Paleo diet day 6 and energy seems to be taking a hit

I've been on the paleo diet pretty darn strict for 6 days (exceptions are the rare splash of milk here and there, like in the eggs my girlfriend made for me, and regular meats, although I did procure some organic steaks and stew beef, and grass-fed ground beef at Eastern Market... oh, and been drinking wine regularly - oh well).

I feel pretty good... although I've been spending more time preparing fun paleo meals than working out, and eating a lot since I've been cooking up a storm, I've been losing a few pounds slowly (probably from ketosis). I'm eating nutrient-rich vegetables, more root vegetables, lean meats, fruit, cooking with avocado oil and supplementing with fish oil. Prob could do with some more tree nuts in the mix, but that's no biggie. What IS a biggie is that I am getting tired earlier at night, and I just got my ass KICKED at the gym (not from a vigorous workout, but by not being able to perform with even a reasonable amount of energy/strength). I think the lack of energy might be due to no/low carbs. Will have to do some research. Compare workout from today with last time I lifted, in San Fran two weeks ago...

Workout:

- Warmed up with some stretching and 15 fast burpees (those last few were tough and this was exhausting)

- Bench Press (warm up with a bunch on bar and 6x95)

• 5 x 135 (hard)
• 3 x 135 (all I could get)
• 1 x 145 (since I failed so hard, decided to at least boost weight)
• 8 or 9 x 95 to finish

The plan was to try for 5x5x135, or at least 4x5x135

- Chin Ups and Dips Alternating 3 x F

• Chins: 7, 5, 5
• Dips: 3, 3, 4

Those Dip # are a DISGRACE... and those sets of 3 were hard as shit

- Finished with a gay little circuit x 2

• DB shrugs (15 or so x 70; 12 x 80)
• Tricep press downs (9 x I have no idea ... maybe 80lb? felt heavy for that, but I am not even sure of poundage on new machines)
• DB swings (10 x 60)

Then hit the track for some alternating jogging, walking, running, running with light DBs, walking holding DBs in raised positions, etc.... just to make sure workout could even be called a workout...

I think the problem was energy more than strength. I had no *umph* behind my lifts. Was feeling lazy and weak, but even the weak feel strong when they have adrenaline or an energy surge...

By comparison, I lifted a couple of times in San Francisco when I was there for work two weeks ago and my strength and energy seemed way higher. I was working out in morning before eating both times, but I almost completed 5x5x135 on the bench... think I might have started early sets with 6 reps too. And I was pressing weight over my head with little trouble, while today, I picked up some 40lb DBs just to experiment and was having TROUBLE pressing those light little paperweights. Incredible. I also was pressing down more weight on the cable tricep extensions with rope grip with relative ease.

Maybe it's the diet, maybe it's not.... maybe it's normal and my energy will increase as my body adapts. I'll find out!

Weigh in: 188.5 (ouch, but at least under 190!)

UPDATE: Well, Whaddya know?

From here:

During the first few weeks of the ketogenic diet the body has to go through the "metabolic shift", as Mauro DiPasquale calls it. While going through this the body will experience a small degree of fatigue and brain fog, but once the body gets used to manufacturing ketones as the main energy substrate the body actually has more energy than it previously had, and you won't have to be fighting through all those low blood sugar crashes that your high carb meals previously gave you. Also when in ketosis, ketones are the preferred energy substrate for the brain over protein.

AND, I guess when on low-carb diets there's something called carb crash a bit less than one week in... cure is to eat carbs (permissible ones like fruit -- don't load, but maybe a banana immediately pre-workout will help next time)