a permanent feeling of bleeurgh.

I would up the ante with regard to fluids – drink even more. Do your 2litres per day and then have herbal tea or something else in addition. This should help the headaches Check you are having enough salt in your diet (we wash it out with the fluid leaving us short) so Miso soup, or perhaps a stock cube in some boiling water as a drink, as well as plenty on your food. This may help.

And keep on keeping on. It IS a healthy diet, we CAN do it for 8 weeks, you will get through this! 🙂

Virtual hugs [[]]

Thanks Igorasusual

Good point about the salt. I never add salt to my food but hadn’t thought how much I must have been getting from all the rubbish I ate. Trying to drink a lot but seem to spend half my life on the loo!