Under 12 net carbs, no ketosis?

Is it possible to be under 12 net carbs a day and not be in ketosis? Started keto almost 3 weeks ago. Lost 4 pounds the first week and averaging about one pound a week now. One pound a week is pretty good for me though. I stalled for about 5 months and tried everything to keep progressing with no luck. I dont have any signs of being in ketosis. I feel great, have lots of energy, and no metallic taste in my mouth. I lift heavy 3 days a week (full body) & cardio 5 days a week. Is it possible for me not to be in ketosis when eating less than 12 carbs (total cals between 1300-1500) & lifting?

At your size 1 lb a week a a great rate. Does it really really matter if you do or don't show signs of ketosis if you are progressing at a satisfactory rate? ;)

If you've been at 12 carbs a day for 3 weeks, you're in keto. Not everyone gets the "symptoms", I don't myself. As long as what you're doing is working, stick with it.

If you really want confirmation, wal-mart sells ketone strips (urine test strips) for about 6 bucks in the pharmacy section. Just be aware they are notoriously unreliable. If you're really well hydrated, you may get a false negative reading.

** edit - For the record, "feeling great" and "lots of energy" are the symptoms of keto for me.

[QUOTE=c003853;775697823]Is it possible to be under 12 net carbs a day and not be in ketosis? Started keto almost 3 weeks ago. Lost 4 pounds the first week and averaging about one pound a week now. One pound a week is pretty good for me though. I stalled for about 5 months and tried everything to keep progressing with no luck. I dont have any signs of being in ketosis. I feel great, have lots of energy, and no metallic taste in my mouth. I lift heavy 3 days a week (full body) & cardio 5 days a week. Is it possible for me not to be in ketosis when eating less than 12 carbs (total cals between 1300-1500) & lifting?[/QUOTE]

Its possible I guess, but highly unlikely! One pound a week is awesome, keep it up and don't worry about signs that may or may not be there. With the work you are doing, lifts and cardio, you'll reach your goals at in Keto or not, so enjoy.

Agree with BlackJack, although I suffered the initial Keto Cloud for the first week, after i felt more full of energy than ever before!

[QUOTE=Atavis;775727233]At your size 1 lb a week a a great rate. Does it really really matter if you do or don't show signs of ketosis if you are progressing at a satisfactory rate? ;)[/QUOTE]

No it doesn't and I guess I should be happy I'm not having negative side effects lol. I guess I just wanted to make sure I'm on the right track. I've had a long hard road of trial and error with my body so I really appreciate the confirmation that one pound a week is good progress. Thank you! :-)

Thank you all for the confirmation that I'm heading in the right direction and that feeling good and having energy is a sign for some people. The only big change I had to make was adding fat so that could be why Im not having negative side effects.

@blackjack.....I'm always extremely hydrated. I drink about a gallon and a half of water a day plus some black coffee. I'm thinking the keto sticks wouldn't be reliable for me. Thank you for the info:)

[QUOTE=Blackjack68;775727773]If you've been at 12 carbs a day for 3 weeks, you're in keto. Not everyone gets the "symptoms", I don't myself. As long as what you're doing is working, stick with it.

If you really want confirmation, wal-mart sells ketone strips (urine test strips) for about 6 bucks in the pharmacy section. Just be aware they are notoriously unreliable. If you're really well hydrated, you may get a false negative reading.

** edit - For the record, "feeling great" and "lots of energy" are the symptoms of keto for me.[/QUOTE]

same here, in the beginning i got the metallic taste in my mouth and my piss smelled but other than that the symptoms were increased energy and feeling great.

Ketostix are a waste of money in my eyes. I have only showed up as trace amounts once and thats when i was semi well hydrated. At almost 2 gallons+ water a day no matter what I will not show up as i am in ketosis. I just know. I dont need a mall strip with a tiny square pad telling me if i am in a fat burning state.

Chances are extremely high that since you have been doing this under 12 net carbs for weeks on end that you are in ketosis. unless those 12 are just pure sugars ;)

Lol, yeah, not pure sugar. I get my carbs from mostly green veggies but a little from eggs, cream cheese, and nuts.

When I started the ketogenic diet, for the first 3 days I didn't see anything at all on the test strips. I was really startled because I should have seen at least a faint color but nope. On the 4th day though the test strip was the "darkest blue". I was like 2-3gr carb and %70 protein %30 fat and at least 1200kcal/day deficit.
I continued the same way in the following 2 days the test strip faded away from "dark blue" to "nothing" again.

My conclusion was that, my body started burning more proteins and turning them into glycogen. Since the protein ratio was higher. That apparently blocked the ketones from appearing in the urine.

If you want to see the ketones again in the urine, I think you should just consume more fat and have no caloric deficit. So that the proteins are spared from being burned. I will just experiment a bit with the coconut oil.

I think for a body builder, Cyclical Ketogenic Diet is way better than pure Keto. Because this allows muscle mass to be maintained.

i would def. test with ketostix in the morning just to see where you are really at.

Are you able to post your exact diet for a day for us to take a look at?

[QUOTE=NordicPharm;1045069023]i would def. test with ketostix in the morning just to see where you are really at.

Are you able to post your exact diet for a day for us to take a look at?[/QUOTE]

Just for the info: I tested the idea that it was the fat to protein proportion causing this phenomenon. While I was on keto the strip went blank.It continued blank whole day. I did the test in the evening just before eating a bowl of tuna mayonese salad I made.it was still blank. I did the test 2 hours after eating my high fat tuna salad. Voila!!! Strip was dark blue again! I dont think you can go into ketosis in 2 hours just like that. The only explanation was, I was in ketosis but my protein intake was high and the fat burned from the store was negligible compared to burned protein. However as soon as I consumed some fat this is converted to ketones as fast as protein converting -to-glycogen.. So it is visible in the urine. So fat from body tissues converted at a rate slower than dietary protein and dietary fat!