Delayed Keto onset?

#1

Greetings, I have been following a ketogenic diet for 5 days (have been limiting net carbs to ~ 25 grams). I know I am falling short of my protein/fat in terms of macros by a little. My test strips are not showing any signs of ketones being present, even when I have supplemented with Zhou Keto drive (past 2 days, .5 scoop 2x/day). I am also not showing any signs of being in ketosis (other then less hunger and more energy), I also don’t really feel any of the “flu” symptoms. Just prior to modifying diet I had bloodwork which posted a 114 Glucose score (normal range 70-99). Is this prolonging the process? Any feedback, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

(Susan) #2

Welcome to the forum =).

If you try to keep your carbs to 20 grams or less, (instead of the 25), and NO Sugar, adequate proteins and healthy fats, lots of water, and Electrolytes, you should be hitting ketosis pretty quickly.

Not everyone feels sick, some people, if they were already eating no sugar and low carbs, manage to skip the withdrawal symptoms of these.

You have just been doing Keto for 5 days, Keto is more a slow and steady wins the race kind of lifestyle change; not a quick fad diet. I wish you success on your continued Keto Journey =). If you have any additional questions, just ask.

You can also download this free app to help you:

You can get it on your phone or any device that you use the internet on, and it will give you a better idea of your macro ratios, once you insert your height, weight, gender, etc. into it =).

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

Welcome to the forums! Your adventure is just beginning.

The symptoms called “keto flu” or “Atkins flu” are the result of insufficient sodium intake. If you are not experiencing these symptoms, then you are getting enough salt in your food.

As for not showing measurable ketones, there are a number of possible explanations. Most people enter ketosis within a day or two of dropping their carbohydrate intake. It is possible that you are so insulin-resistant that 25 g/day is too high a level, it is possible that you have a bad batch of test strips, and there are other possibilities as well.

If you would like some troubleshooting, please give us an idea of who you are and what you are eating. It would be helpful to know your sex, age, height, current weight, and goal weight, plus a representative menu of your ketogenic diet. Are you taking any medications? There are many that have implications for weight loss. If you’ve had recent blood work done, it would also be useful to know your HbA1C and your serum insulin, as well as any diagnoses of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or thyroid problems. We are not doctors, but between us we have a fair amount of practical experience with what works and what doesn’t work, where a ketogenic diet is concerned.

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #4

Welcome! I’m just here to say hi, and see what your response to @PaulL is regarding all the information.

#5

Thanks for the responses. Here is a bit more information on myself:
38 yo male
5 foot 6 inches
220 pounds at start, 215 now…175 goal
Taking Ashwagandha as a supplement, and a sleep supplement containing 220mg Magnesium, 100mg GABA, 50mg L-Theanine and 5mg Melatonin.
Also taking Zhou Keto Drive.
While I am still pegging down a meal plan yesterday looked like this:
7am Zhou Keto Drive
10am serving of almonds
Noon 3 eggs, olive oil
2pm protein drink (5g net carbs, 40g protein)
Dinner: large salad, lots of ground turkey, lots of cheese, lots of dressing.
Prior to changing diet I was waking up 1-2x/night consuming large amounts of carb heavy foods (sweets), making for some miserable mornings/days which led to the change.
Thank you all, I look forward to learning and growing with this process.

(Robert C) #6

Picking this apart for you…

  • Drop the nuts - they are high carb and better at maintenance (and you should be having no snacks anyway - why spike insulin at 10 AM after skipping breakfast)?
  • Drop the protein drink - processed foods are not your friend (and again, no snacks, your goal is to keep insulin at rock bottom as much as possible)
  • Get some fatty red meat into your dinner - even fairly high fat ground turkey will cook down (i.e. lose its fat in cooking) and not help your macros
  • Watch out for the salad dressing - unless you are making it at home with some powder spice mix and known good real olive oil - you could instead be getting some very cheap and unhealthy oils in store bought dressings

Good to break that nightly carb habit - keep it up!

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #7

Most people here eat whole food based meals. Think mostly shopping the edges of the store. Take supplements if necessary, and probably need electrolytes as low carb eating keeps your body from hanging on to water. So, whole food, fatty proteins, fats like extra virgin olive oil, butter lard, fat from meats, and coconut oil. Small amount of leafy greens ( small meaning don’t fill up on them. Read labels for hidden carbs like versions of sugar. Drink that water! :selfie:

(Susan) #8

What is Zhou Keto Drive? It sounds like some gimmick pill that probably is not helping, you don’t need it…

Remove the almonds for sure, and all snacks. To start you can have 3 meals a day, but soon enough you will be wanting to move that to one around noon, one at supper, and no snacks so you have an eating window of 16:8 IF (16 hours with no food a day, 8 hours in which you have 2 meals, and no snacks). That protein drink is not good to do on Keto, they can really mess you up. You are better to stick to real food, you don’t need the Keto Drive, almonds or protein drink. That salad dressing could be full of seed oils and sugars, most of them are.

If you stick to 20 grams or less of carbs a day, no sugars, (reading labels is so important), adequate protein and healthy fats, lots of water and electrolytes. Keto is easy, and you will feel great, once you are free of the sugars and carbs =).

(Ken) #9

Drop the Zhou stuff. Exogenic ketones do not get you into ketosis faster. They are really only very, very expensive calories. You’re better off eating a stick of butter or a container of sour cream. (I’m not suggesting this)

(Katie) #10

I started out insulin resistant…and I think you are too

The best thing you can do is to drop the carbs to 5grams per day to the first couple weeks. Really drop the amount of glucose in your blood a lot…and drive that insulin down.

No matter what else you do…insulin resistance will work against you…so keep you blood glucose as low as you can.

Also, frequent eating will drive your insulin up. Even not eating carbs…just eating will do that. Limit yourself to 2 good sized meals a day.

(Diane) #11

I’m gonna disagree with some of the advice already given. As always, use your best judgement as to what fits your situation and the place you’re at in your journey as you’re adjusting to a ketogenic way of eating.

I don’t think you need the Zhou Keto Drive. If you want a supplement that boosts your ketone production more naturally and economically, you might try MCT oil which is easier for your body to process into ketones (no digestion needed, the work happens in your liver- if I understand correctly). Most people don’t think it’s necessary or especially useful. It makes a big difference for me, emotionally and cognitively. So, it’s up to you if you want to experiment, either now or later on. If you do, start really slowly, maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp per day and build up from there. Some people find it can cause some stomach upset or diarrhea if they are too aggressive in dosing at first.

With regards to food timing, I was really hungry at first. I was hungry ALL the time. So, I ate as much as I needed to, as often as I needed to (including snacks). I kept my carbs down but didn’t worry otherwise. It took about two (or maybe three) weeks before my hunger settled down and I kept my food to three discrete meals. It quickly became two meals, at most. I now usually eat one to two meals a day. Occasionally I have a couple of days where I’m hungrier and I might eat three times.

Also, it took me awhile to get my carbs down. I thought I was being so careful that first week, but I had maybe 60 to 80 grams of net carbs per day. I was tracking all my food intake on the chronometer app. So, I looked at where most of my carbs had come from. Then, I cut down or eliminated those foods. I was down to 30 grams of net carbs that 2nd week. After that, it was pretty easy to keep my carbs between about 10 to 20 grams of carbs per day.

There are occasionally people who discover that they need to reduce their carbs even further, but most people find that limiting their carbs to AT MOST 20 net carbs per day will allow them to enter ketosis.

I hope that you find some helpful information in one of these posts.

Good luck!

And hang in there!!