Investing in a Ketone Meter

newbies
ketones
ketosis
results
(Omar) #21

How accurate is the testing method ?
is it necessary to meter ketones ?

(Alec) #22

Candy
How many times a day do we say this?

Great name, BTW, for a keto gal!! Love it.
Cheers
Alec

(Allison) #23

Yes. The past month or so Iā€™ve noticed that my ketostix show a very small amount of ketones, I know hydration can affect it but it has been consistently at ā€œsmallā€ level. So maybe my body is using them or maybe Iā€™m not in ketosis, hence the inquiry about investing in a meter. Iā€™d like to think it means my bosy is using ketones, I have most of the symptoms- metallic taste in my mouth especially with exercise, my urine smells strongly, my body sweat smells strongly, I am able to push through my workouts without eating immediately after.

(Allison) #24

I am taking ginger as well. 2 capsules of 1.1g in the morning and another capsule in the afternoon. What doesage do you take? How long have you been using it? What are you results?

(Diane) #25

Allison, Iā€™ve been taking the ginger capsules for 2 - 3 months. The first couple of months I took 2 capsules (1.1 each) about 1/2 to 1 hour before bedtime. I didnā€™t lose any weight, but my pants got very loose. I noticed I lost inches in my waist, belly, thighs, bust and (weirdly) neck!

More recently, Iā€™ve started taking an additional 2 capsules with my biggest meal of the day. My weight is pretty stable, but my pants are still getting looser, I need the next size down. Iā€™ve lost ~80 lbs since September 2017 when I started eating Keto. Went down one pant size (28 to 26) and several sizes of tops (5x to 3x) with the weight loss, now Iā€™m down another size in pants and tops with the ginger and NO further weight loss. I think this is due to its cortisol reducing effects.

(Candy Lind) #26

??? Oh, are you referring to ā€œCandy?ā€ LOL! Iā€™m a ā€œCandice,ā€ actually, but Iā€™ve been ā€œCandyā€ since I was in diapers (too long to mention :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:).

(Allison) #27

That sounds very promising. I believe I have been using it about a month now. But I take it in the mornings. I may try going up to 2, 2 capsule servings per day and see what it does for me before I try the ashwagandha.

(Allison) #28

Just to let everyone know, what I am taking away from the answers Iā€™ve received is that I need to eat more fat, watch my protein, not be afraid of cheese and cream, keep taking my supplements, increase my ginger root, not be too worried about getting a ketone meter at the moment. I will say that I really appreciate the fact that no one told me I was exercising too much or that I should stop completely for the time being.
@CandyLindTX, a smoothie with avocado and coconut cream added would help me get those fats in, yes? Along with real cream and coconut oil in my coffee. I donā€™t think I need fat bombs in my life, it may get me into trouble. Also, can I reasonably eat a whole avocado everyday, or is it best to stay with a half a day? I know they contain more carbs than most fat sources.
@DiMo - I am going to begin today taking my 2 ginger root capsules before bed and at lunch since that is when I eat the most. The extra yolks in eggs never even occurred to me, I just hope I can use those egg whites somewhere else as well. Speaking of non-dairy - do you use any non-dairy fats in your coffee? For instance, do you use almond milk?
@J_A-M thank you for answering first and causing the domino effect. I am curious to hear what you have to say as well.

(Diane) #29

Sadly, I suffer from terrible insomnia which worsened with the Keto diet (Iā€™ve got this sussed out now and do pretty well), and cannot tolerate caffeine. So, no coffee for me. I do make bullet proof bone broth and at different times have tried adding coconut cream, butter, MCT oil (actually have tried the oil and powder- personally prefer the oil), coconut oil, raw egg yolk (not for me) and collagen (not a fat, I know). I like butter best, but ghee would be similar (without the milk solids) which some people tolerate well even when they donā€™t do well with dairy.

As for those extra egg whites, ketoconnect.net has a low carb tortilla recipe that I like and which uses lots of egg whites. :stuck_out_tongue:

(Steve) #30

Great advise on this thread. As one who bought a ketone meter (which Iā€™m going to throw up on our local classifieds), I think itā€™s a huge waste of your money. The urine sticks are also pretty much a waste, as all they show is that your body is producing ketones.
And, really, I think thatā€™s all that most people need. ā€œDid what I just ate (if thereā€™s a question of how high the carb count was) kick me out of ketosis?ā€
I think the best value for having something to measure that there are ketones in your system are the cheap (less than $20) breathalyzerā€™s on Amazon. I just snagged one - my ketone meter said 1.5, the breathalyzer said 0.02. (pretty good indicator the breathalyzerā€™s doing a pretty good job).
Ketone strips are expensive enough - best to just use something as a binary (yes/no) test on whether youā€™re in ketosis or not. Worrying about your level of ketones? Donā€™t - thatā€™s your bodyā€™s business to sort out - no value in you obsessing over those.

(Omar) #31

capsules ?

How many grams in a capsule?

nothing :joy:

I buy ginger, garlic, cinnamon, curcum in bulk. grind it and take at least one or two tea spoon a day.

you also can buy it cheaper in the cooking ingredients section in any supermarket.

It supposed to help activating the brown fat cells

Actually I feel the difference

(Jay AM) #32

Alright, it looks like your supplementation is probably decent. Since you workout so much, you could probably use more sodium which may help your blood pressure. The biggest glaring thing has already been mentioned and thatā€™s your very high protein and not high fat. Which also makes sense why you canā€™t fast as well and are hungry. Eat fat to satiety, not protein. Also, your calories are quite low for your activity level and just day to day being alive. One thing about increasing calories and food, youā€™ll gain some temporary weight most of the time until your BMR readjusts to the appropriate level.

Iā€™ve recalculated your macros below as a guideline using https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com set to sedentary, middle protein level, and 0% deficit. We use sedentary because calories donā€™t really matter as much as the macros might and you should go over the recommendation based on hunger. On weight lifting days you can afford more protein but, donā€™t get too crazy. Fat should usually be higher than protein.

1739kcal Daily Calorie Intake (not a limit, going over is fine preferably with fat and based on hunger)
20g Carbs (5%, 80 kcal) (hard limit, try not to go over)
96g Protein (22%, 384 kcal) (going over or under occasionally is fine)
142g Fat (73%, 1275 kcal) (eat fat to satiety. If you are hungry soon after a meal, use fat. Fat also provides energy.)

(Candy Lind) #33

If you can afford an avocado a day, GO FOR IT. The carbs in there are mostly fiber.

(Candy Lind) #34

LOL! Thatā€™s exactly what I do whenever I think someoneā€™s macros are wonky (and what I did with @selena125tā€™s info)! I wonder why we came up with such similar responses?? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Great minds, and all that. :smiling_imp:

(Allison) #35

Thank you. I will implement these macros today.

(Allison) #36

@CandyLindTX and @J_A-M - is it normal to experience a bit of weight gain when initially increasing fat consumption? I should just ride it out and let my body adjust?

(Jay AM) #37

Yep. Thatā€™s why I told you about it above so youā€™d be prepared. Just ride it out and youā€™ll come out the other side just fine.

(Allison) #38

Oh crap, Iā€™m sorry. I read it, but I didnā€™t ā€œreadā€ it, you know? Thanks for reiterating.

So now my next question isā€¦at what point should I be concerned that it is true weight gain? 2 weeks, 4 week, etc?

(Jay AM) #39

I wouldnā€™t really be. You might gain a little and itā€™ll stick around before you start losing again. But, Iā€™m not concerned about you gaining tons of weight all of a sudden as long as you keep the carbs low, protein moderate, and fat high.