Acting on Ketostix reading

RunRachelleRun

I am on day 9 of low-carb. Daily total carb intake has been 147, 94, 72, 62, 49, 60, 130, 40.

I just bought Ketostix yesterday. Last night about 30 mins after dinner it read "Trace 0.5 mmol/L." This morning's read "Moderate 4 mmol/L." I read somewhere in this vast soup of information that it is the morning reading that matters. Correct?

If 1.5-3 is optimal, does a reading of 4 mean I can safely handle a few more carbs or that I should definitely increase my range (I did eat the lowest amount yesterday)? Or do I need to test for a few days before reaching any conclusions?

I am sleeping fine for about 5 hours and then waking up with palpitations and a general feeling of being unwell. This keeps me up for an hour to an hour and a half and then I almost pass out for another hour or so. It is a huge struggle to get out of bed after this.

I lost four pounds last week, but am up two today. I am drinking 100 oz of water with 3/4 t. salt total added and a little potassium chloride.

I normally do strength training 5 days a week and jogging 5-6 days. I skipped yesterday and am trying to talk myself into today. I did a long run (2.75 hours) on Sunday by heart rate where I was a minute per mile slower than the week before, but my stomach was bothering me from some onions I ate the night before. As you all warned, my performance is down and energy is low.

So . . . I have a VO2 max test booked and paid for on Saturday. I prefer to stick to my workout plan this week to get the most out of this test.

My diary is open. Any advice would be super appreciated. Thanks!

RowdysLady

In regards to the ketones - In the morning it's going to be more concentrated because your urine is concentrated. As you drink throughout the day your urine becomes less concentrated thus all components read "less". what matters is that you are getting any result. Even trace means you are spilling ketones so you are getting the effect you want. I would not worry about whether you say trace or moderate. I've never read past the 3rd little color (whatever that is) even with a first a.m. test. I would not base my carbs on those sticks - they will never be 100% reliable. If you want to do base carbs on ketones you'd need a blood test in my opinion. There are many here much more knowledgeable than I in that regard for sure and I know they will weigh in with more info. Your weight fluctuating is not uncommon - stay with the process. You'll see results but some weeks you will see gains or no changes. No matter what your WOE this will happen from time to time. Good luck!

RalfLott

I think most folks here use them more for entertainment than anything else.

The only behavior I ever alter is to go get a big glass of water (or two) if it turns any color more than halfway to burgundy, as the result is highly influenced by hydration level.

There's an entry in the LCD Launch Pad on peestix.

If you're serious about checking ketone levels, then blood and breath testing are really the only viable DIY options.

RunRachelleRun

Thanks for the advice @RowdysLady

@RaftLott I've read everything in the Launch Pad now (but haven't watched all of the videos), but this brain fog isn't helping me retain what I'm supposed to be learning lol!

I thought I'd read these strips worked okay for the first couple weeks, and I was able to pick some up at the second drugstore I tried. We need a prescription to get a blood tester up here in Canada. I'm not sure it's worth bugging my doc about.

Sorry for asking dumb questions!

RalfLott

Not at all!

It's ridiculously hard to find info on MFP, even if you have an inkling where to look, and there are gangs of new members joining LCD every week.

So... By far the best thing to do is to do exactly what you're doing and ask detailed, sensible (and proofread) questions and expect someone will point you (and maybe hundreds of others) in an interesting direction.

Remember, we were (almost) all LF-ers in a previous life!

Sunny_Bunny_

I disagree with the strips being more concentrated in the morning. I think the more full your bladder is, the more dilute the ketones will be compared to the water on the bladder.
The strips really only tell you the concentration of acetacetate in your urine. Assuming you haven't emptied your bladder for several hours, its basically a delayed reading as well.
My daughter is T1D and though her testing is a bit different, we were explained that the urine strips tell us what ketones were 2 hours ago. I don't know if this is accurate, but that's what we were told. However we were also basically told she would die if she ate low carb, so there's that.
Anyway, the strips are more influenced by how much water you drink than how many ketones you're making. And you really can only guess what it translates to. So the best bet is just to accept that as long as it shows anything, you've got confirmation.

But here's an example of tests I kept track of one of the few times I did this.

RunRachelleRun

Wow, very cool. You are a data geek like me, but you do a much better job. I wish I had taken pictures.

Yikes, that sounds pretty scary about your daughter. Hope she listens and eats her carbs!

Your ketones were very high. Did you notice you felt any different when they the ketones were high compared to moderate or small? Did you use your results to adjust your carb intake or did you just stay super low the entire time?

I'm eating quite a few more carbs than you were. I will test them again tonight to see how it compares to the morning.

Thanks so much, @Sunny_Bunny_ !

anglyn1

My readings are nearly always very dark. Even after a year of the diet when most things I read seem to indicate that a lot of people show zero ketones at this point because their body uses them all. I personally think it's more to do with hydration because I don't drink as much as most people do.

Sunny_Bunny_

RunRachelleRun wrote: »

Wow, very cool. You are a data geek like me, but you do a much better job. I wish I had taken pictures.

Yikes, that sounds pretty scary about your daughter. Hope she listens and eats her carbs!

Your ketones were very high. Did you notice you felt any different when they the ketones were high compared to moderate or small? Did you use your results to adjust your carb intake or did you just stay super low the entire time?

I'm eating quite a few more carbs than you were. I will test them again tonight to see how it compares to the morning.

Thanks so much, @Sunny_Bunny_ !

I started out with a 20-30g carb total goal and have been consistently in that range or below for 15 months. I just did it to collect data. I'm happy with my carb level so I wasn't looking to make adjustments. More trying to figure out if there was any consistency to the strips.
Something else I should note, I don't drink a lot of water or other fluids for that matter. I have about 30 ounces of coffee a day. Maybe 20 ounces of water and a cup of tea most days. Sometimes I'll drink 2 bottles water... I just drink to thirst. I never try to get any certain amount of water. I definitely get the high sodium that we very low carbers need. At my carb level I know I'm making moderate and large amounts of ketones every day even if the strip isn't showing it. The only thing I've ever noticed with any consistency is that when my bladder is the most full, the strip will always test smaller. It's simple dilution and has nothing to do with ketone production.
If carbs are low, under 100, you're making some, some of the time. The lower carbs go, the more consistently you make them.

My daughter actually went against the nurses advice and eats low carb anyway. She's the healthiest she's ever been. A1c went from over 14 to 7 in about 9 weeks. Most recent it was 6.9, it's been 6 months now, but she's been cheating by eating small amounts of pretzels and stuff like that. She's staying under 100g carbs a day, usually under 50, but 15-20 of those typically come from a snack that has grains. Even though A1c has still improved, I believe she could achieve very close to a non diabetic A1c even as a Type 1 Diabetic if she kept eating like she did the first few months. But I'm not complaining.

anglyn1 wrote: »

My readings are nearly always very dark. Even after a year of the diet when most things I read seem to indicate that a lot of people show zero ketones at this point because their body uses them all. I personally think it's more to do with hydration because I don't drink as much as most people do.

I'm exactly the same. I can still turn those strips super dark and I don't believe in the idea that you have to force down gallons of water. I just drink when I'm thirsty and that's it.
The strips are VERY indicative of basically how fast you create urine due to how fast you need to rid excess water. I don't have a bunch of excess water to get rid of except after my morning coffee. And guess what, the color is always slightly lighter then. It doesn't mean my coffee has hidden carbs or is lowering ketone production. It just means I watered down my sample.

Sunny_Bunny_

I wanted to clarify that there's no reason to change your water consumption. There's no reason to aim for making the strips darker.
I realize it might seem like I'm saying you don't need to drink a lot of water. If that's what a person wants to do, there's no harm as long as sodium is compensated for.
I just don't like drinking when I'm not thirsty so I don't.

RunRachelleRun

I appreciate you sharing what has worked from you.

I feel as if I am drinking too much, certainly more than usual, so will cut back and see what happens.

That is awesome about your daughter's results. You set a great example for her. My son went vegan at 14 and his diet has been really awful since. He is 19 and vegetarian now, but the kind that doesn't eat vegetables. He lives on waffles and energy drinks primarily. I wish he would make better choices.

My arrhythmia has been acting up since going low-carb. It was particularly bad last night and all day today. I am getting plenty of sodium, but also experiencing some edema in my feet today, which is uncomfortable. I cannot find much information about this in relation to going low-carb. Most of the info suggests people have it before they cut carbs. Anyway, I increased my carbs tonight. Not sure what a good goal is for me. But I was still under 100. It will be interesting to see how that affects the stick in the morning. I will have to start taking photos and keeping better data now that I have seen how good yours are

Thanks again!

KnitOrMiss

RunRachelleRun wrote: »

I appreciate you sharing what has worked from you.

I feel as if I am drinking too much, certainly more than usual, so will cut back and see what happens.

That is awesome about your daughter's results. You set a great example for her. My son went vegan at 14 and his diet has been really awful since. He is 19 and vegetarian now, but the kind that doesn't eat vegetables. He lives on waffles and energy drinks primarily. I wish he would make better choices.

My arrhythmia has been acting up since going low-carb. It was particularly bad last night and all day today. I am getting plenty of sodium, but also experiencing some edema in my feet today, which is uncomfortable. I cannot find much information about this in relation to going low-carb. Most of the info suggests people have it before they cut carbs. Anyway, I increased my carbs tonight. Not sure what a good goal is for me. But I was still under 100. It will be interesting to see how that affects the stick in the morning. I will have to start taking photos and keeping better data now that I have seen how good yours are

Thanks again!

@RunRachelleRun For me, edema/swelling comes from one of two places - less than 5000 mg of sodium daily - more if my water is up --- or my thyroid medication needing to be adjust. Swelling is an indicator that your thyroid function is dysfunctional... It only becomes an indicator of heart issues with some super rare heart conditions - or if you let thyroid issues go undiagnosed for decades or something (I understand with current healthcare systems and information limitations, it's difficult to get properly diagnosed, but getting diagnosed has been the key to me finally feeling better)...

RunRachelleRun

@KnitOrMiss The cause of my arrhythmia is unknown and I am told it is benign. I may have had it all my life, but became aware of it and had testing when I started having gallbladder attacks. I then caught a virus two years ago that attacked my heart (myocarditis). When I was very ill and after my recovery, I had all the heart tests done and there was some leakage found in my echocardiogram, but the cardiologist was not concerned. My heart does tend to cause some anxiety still for me though.

I just checked and I am not hitting 5000 mg sodium most days, closer to 3500 - 4000. Maybe I am afraid to have so much since my heart has been annoyed. But I probably need more since I exercise quite a bit. Thanks for mentioning a specific number!

I will go see my doctor if this doesn't resolve shortly. And what are your carb levels when you get the swelling? if you don't mind me asking

My Ketostix read trace at night and moderate again this morning, despite upping my carbs yesterday.

KnitOrMiss

@RunRachelleRun - Honestly, my carb levels can be 5 or 105 (even higher when I slide off plan for a minute). If I don't get sodium, I swell. Even pre-low carbing...

I tend to run middle of the road these days, between 50-80 TOTAL carbs, though I'm not tightly tracking. I'm trying to nail down a new low carb angle for me that works better (something caused my thyroid to FLIP OUT about a year and a half ago, and I'm just now leveling out). I tend to feel best at keto at breakfast (fatty cocoa), mostly at lunch, too (eggs with stuffs in it or lunchmeat/cheese/pickles-with added fats somewhere or dinner leftovers ), and then higher carb at dinner. Still experimenting, but also looking into alternate plans like THM - that work on metabolic flexibility. One size does not fit all in low carbing. Gotta take that...BEAST...and make it your own!

RunRachelleRun

Thanks so much, @KnitOrMiss . I'm going to up and carefully monitor my sodium today. I hate the swollen ankles and feet!

I am surprised I am seeing anything on the Ketostix given how all over the place my carbs have been. I started out with a goal to just be below 150, but then after reading more about it since joining this group, I have aimed for the minimum based on how I feel each day and what I have available to eat.

Now I have to look up what THM stands for!

Majcolorado

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

then higher carb at dinner

@KnitOrMiss This is interesting - have you identified the why of this? My first hit (which is my experience) was that the carbs stimulate the adrenals and raise cortisol during a natural low point in the circadian rhythm.

I've been gutting it out and trying to increase my sleep to combat that low, because every time I raise my carbs I feel better in the short term and worse a few hours later. I'd love to hear your perspective.

RunRachelleRun

@Majcolorado Does this mean you are waking around 3 or 4 in the morning too and aren't feeling great? If so, how long has it been happening? I was really hoping it was an introductory phase thing that will pass.

KnitOrMiss

@Majcolorado - I'm not wanting to hijack this thread, but the truth is, I don't know. I have hypothyroidism, and some folks with that just react badly to keto for whatever reason. I've had my cortisol tested, but it wasn't out of bounds in a 24 hour, and the suppression test came back well, too, so I don't know.

But, there is some extenuating circumstances. I went low carb 1/15/15, and keto 2/18/15. The last week of March/first week of April, I worked at an outdoor Renaissance Festival for 4 days. The first day was hugely physical, and I did okay that day. Kept up my water, electrolytes, and such. I pre-planned and did okay. During the festival, he provided sandwich fixin's which was okay for me - salami and cheddar, yes please! - but we didn't have enough water and really only got about 1-2 breaks in 12 hours, a good bit of that in the hot sun. I burn easily, and the whole situation was a hot mess. That Saturday (day 3), we were without any water in the whole tent (and I'd stopped bringing my own in my cooler because he was providing it - well, I had a couple, but I was already out) for several hours. Many of us started feeling really horrible. Each night I ate low carb, on plan, but in massive quantities. Estimated calorie burns (even conservatively) were in the thousands each day (before this I had been nearly 100% sedentary in a desk job, M-F, etc.). At the end of the event, my weight loss stalled, completely. I am not 20 pounds heavier than I was almost a year and a half ago, though granted I'm only once size up from where I was, so I'm still fat burning -- sometimes, at least.

So, because of that, I don't know if the stress of keto on my thyroid was nutrient depletion, cortisol related, flared up my stomach acid problem, aggravated my underlying adrenal issues (diag. with "fatigue" in the late 2000's - 2006-2010, treated, unsuccessfully) and PCOS in 2011 and confirmed hypothyroidism (suspected in 2011, confirmed 2013/2014). I'm a mixed bagged mess, so it's hard to go back and say "this was the starting point," "this was the trigger," "this was the lynch pin," etc.

Additionally, it just could have been a heat/sun/exhaustion/sunburn/dehydration situation that flared everything up, to be honest. I really don't have any way of knowing. And as I have ZERO intention of repeating any of the circumstances now that I'm finally feeling decently again, I will really never know. I still feel really good on keto most of the time, but I'm supplementing tons of stuff that I'm apparently not getting from food these days (though now that I'm solving the stomach acid thing, I may be able to back off of some of this eventually), so that's different/better, too. But I have been in a tailspin downhill healthwise since my early 20's (late 1990's/early 2000's), and it is only in the last 5 years (I'm 40 now) that I started fighting back like a crazy person who actually wants to live and be healthy, so there's way way too many factors.

Oh, and I also started doing more with my D3/K2 & associated support players - plus using the daylight lamp at 7 am and 3 pm to help spike cortisol for it to taper naturally and allow melatonin production to kick in normally later. Pairing that with some amino acid stuffs I've been researching, and my sleep quality/wake quality is improving, too. So I'm playing with many experiments, too many to point at any one place, thing, or factor.

As I said, I feel fantastic on Keto during the day... I don't want to introduce more carbs at all, as my history shows that I literally will "narc out" after eating carb stuff, though poor processing (I know, circling back to stomach acid again) might play a part in that, since I don't fit any mold clearly here either...

So, now that I basically told you that I have no clue, hopefully giving some context - and info about what I'm doing now, might help with your question??

KnitOrMiss

RunRachelleRun wrote: »

@Majcolorado Does this mean you are waking around 3 or 4 in the morning too and aren't feeling great? If so, how long has it been happening? I was really hoping it was an introductory phase thing that will pass.

@RunRachelleRun - Last night, per my sleep tracker, my sleep went to crap at about 3:30 pm, no idea why. I think most of the sleep issues are related to missing nutritional components (too many possible reasons why), and that like a developing child, they can come and go at different levels of fat adaption - but they tend to cycle wildly more so when we don't eat on some kind of a level or plan, as far as carbs. They seem to be the fly in the ointment for all things hormonal. So, I'm doing light therapy, balancing daytime/nighttime supplements, using a wake alarm that wakes me in light sleep, amino acids at bedtime, and getting my overall house in order to help with the sleep stuff... I find that pretty much everything "passes" as we adapt. Best of luck to you adapting before sanity runs out. I'm already on borrowed time there myself.

RunRachelleRun

@KnitOrMiss Sorry to read about all your troubles. Glad you are putting up the good fight! The body really is mysterious. It's good to listen to your gut. I've long been aware how food plays the starring role in how I feel; though it's an ongoing challenge to figure out which ones are doing harm and which ones are healing.

Speaking of which, have you seen an allergist for skin testing or IgE blood testing? You may wish to. There are some mysterious allergies out there. In addition to confirming some known allergies, I learned I have a rosin/colophony allergy (it's basically derived from the sap of a tree), which is in millions of household/personal/food products. I was reacting to this regularly and would never have figured it out without allergy testing. My son reacts to this as well as high-nickel foods. He has a threshold he can tolerate, and then he breaks out in hundreds of blisters on his hands (dishydrotic dermatitis), which render his hands useless for weeks. Again, something we couldn't figure out on our own and even his allergist was amazed to see the connection.

I don't recommend seeing a naturopath or doing Eliza/IgG blood testing or food intolerance testing using electro-magnetic fields/pulse, etc. I have tried them all and the results did not coincide with my factual allergies. They have largely been proven to be false.

I hope you figure things out soon too. Thanks for sharing all you have!

KnitOrMiss

@RunRachelleRun - I have actually done skin allergy testing some time back, but it didn't cover all that much from what I remember. It was like 7 pages of results and it was spaced oddly, so like maybe 30 tests? The main things I remember are: allergic to dogs and cats (7), cigarette smoke (high #), pollen (but not mold), hickory, a ton of grasses/trees, and seemingly sensitive to walnuts and pecans - but not anaphalactic. Same with dairy - sensitive but not allergic, etc. But this was WAY long ago. I don't know what else it showed off hand...but I don't think it tested stuff like rosin or nickel or anything like that... I do remember getting the letter that my allergist had retired a few years ago, so I'd probably have to start over... I just remember the doc basically telling my I was way too fat (this was back over 300 pounds) and that basically, my nasal allergies wouldn't ease up unless I moved out of this part of the country... Oh, and we ended up doing a MRI of my brain, to eliminate a tumor as a headache cause, and I have one sinus cavity malformed...just for random interest value.

But yeah, I'm a total mess, but better than I was, and I'm thankful for that. Without this group and the awesome folks here, I would have never started asking questions and hacking my own body! Getting there, on problem at a time! LOL

Majcolorado

RunRachelleRun wrote: »

@Majcolorado Does this mean you are waking around 3 or 4 in the morning too and aren't feeling great? If so, how long has it been happening? I was really hoping it was an introductory phase thing that will pass.

@RunRachelleRun This was happening to me before I went LCHF and was most definitely adrenal-related. I've "recovered" from that, and I've now learned that the afternoon lows are the canary in the coal mine that says I'm at my limit and I need to back off a notch for a few days with a little extra recovery time and sleep. If I start doing the 3am wake up thing again I know I'm way over my limit. Luckily I catch it these days and I can come back quickly.

My experience has been that moving from a high carb to a low carb diet represents a massive equilibrium shift for the body as it tries to maintain homeostasis - including changing whatever (unidentified) extreme accommodations the body was making for the *kitten* stuff we were doing to it and feeding it. A change of that magnitude can expose problems that were unnoticed or completely hidden because the body is so amazing at adapting and surviving.

That's also why supplementation and medications need to be taken so carefully. The good news is that with patience, time, and experimentation you will adapt successfully!

Sorry for all the rambling. Do you have any history with adrenal issues? I'd be skeptical of a regular allopathic doc's ability to diagnose anything like that properly. An MD that is also a functional medicine doc will have a much higher chance of success.

Majcolorado

@KnitOrMiss It might be my confirmation bias talking, but the context of your story was really helpful and confirmed my theory. I was looking for another potential cause for my own issues, as usual, to make sure I had all my bases covered.

I'm sorry for all your struggles, but I have to say you are an absolute inspiration and your knowledgeable posts have already helped me a ton. I hope you continue to improve your health rapidly!

suzqtme

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

My daughter actually went against the nurses advice and eats low carb anyway. She's the healthiest she's ever been. A1c went from over 14 to 7 in about 9 weeks. Most recent it was 6.9, it's been 6 months now, but she's been cheating by eating small amounts of pretzels and stuff like that. She's staying under 100g carbs a day, usually under 50, but 15-20 of those typically come from a snack that has grains. Even though A1c has still improved, I believe she could achieve very close to a non diabetic A1c even as a Type 1 Diabetic if she kept eating like she did the first few months. But I'm not complaining.

Dr. Berstein's Diabetes Solution (he is a type 1 diabetic) talks about using low carb to keep the amount of insulin needed at a minimum. It was one of the first books I read as my fbs had been going up due to high doses of steroids (MS) the last 2 to 3 years. Just an FYI since your daughter has T1D.

I'm a medical technologist (aka clinical laboratory scientist). Morning urines for almost all urine testing were preferred due to it being the most concentrated urine of the day. I'm amazed at people getting positive Ketostix throughout the day. (Green with envy here). Even testing now in the moderate range in the morning, once I start taking in fluids for the day, Ketostix are negative. So to save money, I only test myself in the morning.

The situation is much different for diabetics, especially T1D's.

Not sure if I did the quote thing right cause I deleted parts. Sorry if this is messed up RE names and message.

RunRachelleRun

@Majcolorado , I suspected adrenal issues a few years back from stress and overwork. I work really long days about 6 months of the year (with only a couple days off during that time). My family doc and I talked about it briefly and she ran the standard tests, but nothing stood out. I have seen there are other tests for cortisol, but with my gallbladder, then heart issues, those have stolen my focus the last few years. I find with my doctor, I can only bring her one problem at a time if I want any kind of results. It's hard to choose sometimes lol.

You are spot on and I can feel my body is experiencing a pretty massive shift that it is resisting. I hope I survive and adapt quickly! Thanks for the reply!

RunRachelleRun

@KnitOrMiss The rosin and nickel were on a separate patch test that I wore on my arm for 24 hours. There were ten in total I think. My allergist suspected something contact because I had skin issues, which is why those were done in addition to the standards you mention. Well, at least you know you are pretty clear as far as the major food allergens go, so that's good news. Hacking our own bodies is a great way to put it!

RunRachelleRun

@suzqtme Thanks for the info!

I have only tested for two days but am getting trace in the day/evenings, moderate in the morning. In your experience, does this mean I can likely safely handle moderate carbs (50-80 range) since I have reached some level of ketosis despite not eating near the low 20-30 g some are? Can I increase them a little each day and still see results as long as I am getting moderate (or even low?) in the morning? I'm trying to understand how best to use the results?

anglyn1

I think the main thing to consider is the difference between being in ketosis and being fat adapted. Everyone will be in ketosis from time to time after a period of fasting...like sleeping at night. Even high carb eaters. However unless you are in prolonged state of ketosis your body won't adapt to where it prefers to burn ketones and gets efficient at it.

Do you want to be fat adapted even? You can lose weight just being low carb and not at the keto level. Most people who want to be in ketosis want to be fat adapted and usually for a medical reason like decreasing inflammation, epilepsy, or it's needed for better control of diabetes.

anglyn1

Someone posted this in a thread the other day...it's a good read!

http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2016/01/dont-be-a-ketard1.html

RunRachelleRun

@anglyn1 Thanks for the link. It was a good read.

Yes, I want to be fat-adapted for insulin resistance (which I have not been diagnosed with but believe is likely) and aerobic endurance and still be able to consume the maximum amount of carbs possible to maintain this state. I am having a few physical concerns with this induction phase (the eating part seems easier than the CICO I was doing before - hunger is much reduced, digestion is so much better than I had anticipated) and I am looking for ways to make the transition more manageable. I feel good during the day, other than the edema I got yesterday and have again today. But between 3(ish) a.m. to 9(ish) a.m., I'm feeling sick enough to quit altogether.

I understood that becoming fat-adapted could take a few weeks. I didn't start out caring about ketosis, but after reading so much about it, I thought this might be a good way to tell that I am on my way to becoming fat-adapted.

It is possible I am already somewhat fat-adapted (if that's possible). I have been doing fasted workouts for years and only added carbs a couple months ago. But I'd likely be thinner if I were fat-adapted so. . . . there's that.

I wish things could be simple: "Get this result, now do this." That would be so much easier!

Majcolorado

You can be fat adapted without going keto; I am.

Why do you want to "maximize" the numbers of carbs you're eating? For pleasure, or some other reason?