Transition:
I remember that leaving carbs behind and transitioning my body to get all its fuel from protein and fat last time was very challenging. My electrolytes and blood sugar (I recently found out that these are related!) were giving me such difficulty! This time was no exception. Unfortunately in my blog 1 year and a half ago I left off writing just about the time I was dealing with electrolyte imbalances so I don’t remember how it righted itself. Darn! I really wished that I had documented it.
So this time on the diet I chose to supplement with an electrolyte powder, but it wasn’t helping. I was having terrible blood sugar drops, reactive hypoglycemia, where I would eat and my fingers would turn blue. I started shivering. I couldn’t think. I was light headed. At one point I was even wondering if it was so bad that I was going to need a doctor. After a certain point in the day I couldn’t get anything accomplished.
Then I tried to just eat more; in fact on and off all day. It helped the symptoms, but did not fix it. I was still spacey and deprived of energy, but at least it wasn’t verging on catastrophe. After dealing with these terrible problems for about 3 weeks I tried stopping the electrolyte supplement altogether. Bingo. I didn’t have one more problem with my blood sugar dropping. No more blue fingers, frighteningly desperate feelings or maximum brain fog.
I’m not sure if it was tampering with the electrolytes that caused the problems or if I was having an allergic reaction, but nonetheless problem solved. What a relief!
Observations:
Weight:
I really needed to get my weight under control. I had got to 140 pounds! Eek! Between 3-4 weeks I lost 10 pounds, but for some reason the weight on the scale came back up, fluctuating with a net loss of only 3-5 pounds. It’s allergy season and I tend to hold a lot of water when I’m particularly reacting. But I am patient because I knew that last time I did this it took a few months before the weight started coming off fast.
Energy/fatigue:
My energy levels are definitely over all much better than they were, but I still have random days where I feel exhausted. I remember last time I had these days where I would have to go to bed and sleep and sleep. After that period of rest my body would kick into the next level of health. Whether it’s because I’m busier with kids now and don’t have the same amount of time to listen to my body and rest or I’m busily out of touch with myself, I can’t tell if these days of overwhelming fatigue is a sign of healing or sickness. Sometimes the symptoms are the same! Ugh! But I can tell that overall I am getting more energy. My strength during the day is the same, but in the evening I can go for a lot longer.
Allergy intolerance:
I believe my progress is complicated by allergy season. I get supremely bloated like I’m 6 months pregnant with a tight all over feeling. My sleeping has not been as high quality as well.
Cramping muscles:
My muscles are cramping and burning more than usual. Magnesium spray helps that, but I am suspicious that my electrolytes could use a little help, but I’m not going near that for a long time after what happened.
I have had my arms go to sleep quite regularly at night. I am trying to rule out a Vitamin B deficiency. It is either that or my pillow which suddenly feels really uncomfortable. I’m waking up with a neck ache.
Ground beef sensitivity:
Last time on Carnivore I developed a sensitivity to ground beef. That was a bummer because it is affordable. This time it seemed like I could handle it, but after two months I’m started to wonder. Sometimes I can hardly finish it and my stomach bloats. I’m not sure if it’s the high fat content or the blended in bacteria that doesn’t agree with me.
Another observation is eating a few days old meat in the fridge has very negative consequences. I had brain fog and felt droopy immediately following eating it. My shoulders slouched so much I could hardly hold my body upright to play the violin. I will take note of that!
2 month update summary:
So I still have a lot of challenges to overcome, but the fact that my energy has improved even somewhat is encouraging and keeps me going. I know that I achieved amazing results in the past and look forward to what is to come.
Good luck this week on your health journey. Keep going! I believe it’s going to get better!
Gonna Get Well 