High ketones in urine, low ketones in blood. Only 2lb weights loss. Am I doing this wrong?


(Kristina O'Bryant) #1

Ive been on keto for roughly 6 weeks now. I started measuring my urine ketones roughly 2 weeks in and since then have always measured the highest (dark purple). At first I thought this meant I was killing it, but then after reading forums, realized that it likely meant I was dehydrated. I upped my water intake and my urine is now nearly clear. I’m still measuring dark purple. After roughly 4 or 5 weeks, I’d only lost 2 lbs and was wondering if I was doing something wrong or if maybe I had an underlying issue somewhere. 6 weeks in and I havent lost any more weight. My husband said he was concerned about my glucose, so I decided to order a ketone and blood glucose meter. The meter shows my ketones at .5 while my urine shows high high levels. Both measured in the morning when I first get up and using MMOL. I use an app to track my macros and calories. I eat roughly 15-20 net carbs, and stay under 102g of protein and try to eat roughly 78g of fat, although I honestly struggle to get there. I don’t exercise, so according to my app, I should be eating about 1100 calories, which I stick to. I do my very best to choose the healthiest options I can. I pay attention to carbs and net carbs, added junk, bad oils. I avoid the things I should be…at least I’m pretty sure I am. So what gives? I tested my blood Glucose once about 5 days ago, it was roughly 4 hours after eating, right before I was going to have dinner and it said 93. According to the chart, it appeared to be completely normal. But I also know nothing about blood glucose. I can’t help but feeling I’m doing something wrong. Or maybe I’m just impatient and this takes longer for me than others? I’m feeling frustrated and I just want to make sure I’m doing this right. I’m in it for the long haul, but I want to be doing it right from the start.


(Susan) #2

Welcome to the forum, Kristina =).

If you are keeping carbs under 20 grams, eating enough proteins and healthy fats, and eating NO sugar (some people have to also eliminate all sugar substitutes) and drinking tons of water ( a minimum of 64 ounces, usually a lot more) and keeping up your electrolytes? Salt is very important on Keto, I eat a few teaspoons of Pink Himalyan salt directly and just drink a lot of water afterwards, because I don’t like the taste of it directly in water.

This is the forum Ketoaid recipe:

If you are doing all of the above, then you should be losing weight.


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #3

Good job on keeping the carbs under 20g!
I’m wondering though, why the numbers for fat and protein? Is that something your app suggested?

Can you tell us your weight and height? Forget the calories. Keto is not about calorie restriction. You could try young the fast for a while. Also, 0.5 is not a bad reading for ketones. Keep in mind that the peer sticks and blood meter measure different types of ketones, so you can’t compare them.

Maybe you could give us a sample of what you eat, both meals and any snacks, and we can help you troublshoot things.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

The key is to keep your glucose low by eating very few carbohydrates. Under 20 g/day is a good upper limit. That will have the effect of lowering your insulin, and keeping insulin and glucose low has a number of beneficial effects (high levels of either or both are highly damaging to the body).

Low insulin allows fat to be released from your fat tissue, if you have extra to spare. Be aware, however, that those stories of losing hundreds of pounds in a month are from people who had lots of fat to lose in the first place. As we approach what our body considers a healthy level of fat, the rate of loss slows down.

Furthermore, keto, as the proper human diet, has a healing effect on the body, especially when we give ourselves an adequate amount of calories, and the body may, in addition to losing fat, put on muscle and increase bone density. This can confuse the scale, since lean gains can offset fat loss. But don’t be discouraged; keep checking the fit of your clothing. Many people find that their clothing size goes down, even if their weight doesn’t (think about it: would you rather look as though you’ve lost thirty pounds and have your weight stay the same—or lose thirty pounds and still look the same?)

So be sure to eat enough. The way to do this is to satisfy your hunger: eat when hungry, stop eating when no longer hungry, don’t eat again until hungry again. Your body will set your appetite to the right level to dispose of some of that excess fat you’re carrying around, as well as the fat in your diet.


#5

Just being in ketosis is no guarantee of weight loss. I could easily gain weight if I didn’t actively restrict my favorite high-fat foods – bacon, sausage, cheese, butter.

Ketosis is driven by carb restriction. Weight loss is driven by caloric restriction. For many, ketosis just makes caloric restriction easier because carbs and insulin are no longer creating a false sense of hunger.

If you’re eating under 20 net carbs per day, you should be in ketosis. Don’t worry about it. Unless you’re a T1 diabetic, the urine strips aren’t of much use. They only look for the body excreting one type of ketone body.

Your proteins macro should be a lower limit and the fats macro an upper limit. And, if you’re not hungry, don’t eat. Prioritize the proteins if necessary to get them in. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want your body to make up a fats deficit with stored body fat. Just don’t starve yourself to get there or you’ll set yourself up for failure.


(Kristina O'Bryant) #6

I am using pink himalyan salt in everything. But I still don’t know if I’m eating enough of it. I do drink a Reign every morning (0 calories, 1g carb, 0 sugar, 0 protein, 100mg sodium) which has added electrolytes.


(Kristina O'Bryant) #7

The numbers for my macros were all suggested by the app I’m using (Carb Manager) based on height weight and activity level. I am 5’3 and started off at 186.

For breakfast I eat 2 pieces of uncured bacon, usually 2 fried eggs. I use olive oil. and I like to throw in a half an avocado. Lunch is usually a salad or a lettuce wrap. Some mayo mustard, we get deli meat from the butcher without the added sugars. we get the non processed cheese. Dinner I usually chose a recipe suggested by my app which is all keto friendly. I have tried a few keto desserts lately and used stevia for them. I don’t snack much and when I do its usually just a handful of hazelnuts, or cheese, or a few pickles.

I’ve actually been struggling to eat the two weeks or so. My appetite has dropped dramatically and I"m just not hungry or I eat half my meal and I’m full. I don’t know if this is good or bad. But I have skipped several meals lately because of this.


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #8

Hmm.

So it looks like you are getting 675 calories from fat and 488 from protein and carbs. So you are getting about 58% of your calories from fat. I’d honestly find a way to flip your fat and protein, and see if that makes a difference. At least do it for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference.

  • Apps are not very reliable when it comes to telling us what out macros should be.

It’s possible that you’re body is trying to protect itself by not letting you lose weight. I know it can be hard to, but you can spread it out over your meals.


(Laura F) #9

Are you doing work out? As high core or powerlifting because sometimes we gain weight the first month retaining water or …I think you are pushing up too much your body to lose weight and the body is trying to protect itself… I know sounds crazy but it happened to me the first month and my nutritionist told me that. Just relax!!! Let your body adapt to this new lifestyle.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

You will notice some disagreement about which levers to pull in order to obtain a desired response from the body, even on these forums. Studies have shown, however, the ineffectiveness of calorie restriction as a lever. Proponents of restricting calories always point to the First Law of Thermodynamics as a justification for their hypothesis, but they fail to take into account (a) the fact that the human body is not a closed system, and (b) the importance of the body’s hormonal response to diet.

The ketogenic diet has been shown to work because it lowers the serum level of the body’s primary fat-storage hormone, insulin. Keeping insulin low enough permits the adipose tissue to release fatty acids for metabolism—that is the prerequisite for fat loss. Another requirement, however, is that the body must be receiving sufficient energy from the diet, or it will trigger mechanisms that work against fat loss, on the premise that there is a famine going on, from which you need to be protected.

The body is perfectly capable of adjusting its energy expenditure to compensate for caloric intake. This is what makes dieting so frustrating. You cut back on your calories, the body cuts back on its energy expenditure, requiring you to eat even less food, and so on. That way lies permanent metabolic damage, if it is pursued too far (check out Kevin Hall’s follow-up study of the Biggest Loser contestants).

Give the body an abundance of calories, however, and the body’s energy expenditure rises to match, even to the point of wasting energy (Prof. Benjamin Bikman’s lecture on brown fat, available on YouTube, describes this). Past a certain point, however, the body will indeed start retaining energy in the form of fat, as a reserve against possible hard times to come.

The key strategy, then, in the context of low carbohydrate intake, is what we call eating to satiety. When circulating insulin is low, the appetite becomes a reliable guide to food intake. Hormones in the body will stimulate hunger when food is needed; when we eat enough food, the body shuts off the hunger hormone and signals that we have had enough. If you listen to your body by eating only when hungry, and stopping eating once your hunger is satisfied, you will assure your body of enough calories and avoid over- or under-eating.

Note that eating to satiety requires protein and fat. The protein is needed to prevent the loss of lean tissue (muscle and bone density), the fat is a source of energy that does not stimulate the secretion of insulin. If listened to, the body will set our appetite at a level that allows for the metabolism of both dietary and body fat. Since there is a limit to the number of calories we can withdraw from our body fat in a day, some fat will be required in the diet to supply the body with sufficient energy. And as we continue eating to satiety, and our body continues to shed its excess stored fat, our fat intake will rise over time, to the point where we are supplying all our body’s energy needs from the food we eat. Eating to satiety removes any necessity of calculating macros or of counting calories.


#11

Not all ketone strips are created equal. I have found that one brand will test super dark even when my Keto meter measures light, while others will barely register when my meter shows more. I have even tested brands side by side and one appears dark while the same urine on another brand is light pink.


(Kristina O'Bryant) #12

I am not working out. I’m a disabled vet and have issues with my foot and back. It’s not impossible, but it’s more difficult to and I just don’t want to try changing two things in my life at the same time. I figured I’d get this figured out and once I"m comfortable, I’d work on working out again.


(Kristina O'Bryant) #13

Update: today I took my blood ketones and it was up to 1.1. I also weighed myself today and lost 2lbs since last week. I realized that I looked slightly slimmer…or maybe I was crazy…but I think I was hanging on to some water weight? But according to my log, I am now down 4lbs since Jun 23.


(Parker the crazy crone lady) #14

Hi Kristina. :wave: I often measure really high ketones iny urine too, so I’ll be interested in answers too. Welcome!


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #15