One Month In and Confused

(Shannon E Thompson) #1

I am a 42 year old female, insulin resistant and take Metformin daily. I wanted to reverse the insulin resistance and started the Keto diet.

I just have a few questions about my experience so far. The first couple of weeks I felt awful as is common. I was registering ketones daily and losing weight quickly and starting to feel better. The last few days I have been out of ketosis and I don’t know why. I don’t follow exact macros but eat 20g or less of carbs every day, no exceptions. What is going on? How do I get back on track?

#2

Two possibilites, either you have carbs that you are not aware you are eating or you have become fat adapted and the ketone stix no longer work on you.

I think the best option is to track everything you have or will eat for the next week. Try Cronometer or MyFitnessPal in case it is the first possibility.

Are you still losing weight? Supposedly after you become fat adapted the urine ketostix stop registering because your body gets better at utilizing the ketones. At that point you have to move on to a blood ketone meter or a breath meter (Ketonix) or buy a very cheap alcohol breathalyzer which will register ketones (after 8 months it only registers on me when I am fasting). If you are losing and your blood sugar is good, chances are this is the likely reason

(Allie) #3

What makes you think you’re out of ketosis and how do you feel in yourself?

(Shannon E Thompson) #4

Ok. Thanks so much! I will look at both.

(Shannon E Thompson) #5

Hi. I have been using ketostix and measuring ketones daily, but suddenly show none for a few days now. Honestly, I don’t feel very well. I have been feeling nauseous and I haven’t been thirsty at all which is a huge change.

(Allie) #6

Ketostix are the worst way to measure, don’t rely on them at all. If you’re feeling ill that could mean you’ve got a bug rather than it being anything to do with ketosis.

What are you eating and are you taking any supplements?

(Bunny) #7

Not registering Ketones?

  1. Eating too much or too little protein. (3 to 4 oz. anymore than that = gluconeogenesis {turns to sugar})

  2. Eating too little fat? (you need 80% fat in your diet {e.g. MCT OIL keto fat bombs} if your not eating fat with the protein?)

  3. Apple Cider Vinegar* (1 Tbls. to a glass of water) after you eat? (helps improve insulin sensitivity of insulin receptors {also helps hold the food that you eat in the stomach longer} on the cells in your body like Metformin does). HINT: A table spoon of lemon juice increases the effectiveness of this with the PH balance!

Always try to adjust the fat and protein intake if nothing is happening; every body differs somewhat with this that is why nothing happens, especially with weight loss; including how many meals per day you choose to eat!

*Vinegar Improves Insulin Sensitivity to a High-Carbohydrate Meal in Subjects With Insulin Resistance or Type 2 Diabetes http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/1/281

I need help 🙏
#8

I was thinking supplements too.

Especially salt/sodium, magnesium and potassium

The fact that you are not thirsty is a good sign because if you were carbing up you would need water in a 3 to 1 ratio that is why there is so much water to fat loss initially

(Bunny) #9

Yes that too!

Lots of cruciferous veggies for potassium!

#10

If you can, try to control the ingredients you are consuming so that you know exactly the nutritional value.

Drink lots of water, move around as much as you can like walking.

Potentially too much protein which your body can convert to glucose as your body becomes fat adapted.

Can you provide any further destabilize on your consumption?

Are you monitoring your blood glucose?

(Shannon E Thompson) #11

Wow! Thank you SO much for all the helpful information. I definitely need more veggies and I need to get a better idea of my macros. Incidentally I started “keto coffee” yesterday morning with 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp MCT oil. My stomach felt ok until later in the afternoon and then my intestines were very unhappy all evening and overnight. Likely connected? Any tips? Thanks!

(Donna ) #12

MTC oil can definitely do that! Go down to 1 tsp and take your time working up.

I tried C8 MTC oil for a couple of weeks and didn’t see any benefit, so I stopped using it and I started losing weight again. I have a jug of it, so I think I might use it externally as a face moisturizer. :slight_smile:

(Allie) #13

I didn’t find any benefit from MCT oil until after I was adapted, it just made me ravenously hungry when I first tried it. Now I use it here and there and do notice a higher level of blood ketones when I use it, but no actual difference in how I feel so mostly I don’t bother. MCT oil powder is a very good coffee creamer though and it doesn’t cause the same stomach issues the oil itself can cause.

(Elizabeth ) #14

Try drinking a cup of salty broth when you feel nauseous

(Shannon E Thompson) #15

Ok. I will lower the MCT oil and see if that helps. I will also try the broth. Thank you so much for the advice.

#16

Lost quite a bit of weight LCHF since April, have yet to try MCT oil. I would cut it out completely and see if that makes a change