Ketone Levels Help Needed

[Valerie_Brien-Wright]

Question related to ketone levels

Hi everyone I am hoping someone can help me with my issue I am having currently. I have been doing strict keto for about a week now. I have both ketostix and a blood monitor. I went from negative on the ketostix to trace in 1 day and right now I just tested again and I am the second to depest shade of purple indicating a large amount of ketones in my urine. This morning my blood levels were at 0.2 while fasting. My eating window is from 1-8pm two meals per day. I tested again this evening before eating at the same time as my ketostix and I am now at 0.3. My question is why would my body be flushing out the ketones instead of starting to use them as fuel at this point? I dont believe I could still have glycogen stored since I have been doing under 20g for a full week now. Also, I drink over 3L of water per day same as before so the ketostix can’t be explained with dehydration… I am so confused last time I did this WOE I had such a different experience.

[Luckymisslucy]

I’m guessing everyone is waiting for someone else to say it so here I go…

You’re only a week in and you need patience. What are your expectations this early on and what are you eating exactly so we can help better. What kind of results have you seen (if any yet since it’s still too early), what are your goals? Is your only concern is your ketones levels? If youre eating under 20g carbs then your fine. A lot of people are discouraged from testing in the beginning because the results are pretty pointless and just causes needless stress.

[MooBoom]

Hi @Valerie_Brien-Wright and welcome.
You are brand new here, so the search tool is your friend. The issues you are raising have been covered a lot in the forum- this thread just recently should help you for example.

Ketostix test positive, keto breath, clarity and energy, but keto mojo test LO

Hey guys I’m new to keto and this forum. I have run up on some issues that’s making me frustrated and a little bit annoyed because of the results I’m seeing. I started keto March 11, 2019, it’s been roughly 3 weeks now. My body has adjusted and I feel the boost of energy and the clarity and not being hungry and my significant other tells me my breath smells like acetone. So I’ve been keeping track lately via Ketostix. I’ve progressed from being nothing to the furthest dark maroon purple whatever…

[Karim_Wassef]

It’s actually normal for the body to generate ketones and not use them for some time… most of your body cells are still running off glucose that the body generates in the liver.

It takes time to retrain the cells to use ketones and that will take more than a week.

There are several stages - first, it will use some protein to make glucose, then it’ll start using fat and making glucose and fatty acids from that, then it’ll start using the fatty acids directly in the cells, then it’ll start converting the excess fatty acids to ketones, and then it’ll start changing cell metabolism from glucose to ketones…

Be patient & your body will learn and adapt.