KETO: How few carbs you need to maintain ketosis?

2

Replies

  • kuranda10
    kuranda10 Posts: 593 Member
    edited May 2015
    @JPW1990 , I use the one a few posts above. It doesn't tell you what macros to aim for, it tells you if you are actually in ketosis with what you've consumed.

    @missladyfit, I don't think it matters. I personally use gross, which maybe why 1.3-1.5 works for me if yuo take fiber out those ratios would be higher.
  • andysport1
    andysport1 Posts: 592 Member
    keytone strips
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    andysport1 wrote: »
    keytone strips
    Ketone strips? What about them? To check if you're in ketosis? I never liked the urine strips,I go for the blood ketones... More accurate, and I'm an accurate type of guy.

    As for the number of carbs you have to stay below, it really is personal... I can't go above 20g, but then again, it depends on what type of carb... If it's leafy greens,I bounce back pretty quickly... If it's carrots, broccoli, peas...oh peas... It takes me a bit longer to go back.

    Proteins will do the same, eat enough and you will drop out of ketosis pretty quick as well, since the liver will create carbs out of proteins... We can talk more, wife needs me now...

    One parting note, remember to be in ketosis, you need to eat lots of fats... That is the only thing that creates ketones. My ratios are 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carbs. Don't worry about the calories, I eat close to 3000kcals/day, and I lose about 5lbs/week. Oh btw, treat sucrose and seed oils for what they are...POISON!

    Later.

    Michael.
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
    suessm wrote: »
    andysport1 wrote: »
    keytone strips
    Ketone strips? What about them? To check if you're in ketosis? I never liked the urine strips,I go for the blood ketones... More accurate, and I'm an accurate type of guy.

    As for the number of carbs you have to stay below, it really is personal... I can't go above 20g, but then again, it depends on what type of carb... If it's leafy greens,I bounce back pretty quickly... If it's carrots, broccoli, peas...oh peas... It takes me a bit longer to go back.

    Proteins will do the same, eat enough and you will drop out of ketosis pretty quick as well, since the liver will create carbs out of proteins... We can talk more, wife needs me now...

    One parting note, remember to be in ketosis, you need to eat lots of fats... That is the only thing that creates ketones. My ratios are 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carbs. Don't worry about the calories, I eat close to 3000kcals/day, and I lose about 5lbs/week. Oh btw, treat sucrose and seed oils for what they are...POISON!

    Later.

    Michael.

    So much wrong here. No average mfp user is going to knock themself out of keto with protein. Maybe if you were doing Thrall's 10k/day with 600g of protein, but I seriously doubt there are many people here training strongman, and if there are, they already know their macros.
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    edited June 2015
    Well, I'm just speaking from what I have experienced... For me, once my glycogen levels are maxed, my blood glucose levels go up and my ketones levels go down as I increase carbs beyond 20g and my protein goes around 200g. Not that I'm totally out of ketosis, just I'm not at 1.3+ mmol/dl, but more like 0.7 - 0.9mmol/dl.

    Besides, what's the goal to be in ketosis? Weight loss or medical reasons? It really doesn't matter how deep you are, as long as you're getting the benefits you're seeking.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Ketosis by itself has no meaningful impact on weight loss. Plenty of people gain weight while in ketosis - it's really not very hard.
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Ketosis by itself has no meaningful impact on weight loss. Plenty of people gain weight while in ketosis - it's really not very hard.

    Really, hmmm that really surprises me, but whatever... I would think that reducing the food that affects blood glucose by increasing it, weight loss would be a good side benefit, though when I decided to try ketosis,I eliminated grains, sucrose (heck avoided all sugars,) breads, fruits... and I lost like a fiend... If you have gained weight while truly in ketosis, please let me know how... I could use that information to try to break through my temporary weight stall...

    Always learning!

    Michael.
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    edited June 2015
    suessm wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Ketosis by itself has no meaningful impact on weight loss. Plenty of people gain weight while in ketosis - it's really not very hard.

    Really, hmmm that really surprises me, but whatever... I would think that reducing the food that affects blood glucose by increasing it, weight loss would be a good side benefit, though when I decided to try ketosis,I eliminated grains, sucrose (heck avoided all sugars,) breads, fruits... and I lost like a fiend... If you have gained weight while truly in ketosis, please let me know how... I could use that information to try to break through my temporary weight stall...

    Always learning!

    Michael.

    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you are
    eating more calories than you burn.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    auntstephie321 wrote: »

    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    How does that work then ?
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    edited June 2015
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    I suppose so... It's just that when I'm in moderate ketosis, (1.4+ mmol/dl) I'm not that hungry... When I'm nearer to 2mmol/dl, I'm feeling nauseous, but that's another story... When I'm around 0.5 - 0.8mmol/dl I can eat a bunch more, but those times I find myself eating more proteins and/or carbs than what I should, which is why my ketones are so low... That's why I try for my sweet spot of 1.5mmol/dl.

    Again, if some ketonic weight gainers could let me know their experiences, I'd love to listen, love to understand their diets and how food affects them... I'm truly interested.

    Michael.
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »

    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    How does that work then ?

    How does what work?
  • missladyfit
    missladyfit Posts: 54 Member
    suessm wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    I suppose so... It's just that when I'm in moderate ketosis, (1.4+ mmol/dl) I'm not that hungry... When I'm nearer to 2mmol/dl, I'm feeling nauseous, but that's another story... When I'm around 0.5 - 0.8mmol/dl I can eat a bunch more, but those times I find myself eating more proteins and/or carbs than what I should, which is why my ketones are so low... That's why I try for my sweet spot of 1.5mmol/dl.

    Again, if some ketonic weight gainers could let me know their experiences, I'd love to listen, love to understand their diets and how food affects them... I'm truly interested.

    Michael.
    I don't suppose I've ever gained weight while in ketosis. I just don't get hungry enough to eat more than maintenance calories and gain. I feel a lot more in tune with my appetite when I eat low carb (regardless of keto status). Carbs make me want to eat more carbs. Keto keeps me full so even on the days that I do go over on calories I tend to eat less the next day so it evens out. IMO, it's hard to absent-mindedly eat more than maintenance calories while I'm on keto.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »

    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    How does that work then ?

    How does what work?

    What you wrote
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »

    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you are eating more calories than you burn.

    How does that work then ?

    How does what work?

    What you wrote

    Edited
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    missladyfit wrote: »
    ...Carbs make me want to eat more carbs. Keto keeps me full so even on the days that I do go over on calories I tend to eat less the next day so it evens out. IMO, it's hard to absent-mindedly eat more than maintenance calories while I'm on keto.

    I agree with you 100%, the more carbs I eat the hungrier I am throughout the day... and when I'm ketonic, I have to remind myself to eat... Wife doesn't like to eat alone. That's why I'm so interested in learning about some that gain weight when in ketosis.
  • jonjoefischer
    jonjoefischer Posts: 13 Member
    Well there are many people who monitor ketone presence but do not monitor calories at all, which is extremely foolish. If you want to watch a train wreck, go to reddit.com/r/keto. There are literally people bragging about losing five pounds in a calendar year while eating tubed cheese.

    I've been in nutritional ketosis for 47 days, and went from 205-173 in that time. I'm stopping in another 10-12 lbs. the reason for my success personally needs no speculation because I followed my doctor's instructions and monitored ketones daily (which, by the way, those strips don't work once you're in for a couple months because there aren't any more ketoacetones in your urine).

    I apologize if this comes as smug of course, I just know what worked for me.

    Michael, you should check with your doctor regarding your ketone monitoring- 1.5mmol/DL is still a little lower than optimal. 2.5-3.5 is a better range to maintain in my opinion, but you would have to get down to <20g carbs daily.
    suessm wrote: »
    auntstephie321 wrote: »
    Yes you can gain weight while in ketosis if you aren't eating more calories than you burn.

    I suppose so... It's just that when I'm in moderate ketosis, (1.4+ mmol/dl) I'm not that hungry... When I'm nearer to 2mmol/dl, I'm feeling nauseous, but that's another story... When I'm around 0.5 - 0.8mmol/dl I can eat a bunch more, but those times I find myself eating more proteins and/or carbs than what I should, which is why my ketones are so low... That's why I try for my sweet spot of 1.5mmol/dl.

    Again, if some ketonic weight gainers could let me know their experiences, I'd love to listen, love to understand their diets and how food affects them... I'm truly interested.

    Michael.

  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    shell1005 wrote: »
    The point is that the calorie deficit is what gets people to lose weight. For those who are low carbers, the ketosis is a tool to get you to the deficit, but ketosis in and of itself doesn't make you lose weight.

    I'll agree in part... Eating low carbs does drop the weight... The kcal deficit (at least for me) is something I've seen doesn't impact me as much as one would think... I can eat 1500kcals (made up of moderate fat, moderate protein and moderate carbs) and lose, but I can eat 3200kcals (high fat, moderate protein, low carbs) and still lose... And my activity level is the same. Just what I have experienced, not saying it is the same for everyone...

    Not promoting the Keto lifestyle as the end all diet, heck, this is the wrong forum... Low carb forum, not Keto, just throwing out my findings, for others to ponder.

    Again,I do agree that limiting carb intake really improves your chances of weight loss.
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    edited June 2015
    jonjoefischer wrote: »
    I've been in nutritional ketosis for 47 days, and went from 205-173 in that time.

    Nice,i saw similar results... went from 320 to 250 in about seven weeks...
    jonjoefischer wrote: »
    ...monitored ketones daily (which, by the way, those strips don't work once you're in for a couple months because there aren't any more ketoacetones in your urine).

    Very true... I use blood ketone to test my levels...
    jonjoefischer wrote: »
    Michael, you should check with your doctor regarding your ketone monitoring- 1.5mmol/DL is still a little lower than optimal. 2.5-3.5 is a better range to maintain in my opinion, but you would have to get down to <20g carbs daily.

    Yeah, I know those levels are optimal, I just don't like how I feel... Plus I tried a doctor, they kept saying I was losing too fast, they said ketosis is very bad, had Yada, Yada, Yada... Needless to say I dumped that doctor quick. I eat near 20g of carbs daily, my problem is keeping my protein intake low enough... I struggle to be below 75g...

    Oh well.
  • suessm
    suessm Posts: 33 Member
    edited June 2015
    Another thing, MCT oil does wonders for me... If I want to go deeper into ketosis, drink 15ml, I'll move a good 0.5mmol/dl in 15 minutes... I once took 30ml and went from 0.3 to 2.1mmol/dl in about 30 minutes... Felt like I wanted to be placed in a coma until morning...

    Though,I think this thread is now way of point... My apologies.

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