Has anyone here dropped right out of ketosis for no reason they can pinpoint?
That happened to me for the first time today. I tested after a normal (good, actually!) food day. My dinner was steak and broccoli with tons of butter and a couple pickles. I do not weigh and measure and track my food but I test often with blood meter and know how to keep myself in ketosis. I am always there, even after workouts. Today’s reading was done after a workout as well but as I said it’s usually .8 - 1.2 after a fasted a.m. session.
I mean I assume I overate carbs or protein, but it was a normal, usual eating day for me and I was stumped. I’m not worried about it because I’m right back in it this afternoon, just wondering if anyone else has experienced that
What the heck?
How long have you been keto? What type of exercise? There are a lot of factors that can effect blood readings. Your reading after exercise could have simply been the fact that the ketones were used as fuel and the level dropped and then rose again as more ketones were produced for your system.
Been eating keto about 6 weeks but still not fully keto-adapted. I get glimpses of it, but I go in and out of the feel-good benefits so I know I’m not fully there yet.
I did a mile incline walk, a 45 minutes intense weights class, and then another mile incline on the treadmill. I know that sounds like a lot, and it was, but i do that all the time and still have ketones. Maybe really AM adapting now, and therefore using them better…hmmmm…just odd
This is why I stopped testing, I couldn’t deal with the stress of not being able to explain a “bad read” when there shouldn’t be… I don’t have an answer for you, except to say what you’re going through seems to happen to nearly every person that tests.
Despite those “bad reads” I still felt great, my weight kept going down, and every other metric went in the right direction. So, I saw no reason to keep testing. Not saying you should stop testing, just that you should expect these baffling numbers from time to time and do the KCKO thing.
Oh, thanks. That’s basically what I was asking - “is this something that happens?”
Testing has been helpful for me in getting started. Whereas I thought my body really needed and responded well to protein, I learned through testing that that halts ketones faster than anything, stuff like that. But it’s 90% of the time at .8 and sometimes 1.1 but that’s the extent of the variance (except this time it went to “low”). So while it helped, I can see it being an exercise in throwing my money and my hard-earned blood 
into the garbage can pretty soon here.
This is something I had confound me as well, one thing you need to remember is that your body is smarter than you. With the amount of exercise you did and the amount of time you are keto I would be willing to bet your liver dumped glucose into the system and you used all your keytones, I.e. your tissue sucked up all the bhb like a sponge, this is one thing that the breath meter does pick up on at least for me. I would show no excess in my urine (acetate) and show acetone on my breath(break down of acetate to bhb and acetone). I borrowed a glucose meter and it showed a small spike directly after heavy workouts, this I found out is normal esp before being fat adapted. I felt as though I was still in keto but my energy was hitting a wall during exercise. it went away after a couple weeks.
Thanks, In2steam - really interesting info. I, too, have read it’s normal for blood to register nothing after a prolonged and intense workout, but that had not been the case for me. At any event, half a steak, a little broccoli, a lot of butter and a damned pickle (ha!) did not do it, and that’s all I really need to know.
I so enjoy discussing all things keto with you folks on this site!
May seem a silly question but have you lost weight and if so did you change your macros after losing weight?
No, no scale weight lost but definitely leaning out from inflammation and bloat on SAD diet. But I don’t track macros, anyway. I go off hunger and I know how much carbs and protein I can eat and stay in ketosis. So nothing had changed and if anything, I ate less that day before than usual, as my appetite is slllllooooowwwwlllly calming down some
Did the pickle have any sugar? I have found that I have to make my own or make sure the brine doesn’t have sugar. I am THAT sensitive. Very frustrating to eat out, because EVERYTHING has sugar and even a tiny bit will throw me completely out of ketosis.
I’m about four weeks in and seeing little results on the scale. I’m in ketosis most of the time (as measured by urine sticks) but I also have days that measure me as being out of ketosis.
What blood monitor do you use? I’m seriously considering.
And I know people say not to rely on the scale but when you have a lot to lose, if one sees very little movement, it’s tough to believe any fat loss is taking place.
Also, who has thoughts on diet soda? I can drink 3 or four per day…and at least one on other days.
I just don’t understand how I’m not dropping the weight if I’m in ketosis, most if not all of the time.
Ooooof, I’m gonna point right to the diet soda. Plenty of people are VERY sensitive to artificial sweeteners… if it is keeping your insulin level high, it’s gonna slow your weight loss. Can you cut down? I know it’s a hard thing to give up, but better to experiment now than continue to be frustrated.
As you know, keto isn’t a weight loss plan, it’s a metabolic health plan. If you have lots of weight to lose then in all likelihood you are metabolically deranged. The more deranged you are, the longer it will take to fix those internal imbalances that will enable fat burning. There is a logical sequence here - fix metabolism, burn fat, lose weight… you cannot alter that.
So… you probably aren’t burning much fat yet. You spent years damaging yourself so you shouldn’t expect to fix yourself in a matter of days.
Feel free to quit and do a CICO program that will drive down weight but will continue or exacerbate your fundamental derangement since your obesity is a symptom of, not the cause of your problems.
KCKO > CICO!! 
I’ll quit it completely if that’s the case.
Black coffee? Coffee with a splash of heavy whipping cream (not every day, just as a treat)?
Thanks for the reply
Lots of people have coffee with heavy cream daily WAY better for you than all of those artificial sweeteners in traditional diet soda.
Sometimes… I’m craving soda in a big way. It used to be an addiction (diet, always… but still with the insulin response, not good). When I really want a treat, I drink Zevia. It is sweetened with stevia, which doesn’t have much of an effect on me. You’d have to test that for yourself… but I’d advise giving it up if it is going to cause cravings!
Goldlef, being in ketosis does not mean fat loss. The Captain put it properly. There’s an order to things here - heal, adpat, burn fat. You (and me) are in the healing stage. I don’t care if I ever lose a pound my clothes fit better and my digestion, which has plagued me my whole life, became a total non-issue the day I started keto, no exaggeration.
Urine measures are useless. I use Ketomojo meter and it works fine (I guess it’s right haha.)
I have a keto mojo too and love it! I only have to have one meter to test both glucose (just for my own curiousity not diabetic) and ketones. I notice when I am truly fat adapted my levels “drop” but I feel great. I am currently in day 3 of a extended fast and my blood ketones were at 1.7 last night. To me that just means there is a LOT of healing going on inside that I can’t see. Some people see ketone level in the 4-6 and higher range when fasting. I am doing a complete water fast and my level are not that high. Great attitude. TRUST THE PROCESS!
bulletproof_ketomom, are you fairly active? I think that’s what keeps my numbers low so just curious
I walk but with 4 kids a full time job and travel I don’t “workout” particularly…