Hello Keto Friends I need your help and wisdom. I have to figure out what I am doing wrong
I have been trying to do the Keto diet for 2 weeks and I cannot get into Ketois. I have been testing using smackfat.com test strips, every test is negative. I haven't lost a pound but maybe a few water lbs and I have not gone through any keto flu except maybe a slight headache. I need help to figure out what I am doing wrong. I have followed every guideline outlined by the "keto laws". Can you help me figure out where I am going wrong. The only thing I haven't tried yet is fasting for a full 24 hours. I will outline my stats and details below.
Age: 34
Weight: 235 lb
Height: 6'1"
BMI: 16%
Lifestyle, Active: 6 days workout, lifting and cardio
Meal 1:
Bullet Coffee
Meal 2:
Chicken
Necessary Fat
Veggies
Meal 3 post workout
Protein shake
Meal 4
Beef
Veggies
Necessary Fats
I am following the the suggested marcos of 5% carb / 20%protein / 75% fat, for me this turns into 180g Protein / 165g protein / under 20g Carbs. I am doing IF starting at noon and last meal at 8. I track all my macros using a phone app. I hit them every day.
I do not cheat on diets, I do not care how bland they are I never add random flavorings. I count every carb and weight my food out. I do not add condiments that have hidden carbs, if I don't know what's in it I don't eat it.
Friends I need someone to help point out what I am doing wrong. Can you help me?
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Results 1 to 18 of 18
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01-13-2019, 10:26 AM #1Registered User
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Cant get into Ketosis, What am I doing wrong
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01-13-2019, 10:53 AM #2Registered User
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Maybe you missed the strip. Better aim?Originally Posted by LuckyEleven
Metal was made to be played in the gym.
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01-13-2019, 11:36 AM #3Registered User
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Na I gots skills hahahaTP_no_trick_pee_4x4_STFA_copy_1024x1024.jpgOriginally Posted by AntoineIbanez12
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01-14-2019, 05:42 AM #4Registered User
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Have you had a metabolic panel done? Know your thyroid levels? If you don't have a metabolic issue, then the science says if you follow those macros, you absolutely will be in ketosis after a few days. The caveat to that is, is your caloric intake. If your calories eclipse your TDEE, you may not lose weight, even if you get yourself in ketosis. If calories are not the issue, you must be getting higher carbs in somehow. For instance, is your protein shake a concentrate blend with sweeteners? What kind of veggies are you eating? Some have far more carbs than you think.Originally Posted by LuckyEleven
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01-16-2019, 05:41 AM #5Gaintaining
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Teststrips are inaccurate. If you really want to know if you're ketosis you'll need a blood meter.
Then again, it's irrelevant whether you're in ketosis or not.Recommended science based fitness & nutrition information:
Alan Aragon https://alanaragon.com/
Brad Schoenfeld http://www.lookgreatnaked.com/
James Krieger https://weightology.net/
Jorn Trommelen http://www.nutritiontactics.com/
Eric Helms & Team3DMJ https://3dmusclejourney.com/
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01-25-2019, 08:09 AM #6Banned
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Forget the test strips OP
Up your fats. like really up them
IE breakfast
Fry 3 bacon strips in skillet with butter, fry eggs in same pan with grease, top with cheese
lunch-- ground beef, spinach, avocado.
dinner- chicken or steak, salad, nuts, olive oil.
Do this for a week, your pee will start to smell really bad, your energy will increase, you will KNOW ur in ketosis
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01-29-2019, 01:06 PM #7Registered User
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Bad test strips?
You either have some bad strips (temperature, exposed lights etc can ruin them) or maybe you are really having extra carbs that aren't being tracked. The first suggestion actually happened to me before. Through many experiments, I test positive for keto with any amount of fat/protein. Maybe not always in nutritional range... But ketosis none the less. The lack of carbs is what triggers Ketosis.
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02-01-2019, 07:18 AM #8Registered User
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ThisOriginally Posted by robriceandbeans
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02-01-2019, 04:12 PM #9Few things:Originally Posted by LuckyEleven
#1: What kind of "bullet" coffee? 2 TBSP of butter? MCT oil? Heavy cream?
#2: What kind of "Veggies"?
#3: What do you consider "necessary fat"?
#4: What kind of protein shake are you taking?
#5: What kind of beef are you eating?
I'm not trying to nitpick for the sake of tearing your macros apart. I've found that the devil is TRULY in the details when it comes to Keto. I've been doing it for 2 months solid and have lost 30lbs, and find it VERY Easy to stay in ketosis (average 3.5-4 mmol) if I eat super keto (less than 10g carbs). If I eat right around my 20g limit or bust my protein intake for the day, I hover around 1.5-2mmol. I also incorporate the 16-8 IF, and i work out on an empty stomach. I find that when I work out on an empty stomach, my body uses fat (ketones) for fuel instead of carbs. Bad part is that the body operates better for heavy lifts if you have carbs to fuel it. Ketones are great for stamina exercises. Found that out the hard way when my goal was to end this deployment under 200 and as a member of the 1000 lb club. I tested after my first month here (NOT on keto) and I was about 20lbs short, but hadn't lost any weight yet. Started keto then re-tested my 1RMs and they had all gone down, notably my BS went down 50lbs. I've found that lifting heavy and being on keto (at least in the first few months) are mutually exclusive. However be cognizant that if you DO heavy lifts at the gym, your muscles will burn "emergency" glucose that your liver has stored for "emergency" situations, thus your blood ketones will lower immediately after your workout. But relax because they'll rebound pretty fast. The other day I did a really heavy leg workout (talking jelly legs here) and i tested myself immediately after my workout and I was at .7mmol. I freaked out and made a bulletproof coffee but got sidetracked before I could drink it. I tested myself again (about 30 mins later) and I was already up to 1.5mmol. The body is a craaaaaazy thing.
Off the top of my head, i'd say you're getting too much protein. Too much protein will have your body in the gluconeogenesis process which produces excess sugar.
Speaking of sugar, is what you listed the only thing you're putting into your body? Sugar will cause that insulin spike and insulin suppresses ketone production.
My personal macros are:
2170 cal
191g fat
92g protein
<20g fat
My typical day is:
wake up around 1000
work at 1100
pre-workout drink (prejym) (WITH 2-3TBSP MCT OIL) 1330
workout 1330-1530
eat dinner 1700
IF i need any macros, i'll eat them by 2100
repeat
The absolute hardest thing for me to do when i first started is getting enough fat, and keep my proteins low enough. When it comes to getting enough fat, I have had to start putting MCT oil into my pre-workout and IF i do a protein shake, add MCT oil to that as well. I've also started eating spinach salads and most of the time I'll use olive oil (TONS of good fat) but if i'm on the lower end of mmol's, i'll use MCT oil and vinegar instead of olive oil (turns into ketones faster and with less of a burning process). Also, I've been making "mayo fire" for my meals. I use 2-3TBSP of hillmans real mayonnaise (10g fat, 0 carb 0 protein). it DOES have sugar on the label, but not enough to make it more than 0g of sugar in the nutrition. I mix franks red hot with it and viola! a GREAT dipping sauce with tons of fat in it. So when you think about my dinner, while stuck with DFAC food, I generally get at least 2-3tbsp of olive oil, 2-3tbsp of mayo with every meal. if your'e counting, that's around 50-75g of fat just in those two ingredients. Add to that the 3tbsp of MCT oil in my pre-workout and i'm getting around 120g of fat just in those 3 things. I stopped my bulletproof coffee because i didn't want to break my fast till pre-workout, but that leaves me with 80 or so grams of fat that I need to get through my foods.
My final thing that helped me get into ketosis fast (IMO) was adding a scoop of exogenous ketones to my bulletproof coffee every morning for the first 2 weeks. Now I can't tell you whether that helped me more than it would have if i didn't use them, but I didn't experience any keto flu symptoms and was in ketosis VERY Fast.
i'll also agree with the person that said to test your blood ketones. The urine test strips are notoriously unreliable. Suck it up and get the blood meter (I use keto mojo). I found that it's better to have the blood meter because you can test yourself after you eat or drink certain things to find out exactly what does what to your blood ketones. I was shocked at what some of the things I was eating was doing to my blood ketones.
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02-04-2019, 06:17 AM #10Registered User
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Use Keto Strips that you can buy from Amazon. Look and see which brand has the highest ratings and customer reviews to test yourself on a regular basis as you start your journey.
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02-04-2019, 06:18 AM #11Registered User
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Use Keto Strips that you can purchase from Amazon.
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02-05-2019, 06:39 AM #12Registered User
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I did the math. If you're eating 20g of carbs, 180 grams of fat and 165 grams of protein, you are eating 2,360 calories, 3% carbs, 69% fat and 28% protein. (1 gram of carbs has 4 calories, 1 gram of protein has 4, and 1 gram of fat has 9, approximately). 20 x 4 = 80 80/2,360=3.39% 180 x 9 = 1,620 1,620/2,360 = 68.64% 165 x 4 = 660 660/2,360 = 27.97%Originally Posted by LuckyEleven
Those calories may be too high. Also, it's only been two weeks. It can take longer than that for some people to get into Ketosis when they first start.
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02-12-2019, 06:11 PM #13Registered User
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There’s some good points in your post. I’m averaging less than 2400 cals and I’m consistently at 30% protein. I should be eating more, but my appetite is dead.
I’m basically eating nothing but ground pork with nothing added but salt and pepper, ribeye, and avocado. I also drink some cold brew, black. A few nights I’ve eaten some grilled scallops. My weight loss has really tanked lately. I’ve only lost .5 pound in 2 weeks. I’m not sweating it badly because the fat rolls are gone and I can see my abs.
Eating this simply worked awesome, and knocked off 30 pounds in about 8 weeks. I think My body has adjusted and my protein is too high to keep losing. I’m eating about double the protein you are, and I’m only eating 300 more cals. That’s probably why I’ve stalled a bit.
Btw, for most of this time, I’ve lost very little strength. I had one bad workout this week, but that’s because my appetite was dead and I only ate 1350 and 2100 cals on back to back days.
I’m doing an upper/ lower split. 2x a week each. One max effort and one speed day. I’m no expert on training, but it’s keeping my strength up better than anything I’ve ever tried. I usually drop off a cliff when I’m cutting fat. Plus, I can see my abs well about 10 pounds sooner than usual.Last edited by longrob; 02-12-2019 at 06:16 PM.
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02-16-2019, 01:34 PM #14Registered User
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It could be your protein consumption. Generally oxaloacetate comes from carbs. It can, however, come from protein. Oxaloacetate prevents the formation of ketones. (I'll skip the details but if interested you can look up Acetyl-CoA conversion to fatty acids vs ketones & the role of oxaloacetate).Originally Posted by LuckyEleven
The amount of protein that one can consume and achieve and stay in ketosis varies individually based on that factor primarily. If you're sure you aren't missing hidden carbs and there aren't artificial sweeteners (for example in your protein powder) that you might be sensitive to (a small possibility) then I'd suggest cutting down protein intake some and see if that makes the difference.
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02-18-2019, 11:54 PM #15Registered User
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What vegies do You eat exactly? How many carbs does the protein shake have? Maybe try some other brands of tests
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02-21-2019, 04:28 AM #16Registered User
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I was having the same problem actually... My macros were all correct but try as I might I couldn't get into keto, I ended up switching to a 20 hour fast 4 hours eating with keto and it changed the game for me. After doing keto for over a month and no results I finally got some as soon as I started fasting, 12 pounds down this month and no signs of slowing down with no obvious side effects like decreased performance in the gym, In fact I feel more energized.. Anyways I suggest trying it out and seeing if it works for you!
Good luck!!
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02-23-2019, 04:15 PM #17Registered User
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I'm not going to read through the posts here, I'm about to go into the gym... I'm going to assume everyone's focused on your macros.
But, are you pissing on the strip? Or are you pissing into a container and then dipping it.
If I piss on the strip with a heavy stream I blow the reactive coating right off and no ketones are detected.
If I dribble piss on the strip also no luck.. as there isn't enough fluid for a reaction.
But if I piss a bit into a glass container, and then dip the strip... Instant ketosis.
It might not be your diet, it could just be how you perform the test.
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03-09-2019, 07:32 PM #18Registered User
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are you checking everything you eat for carbs, including: Protein Powder, Any Sauces, the veggies themselves...
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