So sorry, I should have known better than to start throwing terms at you. I had the same issue when I was first starting. I still don’t know what N=1 means. LOL!
Here is my very simple and primitive understanding of ketosis and fat adaption. Fat adaption is really one of the main goals of keto.
There is a big difference between fat adapted and ketosis. Forum, please keep me honest here and let me know if i mis-state any information.
Ketosis just means you have used up all of your glycogen stores and your body is producing some keytones. Those keytones can be used to help power your body. Now what those keytones are actually doing and how they are performing is a bit of a mystery without some form of measurement. The simplest measurement of course is just to get some keto sticks to find out if there are keytones being excreted in your urine. Not a great measurement but it’s a good start. Keto sticks don’t tell you how or IF those keytones are being used to power your body. But they do tell you if keytones are present which is a GREAT start to let you know you are doing things right.
You want to be in ketosis because that moves you one step closer to being fat adapated.
Fat adapted is when you have successfully hacked your body and have switched your primary source of fuel from being carbs to FAT. This occurs when you create new enzymes (and more biological processes I am sure) that allow you to consume fat for energy. WHen this happens, life starts to get good. Because once you are fat adapted, your body no longer uses sugar as it’s primary source of fuel but starts to grab at those fat stores that have been sitting there unused for years. When you are fat adapted, you can tolerate a few additional carbs (well some of us can) without worrying about being kicked out of ketosis. Those enzymes are really strong at this point and as long as you have fat stores, they will continue to be used for energy. It is a biological miracle in my opinion. It is also one of the reasons that I suggest you stay keto as a way of life as opposed to just toying with it for a few pounds loss. You are literally redesigning your body to burn much more efficiently.
The timing of going from general ketosis to full on fat adaptation varies from person to person. It took me about 3-4 full weeks to get fully fat adapted. Those enzymes take some time to build up.
It can take about 2 days to get into ketosis. You want to stay in ketosis with no slip ups because you don’t want glycogen stores to start piling up from accidental carbs you eat. If you fall out of ketosis before you are fat adapted, you will have to start the entire process over again because it means that glycogen has piled up again and is being used for energy. Eat well and stay very focused on your keto plan for the first month. It is the best and fasted way to become fat adapted. After the first month, stay focused and make adjustments based on your individual needs. Start listening to the 2Keto dudes podcast. Richard does a fantastic job explaining all of this in the first few episodes.
Hey Keto fam, please make corrections where I went wrong.