Getting into Ketosis


#1

I’m really puzzled. I have been doing Keto hardcore for about 3 weeks now. I tried fasting to get into ketosis, and I have been using Keto Chow three times a day to help jumpstart my ketosis. I blood test for ketones, and cannot get above 0.6. No weight loss at all.

I’ve kept my carb intake below 10g/day (net) for weeks now. I check my glucose levels throughout the day, and it hovers around 90. I even try to check it 30-40 minutes after eating or drinking anything but water, and have not seen any fluctuations in my glucose. So, I assume I doing everything I need to do to get into deep ketosis. But nothing.

I’m drinking about 150-200 ounces of water a day.

I’m not sure what I am doing wrong.


(Allie) #2

Well you’re wasting money on gimmicks to start with, but 0.6mmol still puts you in ketosis so stop stressing, eat proper food, and trust the process.


#3

Hey, I’m new too but I don’t do metrics, I judge by how my body feels.

Try cutting carbs altogether if lowering them isn’t working. I have a friend who did this and she says the mental clarity is phenomenal!


#4

Three weeks isn’t that long. Your body has a lot to do and it only likes doing one thing at a time. Some days it will hang on to fat while it works on hormones or repairing organ damage or muscle tissue. I learned that from a wonderful post on this forum where veterans give those starting out their advice. If you have been doing this for less than 2-3 months, your still more or less new.

I only lost 1.5 lbs after my first three weeks and never got above .5 on urine strips. My body was very, very busy. After one month I had only lost 2 lbs while everyone around me in keto circles was dropping like 8 lbs their first week, or 15 lbs after one month! Most people would have quit in my shoes, but the science is logical and sound, and I’m ridiculously tenacious.

I started March 6 at 186 lbs and today I am 166.4. I wasn’t in a hurry. I knew it was the long haul for me. I set more than reasonable milestones that I either have beaten or met. I’m not planning on seeing my goal weight until next summer, so imagine my delight when I reached my fall goal a couple weeks ago. I’m not adjusting my goals because anything can cause my body to choose to slow down. It will do what it needs to do for my specific body and the condition it is in, both inside and out. I’m not going to get in its way.

It you have .5, you ARE in ketosis. Getting into stronger ketosis doesn’t have that much extra benefit afaik. You dont need to waste money on Keto Chow and you dont need to kickstart ketosis. How can any maker of any product know precisely what your particular body needs? Let your body create its own ketones because that’s better than anything else. Know that you are entirely unique and can’t compare yourself and progress to others.

Don’t rely on the information from a website that stands to financially gain if you buy into their philosophy and products UNLESS they are a highly respected doctor. That would be the only ones I would put more stock in but if they sell along with their advice they are lower down on my reliability scale and I require other doctors and Keto experts who dont sell to concur first.

You can’t see your insides either, but your body can, and it knows what it is doing. Give it the time and space that it needs. Don’t stress it out the first month or two with all sorts of extra products, heavy exercise or fasting or deprivation etc. Get good at the diet first. Get the basics down. Trust the science, be patient, and you can always add “help” (like fasting) later once your fat adapted and your body can handle it better. But in my book trying to fast in the beginning isn’t very kind to your body given the shock it’s suddenly facing with the radical changes your making to its fuel.

(I’m not against fasting, I’m just against doing too much all at once in the first month. And I know you didn’t say anything about fasting, I’m just using that as one example to make a point.)


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Welcome to the forums!

A ketogenic diet works by working with, instead of against, the body’s hormonal responses to the foods we eat. So cutting carbohydrate is the first step, because that is necessary for reducing insulin levels, and insulin is the principal hormone promoting the storage of fat.

But there are other mechanisms involved, as well, and your body is not going to want to part with its reserves if it believes there is a famine going on. And the signal of a famine is short rations. This is why, in addition to telling you to eat less carbohydrate (much less!), we also tell you to eat protein and fat to satiety. In other words, don’t eat unless you are hungry, stop eating when you stop being hungry, and don’t eat again until you are hungry again. That will give your body enough of what it needs to feel safe parting with some of its excess stored fat. For the first several weeks, your appetite may remain unchanged, but that may be because your body actually needs all that food. But then comes a day for many of us, when our appetite drops significantly, and we finally understand what satiety actually feels like. At that point, you can trust your hunger as a guide to how much to eat.

However, some people find that they cannot trust their appetite signals. So if, after another four weeks or so, you find that you cannot eat enough to satisfy your hunger, we can help you with alternative strategies to try. But many of us have found that we didn’t start losing fat until we started eating more, not less.


#6

Thank you all for the help! I appreciate all the feedback.

Well, all your good thoughts helped, because last night I hit 1.0 on the ketones, and this morning I was 1.4. I just tested myself again and I was 1.7. I also had a doctor appt today and lost 15 lbs! So you were all right-even though I was getting reading of 0.4 and 0.5, I was in ketosis and losing weight! I have a lot of energy and feel great.

One interesting side effect is that my glucose has risen with the ketones increasing. Yesterday I was about 80 (I am not diabetic at all), and this morning it was 106. Just now it was 115. Could this be a byproduct of my body changing to burning fat? I am eating very low carb. Just curious.

Thank you all again for the support!


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

One hypothesis is that our glucose rises on a ketogenic diet when we are not eating enough fat to supply our body’s energy needs. Try eating a bit more fat and see what happens.


#8

I will give it a try! Thanks!


#9

Your blood has ketones in it = you’re in ketosis. Congrats. Keto Chow is a (severely overpriced) meal replacement, it has nothing to do with putting you in ketosis, that happens from lack of carbs.


#10

I will say it has been helpful in convenience. Sometimes I don’t have a lot of time to figure out what to eat, or I only have a short period to eat. Keto chow allows me to just grab a shake and go. Not for everyone, but the last time I did keto (and lost 75 lbs), I failed because I broke down on those meals when I didn’t have time to plan something. As far as I am concerned, if it helps me keep low carb and keeps me low carb without a lot of thought, I’m good. But, it certainly isn’t for everyone.


(Robin) #11

I just saw my first ad for Keto Chow. Holy Cow! I can certainly see the appeal for beginners who are dreading giving up sweets. I personally avoid substitutes like this because it makes me crave the real thing. Keto is is a frame of mind for me.
Plus, the longer you go without s
“sweets” real or fake, the sooner your body will no longer crave them.

However, if this works for you, more power to you! Just hope you’re getting enough real food.
(Hmmm, I realize that sounded judgmental. I truly am not criticizing… just would not work for me in the long run.)


(Joey) #12

Yeah, keep reading and rereading this. Simple truth.

And congrats @anon22064335 as you’re off to a great (re)start. Hopefully you make this a permanent part of your life going forward. Perhaps even get inspired enough to make keto products to sell to folks who have no time to hardboil eggs and nuke bacon :wink:


#13

Thanks-I really want to make a go of this. I have (gasp) 150lbs to lose. 135 to go. Anything that gets me there, I’ll take it.

And for hardboiled eggs…Costco!

I’m also not weighing myself, which was a downfall last time. I go to my doctor every 7 weeks for an unrelated condition, and they weigh me there. I have resolved to only weigh myself at those appointments.


(Robin) #14

Wise decision. Some weight daily and it works for them. I m too prone to the scale determining my mood.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

It’s a problem. First you have to wait for the water to boil, and then let the eggs sit in the water for six whole minutes, and then they need to cool off . . . better to just buy them already made. And as for nuking bacon, that dang microwave just takes too long! Why put yourself through that, when you can buy pre-cooked bacon for no more than three or four times the cost?

And seriously, that’s what some people need. I doubt most of the younger generation have had any exposure managing in the kitchen. My mother taught me and my sister the basics, enough to build on later in life. And my high school offered courses in home economics, which they had just started allowing boys to take instead of shop classes. I suppose all that has been done away with, in the name of saving on school taxes.


(Allie) #16

You guys all know me and my own flock of hens who pop out at least ten eggs a day… well the guy I live with buys ready boiled eggs.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

And I bet the fresh eggs taste a lot better than eggs that have been through the distribution chain, lol!


(Allie) #18

Without a doubt, better quality too… but he’s too lazy to boil eggs :expressionless:


#19

Can one of the admins delete my account? I was looking for support as I try to adopt a ketogenic diet, not for comments that I am “lazy” because I purchase hard boiled eggs at Costco. I’m sure your fresh eggs are better, but I do not have access to that in the city. Anyway, I will look for support elsewhere and hopefully less judgmental.

Thank you for those who have been truly supportive in their responses without trying to make me feel like I am some loser.


(Allie) #20

If you read properly you’ll see I was referring to the guy I live with, not you, because I have my own flock of laying hens but he buys ready boiled eggs…