Day 3, no "carb flu" yet, should I expect it? page

[Nelle]

Just like the title says, no carb flu on day three. It's too soon to tell if my body is responding well to Primal and I don't own a scale-- but I can usually sneak a quick weigh at work and will at some point. Anyway, I don't have any health issue except being overweight. Mostly I want to get a head start on being healthy before I'm an old hag.

Due to social norms, I already started cutting out most bread and grain carbs before Primal. I'm not a big fan of rice or breakfast cereals, granola, etc. anyway so I didn't have a problem cutting that out. Most of the carbs in my former diet included cookies, chips, popcorn, and crackers. So far I'm not having any withdrawals.

I am wondering if maybe carb flu will come or if any of you never got it. Also, I'm now nervous that maybe I'm eating too many fruits & veggies to make up for the man-made carb garbage I've since cut out. I don't feel like I am but I keep reading about how some Primals cut out all fruits, some recommend cutting out most fruits due to sugar but... don't our bodies need some sugar and isn't it best from fruit? I mix together blueberries, strawberries, & pineapple to go along with lunch and later have 1-2 apples. (as well as my proteins and greens of course)

Anyway,sorry if I'm rambling but I'm quite new and figured some newbies might share their journey and/or some oldies might share their knowledge and experience. Thanks a bunch,gang!

[cantat]

I didn't have carb flu. At least, I don't think I did - I got a sinus infection just a few days after starting Primal, passed on by my roommate, and I really think it was all sinus infection, no carb flu. I've always been a protein driven girl so it's not like most of my meals were comprised of grain based foods - perhaps that why I didn't have any symptoms. How frequently did you have cookies, chips, popcorn and crackers? To me, those are all things I wouldn't eat in sizable quantities with any regularity; if you're the same, maybe that's why you're not feeling the effects. Although, I have to admit, I'm a total sucker for popcorn.

I haven't cut out fruit so far and have been fine. My MO has been: eat clean food and listen to hunger signals. That's it, no obsessing about fruit intake. I'd recommend that if that is a potential stressor for you, just forget about it until you stop losing weight (if that point comes). When I eat this way, I consistently lose weight - I usually see a small loss every day; sometimes I don't, usually because of having trained the night before, or if I'm PMSing. Or MSing. I am still surprised at how consistent the weight loss is!

Syd

[mike_h]

If you were already off bread and grains you were probably lower carb to begin with. My carb-withdrawl symptoms were only noticeable on the squash court—very sluggish for the first week and back to normal after that (adding sweet potatoes helped).

[librariari]

Mine started about a week in, and I ate about like you (naturally disinclined to bread, rice, cereals).

I don't think that you can eat too many veggies (unless it's starchy ones), but fruit is definitely a grey area if you're trying to lose weight.

Read around the site, there's plenty of information on the benefits and drawbacks of fruit.

Welcome!

[jfrendek]

If you are really low carb then you will probably hit ketosis in 3 days and it may start (the carb flu). I found initial carb cravings were really my only symptom.

[Danielle5690]

I'm not sure if I had "carb flu" because I happened to get a stomach virus the same week I started primal. I did have cravings for grains for a couple weeks, but it wasn't terrible. Some people feel lousy and others make the transition just fine. It's very individual.

[Tom B-D]

Mine wasn't too strong, but what I got started about a week or week and a half in. Now a month in, I'm feeling like my body has made a switch...and I was always having cereal breakfasts, bread at meals, lots of rice. Don't worry about the fruits and veggies--they're good for you! Although as you've surely seen, better to load up on veggies (non-starchy, especially leafy ones and brassicas) than on fruits.

[hottierockstar]

i didn't get the carb flu at all...a couple of zits was the extent of my "detox" LOL

[Ealachan]

I got wicked headaches for a week or so, starting about day 3 of going low-carb...but that was the extent of my "flu".

[Primal Joyce]

My husband and I are about a week and a half in, and our only 'carb flu' symptoms were few days of extreme sleepiness and sluggishness in the latter third of the day. That seems to have eased off a bit now.