Hi all, I’m Ali and I’m new here.
Today is day 6 of Keto… and this evening my first pee strip looks like a moderate reading! (Finally!)
I haven’t felt any sort of Keto flu, or weird cravings, mood swings, etc. Is it working!!?? Is this real!!?? Lol. Hopefully nothing terrible is to come.
Long story short, I ate paleo (85% of the time) for 2 years… ate junk for a year and have gained almost 40 pounds. I’m pretty excited to finally give this a go…
Just wanted to say hi.
Hello and welcome Ali.
Sure, this means something is working. Your body is expelling unused ketones. It’s definitely a good sign… but the light and dark colors are not really a good judge of how well you are doing. The results vary so much among people that most here will tell you not to bother with them.
The keto flu is more like carb withdrawal and you don’t have to experience it to join the keto club. It’s usually the result of electrolyte imbalance, meaning people are not getting enough salt and water. When we restrict carbs we are releasing a lot of water and when that water leaves us, it takes a lot of salt too. Carbs based diets also help us retain salt better and since those have been restricted, we need more salt than we are used to.
The best indications that it’s working is maybe you have less cravings or hunger… or your brain is thinking more clear… or maybe you have better energy and stamina?
Here are some tips you may or may not already know:
Keep net carbs under 20.
~You can likely start a bit higher and work your way down but 20 is a good honest number that will allow you to eat plenty of vegetables along with fat and protein.
Use a carb tracker like cronometer.com
~so you can accurately track your carbs. It tracks many other things but this is the most important
Feed yourself plenty of fat and fairly moderate protein
~These two things are your best friend in regards to keeping hunger and cravings in check. You should not gorge yourself on these things but eat until you are not hungry. It’s very important to not starve yourself, so eat when you are hungry.
Keep your electrolytes up.
~At least 64oz (2liters) of water and 2+ teaspoons of salt per day. We don’t retain either of these very well on a ketogenic diet and those two things are paramount for reducing/preventing the Keto Flu
Don’t stress and get plenty of sleep.
~Growing, healing and losing weight work best when we are relaxed. So try to get 7-9 hours per day and don’t obsess with what keto is not yet doing.
Hi Ali - welcome. A very unpopular idea here, but, as you progress, and the pee sticks become unreliable, you might want to consider a ketone blood meter. Many ketoers don’t measure a thing, but I find it fun. I use the Keto-Mojo - it measures blood glucose and ketones. Measuring blood glucose is as, or more important, than measuring ketones. BTW, @CarlKeller’s advice is rock-solid.
It’s a whole lot more popular than the piss sticks are, that’s for sure!
For me a blood meter has been (and continues to be) a fantastic tool for determining n=1 responses to foods I’m not sure about (just because it’s keto doesn’t mean my bodies going to respond how I’d expect!).
I have the Freestyle Optium Neo and use it to measure both blood sugar and ketones. Not every day, just if I’m wanting to check my response to something new I’m eating. When I was a newbie I used it daily to get a good idea of what did and didn’t work for me, so I’d encourage anyone starting out on their journey to consider it. Has always been a helpful tool for me!
welcome!