How long does it take to reach "ketosis"?

[Fwatuheard]

Sorry if this question has been asked a million times, but the search didn't get me what I was looking for.

I've been on a TKD for 2 days now, and I'm not quite sure if I'm doing all of this correctly. I can't really monitor my diet down to the calorie due to my job, but I'm using common knowledge to steer clear of carbs (bread, rice, beans, fruit, etc, etc). I'm estimating that I've been consuming around 40-50 carbs a day with the bulk of it coming from my post-workout shake.

From you keto pros out there, do you think I can achieve ketosis with my current carb intake, or should I restrict carbs even further? I'm starting to feel like I should restrict carbs totally save for my carb up day at the end of the week ala the CKD.

All I all I got the basics down, but I think I need a little more guidance. Any help would be much appreciated.

[timmymayes]

I was into ketosis within 3 days...but i did a 3 day fast to get into it. I think it can take up to 10 days depending....I think thats the duration of induction on atkins.

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

how the HELL do you not eat for 3 days ?

one day even omg

[timmymayes]

Actually day one sucked ballz. But I perservered. Day 2 was fine no hunger what so ever. Same for day 3. When I say hunger i mean like stomach grumbles etc. I was a little weak and light headed. I mostly watched tv & movies and read books. I did crave food...like thougth about it alot. Which was good because I was able to really thoroughly think through my keto diet. Also coming back from it I didn't crave sweets but like veggies & meats. For example I used to detest cucumbers and now eat them in salads 2x a day. Also since I don't have the cravings for those starchy carbs I have not even come close to cheating on keto. I was in ketosis the second i started the diet, as my liver glycogen was depleted over the corse of the fast, and got all the normal unpleasantries of converting to keto over with within the 1st day basically.

I'll probably fast into keto every time I do it. (Probably going to do keto once a year for the winter months like after thanksgiving till Mid march every year).

Oh and how do you not eat? Discipline. After being able to not eat anything for 3 days, imagine how much easier it is to avoid that piece of cake or m&ms.

[rockin813]

I'm on 3rd day of my keto diet and so far so good...kept under 30g carbs each day.

will i hit ketosis stage before my carb up wknd?
thanks

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

rocking do not carb up this weekend please .
wait 2-3 weeks after you start for your first carb up , then weekly IF you need to .

[rockin813]

thanks for reply. i thought being in ketosis too long is no good. or are u saying it'll take that long to get into ketosis?

as for this wknd...can i eat some carbs but not go overboard and 'carb up'? this sucks...i was looking fwd to the wknd. although im not craving carbs right now. but a hamburber..with a whole wheat bun and some ketchup was sounding nice!

so no carbs this wknd? this sucks.

[GK47]

For some reason i was in keto already when i started mon (light pink on the keto stix) now on the 3rd day i have moved up to the 2nd last shade (0.8 i think on the ketostix bottle).

Probably was due to my poor diet.. but the sun before for dinner i had a ton of chicken coated in batter and white rice.

^weird.

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

Rockin - if you REALLY are serious don't eat a single carb for at least 2 weeks besides your trace carbs - veggies etc ..
Im sure you know dieting is 99% your willpower and determination to meet your goal by sticking to it right ? right !

I mean you COULD have a nice serving of fries and ketchup and your whole wheat bunned up burger - how bout this .. if you MUST .. ;-)

Do not fry the fries - instead bake them .. maybe get jazzy with it and use some of that tato seasoning mix where you add some oil ( use EVOO ) and toss it in the mixture for flavor and bake them .. taste much better than any fried potatoes imho ..

Then for your burger how bout use LEAN ( ultra lean ) chuck and drain teh grease off the pan ...

taper off the fats the meal before that - like if normally on your keto diet meals you get 40g fat per meal get only 20g fat ..

THEN and this would be almost necessary use those carbs to fuel a heavy workout - big muscle groups ..
chest/back session or quads/hamstrings/calves ...

Then have your PWO shake with no carbs in it and have another meal with half the fat you normally intake as your PWO meal an hour later ..
Then resume keto eating .....

STILL THOUGH - you should not do this as it takes awhile for your body to be fat adapted which is the entire point of this diet ..
it's damn near written in stone to wait at least 2 weeks before your 1st carb up for this reason ..

but I aint gonna lie I carb up every 2 weeks - and one day a week between those 2 weeks I have a tkd style meal pre workout for my chest/back day ..
I have a double serving of oatmeal 1 hour before , sip a monster lo-carb drink ( 6g glucose ) during and skip the PWO carbs ..
I'm back in ketosis 1 hour later after a really heavy workout no probs
I even ate 2 girl scout cookies my daughter sold me pre-wo last time on top of the above items 19g carbs and was back in keto still ..

BUT Ive been on this diet 2+ months now , and was doing TKD before probably the only reason it works for me


you really should even skip artificial sweeteners and peanut butter and sugar free jelly among other things the 1st 2-3 weeks of " induction"

jus tellin ya for your own good k ?

k ...

[Ryanmcd]

Took me 4 days, and I do cardio everyday. But the plus is I can eat a lot of carbs and stay in keto.

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

and Ryan makes the point simple .. you need to STAY IN ketosis as logn as possible between carb ups but more so before the 1st one

[stewaat]

I'm on 3rd day of my keto diet and so far so good...kept under 30g carbs each day.

will i hit ketosis stage before my carb up wknd?
thanks

Yea I wouldn't carb up. I would wait at least two weeks. Make sure you are fat adapted before carbing up.

[sanan]

eat 1-2 grams of carbs per meal max,do LISS and you'll be there in 2-3days

[PyroBurns]

Wait, you guys mean for the first time, right?

I'm pretty sure it only takes me one morning, after an hour of fasted LISS.

[Kang114]

how can you tell if your body is fat adapted yet or not.

this is my 4th week of the diet and i feel great. ketostix are marking positive by early afternoon on mondays and my carbups are exactly as written.

is the 2week rule only for those who have NEVER done keto before?(i have done different keto style diets in the past).

[weave383]

Is there a certain number that qualifies ketosis? I got the test strips and its between the second and third colors (small and moderate) around 25-30mg/dL. I started the diet on Thursday so its been 6 days. I did have a decent amount of carbs on Sunday before I played a lacrosse game, played in a flag football game, then lifted so I don't think it made that much of a difference.

[Cmarichi03]

Hey guys, sorry if this question is beating a dead horse but I've been changing my diet to the keto lifestyle and I'm struggling to get into ketosis. I've been doing it for 6 days and still no sign of ketosis. I've definitely cut all obvious carbs out completely and my net carbs are lower than 30 grams per day so far. Is there any advice to make sure all my keto lifestyle bases are covered? Also will having a high daily protein amount hinder entering ketosis. I want to make sure everything is proper so that I can get the best results for fat loss and less muscle gains. Thanks for you time!
Sincerely,
Cris

[weiss1967]

Cris, this thread is very old. Anyways, if you go by keto sticks then no worries if there is no pink. I was worrying myself at the beginning, sticks sometimes only show traces and some other times nothing at all while I know I am in full-blown ketosis. That happens if you either exercise a lot or have good calorific deficit. Learn other signs, tin mouth (hate this part), may be slight headache, loss of apetite - things like that. I ran out of keto sticks a few months ago, but never bothered buying them again. Other obvious signs will be thirst (drink a lot) and more frequent urination, loss of body weight and improved definition. And the most obvious sign of keto - you are not eating any carbs for 6 days and still have energy to move around. This energy obviously came from fat. Now, that being said, check all the labels on the foods you are buying. Specifically processed foods, like salad dressings, it is not easy to find a brand that contain no added sugar. Same goes for cream, it naturally does have carbs, but there is also added sugar on certain brands. Also usual suspects are sausages and BBQ sauces ketchups and so forth. Good rule of thump is no processed foods and cook for youself, so that you can see exactly what goes in.

As to protein intake, I never had problem with keto while I actually eat almost 50/50 fat to protein sometimes. No worrieas about muscle gains either while on calorie deficit.

[BigSnacks]

Yeah, I think the ketostix are about worthless (they never worked for me, anyway). They read pretty much the same, whether I'm in full-blown ketosis or at the other end of the spectrum (bulk/binge-mode).