Anyone know anything about Ketosis/lowcarbing?

[BrownEyedGirl80]

I've had no carbs for a week including fruit,sauces etc.Got some ketosis urine strips today and it says I'm not in ketosis.What am I doing wrong? T.i.a

Head over to the Big/slim/weightloss area, there is a low carb bootcamp section. There is a poster called BiWI who is really good on all this stuff.

Thanks I will

I did Dukas and lost 3 stone. What are you eating?
It was a few years ago but I recall stage 1 was literally meat, cheese and eggs!
The first couple of days was hard but then I had to force myself to eat because I wasn't hungry..
Drinks: black tea with sweetener, diet drinks and gin with slimline tonic
Breakfast was bacon and eggs, lunch normally a packet of ham, dinner ribeye steak with blue cheese on top.
I kept to below 13g of carbs for 2 weeks and lost a stone which was a real incentive kick start.

I'm eating houmous,eggs,fish,cheese,nuts,olives and meat

I’m trying to go low/ no carbs , bloody carbs are in everything!

I think chickpeas are carby.
Some nuts are too

I second what @sarah12398 said. You'll know when you are in ketosis because your appetite will change plus the first few days are not pleasant, they don't call it keto flu for nothing.

It's It's minefield tbh I read online that houmous is fine.I think I'm going to have to cut that out as a starting point

13 gs in half a cup apparently

Ketone urine sticks aren't very accurate for measuring nutritional ketosis. Also agree humous is quite carby, there's good recipes online for making your own with cauliflower instead of chickpeas.

Thanks everyone I'm definitely cutting out the houmous!

Also have a look at Diet Doctor.

I've done keto twice and loss loads of weight both times. Ended up overdoing it and feeling really poorly the first time. My DH still does it. He lost 3 stone.
I think women need carbs at certain times of the month. I felt weak and wobbly a lot. But not very hungry

@wildthingsinthenight what foods did you eat for success?

Didnt have breakfast just a couple of coffees with cream in.
Lunch was a protein like egg, cheese, bacon, salmon (or a combination) with a big salad and full fat mayo
Dinner was basically what we used to eat but on a bed of veg. Bolognaise, chilli, curry etc or steak with a blue cheese sauce and salad and fried onions.
After the first few weeks introduced berries with cream.
Snacked on boiled eggs, meat, nuts, sugar free jelly

You really need to be below 15-20g carbs per day to get into ketosis. Whilst humous is good for a low-carb lifestyle in general, it still contains too many carbs to get into ketosis effectively. You need very low amounts of carbs to do it right.

Sometimes people’s bodies take longer to get into ketosis, medicines (esp painkillers) can affect it as can drinking large amounts of water just before you do a test. The best time to test using those sticks is in the morning. However, ketostix also aren’t reliable. The advice on keto forums is not to bother with them after a while. As long as you are eating 20g carbs or less a day, your body will be in a good state of ketosis.

Also, to do ketosis/Atkins diet effectively, you need to deliberately be eating a high amount of fat too. A 5/25/70 ratio of carbs to proteins to fats is the normal recommended ratio for maximum ketosis.

Yes it's a high fat low carb diet you are aiming for. I never used sticks or tested for ketosis. I could tell I was there because I just wasn't that hungry. I did have keto flu both times while transitioning.
I wouldn't put myself through it any more. It's hardcore and I didn't feel stong

Thanks 😊

I’ve just made Keto cauliflower and broccoli cheese- It was so delicious and easy to make , will definitely be making it again.

I assume you couldn’t do this diet during the week and have a break at weekends..? It’s very all/ nothing isn’t it and pretty hard to maintain?

I love carbs , bread and crisps are my downfall but I’m determined to do this , I don’t have much to lose but have suddenly (after being a skinny Minnie all my life) put on weight probably due to the menopause. I think it’s easier than counting calories too.

@BrownEyedGirl80

I'm eating houmous,eggs,fish,cheese,nuts,olives and meat

You need to be scrupulous in checking things. I can't eat humous & stay in ketosis.

You need to eat green leafy veg & drink lots of water. LOTS of water. Your body adjusts and you stop needing to wee every 5 minutes after a few days.

But definitely find BIWI & the Bootcamp. It's incredibly helpful & they're all lovely. It doesn't matter what week they're in (about 7 I think, you can just join in & will be helped!)

Be warned, the first week (or two) is hard, (headaches,cravings etc) but once you're in the groove, it's brilliant & easy to stay in the groove.

Yes to cutting out the humus - chickpeas are so carby.

Also, those urine strips can be really inaccurate, particularly if you drink lots of water or use them within about 3 hours of a meal.

@cheezy

I assume you couldn’t do this diet during the week and have a break at weekends..? It’s very all/ nothing isn’t it and pretty hard to maintain?

No, you really can't do that with low carb because what you are doing is switching your body to being fat burning first if you throw carbs in every weekend it's not going to work. In the long term you can eat more carbs and whilst you won't lose weight, your body will stay fat burning or at least very quickly switch back, but not for a good while But especially if you're a meat eater (I'm not) you can have a very indulgent diet, just not one full of carbs.

It's not hard to maintain because there are so many nice things to eat & you never need to be hungry. No starvation.

& you just don't get that constant hunger you can get when you eat carbs. Because the food really satisfies you.

I won't lie though, the first week/two is hard because you're neither one nor the other snd you can get some horrible headaches.

I've done it for years, but have a break over Christmas & every year as I'm chasing the wagon I wonder why I do it to myself?!?! (Baileys & chocolate! Dark doesn't hit the spot for me!). Plus not eating meat/fish/eggs & hating cooking, my diet is quite limited so I 'save up' my indulgences for Christmas time.

@OverweightPidgeon. It most definitely is!!!

I only use the sticks first thing in the morning until I'm in keto & not because I need to anymore (I know when I'm in keto) but I just like seeing the change & find it a bit reassuring & motivating.