KETO question

I have started with Keto, but I am having trouble getting into full ketosis. My readings from the ketone strips continues to be only a trace amount of 0.5. My daily carb numbers are:

26g
31g
24g
20g
17g
17g
21g
13g
18g
9g
19g
18g

Does anyone have any ideas for how I can get myself fully into ketosis?

Thanks,

 

Having done this diet, I'll take a stab at it. I think you really have to keep the carb numbers low for a few consecutive days to reach ketosis. I used to strive for 10 carbs a day which allowed me another 5-10 carbs for hidden carbs. If you're doing 17 or 26, while good numbers, are you sure there aren't hidden carbs in there as well? (1 carb in cream for coffee, 1 carb in the gum I chew etc.)

I would try to keep it to 20 for consecutive days and see if that does the trick. Good luck because it does work!

Edit to add: Actually looking at your numbers you have kept it under 20 for the last week. I'm surprised you're not there yet. Maybe tomorrow's the day? Don't be discouraged yet.

 

What are your macro percentages. Are you eating too much protein maybe. It’s really about the percentages. MyFitnessPal is a great tool for keeping track and helping you know where you are. The app also has a pie chart comparing carbs vs proteins vs fats.

 

I use carb manager to track my food... its a great help...even if you don't seem to be in ketosis, have you lost any weight?

 

Agree with monitoring protein and minimizing carbs. As a T2D, I keep carbs low for glucose reasons.

If you want to turbo you keto start, try a fat fast. Google is tour friend on this one. YMMV

 

I have got to be honest with you that I don't know about my macros. I will have to learn about them. I have only been keeping track of carbs & fats, so I have no record of my proteins. I thought that the main 2 components were carbs & fats.

 

I have only lost about 2-3 pounds as I walked my carb input down (i.e. 50s, 40s, 30s ...) on the days before I listed my totals in my original post. I can feel that my appetite is way down & at a high level I know that I have been eating way less than before. I am a pretty patient person but obviously I am getting frustrated with this, but I am no where near the point of giving up on keto.
I will look into the app that was mentioned above and see if I need to incorporate that into my keto effort ...
I have also heard about a fat fast, but I don't know the specifics of actually doing one.

My carbs for today so far are 11g so I anxiously await the results of my next early am ketone test ...

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Edited to add: To give you an idea of some of the food that I have been eating I just finished 4 straight days eating a NY boneless steak a day for a total of 2.65 pounds of meat for my big meal of the day. Absolutely no pasta, no bread (or bagels) at all, no pizza, no beer and only 1 adult drink of a Pinnacle & club soda once.

 

I thought KETO was that casino game where your mark numbers with a crayon....

 

Keto is a daily juggling act to make sure your macros are in line. I did 10% carbs, 25% protein, and 65% fat. Many do less carbs. You have to find out what works for you. There are tools on the internet to help with this. Believe it or not, it's actually difficult to eat that much fat without eating more carbs. Here are a few tips.

As I said, the My Fitness Pal app is great, because it will show you a pie charts with your macro totals. You can set your goals to your macro percentages to see how you are doing each day.

Make sure you take vitamins and eat a lot of salt. Potassium, Magnesium. Your body flushes out minerals while on keto.

Fat bombs. Recipes on Pinterest. Little sweet treats with very high fat content. I made keto cookies which had coconut, peanut butter, butter and sweetener.

Avocados - learn to love them. Good, healthy source of fat. Olives too.

Eat the full fat versions of everything, salad dressings, etc. If it's the "lite" version, it will have more carbs. Choose high-fat meats.

Good luck!

 

make sure you are eating enough...your big steak, for example, what did you have with it? I would have cut that meat in half and had a salad with ranch dressing with it. what is breakfast? eggs and bacon? whats for lunch? a cheeseburger without the roll but lettuce tomato ... and maybe a side veggie. there are so many foods you can have and you can incorporate them throughout the day... I really don't think you are eating enough and variety is the only way to stay on this way of life. Have you heard of chaffles? there are so many recipes for them (they are waffles - made with a combo of eggs/cheese and spices) they can be sweet or savory depending on if they are for a sandwich or as waffles.. just an example of the variety that is low carb/keto... and Carb Manager is a free app...I use it everyday

 

Breakfast: 2 eggs steamed on the tray in top of my rice cooker
2 slices of bacon (baked in the oven) or 2 of those small round breakfast sausages cooked on the stove in boiling water
Most days I have a serving of the full fat cottage cheese part way thru the morning
then before lunch I have coconut oil (I am increasing this gradually up to almost 2 tablespoons at this point)
today when I was away from home I had 2 orders of scrambled eggs @ the golden arches along with 2 medium coffees (with 2 tablespoons total of heave cream added in)

Lunch: cheeseburger (no bun) with LTO & some mustard
sometimes I have a chicken burger with mustard
crispy chicken sandwich (no bun) from Smashburger with mustard or sometimes just plain
spicy chicken sandwich (no bun) from Chick-fil-a with cheese & either mustard or plain
sometimes a small steak broiled
sometimes a salmon burger with olive oil & spices

Dinner: the NY steaks that I mentioned before & I struggle coming up with sides for this as a few times I had 1/2 of an avacado or buffalo cauliflower or asparagus
a few times I had the salmon burgers for dinner
crispy chicken sandwich (no bun) from Smashburger with mustard or sometimes just plain
a few times I had sausage

Snacks: small serving of blackberries
a serving of almonds
cheese
canned chicken, tuna or salmon
occasional stalk or two of celery
radishes baked in the oven with olive oil and spice(s) ... this was also the side item for my steak a few times at dinner
small jar of green olives

Edited to add: My dinner steaks were approximately 2/3 of a pound per meal.

 

I am going to see if I can retroactively fill in some of my past days into that app and see what it says about my percentages ...

 

I have also never heard of chaffles, but they sound very good and something that I would like.

 

mmmmmm.. Pie

 

Pie is NOT on the Keto diet!!!

 

for 3 chaffles in a dash mini waffle maker - 1 egg, 1/2 cup shreddedmozzarella cheese,cinnamon and vanilla extract or cake batter extract... mix everything well ... when waffle makes is hot sprinkle a little mozzarella cheese, then 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of mix, little cheese on top... cook for at least 3 minutes... top w/sugar free syrup and enjoy! For bread like for sandwiches or hamburger buns same recipe except shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella and season with garlic, salt, pepper,onion powder..

 

Low carb is a great diet, when I first did it, I lost 14 pounds the first week, and 7 pounds the second. , after that it was 2-3 pounds a week. it seemed like in no time I lost 50 lbs. If you are serious about ketosis you should begin with under 15 carbs a day, and very slowly building that number up, it varies ,but for me when I get above 35 carbs, I will pop out of ketosis. Compared to when i started with Dr Atkins, there are many, many products and Recipes out there.

Remember only one fun size candy bar, or one piece of fruit, and you will be out of ketosis. My wife was chewing sugarless gum and couldn't get into Ketosis.

AND The Trick is (as with any diet) PORTION CONTROL. Let me say that again PORTION CONTROL, AND DRINK A LOT OF WATER, CUT BACK on SALT

In the beginning when you want ketosis to do most of the work, and you want to realize this works, Keep the carbs under 15, and the portions Small. EAT ONE OF SOMETHING INSTEAD OF TWO. You are trying to lose weight, not maintain - that comes later, As you drop pounds, and gain confidence after a few weeks, start slowly adding carbs, eating larger portions, and taking advantage of those delicious recipes out there.

Everyone I have ever seen fail on this diet, was under the silly notion you can eat all you want. You will hit plateaus, on the way down, don't cut down on the fat you eat, that is another mistake. A week might go by with very small loss, don't worry.

The goal is to get to the weight you want to be, and have a good understanding of how many carbs, and what portions you can eat to stay there. then you make the decision

REMEMBER: Take potassium and Calcium, or you will suffer terrible cramps, since the foods you eat to keep your potassium up are high carb,

 

My wife just bought a mini waffle maker and makes the chaffles. They are great for sandwiches! BUT, I told her we should buy a BIG waffle maker, because it takes too long to make enough for 4 sandwiches.

 

i hear ya... I wish I had one that make 4 at a time! I do have 2 of the minis though so I can do 2 at a time

 

Also, wean yourself off the snacks. The more times you eat during the day, the more tomes you will spike your insulin.

When insulin rises, you go into fat-storage mode, rather than fat-burning mode.

Check you lock library for books by Dr. Jason Fung. The Obesity Code is my favorite. Also check on The Diabetes Code. It adds more detail.

As always, YMMV.