Hi everone,

I started my low carb diet on Jan 5 (Monday) and I think I hit ketosis around Wednesday. Some weird stuff though.

For one, my appetite is almost totally gone. I'm the kinda guy that doesn't get full and can literally eat all day, but I'm finding myself eating just a small piece of sausage and one egg for breakfast just to get something in me. Yesterday for lunch, around noon, I went to Ryan's Buffet (an all-you-can eat buffet in Waco), and pigged... but ate right. I had two small pork steaks, one grilled chicken breast, some fajita meat, and a salad with ham, turkey, and small amount of ranch. Plus like 4 glasses of water. I haven't been hungry since, which is odd for me.

Something else that's very atypical for me is a total lack of energy. It's almost to a point of depression, which I never have. Last night I got home and crashed in bed with a book at 6:30 and was asleep by probably 7pm. Woke-up this morning at 8:00am - GEEZ! 12 1/2 hours! I'm the kinda guy that's lucky if I get 7 hours of sleep. Another side effect of ketosis?

But I'm sticking with it. Tons of meats, plus a salad a day (2 cups lettuce) with 3-4 tablespoons of ranch (under 1 carb per tablespoon on ranch), plus a half-cup of some veggie (green beens, baked eggplant, boiled okra, etc). I'm also getting 6-8 or more fills of water (16 oz bottles or glasses). I've cut-out caffeine and and aspartame, which could be one cause of the lack of energy.

Any suggestions? I feel fine other then the mental drain and loss of appetite. I've also got some of those Atkins bars and shakes, but I'm trying to steer clear of those for now since most folks say not to use them during induction.

As for exercise, I'm trying to do 4 miles a week, whether it's 1 mile 4 times a week, 2 miles twice a week, whatever. It's a good start on the treadmill since I haven't used it in a while. This last week I only got in 2 miles, but I'll get it back to 4 next week.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions. I'm trying to follow this, and thus far I've lost about 5 pounds. My scale at home isn't the most accurate, but I'll start weighing at work Monday and keep a log based on both.

Take care,

Sam