I am curious as to when most of you hit ketosis? I'm a little worried because it's Wednesday AM and I really don't see any trace of ketons on the ketostix. When do most of you hit ketosis? And what could I be doing wrong?

I did AM cardio mon,tue and today (40 min jog) on an empty stomach with ripped fuel extreme.

Mon and Tue I did upper/lower body workout.

I have been taking ALA and vanadyl twice a day.

I drink a lot of water.

My diet consists of eggs and bacon in the morning, tuna w/ mayo for lunches, and usually two large burgers with some A1 at night. Or steak.

When I am at work (I work at a restaurant) I get a cesar salad with grilled chicken. I've been taking two tablespoons of flax (anyone know the best way to mix that with something - tastes kina yuck....)

Responses appreciated.

I rarely get into ketosis that soon. If I measured it obsessively I probably would have found some right after meals, but the stable between-meals ketosis produced from my own bodyfat doesn't usually arrive until Thursday or so. Seems like it gets harder to reach as your bf drops - my friends who've tried CKD can get into ketosis in a day, but they have more supply, so to speak...

West,

I see you are at 5% body fat - and you started at 190 lbs - what was your body fat at 190? I am wondering cuz I weigh 190 right now - and have 12% - down from 13.6 before I started CKD (only on the 2nd week now) - Do your friends have significantly more than that?

I would like to get down to 180 / 6-8%

How long did it take you?

Also West - If you only hit ketosis for 1 day (assuming carb up on friday) does this even result in fat loss?

The weight numbers I put in were approximate - you've seen my carbup record with a 8-pound swing. When I started at 190 I was probably 8-10%. You should be able to get to 180/6%. Those guys I knew that hit ketosis in a day were in the 20-some range.

Of course you can lose weight without ketosis - the ol' energy balance comes into play. To me it's a little more convenient to diet in ketosis because it suppresses hunger, makes me feel better, and the fat loss is a bit more effective, but if I'm not in it by Friday, fine - try something different next week...

By the way, I carb Saturday morning - Sunday afternoon. That was actually one of the things that broke my previous plateaus. Possibly because I spent more time in ketosis, or quite likely also because carbing at night is more likely to produce fat regain.

If you are very well hydrated, esp to the point of peeing clear (sorry for the bluntness), your strips may not turn even though you are in ketosis. The ketones are simply too diluted to register. Ketosis blunts your appetite, makes your mouth taste funny (sweet.metallic) and may change the odor of your sweat, breath and/or urine. If you notice these signs, you are probablu in ketosis even if your strips don't change.

Another way to tell is to collect the urine in a cup and stick the strip in the cup. This can sometimes give a result when the ol' stick-it-in-the-stream method doesn't work. (Can you tell I know WAYYY too much about this?)

Also, those of you who carb up on stuff like Gatorade, check the label for fructose, esp High fructose corn syrup. Fructose (even from real fruit) tends to sneak into the liver rather than the muscles and it will live there for a few days, thus making ketosis harder to establish. If you think fructose is the problem, read the labels of your baked goods, too. It's in bread, juice, cookies, etc.

I carb up from dinner Friday thru dinner Sat and hit ketosis around dinner Sun.

Cheers,

Friday

For you guys out their, do you lose your appetite when you are in ketosis? I am getting great results with the ckd but I dont really get the symptoms of ketosis. I am pretty sure I am doing everything right. I only eat 10-15 carbs a day and do the am cardio 5 times a week. Could it be I am in ketosis and its just that everyones body reacts differently?


Geoffrey

Well I suppose one way for you to find out is to get the sticks, but as fridayeyes pointed out, they can be diluted, etc. I also recall Lyle posting something on the lowcarb list to the effect of ketones being reabsorbed from the urine by the kidneys (nothing wrong with being blunt). Normally they don't do that but some researchers found it as a possible mechanism of adaptation to starvation.

To me anyway, ketosis does suppress hunger and gives me more energy - that's why I try to get there by eating less protein and more fat in the beginning of the week. However, it's not absolutely necessary for weight loss, it's just easier to diet that way.

West,
About how many grams of fat are you consuming daily?According to the ckd parameters from the calculator I should be getting about 136g of fat a day. Maybe I should increase that. I am getting great results, I just hate being hungry a ll the time.

Geoffrey

I'm not sure which calculator you're referring to (if you have a link, please post). I eat about 160-170 g or so, weighing 185 on average (carbed/depleted).

How much protein?

Well I just tested with a ketostick and it's pretty dark purple - the darkest I've ever seen it. It's Thursday PM btw. I did some morning cardio this morning as well.

On a side note - based on what seems like an overwelming recomendation, I also purchased some coconut oil this morning.

I took one tablespoon full before the AM cardio w/ some ripped fuel extreme. Is the dark purple related to the coconut?

Also, can the coconut replace the flax oil? I actually don't mind downing a spoonfull of the coconut oil - but the flax on the other hand tastes like crap.

Geofrey - It seems to me you might not be in heavy ketosis or at all then. In fact yesterday and today seem to be the only days that I have been - and I'm not hungry at all. I do eat though to make sure to minimize muscle loss. Are you measuring ketones on the ketostix? Maybe get some of that coconut oil - as I said above I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not but took some this morning and immediately I'm in the dark purple region, whereas before I'd only get a mild pink.

Coconut oil... hmmm, gotta try that. Is that following Duchaine's recommendations on medium-chain triglycerides?

West,
Here is the link for the calculator: http://www.voicenet.com/~petrizzi/fitness/ckdcalc.html

I got that off of Trainerdan's site. The calculator tells me take take in about 130 grams of protein, but I usually go over by about 50grams. Pasoa, my diet looks alot like yours. I am definetly gonna go pick up some coconut oil this weekend. Hopefully that will suppress my hunger.

What a cool toy!

G- I've found extra protein to be a problem for getting into ketosis, at least in the first few days of the week. That's when I try to keep it at 0.5 g/lb for a day or two. It sucks to do but gets me into ketosis by Thursday or late Wednesday if I am really active. I don't do that all the time, just when I feel particularly motivated!