I had bread! And cake! Ketosis still "medium" ? How to judge the strips

#1

Hello!

Okay I’m new to keto, started a couple weeks ago – very strict about it. Stuck to 20 carbs per day (and if I went over it was on brussels sprouts or broccoli or a handful of blackberries).

Last night my friends threw me and my wife a fancy baby shower at a very nice restaurant. I had originally planned on avoiding all things carb and sticking to it, but when hot bread came around over a plate of mussels I was toast and had a couple slices. Even had a piece of cake and some fingerling potatoes. Didn’t feel so bad, a little bloated but it was a great meal.

This morning I expected to be totally thrown out of ketosis – but my numbers were still in the “moderate” 20-40 range and low hunger.

Am I misunderstanding how to judge the strips or what to take away from them? Or did my body just use up the carbs in last night’s meal quickly and continue back into ketosis?

Thanks!

(Teri) #2

A lot of people allow themselves a cheat day, and maintain ketosis, so it’s possible that you basically just had your cheat day. I don’t know how much to trust the urine strips. I use them, but they aren’t the best of course. A blood meter is the true way to go. But I’m too cheap right now to invest in one. But if you are showing ketones in your urine then you are still in ketosis. I’d test again this evening and tomorrow morning. I don’t know how fast your body processes/excretes excess ketones, which is what the urine strips test for, so it could just be left over ketones from before you ate the extra carbs. Idk. Maybe @juice can help you out on this one.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #3

Could be that your body started using glucose for fuel so the free floating ketones you had got unused and peed out.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #4

Uh huh :slight_smile:

Now is not the time to start cheating, or experimenting.
You’re only going to confuse your fuel source, and it will take longer to become adapted.
The strips are useless, they test for wasted ketones through urine, or you could just be really dehydrated.
But yes it’s possible your body used the glucose, or those ketones could be ones you produced yesterday and are pissing out and have no correlation and you are in fact, not in ketosis.
Only way to tell is to STOP CHEATING :slight_smile:

#5

Yes yes, you are correct – and all good points :). I was definitely thrown out of ketosis (even according to the strips). But after a 24 hour fast and keto meal the strips do show me back in ketosis.

But as I’m reading the strips are only really useful in gauging whether or not you’re generating ketones in the early phase of the diet, and the accuracy depends greatly on your level of hydration etc. etc. All good to know.

(mole person) #6

This isn’t always true. My strips are still interested showing dark purple, between 4 and 8 mmol nearly 2 years in, and I’m not alone in this. I love my strips, they make experimenting very easy. But, yes, not everyone has luck with them.

When I use them I always test before dinner as several factors can affect readings.

(Carl Keller) #7

I would not judge your entire keto experience by one momentary relapse of carbs. It’s not so much about what you did yesterday… it’s more about what you will do today and tomorrow and so forth. I would try to think of it as more like an experiment to see what eating high carbs will do when you are in ketosis. Some people get really sick (keto flu symptoms all over again) from the carbs but you only experienced temporary bloating.

We all ate poorly for most of our lives so 1 hour of minor indulgence isn’t the end of the road. Just file it all away and keto on. Maybe next time this situation arises you can tell your hosts that Dr. Keto told you to avoid flour and sugar… and tell them that since you have been doing this, you feel great. :wink:

Oh and congrats on your forthcoming child. :smiley:

#8

Thank you! We are excited. Just a few weeks left here :).

Yes – luckily prior to doing keto I had 6 months of Whole30 under my belt. And a few years back p90x. In both of those situations one little mixup or error felt devastating. I’ve always been an “all or nothing” kind of person, and when I decide to do something I tend to go all in.

But I have learned to realize that everything is a process and that throwing your hands up in failure do to a minor slip makes little to no sense in the long run. And at the end of Whole30 and p90x I didn’t really have a plan for how to keep it going.

I’m actually glad I had the bread/carbs in that meal, actually. If anything it was intriguing to see the 48-hour drop in ketones on the strips. Then after 2 days of keto and a couple 20-hour fasts, straight back to ketosis and purple/dark strips. Fascinating, really.