Testing and increasing NC

(Vanessa Brügger) #1

Hi! I’m new here. I’m preparing my pantry and all to start on keto soon and I’d like some help with your experience.

I’ve been reading a lot and it got to my attention that maybe I could eat more than 20 NC a day and still be on ketosis. So I bought a blood monitor and a few strips to figure out how many carbs I can eat so my body still produce ketones.
I find it really hard to keep it this low. So… I hope my body believes I’m fasting with 30 NC? One can hope. Lol

My question: WHEN should I test my ketones?
I’m planning on testing in the morning after one week. Then I was thinking on testing before Lunch and 2h after that. Will that be enough to give me an ideia if it’s working?

I read that I should increase 5NC a day and test until I get my personal daily NC. Have anyone here did that before?? Thanks! :slight_smile:

(Allie) #2

When you’re first starting out best to stay below 20g and not mess with it until you’re adapted, it’ll set you up better for long term success.

If you’re struggling to get that low already then you may be best off just working on gradually decreasing by swapping things out, slowly replacing the carbs in your diet with fat until you’re able to achieve the 20g required to guarantee ketosis for most people.

Why would your body believe you’re fasting? Keto is not the fasting mimicking diet.

People who are extremely active can often consume additional carbs with no ill effects, but if you’re sedentary or only lightly active, it’s unlikely to work for you.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #3

Are you vegan?

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

If you’re vegan as your avatar implies I understand why you would have problems achieving keto macros low enough in carbs since when you go that low, the point is that carbohydrates are insignificant as a percentage of your diet on keto.

The main problem with it is there aren’t good protein sources in the plant kingdom that aren’t also significant in carb sources which means even less veggies. So I’m curious what you plan to eat on a sample day. I would recommend you focus on coconut oil as a regular fat source for saturated fats.

If you won’t include at least eggs, dairy or fish I don’t know how you’ll get enough protein. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #5

I just watched it, pretty good. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Vanessa Brügger) #6

Hi, guys! Yes, I’m vegan! It’s gonna take lots of tofu and protein shakes but once I’m on ketosis my hunger will be under control so that’s ok. I just find that in long term it will be too restricted.

I read on a website that I could test my ketones to know if my body is in ketosis. I’m gonna start with 20 NC. Last time a week was more than enough to get into ketosis. So I’m gonna test my levels and up my NC to 25g a day. If my tests are still ok, I’m gonna up them to 30g a day. And so forward until it kicks me off.

Then I’ll know my limit and it will be way easier to plan. I bet over 30NC won’t cut it. But if I can get an extra 5 or 10 NC daily it will make my diet really easier.

I just really want help on how to test this correctly. If any one have experience with this please share! :heart:

For those who are curious, I already planned my menu. A day would go like this:
Breakfast: vegan protein shake 0NC
Lunch: tofu with veggies 8NC
Snack: nuts 6NC
Dinner: soup/salad with tofu 6NC

And I have the options too. If I put some strawberries in the shake, I’ll have less nuts. It all gets to 20NC by the end of the day. But since I don’t have any zero carb foods it would be great to achieve ketosis with a higher NC intake.

If you do use a blood monitor help me figure it out. Lol

Thanks everyone! Once I start it I’ll leave my feedback here. :slight_smile:

(Vanessa Brügger) #7

Hi, guys!
I guess I left you all way too long without feedback. :see_no_evil:

I’ve been on plant based keto for 2 months and a half. I’ve lost 14kg/30lbs (some of that is water though).

I’ve been testing my ketones on different times and they don’t oscillate as much as I expected. It began with 1.2 mmol/L and in a couple of weeks it doubled. Which are great numbers!

5 weeks ago I started going for walks to improve my weight loss. I figured I should check on my ketone levels every now and then and I had 4.9 mmol/L. I believe that is a bit too much, right?

I kinda freaked because I’m trying to cleanse my body not to intoxicate it. Lol. So I’m finally increasing my NC intake. I was eating from 18-20NC daily (surprisingly not a problem once adapted).

Now I am having 22NC daily. I’m having more keto fruits to fill that in. Today my test was 4.1 mmol/L. So it is working.

I feel that my body craves for more carbs now that I’m working out. Anyone have that? Any tips? I’m having a protein shake before exercise (sometimes even add some peanut butter!).

Xoxo

(Bob M) #8

I would test at most twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. And you don’t really need to do that, and could test once a day or once every few days once you see a pattern. Or not at all once you’re sure you’re in ketosis.

When I first started, 6.5+ years ago, I also took a protein shake or other drink before exercising, and then would eat basically immediately after exercising. After fasting 32 hours then exercising, and not noticing any drop off, I stopped taking anything beforehand. Now, I also wait until I’m hungry to eat. So, today, I worked out 6-7 am, and ate at 10:30 am. That was a bit late (my daughter had her first “remote” day of school, and that was when she was eating).

But it’ll take a while to get to this level. You’ll get there though.

As for carbs, that will just take a while.

#9

Wow, vegan keto with fruits and staying below 22 net carbs… I surely couldn’t do that!
Do you eat enough protein and fat? Maybe you don’t feel hunger but your body still needs more calories now that you work out? Just an idea.

(Vanessa Brügger) #10

Definitely not eating enough fat. Lol. My fruit portions are really small (3-4NC). I wanna reintroduce them wisely. I’m increasing my protein and fat intake on my workout days. I track with an app and I know I should have more fat for calories but I find disgusting oily food. So I use extra virgin olive oil on my food and the rest come from nuts and seeds. It’s been hard because I am not hungry at all… sometimes I just force myself to have food, you know? I have fatty liver and I really wanna lose weight on a healthy basis. My doctor said fast (not keto lol) but doing it on a vegan diet really improved my blood tests. I’ve got an ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Let’s see if this is helping or not. I’ll post an update later on. :wink:

#11

Ask yourself why are you doing the keto diet? Whilst, not impossible, it is still hard to do this eating program as a vegan or vegetarian. I would go get a complete blood test before you begin. This way you have a baseline for ALL of your important blood markers. 3 months in, retest. Discuss with your primary care physician. He will tell you if this is a good or a bad choice based on your blood markers. Though anecdotal, I have found that those who are blood type O (40% of western world) do better with animal protein and thrive on the keto diet. The keto diet is not for every one. Some people’s blood markers, such as their triglycerides levels and their CRP number skyrocket. That is a clear sign you should not be doing keto.

(Vanessa Brügger) #12

I’m on keto because my insulin levels were high preventing me from weight loss. That also causes a crazy amount of hunger combined with my low leptin levels. So that said, eating my normal calorie intake meant being hungry 24/7. So keto makes it easier for me. The only true issue is that I always end up isolating myself to avoid temptation. Considering I’m still quarantined, I figured why not?
My blood tests are pretty great actually. Everything is better except from some vitamin issues. I’m a bit anemic from lack of folic acid or b12, still waiting on results. Iron was never a problem. It is probably b12. My body doesn’t hold it for long. My aunt takes her b12 once a year. Me? One month is high, 2 months later waay down.
I was eating too much peanuts, cauliflower etc that are rich in purine. And that increased my uric acid. So, I’m lowering those and eating more veggies with higher fibers and including exercise to improve my creatine levels.
Being vegan is a way of life and not a diet. We only need b12 (and d3 for me because I never absorbed it well).
After 6 weeks studying the dietetic approach of keto I decided that I wanted to be my own guinea pig and try out some theories. Like, a study says it helps PCOS. And since I started, for the very first time in my life my periods are well… periodic lol. They are coming without me having to take the pill or metformin. My cholesterol still not perfect but is better than years. Really close numbers to normal standards and my parents are skinny, eat healthy and have high cholesterol. My mom was never ever overweight, always did exercise and is on statins. My goal is to figure out my issue since insulin, PCOS and thyroid can be all connected. My worries are: am I cleaning my body enough to keep the good markers after I leave keto? I do wanted to jump start my weight loss but on the long run Low Fat looses more than Low Carb. But Low Fat doesn’t keep my insulin in check and don’t help my PCOS. My thyroid no one knows if it’s a problem or not. Inconclusive. I post the ultrasound results in a couple of weeks. Xoxo

(Allie) #13

It’s fine, don’t worry. All good as long as you feel good.

(Edith) #14

Well, what got you having all those problems in the first place? High carb? If it was your previous way of eating, why would you want to go back to it?

(Jane Srygley) #15

Congratulations on your success thus far! There is a really good vegan keto diet group on FB if you’re interested. Tons of resources. I agree with the recommendation of coconut oil–lots of coconut!!! I know when I was doing the vegetarian thing I used a lot of pea protein. Anthony’s is a good source for pure pea protein.

I completely get the vegan thing and commend you for it. I have decided not to be vegetarian or vegan for health reasons but I’m sure you have plenty of people explaining the reasoning for that to you so I won’t, but feel free to pm me about it if you’re interested.

I don’t know if you’ve checked out Dr. Jason Fung. He’s the fasting guru basically and believes in fasting and meal timing to lower insulin levels. You can do all that with ANY diet, so I highly recommend you check him out.

Best of luck to you!

(Vanessa Brügger) #16

I don’t ever wanna go back eating the way I was before. I am a compulsive eater. My body type requires something like 1.500kcal/day. I was having at least 3.000kcal on the days I ate less. Too much junk food, horrible choices and overeating. But keto shouldn’t be forever. And I am fine living on a low carb protocol if that what it takes to be healthy. I am figuring things out. If that is what my body needs or if I just can keep a regular plant based diet and be fine. My girlfriend eats carbs, junk food every now and then, is thin and healthy. It’s all about balance. But I’ve been unbalanced for so long… gotta find the right strategy to make my body healthy again. :):smile:

(Vanessa Brügger) #17

Thanks!! :green_heart:
Actually coconut oil is too saturated. Not good at all. I mean… I make vegan butter out of it but not to eat on great amounts. I know people say it goes faster but some study says that they don’t really burn that fast.
I lost a lot of weight on fasting 16:8 protocol but it turned out to trigger my compulsive eating. I get too anxious about it. And keto is a fast simulation anyway.
About chrononutrition! That is SO interesting! I saw it in a seminar I went last year. It makes total sense. Like having at least 10-12h fast per day. If you think about it we all did that when we were kids. Now we have less time, spend more time awake eating in hours that makes no sense to our body.
But small steps for me. I’m still figuring my insomnia (living next to bars - quite challenging).
Thanks for the tips! And if you want any tips or help about vegetarianism you can also pm me! I am only half way through my nutrition undergrad but I’ve been vegan for almost 5 years now. So… kind of an expert on pros and cons (and how to ditch the cons lol). :kissing_heart: