Total failure at keto according to the Precision Xtra Meter

(Lois Brown) #1

Three members of my family have been following a keto diet for one month. We’ve used My Fitness Pal to track our macros which have been 70% Fat, 25% protein, 5% carbs. We’ve been consistent and losing some weight, but two of us hit a lull in our weight loss this fourth week, so we wanted to “officially” test our ketone levels with the Precision Xtra Blood meter.

The blood meter came today and we all tested our blood. All three of us (even the one who hasn’t hit the weight loss lull) tested at .2 and .3 ketones. I was stunned. I was thinking I would at least be a .5???

We then tested the one member of our family who isn’t doing keto. She tested at .2 ketones – the very same as two of us who haven’t had more than 20 net carbs per day for a month.

I cannot even imagine how the three of us can eat less carbs … unless we only eat oil and absolutely no vegetables.

Either this meter is screwed or ketones are a bunch of bull.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #2

Oh my.

Wait.

Not a total failure at keto! Even blood ketones fluctuate. That you are making any at all is good news. Do not focus on the number, focus on keeping your carbs below net 20 grams a day, your protein adequate, and eating fats to satiety. The rest will come.

Patience grasshopper. You’re doing nothing wrong.

Have you listened to the 2KetoDudes podcasts?

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #3
(Lois Brown) #4

I will get on and listen. Thanks

(Teresa Driver) #5

Ketones are evidence of fat loss, not the cause of fat loss. If you have ketones in your blood and you aren’t eating more than 20g of carbs a day, you are in ketosis. It’s like being pregnant, you either are or you aren’t. What’s floating around in your blood (or urine) is the ketones you aren’t burning so there ya go.

If your family member is metabolically healthy, then she probably drops in and out of ketosis daily depending on what time of day and when she last ate. From my anatomy & physiology class back in the dark ages, I remember hearing that humans were supposed to do that as a survival mechanism.

As far as no vegetables, I’ve been doing that for a month and that’s what finally triggered my body to start utilizing the fat on my belly and thighs. As always…YMMV.

(Sonia A.) #6

For some people, 25% of protein is too much. It’s better to calculate in grams. The best range is between 1 and 1,5 g per kg of lean body weight. Maybe you’re eating more and that may hold you back.

#7

What time of day did you test? My ketones are almost always low to nonexistent in the morning. Keep testing at different time to see if there are variations.

(Lois Brown) #8

We tested at night. But we will try again at a different time. I keep reading to really be in ketosis, blood ketone levels should be .5 to 4. (Optimal is 1.5-4.) We are waaaay low.

However, I have read so much contradicting information about ketosis I don’t know what to believe any more. I thought it was going to be relatively straightforward–don’t eat carbs and go into ketosis. I’m learning it is much more difficult. We used the ketobuddy calculator to figure our macros based on our height, weight, and current body fat percentage.

Lois

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #9

Maybe you are just not fat adapted yet? Dr. Phinney has stated he is often at .4 level, and @Richard says he is there often too.

I second what Teresa_Driver said about ketones and what the meter shows you. Also look at grams not the % as much as possible.

Keep Calm and Keto On, if you are eating no more than 20 carbs you will be in ketosis

(Richard Morris) #10

Mine go as low as 0.2 even when I am eating no carbs, and rarely above 0.8 unless I am fasting more than 2 days. There is just a natural human variability, and Drs Phinney and Vollek were a little conservative when they defined 0.5 as the bottom of the range in their first book. Dr Phinney confessed to me last november that some of the athletes in Jeff Volleks latest study had ketones that low and were evidently in ketosis and Prof Tim Noakes says that his range is similar to mine unless he is running a marathon.

(Lois Brown) #11

Wow. That as helpful to read. Thanks.