So I’ve been trying the keto diet for about a week now after switching from a low carb paleo diet. I’ve been monitoring my levels with ketostix and for the past couple days I’ve been above 4.0 but today for some reason I was 4.0 late morning but by the afternoon I was reading .5 - 1.5 measured with a few sticks. I’m not really sure what happened, I thought my diet was fine. My fat intake has not dropped below 70%. I ate 178g fat, 137g protien and only 6g of net carbs today. I am 5’ 8", 225lbs probley 25% bofy fat? I do barbell strength training 4 days a week and HIIT training 3 days a week. Is there something I should change in my diet, or is this drop nothing to be concerned about. Thanks in advance!
Ketone level dropped?
lfod14
#3
Ketostix or Blood testing? Ketostix (which only work at first BTW) typically measure in PPM or mG/dL your readings look like mmol/l which is standard for blood readings. The standard range for most (blood) is 0.5-1.5 mmol/l and some lucky people average higher than that, some slightly lower. Don’t worry too much beyond being in that range. The typical protein average most in this world go by is 0.8-1.5g per kg bodyweight, which your in with your 137 but may want to play with it a little to see if it has an effect. If you eat more protein than your body can absorb it’ll burn as fuel which will lower ketones as it converts to glucose to do it. I’m pretty close to you, 5’9" 203lbs weights 5x week and try to keep my protein in the 90-115 range. It used to by around 150g and I’ve had better results since lowering it.
Sjw867
(Steve)
#4
Thanks for the reply and the information. I’m a newcomer to the keto diet so I’m trying to learn as I go. Did you notice much of a decrease in weight lifting performance after starting the diet? I started just over a month ago on a low carb paleo diet and am now trying to make a transition into keto but in that time my lifts have suffered.
lfod14
#6
Being low carb already will make it a lot less painless, honestly it’s very individual. Your going to most likely notice a performance hit at first, for many it’s not a hit to your strength, but how long you can go. I think many people back off too much then think they got weaker which isn’t that common as this way of eating preserves muscle. Just gotta keep it up. C8 chain MCT Oil’s will help as they convert directly to ketones and will help keep energy up. There are also exogenous ketones but IMO they’re just too expensive to rationalize them most of the time. However they DO work! If you go that route you gotta remember that their an energy hack, no more. They WILL give you that burst your missing coming off the carbs but they do NOT get you into ketosis any faster (read REAL ketosis) and they don’t speed up fat adaptation it’s just energy and IMO a professional cup of coffee does that to.
Ya, I said professional.
CaryO
(Carol Orrell)
#7
Too much protein. In the absence of carbs and too much protein your body will convert the protein to carbs. Been there done that.