I have been doing keto for roughly 4 months and i have lost 48 lbs so far, however i can’t keep myself in keto. The 2nd day in i had a 1.6 and have done all i can to keep a .3 since. I faithfully keep under 20 carbs a day i dont understand what im doing wrong. I just keep thinking if i could hit the optimum numbers i would lose more. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Help me with my keto numbers
lfod14
#2
You’re not doing anything wrong other than caring about crap that doesn’t matter. If you’re eating 20g (or near it) and you’re not dying than you’re in ketosis. The number on the meter is meaningless, it doesn’t correlate with fat loss so stop wasting money on the strips. There is no such thing as an optimum number.
SomeGuy
(Joey)
#3
@tr_iz Faithfully keeping your (net) carb intake to 20’ish grams/daily and losing so much weight in just a few months strongly suggests your body is responding beautifully to your adoption of keto. Congratulations, and welcome to the forum!
I’m inclined to agree (in spirit) with @lfod14 but I can understand why those ketone figures are important to you at this stage (…they were to most of us, including me early on in adopting a keto WOE).
In all likelihood, as you continue to progress in turning your health around as you are, you’ll probably reach a point where you’ll stop testing for ketones entirely (if not regularly) since in the long run those numbers don’t really matter much at all. But until then, please elaborate a bit…
How are you testing? Breath, urine, blood meter? What time of day do you test? Are you also testing glucose, or just ketones? Are you tracking all your macros as carefully as just carbs?
Answers to these might help us give you some additional info and context so you can navigate through all the changes you’re experiencing.
Meanwhile, keep up the great work! 
PaulL
(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing)
#4
Like serum glucose, serum β-hydroxybutyrate varies through out the day. While the various ketone bodies (acetoacetate, acetone, and β-hydroxybutyrate) have important hormonal effects, their main importance to us on these forums is as fuel to certain organs, in particular the brain. (Fatty acids are too large to pass the blood-brain barrier, but ketone bodies are smaller. They provide a useful alternative to glucose, which is damaging in quantity.)
As far as measuring ketones goes, it is easiest at home to measure acetone in the breath, acetoacetate in urine, and β-hydroxybutyrate in blood, but all three are found together. The urine strips were invented to provide an early warning to Type I diabetics of impending ketoacidosis, in time to get to the hospital. Breath meters were developed to measure alcohol on the breath, but typically detect acetone, as well. (And now meters have been developed to detect acetone primarily.) Blood meters were developed to measure serum glucose, but strips to measure β-hydroxybutyrate were easy to develop, so now there are meters that measure both.
But bear in mind that these measurements are not terribly accurate, so the same level of ketone could show up as different readings, for that reason alone. Also, ketones in urine and breath are by definition wasted, since they are being excreted and not used. Moreover, the amount of β-hydroxybutyrate circulating in the bloodstream at any given moment says nothing about how much is actually being produced and consumed.
In any case, what you want is the metabolic state represented by ketosis, not a specific level of ketones.
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#5
48 pounds in 4 months. That’s about 2 1/2 pounds plus per week. Congratulations! As noted, if you’re eating sub-20 grams of carbs per day, still alive and burning 10K calories of onboard fat per week - you’re in ketosis. Stop worrying about ketones. They take care of themselves.
tr_iz
(Tr Iz)
#6
Than you everyone, i guess you watch videos and read blogs about how others are testing and you just assume thats how things should go for you. I am extremely happy with my weight loss but seeing my numbers so low i was thinking i was doing something wrong.
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#7
If you remain active on the forums for a while you will learn that individual experiences vary quite a bit. In fact, it might get confusing when people do the same things and get different results. You may wonder why so. It’s because the damage caused by eating a high carb diet augmented by seed oils with skewed omega6 ratios for years or decades varies in extent, effect and severity for each of us. Genetics and how long it took you to get around to doing something about it are also significant. Some folks have a lot to fix, some have less. Some folks have suffered severe metabolic damage, some not so much. Their experiences with keto will be very different. Some folks will fix the damage and return to metabolic normality relatively quickly and easily. Others may never regain a fully functional and healthy metabolism.
It never ceases to amaze me how much abuse our metabolism can absorb and still recover - but it can also get broke beyond full repair. You will meet folks here who exemplify all of the above and more. Don’t compare yourself to others. Take inspiration and motivation. Take suggestions with the attitude of n=1. Keep doing stuff that works, stop doing stuff that doesn’t.
Welcome.
gingersmommy
(Marianne)
#9
Wow! If you’re keeping your carbs below 20, you’re in ketosis. For me, I’d ditch the keto sticks or other stuff you are using to measure your ketones. Obviously, what you’re doing now is working; just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t hyperfocus on your stats.
You are doing great. I don’t think you can reasonably expect to lose weight more quickly than you are. Again, I’d encourage you to just relax and enjoy what you are eating and look at keto as a long term lifestyle choice, not a destination. Like most of of, what led me to keto was a desire to lose weight - because I was so depressed and disgusted with myself. After learning more about it and seeing how effortless it was - for me - I just let everything go and enjoyed the weight loss and benefits as they came in their own time. It’s been almost 2.5 years and I still love keto. I never measured anything, don’t weigh myself except at the doctor’s, don’t cheat, don’t worry about when I will get to goal weight (only 15 lbs. away), etc. For the first time in my life (62), I don’t think or obsess about food, fight cravings, what I weigh, what size clothing I wear, etc. I pull out a piece of meat from the freezer in the morning and that’s the extent of my relationship with food. I look forward to every meal and enjoy them to the fullest, but then I’m good for another day.
All the best!
collaroygal
(KCKO, KCFO)
#10
Welcome to the forums, and congrats on your success. The fact that your body seems to be doing great switching fuels is something to be very glad about. Breath meters, pee sticks, they show you what you did not use, You are seeing them exit your body. Blood meters show only what is floating around in your blood at the moment.
Others posted a like to an excellent blog by Amy Berger on not chasing numbers. Please read that and stop stressing out about a number.
Wishing you lots of continued success.