Seeming hard to get into keto - wondering why ...!

#1

I’m mid normal BMI aiming for low normal, no (known!) metabolic disorders. Staying under 20 net carbs/day often less past 7 days. Past 2 days pure egg fast. Keto stix show up to 1.5 in afternoons but then back to 0 in the ams. Weight dropping very slowly - 1/4 # a day and often stalling.
Whaddyathink ? Should I continue to use keto stix as a “monitor” for getting to ketogenic ?
Thanks!

(mike) #2

What i have read in many sources is keto stix stopped working well a month or so after starting keto. Also that keto stix are not highly accurate.

I recommend blood ketone meter if you really want to know accurately.

Slow progress is better than no progress, congratulations on your efforts!

(Ken) #3

You’re clearly in lipolysis, which is where you want to be. And, yes, you’re producing ketones, but most are being burned for fuel. Don’t worry about tracking ketones, since they are merely a source of fuel, they’ll go up and down, a fixation on them is unnecessary.

A one pound per week fat loss is normal, and healthy. After the initial glycogen drop. Daily fixation on weight is counterproductive, your body weight will flux much more due to water/salt than it will to fat. A pound of fat is 3,500 calories, so a 500 Cal deficit per day results in a one pound loss per week.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

It is well known that people close to a healthy weight and BMI don’t see a very fast change, not the way those of us who are grossly overweight do. There are ways of forcing your body to a lower weight and/or BMI than your body really wants to be at; others on these forums can tell you about it. For myself, although I’d like to lose another forty pounds, my primary goal is metabolic health, so I’m not as focused on reaching a particular weight as others are.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #5

I’d stop weighing and worrying. Just enjoy the nice good food!!!

(Allie) #6

Bin the sticks and keep doing what you’re doing.

(Darlene Horsley) #7

You’re doing awesome. Keep up the good work. KCKO

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #8

Ketostix are just showing you the ketones your expelling, not a good measure of the ketones you are using for fuel. Which is what you want to happen.

They never worked for me. Only time I registered anything on them I was dehydrated. I use a breathalyzer, others who are not upset pricking their fingers use a blood monitor.

You are seeing results and they are good. Even fasting, Dr. Fung says the average loss is .5 lbs per day, you are not fasting and doing half of that. I’d be happy dancing if I was in your shoes. Enjoy your results.

KCKO

#9

Thanks ALL of you, for your smarts as well as your encouragement. This whole thing is truly awesome, isn’t it.
Have a great weekend. We are off for 4 days in our “home town” 3 hours south of here after recent move - actually going via UHaul to empty a storage facility spot down there.

Gonna spend time and eat with friends and be real social BUT stay on keto strong - don’t count carbs like at home just stick to stuff I know to be 1-2carbs and concentrate on healthy fat and protein. No scale where we’re staying, not my scale anyhow ha ha. So won’t weigh next few days - thanks for that advice, rusty61 !

Thanks ahead for allowing me to report back this coming Wednesday !

#10

As said, try not to worry and also get a lot of sleep and water.

Stress increases cortisol levels, which cause the liver to dump excess glucose in blood stream, which is countered by increased insulin from panreas. The increase in insulin lowers your level of ketosis.

Stress is impotrant factor, beyond diet.

(Doug) #11

Made me smile. :slightly_smiling_face: Nice phrase, Allie.

(Madge Boldt) #12

Really good to read this. Newbie here! I’m 3 weeks keto and nothing registers on the ketostix. Maybe a trace but barely. I have done low carb before and used ketostix, and nothing has ever registered. Does anyone remember Diet Center in the US from the late 1980s? That was my first bout of low carb. I would show up and they’d have me pee on the strip of paper (and I had no idea why, really). My counselor there was always very disappointed, which in turn made ME disappointed. Not surprisingly, I did not last long. Yada yada yada… here I am, I am glad I am not the only one who “fails” ketostix. :grin:

(Doug) #13

Madge, I do remember. Wasn’t a client, but was interested in such things. Cut out booze, sugar and flour, as I recall - not a bad approach to start with.

#14

Hi there ! Some very interesting replies to this are here. One thing might well be to “know” that we are strictly attending to (“compliant with” ) the ketogenic or LCHF regimen, and then do that for a bit and track both how we feel and drop in weight as well as maybe (and secondarily) our keto stix response.

The first two of course are our real goals. Sounds like some folks are more delayed than others in showing keto. It also sounds like there is a lot that can get in the way of keto++ testing with these sticks. Hey, vitamin C can give false positives!

So might I ask - how is everything else ? Mood ? Feeling of well being ? Drop on scale ?

Good luck with all of this ! I am a relative newbie too - and finding people on these forums who are knowing this to be quite the journey !

(Madge Boldt) #15

Hi Doug,
I was very heavy and Diet Center had me eating just meat and veggies. Imagine that! But, they never really explained why and I just had no clue as to why I would eat that way. There was a supplement to take as well. I was losing weight but no ketostix response. In the late 90s I read the Atkins books and it all made sense. Well… it started to! Now it makes even more sense with the added info of moderating protein and making sure you get enough salt. Important stuff!

(Madge Boldt) #16

Thanks for the nice greeting, Ah-tee.
I have taken the advice to ignore the ketostix. In all my years of dieting, I have never really seen them change color for me. But, I have lost weight and have gained energy. My goal is to keep Type 2 Diabetes away and I know that this is the way to do it.
Funny… I take 1000 mg of Vit C daily and I still don’t get a ketostix reading!

#17

Yah I’m starting to get some further things about all this (!). Now reading Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore and Eric Westman MD - seems a real well founded book with lots of references and links to other “expert” material. Seems that if we want to measure ketones, it’s really best to measure blood ketones. I have this book on Kindle so just a couple $. The blood ketone meter is a DSS Precision Xtra and I just ordered it. Will test ketones for a while at least and see just what’s going on. Funny the Vit C doesn’t bump your ketones. I do see that this is a real distant measure from what’s really going on (in the blood!0 and highly individual between people.
Congrats on your success - keep it coming !
Ati

(Adam Kirby) #18

The article below should be required reading for all low carbers. There is much fixation on ketone measurements, when in reality most folks embarking on low carb just want to be in a state of lipolysis, which may or may not correlate with strong ketones. If you are burning fatty acids (fasting long periods, not hungry, scale is going down) but not producing many excess ketones, congrats, you’re on the right track! In your case you are not looking for high ketones to treat neurological disorders, so don’t worry about it at all.

#19

Thanks for this thinking ! I guess I would like to track the physiology of this for a bit anyhow, just to see what’s going on beneath the surface. I do agree with you about me right now, ha ha. I’m feeling great, dropping pounds, finding it easy to intermittent fast i.e., eat from mid afternoon through dinner. All seems good. I’ve heard that ketonemia can be good for stuff like memory and focus so that’s got to be good.

Thanks for your thinking !
Ati

(Ken) #20

Ketone fixation can be counterproductive. The real issue is lipolysis.