KetoMojo Testing

(Melissa Brewer) #1

So, I have been reading around the forums for a few days now, but I still have some questions about testing. I’m sorry if this has been answered before, but I couldn’t find it.

I did keto two years ago with some success that fizzled out and I gained weight back. Then I went to another diet that also did not work, so I decided to try again and do blood testing to make sure things are right.

I am 263 lb, 5’10”, 30 years old, and a female. I started “lazy keto” about two weeks ago with some success (about three lbs down). I got my meter two days again. Day one I tested before eating and received 0.3 reading. About 5 hours after and 1.4, again an hour after eating lunch, 0.7, and then to right before bed was 0.6. Today I’ve onky tested once, about 7 hours after eating and sleeping and got 0.3 (I work nights Andy my sleep schedule go to messed up, I ate around 9am, slept 4p-9p and ate after 9p. Fell asleep from midnight to 4am and tested again at 4am where it read 0.3)

I am not tracking and eating less than 20g of carbs a day. Is any reading of ketones a good sign or should they definitely be higher? I just want to know if things need to be tweaked because I really want to be successful here.

(Alex) #2

don’t worry about the readings. throw your keto mojo in a drawer and don’t pull it out again until a while down the road. keep your carbs under 20g daily (some count total carbs, others count net carbs), eat plenty of fat, and make sure you’re eating enough protein, and you are guaranteed to be in a state of ketosis after doing that for 48 hours, regardless of what those numbers tell you. i am a fan of this keto calculator, you can use it too if you’re interested to see if you may need to tweak anything regarding your eating, depending on what your goals are - https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/

#3

Welcome back to the land of keto.

Bare in mind the numbers bounce around throughout the day, up and down all day. For some people they start low and build up. For others its the opposite.

But it is all still useful. I accidentally got knocked out of keto due to hidden carbs. The meter showed 0.2 mM (which is effectively zero). Otherwise I barely had any other symptoms. I would not have known if it wasn’t for the meter. It took several days to get a reading above 0.5

So the target is anything above 0.5 mM - bigger is not especially better. Getting 3.0 doesn’t mean you will lose fat faster.

You don’t have to measure too often. No more than 3 times a day.

I do one at 8PM and maybe one at 7AM as well.

(Janelle) #4

Hi - I’m 20 years older but started around the same stats of height and weight as you. If you’ve done this before successfully, you know it takes time. The meter is good but if you keep yourself around 20 whole carbs per day, you’ll be in ketosis. Don’t get bummed. Don’t get frustrated. It didn’t take you a couple of weeks or months (or maybe years) to put the weight on. Give it time to come off. 1-2 lbs a week after initial water weight is very good - even if frustrating when you hear that others lose more. Stick with it for life - you saw what happens when you don’t.