Blood Ketones Help!

(Shawna Rogers) #1

Hi all! SO, DOING VERY STRICT KETO FOR 6 WEEKS NOW. Haven’t lost a pound but have lost some inches. I check my blood and have been doing it for a while now and a week ago my numbers were great finally!! It had taken me a minute to get anything above a 0.7 but in the afternoon my readings were always high. Now, they are back down to 0.6-1.1. My question is… I HAVEN’T CHANGED A THING! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING??? I haven’y lost any weight and now this is happening!! what am I doing wrong??

(Empress of the Unexpected) #2

Nothing wrong with those numbers.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

The numbers probably dropped because your body is starting to be able to use some of the ketones that your liver is putting out.

(Shawna Rogers) #4

So becoming “fat adapted”? How does one know what is happening?

(Allie) #5

How do you feel? What changes have you noticed?

#6

Probably need some more info on on your measurements and what you are actually eating to determine what you doing wrong. Are you exercising before you test your ketones? That can have an affect on your ketones level and give you a very low reading. Anything less than 1.5 is considered “light nutritional ketosis”, so you’re not getting the full fat burning affects of ketosis until you get above that 1.5 mark which is considered “optimal nutritional ketosis”. Mine are a bit wacky too, I test at the same time almost every day or two and I will be 1.1 and then 2.9 the next. I haven’t quite figured this out yet either, but I have lost 10lbs in 3 weeks so I’m doing something right.

I would be concerned that you haven’t lost a single pound. You should have lost some body weight in the first couple weeks. Doesn’t make sense that you are losing inches but not lbs…

(Bob M) #7

None of that is bad. Many times I’ve lost inches, and my scale hasn’t moved. In fact, over the course of a year, I gained 3.3 pounds of muscle and lost 5.4 pounds of fat, for a grand total scale loss of 2 pounds. I am basically never above 1.5 ketones, unless I fast at least 2 days. If you want to chase ketones, eat a lot of fat or fast multiple days. Eating a lot of fat, though, might mean you’re supplying all the fat your body needs and therefore not losing fat. Fasting multiple days has its own issues.

Don’t chase numbers, people. (Other than chase getting low in carbs.)

(Allie) #8

Not true. Not everyone loses weight immediately. A lot of the time there’s invisible healing that has to happen before the body can get to the point of burning its fat stores then the fat loss becomes a side effect of the body being healed which is the way this should work.

#9

Strict Keto for six weeks and not a single pound?! If she’s not losing at least water weight she’s doing something wrong.

#10

I just watched some vids on the “keto revolution the real skinny on fat” and one exercise physiologist said that if you are not insulin resistant or diabetic 20% of people do not lose weight on a keto diet.
I don’t know if that is true but seemed interesting.

(Allie) #11

@Ketonooobie

Haven’t lost a pound but have lost some inches

This shows it’s working, this is NOT just about the numbers on the scale. The OP just needs to be more patient. Inches lost are way more important than what the scale says.

#12

Welcome Shawna,

The numbers bouncing around all day is normal. For some people ketones start low in the morning and build up through the day, for others they start high and go down …

You are well above 0.5 mM so you’re in keto land.

As for haven’t lost a pound - that confuses me a bit. Are you measuring on exactly the same scales at exactly the same time of day? Again weight bounces around all day. So we compare week to week or month to month.

You may be fighting an infection, especially in your belly, a lot of people have issues along those lines, sugar and carbs feed bad bacteria. Best thing is hang in there, starve them. You’ll win.

If you are taking any medication or pills then that can effect fat loss. You’d still be benefiting by avoiding insulin over supply - and that is a big benefit.

Hang in there, check in a week or two.

Cheers

(Shawna Rogers) #13

Thank so so much for your reply @Alex99. Yes, same scale, same time of day. Same food basically every day. Sometimes IF and still same. It’s weird because it’s literally not even a pound gone but 2 inches off my waist!. I weigh 130 and am trying to lose 10 pounds. Very, very strict Keto, my only vice is some Reddi-Whip at night 1-2 tbsp. I am also in menopause on hormones and a medication called gabapentin but that’s it. I no longer use carb tracker but am definitely eating correctly…I’m so frustrated I just want to give up!!

(Running from stupidity) #14

:+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1:

(Carl Keller) #15

Before you throw in the towel and go back to eating however you used to be eating and have little or no chance of losing that 10 pounds, I would like to say that vanity weight is the most difficult to lose. Our bodies look at fat much differently than our eyes do. Our bodies see fat as an insurance policy against starvation and will fight to keep some in reserve.

I was able to drop about 35 pounds in 3 months with keto but currently I’m about 3-7 pounds from my goal weight, depending on which way the wind is blowing, But not being able to shed that last bit of weight does not concern me because keto continues to give me consistent energy/endurance, I have almost none of the bodily inflammation that used to nag me on a carb based diet and I have never had greater discipline in my eating habits… to say the least.

Keto is about rehabbing our hormones and healing our bodies and weight loss just happens to be a positive side effect (in many cases). My advice to you is to ask yourself how many non-scale victories you can claim since you started and then ask yourself again if it’s really not working.

I started keto to lose weight, but I gained much, much more than I imagined I would and I literally couldn’t be happier about it.

#16

Yes that does seem a bit weird, not sure how you could have minus 2" around waist but be registering the same on the scales. Unless you workout a lot and you’re putting on muscle. It’s heavier than fat so only bit bit is required to tip the scales back up (in a good way).

I know certain secret woman’s menopause meds can slow fat burning down. But you are losing.

I know plenty of Mr and Mrs have started keto together around here, Mr slams the fat off, Mrs goes a lot slower but gets there eventually …

(Do watch for hidden carbs - I am as number crunchy as they come but I was bitten by this twice. Actually forget I said that, your ketones are good, mine dropped to 0.3 mM).

I hate to say this but give it another two weeks. See how you go.

(Running from stupidity) #17

This just isn’t unusual at all.

(CG) #18

Could you have a medical condition preventing you to lose? Thyroid? There are many possibilities. Or there must be some thing you are doing wrong. There is so much different into on Keto, it’s insane!

#19

Is it muscle gain or what would you say?

(Running from stupidity) #20

Muscle is really hard to build, so that seems unlikely, TBH.

By far the easiest way to hold onto weight is to retain fluid, which seems to happen quite a lot, then at some point (usually) the body lets go of it and you get the “whoosh” effect.

But body recomposition, where weight stays the same or even increases, while the body changes shape and people drop clothing sizes and so on, is pretty common.