Fat adapted early?

(d99d7eb039785ceb0876) #1

So I know there isn’t any particular way to tell you’re fat adapted, it usually takes at least 6 weeks and it’s different for everyone but I’m taking a chance and asking:
I’ve only been doing keto for a short amount of time (it’ll be six weeks on Monday) but I feel like I went into ketosis quite fast and I don’t feel hungry anymore, I can fast from 4pm-4pm the next day, etc. Do you think I may be fat adapted? Maybe it happened earlier since my ketosis happened fast? I don’t want to buy any type of tests/monitors.

(Doug) #2

Not feeling hungry is one good indication that you’re burning fat well. Going into ketosis should not take very long at all as long as the carbohydrates are really limited. Not having a problem with insulin resistance makes a huge difference. If you were used to skipping breakfast or other meals, that’s a big plus, too, in my opinion. Heck yes, you might have slid right into fat-adaptation. :slightly_smiling_face:

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #3
(Jay AM) #4

Rusty left a good resource. Is there a reason your concerned about it?

(d99d7eb039785ceb0876) #5

Thank you for linking that! I have read it but I’m still uncertain about the mental clarity. Maybe I’ll just wait a couple weeks and know for sure! Thank you!

(d99d7eb039785ceb0876) #6

I’m just wondering because I want to know if this is how it feels and about fasting. I don’t want to fast too early and mess things up internally.

(Doug) #7

If you don’t feel bad, it’s hard for me to see that it would mess things up. Hey, you want to burn your own fat - you want to be fat-adapted. No better way, usually, than to do just that; don’t eat, burn your own fat.

(Stephanie Sablich) #8

I actually started doing IF months before I found keto, and I even did a few EF cycles as well. I don’t THINK it messed me up :slight_smile: In fact, I think it really helped me jumpstart into keto. I’ve never had the “keto” flu and have consistently been able to stay in ketosis, even when I go over on protein.

I’m not sure that I’m totally fat-adapted yet; I’m still showing “small” readings on the urine strips, though they are down from the medium levels I was at a couple of weeks ago. But I don’t think that it’s a big problem to fast, as long as you’re really listening to your body, watching your sodium and electrolytes, and monitoring how you’re feeling.

Good luck!

(d99d7eb039785ceb0876) #9

Just an update:
I did omad for the past couple days. Today I ate an egg and two slices of bacon for breakfast. Just tried to work out and couldn’t even jog at 4.5 mph for more than 5 minutes. :joy: judging by that I don’t think I’m fat adapted yet. I’ve read that exercise should be fairly easier when fat adapted even if you were fasting.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #10

When your doing your reading, remember one very important fact…every one is different. Not all rules apply to all individuals! What some can do, others can’t. What works for one does not always work for all.

(Chris W) #11

If you have a basil level exercise you are accustomed to then it will be just like doing that again. To say exercise will be easier is a bridge too far. For my n=1 exercise was brought into the equation after being in keto and mostly keto adapted. I ramped up due to an injury and I had been at a certain level when I was a carb burner, I could not achieve that in fact I was an order of magnitude lower for several weeks. I would be able to ride my exercise cycle for 45 minutes without much trouble before keto, during adaption 10 minutes was max. It got gradually better and I could go to higher levels. One day i forgot to turn the bike down, I jumped on and started to ride, next thing I know it was 40 minutes later I looked down and I had on the highest possible setting, and I had more to give in both endurance and speed. Normally I was at half way, and would stop about 15 minutes just because I knew the wall had been not too far from that. Not a light switch kind of moment but not a small one either.

(d99d7eb039785ceb0876) #12

I was used to doing intervals of 5 minute walk, 10-20min jog, but I haven’t been working out during keto. I was just surprised that it was that hard. Haha. I also heard that to optimize fat burning you need to stick to your heart rate and not go over it because if you do it’ll spike your insulin and you’ll burn glucose instead of fat. It’s hard to stay under my heart rate. I guess I’m not fit right now. I’ll just wait a bit to work out again.

(Miss E) #13

I have not heard that, do you have a link to that? light walking is about the only exercise that would do that.

(Raj Seth) #14

Would love to see where that comes from. Never heard of insulin spiking due to exercise. But then I had never heard of low carb high fat a few years ago either:grinning:

(Chris W) #15

No I think you are confusing glucose fat and insulin on how they interact. Glucose will go up during exercise, depending upon a number of factors, mostly the amount of glucose your liver can provide. That glucose comes from storage in the liver and the break down of fat. When the fat is being broken down you are in ketosis and that provides the alternative fuel in the form of keytones as well as the glucose. The glucose never really goes away, but its level is constant and lower than what should trigger a insulin response. That is not to say your inslulin cannot spike a little, its a always pumping into your system as well, but it should never get to the point of shutting down keto genesis.

On a LISS (low impact steady state) exercise you want to target you heart rate at 180 less your age. So yes if you are walking you are trying to target in my case 136 BPM. This is a range that you can keep going without putting stress on your the cardio vascular system that depletes your energy stores and causes loss of energy. It works well for me on my cycle but it is completely useless when resistance training as my heart never gets that fast. I will also add it works well now that I am fat adapted I had not heard of it when I was just keto adapted, based on my results then I am pretty sure it would not have worked real long. Richard talks about this several times in the early podcasts.

(Raj Seth) #16

Isn’t it the case that when fat adapted most of the skeletal muscles are taking up fatty acids directly for energy? I thought the livers gluconeogenesis was only for those few things (eg portion of brain , renal medulla and RBCs) that could not use ketones or fatty acids?

(Chris W) #17

Yes, from my understanding that is what happens more or less when fat adapted I don’t know how the energy breakdown is by % when fat adapted though(direct fat% vs liver ketones~glucose). The liver is not really kicking out as much glucose, but you still need it and you are still getting ketones in the blood. In D99xxxxxxx’s case they are not fat adapted and most likely are relying only on the liver to provide most of the energy at this point in time. The brain, and the organs which cannot use the fatty acids rely on the ketones or maybe prefer not 100% sure on that one while the rest is using the steady stream of glucose.

One thing I have always wondered is that once you deplete your glycogen in the muscle tissue, does it slowly build back up when in keto? One would think so if you don’t use the muscles to any great extent. The liver is pushing out glucose all the time, and you have alternative source of energy floating around as well. Or does the glycogen need to have an insulin spike to recharge. Just a side bar thought that has bugged me for a while.

#18

Thank you SO much for posting her blog! Lots of good reading there.