IMHO, the "fat burning machine" is mostly a gimmick to get you to try the diet. And it worked, so it's an effective gimmick!

There are benefits to ketosis, including suppression of grehlin -- a hunger hormone. But you don't need ketosis to burn fat. You just need to lower carbs enough to reduce insulin levels in your body -- that's what enables fat to be broken down.

_jayciemarie_ wrote: »

As of today I have lost 20lbs in 1 month and 3 days following LCHF. Every weekend I have had a slip with alcohol and/or carbs. I have never tested myself to see if I reached Ketosis. I may be having a blonde moment (forgive me if I am) is it possible that I don't need ketosis in order to burn fat? I mean, I can't argue with 20lbs lost with what I'm doing. I've read it can take a week or two weeks to turn your body into a fat burning machine and if I screw up once a week, doesn't that time period start all over?

You will be in ketosis if you eat less than 40-50g carbs a day. If you continue for 2-4 weeks in Ketosis, you body will adapt to its new way of consuming fatty acids instead of carbs. So, I think you're confusing Keto adaptation with Ketosis. If your question is, "Will I not be Keto Adapted, if I have a slip up?" I could only guess. Probably not. There is no way that I have heard of ~ for testing for Keto adaptation. My recommendation is when you fall off the horse, get back on it and ride and don't look back. Try to keep the falls to a minimum.

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet
DittoDan's Keto Blogs
How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
Ketogenic Diet Discussion Group on MFP

_jayciemarie_ wrote: »

As of today I have lost 20lbs in 1 month and 3 days following LCHF. Every weekend I have had a slip with alcohol and/or carbs. I have never tested myself to see if I reached Ketosis. I may be having a blonde moment (forgive me if I am) is it possible that I don't need ketosis in order to burn fat? I mean, I can't argue with 20lbs lost with what I'm doing. I've read it can take a week or two weeks to turn your body into a fat burning machine and if I screw up once a week, doesn't that time period start all over?

Sounds like you're already a fat burning machine! Just keep doing what you're doing - if you stop losing weight and still need to, then consider ketosis as the next step?