Trace to small ketones

[norms09]

I have been on Keto for about a month and it took me about 3 weeks to get into ketosis. i was drinking crystal light which has malitol and it kept me from getting into ketosis.
finally i got into ketosis but it is always in the trace range .5 -
i was told that for ultimate fat burning i needed to be at least in the small range at 1.5.
i need advise on how to get up to the 1.5 range…

[Regina]

Stay under 20 grams of carbs per day. Also try an eight hour eating window.

[norms09]

thank you… i have been under 20 carbs a day and have also been fasting but to no avail.
the meter is stuck at .5

[KetoCancerMom]

Keto Is This Easy

Keto is this easy (aka Keto for beginners) Quick Version This is for Phase One—the starter phase. It’s still not complicated later, but this is the really easy-to-explain version which will help you no end. Eat under 20g of carbs a day (usually 20g net when starting, but for some people 20g total carbs works better). Don’t worry about the scale. All it tells you is weight, it tells you nothing about body composition, even the “smart” scales. Eat plenty of good food—fat and protein—whil…

Your body is still adjusting, don’t stress on numbers. You shouldn’t worry about the numbers. Are you using a blood meter or pee strips?

[Momof5]

Did you try to eliminate all artificial sweeteners? They can cause trouble for some people.

[norms09]

i am using the blood meter… the only sweetener i am using is stevia.

[Momof5]

That is still a sweetener though, I had to stop using all of them personally, and others on here have had the same problem, which is why I mentioned it.

When you say Fasting, how many days have you done? I am on a 72 hour one atm that i am breaking tomorrow at 4pm. Many of us do 18/6 or 20/4 windows so you could try that as well =) Good luck =).

[PaulL]

Your body is still adjusting. You are clearly in ketosis, and as long as your body is producing ketones, the amount circulating in your blood is not as important as how much of the ketones your liver is producing are being used. Yes, up to a point, having a bit extra circulating in your blood is reassuring, but having more circulating ketones doesn’t necessarily equate to better results. Everyone’s system is different, and some people who were attracted to keto for the weight loss have found that their body needed to heal first, before it could let go of some of the excess fat.

While the liver starts producing ketones almost immediately, it takes a while for the muscles to re-adapt to metabolising fatty acids. During the adaptation phase, you might want to go light on the fasting, to give your body a break. Another tip is to make sure to get enough calories. The reason is that the body adapts its energy expenditure to the caloric intake you give it, so consciously cutting calories can result in a vicious cycle, in which the body keeps using less energy, so you have to cut calories even more . . . it never ends well.

On the other hand, if you give your body enough calories while eating minimal carbohydrate, the lowering of insulin will allow your fat cells to release fat to be metabolised. Your metabolic rate will increase, your satiety signaling will return, and you will be able to feed your body with both the fat you are eating and some of that excess stored fat. As Dr. Jason Fung says: “When we eat carbohydrate, we burn glucose, so to burn fat, we need to eat fat.”

[norms09]

thank you everybody… this is great advise and i feel much better now…