Ketosis question
 

I'm on week 5 of IP (down 15.2 lbs - go me!)
I bought the ketostix and was surprised that I'm only scaling at "medium"
Does that still mean I'm in ketosis?

I'm very strict on the plan (although I do have a restricted IP treat daily and it's always a chocolately one)
Does that matter?

Thanks :-)

Yes, even a slight positive means you're in ketosis. They measure the ketones that are spilling over into your urine. You might notice your results going from medium to trace over time, as your body becomes more efficient at burning up all the ketones for fuel, hence very little ending up in your urine. You've probably read the other ways to tell if you're in ketosis, e.g. odd odor to breath/urine, dry hands, cold hands or feet.

Sounds like you're rocking the plan--congrats!

Thank you!!
I must be in ketosis
down 17.6 lbs in 5 weeks :carrot:

So... let's say I'm following the plan to a t (not that I am, but let's imagine) & I still not in ketosis, what knob do I tweek?

Have you tried to up your water intake?

I got away from drinking anything with caffeine almost a year ago. I've been drinking plain water ever since, adding Crystal light at lunch & dinner. I'll drink 80 oz of water outside of lunch & dinner on the regular.

The first question would be what makes you think you are not in ketosis?

The second question would be what are you eating exactly? Carbs are what keep you from ketosis.

The question is "if"

I'm new to ideal protein & the whole ketosis paradigm. I'm one of those guys that things has to make sense. For the most part Ideal Protein checks all the boxes except, there isn't a lot of measuring. We're just supposed to follow the plan & it works.

But my question is what if it doesn't?

How many people know the science enough to understand what it is the program is tryingto do & able to figure out why it may not work for a particular individual?

If it's all about following the protocol, what do I really need a coach for?

Too much protein can keep/kick you out of ketosis, too. The body can metabolize excess protein into glucose.

I'd love to read more about this--do you by any chance recall where you read it? Thanks!

I know the last time I lost all the weight it help to have a cheat day if you stalled. Not a huge one by any means just a couple of things that weren't on protocol. Now that I am starting again I haven't needed to do that yet.

The process is called glucogenesis. One article about it is here: https://www.perfectketo.com/how-too-...d-for-ketosis/

If I can find some other specific articles. I'll come back to share.

One book that comes to mind is Jimmy Moore's Keto Clarity.

By being in ketosis, you are changing your body from being a sugar burning machine to a fat burning machine. For reasons that I don't yet completely understand, the body's default seems to be sugar burning. When sugar is available (and it is only available through external sources), the body burns the sugars. When it runs out of sugar, we get hungry.

By becoming fat burning machines, our hunger subsides because the body can rely on internal fat stores for a long, long, long time.

So too much protein gives an opportunity to access sugar. The body switches back to sugar burning and ketosis (the fat burning operation) is gone.

The thing that is so good about Ideal Protein is that you don't have to think about how much is too much protein if you are following the programme. I give thanks for IP.

I found the programme very good for weight loss but I struggled with Phase 4. I am now following a whole foods programme and I use a keto-calculator as a guide for what my macros should be. I keep track of my daily macros/food consumption through an online app.

The macro calculator I use is here: http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/keto-calculator/

IP's macros basically coincide with it.

Based on my research, any source that states that exogenous ketones help get a person back into ketosis has to be discredited. Taking exogenous ketones is like throwing sweat on your body and saying you had a workout and paying a lot of $$ for it. They add ketones to your system, but do not put you into ketosis. Only carb reduction actually puts a person into ketosis.

Thanks for all the info! I sort of remember reading about the protein-to-glucose pathway. But I thought I read also that it does not tend to spike insulin the way that eating carbs does. I don't remember when or where I read it--I mentally filed it away as "ok to eat a lot of protein". But it's something to keep in mind.