# According to Ketostix I can't get into Ketosis!



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

I've been on CKD now for 2.5wks and every time I p1ss on a ketostick is shows fvck all change. Gutted. Anybody have any idea where I might be going wrong?

My diet looks like this:

Edit: Strong coffee & 10g EAAs before cardio

Meal 1: 3 whole eggs + 30g Cheese

Meal 2: 25g whey (unflavoured) + 1Tbsp olive + 1Tbsp rapeseed oil + 0.5tsp Ginger + 0.5tsp raw cocoa + 0.5tsp xylitol

Meal 3: 120g lean meat/fish + 120g brocc/cauli + 1Tbsp Full fat mayo

Meal 4: As meal 3

Meal 5: As meal 2

Edit: Strong coffee & 10g EAAs before training. 10g EAAs post workout.

Meal 6: As meal 2 (Post workout only)

Meal 7: As meal 2 with no oil in it

This gives me 2200kcals on training days & 1850kcals on non training days.

Macros are:

Fat 149g

Protein 194g

Carbs 36g

I am training Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri & doing 30mins cardio every day first thing.

The first week I felt like crap and was 9lb down (mainly water).

Last week I felt a bit better (but gained 1lb!).

This week I haven't struggled for energy at all, don't know about weight loss yet, weigh-in Monday morning. Good workouts. Good focus. Feel good etc. But nothing on the ketostix since I started.

Any ideas?


----------



## Raptor (Feb 16, 2010)

Yeah my ketostix are inaccurate a lot of the time, some times i will be deep in and later that day after no changes i wont be? And i can't understand it at all. How much sugar is in the ginger?


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

The ginger works out to 0.6g carbs. It's just the dried stuff. I read somewhere it was a good metabolism booster along with chillis but fvck putting chillis in a shake!


----------



## The Big Dog (Jul 13, 2009)

Ketostix are C**P IMHO!. If your hydrated properly they don't seem to work.

Sure someone will help more a more technically mind about them soon but I shouldn't worry too much


----------



## MXD (Jan 23, 2008)

Get rid of cocoa and xylitol


----------



## madmanc89 (Apr 6, 2010)

Blackers said:


> The ginger works out to 0.6g carbs. It's just the dried stuff. I read somewhere it was a good metabolism booster along with chillis but fvck putting chillis in a shake!


use a bit of dried capsacin. wont really taste it


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

MXD said:


> Get rid of cocoa and xylitol


It's the only thing that stops my stomach from rejecting the shake!

I could try it for a while and see if it makes any difference. Don't know til I try right! That is gonna taste rank!


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

madmanc89 said:


> use a bit of dried capsacin. wont really taste it


What's that then? and where can I get it?


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

So I dropped the Xylitol and the cocoa but still the same this week.

I read that drinking alot of fluids can reduce the concentration of ketones in urine which makes sense and probably accounts the the poor reliability of Ketostix.


----------



## benicillin (Feb 28, 2010)

I'm sure i read on here somewhere that ketostix are absolutely useless as they only detect huge amounts of keto in urine or something like that? I could be wrong.


----------



## Cliff (May 2, 2010)

Blackers said:


> I've been on CKD now for 2.5wks and every time I p1ss on a ketostick is shows fvck all change. Gutted. Anybody have any idea where I might be going wrong?
> 
> My diet looks like this:
> 
> ...


Using any sugar/sweeteners in coffee?


----------



## mikep81 (Oct 8, 2010)

If you're hydrated well they won't work, you won't produce more ketones if you drink more water so by the time you go for a pee the ketones will be diluted. Just go by measurments, mirror and weight to see if your loosing anything.


----------



## Phez (Sep 2, 2009)

Drop carbs down low as possible, it's supposed to be sub 30g each day (though I don't know if 6g extra will knock you out of ketosis).

Also protein looks a little high to me....not too high but maybe reduce it a little.

I think the correct macros for ketosis is 30/0/70

Small changes but it might make all the difference.


----------



## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

Throw them Ketostix in the bin mate!! I didn't manage to get into ketosis for the last 8 weeks of my pre-contest prep on a Keto diet, but I still lost a stone and half in that time, and went from about 15% bodyfat to about 6%.

Remember, just because you are not manufacturing ketones it doesn't mean you are not burning fat. Ketones are only manufactured to supply parts of the body that cannot use Free Fatty Acids for energy and must use glucose. The amount needed is very small anyway. Now bear in mind that you will be eating 20-30g of carbs a day, so these will supply the brain and the parts that need glucose. If your protein is high enough then the defecit will be filled with glucose from protein via gluconeogenesis. Thus no fatty acids will be converted to ketones. This doesn't mean your body isn't burning Free Fatty Acids.

If reaching ketosis is so important to you (which it isn't) then you can do the following

1. Drop your carbs as near to zero as you possibly can

2. Drop your protein to as low as you can so that all proteins are used for repair and growth only (This is why a true keto diet must be low on protein)

3. Now this one works brilliantly without fail, eat loads of coconut oil. (MCT's in coconut oil are converted to ketones regardless of other nutrients, even on high carbs coconut MCT's are converted to ketones.

Alternatively STOP getting so hung up about this mystical state of ketosis, and keep track of your fat and lean body mass state, and if the fat is going down, and the muscle is staying, then it doesn't matter a fcuk about ketosis.


----------



## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

Phez said:


> Drop carbs down low as possible, it's supposed to be sub 30g each day (though I don't know if 6g extra will knock you out of ketosis).
> 
> Also protein looks a little high to me....not too high but maybe reduce it a little.
> 
> ...


Beat me to it you fanny!! :whistling: :whistling: :thumb:


----------



## BillC (Jun 11, 2009)

Last time I tried a keto diet, whey protein was what stopped me going into full ketosis. Drop the whey.


----------



## Phez (Sep 2, 2009)

B|GJOE said:


> Beat me to it you fanny!! :whistling: :whistling: :thumb:


I beat BIG JOE at something bodybuilding based????????????

Someone fooking pinch me :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Do you have the acetone like smell on your breath? That is a sure indicator of ketosis and a better one than the stix. Your macros look ok on the face of them, but if you are doing a lot of exercise then you'll be converting a lot more protein to glucose and possibly enough to knock you out of ketosis... this can happen a fair bit even on very low carb intakes (actually precisely because of the low carb intake).

A 'text book' keto diet that would hold you in ketosis optimally isn't really suited to training because you'd consume high fat but only low-moderate protein.


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

Cliff said:


> Using any sugar/sweeteners in coffee?


Nothing in the coffee but water and coffee. Getting to quite like now too.


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

Dtlv74 said:


> Do you have the acetone like smell on your breath? That is a sure indicator of ketosis and a better one than the stix. Your macros look ok on the face of them, but if you are doing a lot of exercise then you'll be converting a lot more protein to glucose and possibly enough to knock you out of ketosis... this can happen a fair bit even on very low carb intakes (actually precisely because of the low carb intake).QUOTE]
> 
> I've noticed the metallic taste in my mouth since I've been on CKD. My missus just tells me I stink in general these days! She won't let me close enough to breath on her to find out whether it's my breath or my pits!! Lol.
> 
> ...


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

BillC said:


> Last time I tried a keto diet, whey protein was what stopped me going into full ketosis. Drop the whey.


Interesting. Thanks for that. That could be next move to swap out some shakes for real food.


----------



## TinyGuy (Dec 7, 2009)

> I'm following Induction strictly; why won't my strips turn purple?
> 
> Ketones will spill into the urine ONLY when there is more in the blood than is being used as fuel by the body at that particular moment.
> 
> ...


sauce http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html

so, ive uve worked out recently, or drank a lot of water...


----------



## Blackers (Jun 26, 2007)

TinyGuy said:


> sauce http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html
> 
> so, ive uve worked out recently, or drank a lot of water...


Good article extract. Thanks. I think I will just flush the fvckin things! Damn that's £7 I could have spent on food. :cursing:


----------

