Very tired on PB page

[will1234]

For the last six months or so i have been trying to eat PB only to give up fairly fast. Every time ive tried it ive gotten very tired within a day of giving up grains and dairy. My non-PB and PB macro nutrient ratios pretty much exactly the same (sub bread for sweet potatoes sorta, a little more meat instead of bread, etc.) but i feel so tired. When ive left PB and gone back to my old ways the only things that return my energy levels are wheat and milk. Greek yogurt wont do it, rice wont do it, oatmeal wont do it, etc.. I was wondering if anyone has gone through the same thing or knows if it passes or something?

Thanks

[Finnabair]

Could you be experiencing withdrawal that you have to work through?

Have you been careful to get *enough* calories?

[Chaohinon]

How much sweet potato do you normally eat? I'd say try eating more. 200g at least; maybe add some white potatoes on top of that.

And how long have you tried PB before reintroducing grains? You need a good 2-3 weeks or more to ween your body off gluten.

[Glamorama]

I was going to say withdrawal symthomps as well? It takes a couple of weeks for most people to adjust.

[Misabi]

A couple of things:

1. As you say you've given up very quickly each time, it could be that you're just experiencing 'carb flu' (the withdrawal that Finnabair has mentioned), which most of us go through while our bodies are adjusting from using the glucose from carbs as it's main source of fuel to using fat (and/or ketones if on a very low carb diet). So if you give up each time you hit this and go back to eating bread etc. you'll never get over it keep experiencing this each time you 'try primal'.

If you push through it you should be fine.


2. If you are going several months eating strictly PB and then crashing, it may be that you're eating less calories, carbs or fat than you need for your lifestyle. E.g. if you do a lot of high intensity training you may need higher carbs than you currently eat. You may be getting less fat than you need to use as fuel.


Without knowing your age, height, weight, approx body fat %, fitness and activity level and more details of what you would eat on a daily basis it's hard to give advice.

Have you read the PB, through the PB 101 on Mark's blog, or just what's on the forum? If it's the latter, I strongly recommend the first 2 (or at very least the 2nd).

Good luck

[peril]

If you're maintaining the same macro ratios are you sure you're even doing PB. Chapter 8 of the book

[will1234]

A couple of things:

1. As you say you've given up very quickly each time, it could be that you're just experiencing 'carb flu' (the withdrawal that Finnabair has mentioned), which most of us go through while our bodies are adjusting from using the glucose from carbs as it's main source of fuel to using fat (and/or ketones if on a very low carb diet). So if you give up each time you hit this and go back to eating bread etc. you'll never get over it keep experiencing this each time you 'try primal'.

If you push through it you should be fine.


2. If you are going several months eating strictly PB and then crashing, it may be that you're eating less calories, carbs or fat than you need for your lifestyle. E.g. if you do a lot of high intensity training you may need higher carbs than you currently eat. You may be getting less fat than you need to use as fuel.


Without knowing your age, height, weight, approx body fat %, fitness and activity level and more details of what you would eat on a daily basis it's hard to give advice.

Have you read the PB, through the PB 101 on Mark's blog, or just what's on the forum? If it's the latter, I strongly recommend the first 2 (or at very least the 2nd).

Good luck

Im 17 years old, 5 foot 10, 145 lbs., low activity level lately due to injury but used to be very active especially long distance running

[Chaohinon]

17, 5'10", 145 lbs?

You need more starch.

[RitaRose]

I have to agree with the others. If you constantly give up "fairly fast", you're going through carb flu over and over and over again. You're basically making yourself feel like crap for longer than you need to. If you could stick with it for 2 or 3 weeks at the most, you'd be done with it.

[will1234]

Im eating plenty of fruit vegetables and yams. My carbs haven't decreased at all. Just no dairy or grains.