Why am I so incredibly weak and tired all the time? I am 2 months into the Atkins diet, and I am trying to get back into shape. but it has never been soooo hard. I am 39 now, but it was only 2 years ago that I was in WAYYY better shape than I'm in now. I am 6'1"/193 lbs. I am into martial arts and usually run to keep in shape. I go to my fighting practice twice a week, and run 2 miles at least twice a week as well. But I can barely make it up the stairs without getting winded! I feel dizzy and exhausted all the time. when I finish fighting practice (wearing armor, using sword and shield), I feel like I can't move for the rest of the day. I've been doing these things for years. I've also done the Atkins before and not had the trouble I'm having now. I allowed myself to get out of shape over the past year because of injuries, but started working out again about 2 months ago. Could this be because of the diet? Are there any ideas out there to help me overcome this without wrecking my diet? Thanks.

Ken

The first suggestion would be that you need some potassium supplements. All the exercise and the diuretic effect of the LC way of eating can deplete the potassium. You can use No Salt on your food which could be enough. You should be careful with potassium supplement tablets as it is possible to overdose.

The other probability is that you do NEED more carbs than you are eating. Especially with all that exercise and that you only want to los another 10 pounds. Check out the BFL and General Exercise forums for suggestions as to what people who really exercise are into.

I was having the same prblem and started taking a daily multi vitamin plus sublingual B-12. I feel 100% better. Also, my sister recently started Atkins and at about week 2 or 3 of induction she was having problems, but the sublingual B-12 did the trick for her too! Barb

I thought that I might need a few more carbs, but the weight is already coming off so slowly (7 pounds in 10 weeks). Maybe the BFL is the way to go. On the B-12 idea, wouldn't I be getting enough with the 500 mcg (500% daily value) I get in my multi vitamin?

Ken