Keto and Ketosis

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Bigeetr
Bigeetr Posts: 2 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm trying keto and I'm not sure if I am doing it correctly. I was hoping to follow someone's daily meals who is successfully in ketosis to compare to my meals.

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  • yukfoo
    yukfoo Posts: 871 Member
    edited September 2018
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    The only way to know for sure is to buy a bottle of ketostix. They only turn purple if there are ketones in urine. No purple no ketosis. Guessing if you're in ketosis is about as accurate as guessing daily calorie counts. I did Atkins for about a year but it was too restrictive and I gained back what I'd lost plus about 10%. That was just me there are many, many others here who love it and do really well. Some of them will be along in a bit I'm sure. You still have to track your calorie deficit in and out as well. There thousands of great websites dedicated to low carb eating with tons of recipes and of course Dr Atkins new diet revolution is packed with them. You can find a copy of it in almost any used book store for a buck or two. Good luck in your journey.
  • UncaToddly
    UncaToddly Posts: 146 Member
    edited September 2018
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    yukfoo wrote: »
    The only way to know for sure is to buy a bottle of ketostix.

    Actually those are not the only way to know for sure. Those test only one type of ketone secretion and are the least expensive. They measure acetoacetate and show you the amount of unused ketones being secreted by the body.

    You can also buy blood ketone meters which measure ketones in the blood but they are more expensive. You use them just like you would a blood glucose meter and they are really the most accurate. Prick your finger, put a drop of blood on the test strip and it reads the amount of beta hydroxybutyrate in your blood. They are more expensive and the test strips are relatively pricey. One of the most popular is the Keto-Mojo which has strips for both ketones and for glucose. The ketone test strips are $1 each and the glucose are roughly 30 cents (both when purchased in packs of 50). They have a nice kit that contains the meter, lancets, carrying bag, 60 ketone strips and 50 glucose strips for around $125.

    There are also breath ketone meters like the Ketonix which are also pretty expensive. You plug them into the computer and blow and they read the acetate in your breath, which is the cause of "keto breath". The one offset to the cost is that you don't have the cost of having to continually buy test strips.
    They only turn purple if there are ketones in urine. No purple no ketosis. I did Atkins for about a year but it was too restrictive and I gained back what I'd lost plus about 10%.

    The problem with the urine test is that it is reading excess ketones you aren't using so it doesn't really tell you how many ketones are in your blood, but rather that which isn't being used. If you are extremely hydrated that can also affect the reading as well as if your body is using the ketones very well. If you are reading though, you can know that you are at least producing some ketones.

    And to my knowledge, Atkins isn't really keto in the long run, though it is much closer during the induction phase. The protein levels are too high as are the carbs after the induction phase from what I have read.

  • lindagimenezmay
    lindagimenezmay Posts: 2 Member
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    keto lifestyle is the way to go. not Atkins. and the only real way to test ketones is by blood. I have been on keto for 1.5 years and have lost 77 lbs. you can find a ketone meter pretty cheap. and the monitor sticks a lot cheaper on ebay. you can find lots of info and recipes on Pinterest.

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