Why am I not in Ketosis???

JDF

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I bought some Ketostix today and I am seriously upset, i've been on the AD for about 4 weeks now.

The test strip came up as negative, so even 5 days after I did my last refeed im not in ketosis. What do I do? One note is I did eat about 10 minutes before I pee'd on the strip, does that matter? I have been eating to much protein ( about 1g/lb of bodyweight ) ? Seriously no ketones in my body?

Here is a typical days meal:

7am: 3 eggs and 3 strips of bacon / multi,ala,cla

10am: 1oz chz and 1oz ( ~22 ) almonds / ala, 5g fish oil

12pm: 6oz steak, 2 cups broccoli and cauliflower, 1 tblspn EVOO, .25 cup chz / cla, ala, fish oil

3pm: 1oz chz and 1oz almonds / ala, fish oil

5:30pm: 15g of BCAAs

6pm: work out while consuming another 15g of BCAAs

7:30pm: 6oz steak ( sometimes ckn or porkchops ), 2 cups veggies, .25 cup chz, 1 tblspn EVOO, 1 tblspn Blue chz dressing / ala, cla, fish oil, multi

9pm: 3 tblspns of natty PB and 1 oz chz / fish oil, ala

Honestly, what am I doing wrong. It must be something that Im missing or adding or doing wrong. :wtf:

Here was todays breakdown:

grams cals %total
Total: 3162
Fat: 240 2158 70%
Sat: 92 828 27%
Poly: 41 365 12%
Mono: 90 809 26%
Carbs: 27 74 2%
Fiber: 8 0 0%
Protein: 218 873 28%
 

amicold

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You're not supposed to be in Ketosis on the AD. The 30 or so CHO a day prevents it.
 

JDF

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Isnt ketosis where I want to be inorder to really turn my body into basically a huge furnace?
 

amicold

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Isnt ketosis where I want to be inorder to really turn my body into basically a huge furnace?
From what I understand (I've been on AD for over two months now) the diet transforms your preference energy source from glucose to fatty acids, so your body is more apt to use adipose tissue when it's without food. Ketosis is a surplus of ketones in the blood, urine, and breath (hence bad breath) when the body uses fatty acids. The diet makes the body efficient at using fatty acids and coupled with your carbohydrates you don't have an excess amount. I could be wrong, I'm very sleepy.
 
CryingEmo

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You're not supposed to be in ketosis on the AD diet.


Excess protein will lead to gluconeogenesis throwing you out of ketosis.
 

JDF

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Should i switch over to a CKD diet as opposed to the AD to see if i get better results? I think i've done alright but for how strick my diet ( and im like 18-20% bf ) has been I think I should be losing it faster.

I know its by no means a race but summer is a coming.
 

FitnFirm

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you have to have under 20 carbs a day to get into ketosis. When starting it can take 3-4 days to get there. Veggies is the only carbs you should be having in that 20 gram intake. Test your ketones in the morning for the best reading.
 
lozgod

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There are a lot of possible metabolic factors. On another note Dr Atkins says leave nuts out of the first stage of the Atkins diet because they can prevent ketosis.
 
BodyWizard

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To get into ketosis faster, start off with more of your calories coming from fat than from protein, and skip the carbs entirely. your last day on carbs, you should eat light, have a vigorous, aerobic day, and go to bed a little hungry.

After 3 days (less, probably) you'll be in ketosis, and it's time to get more calories from protein than from fat, but still be careful of the carbs, and if you must eat 4 cups a day, try to eat less than a cup at each meal.
 
CryingEmo

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On the AD diet I eat stuff that has carbs, but I just eat it sparringly.

Things like Hood low carb milk (3 grams per cup), wheat low carb wraps (5 carb), whipped cream cheese (1 carb), baby spinach (1 carb per 2-3 cups), some cheese (1 carb, some zero), protein powder (1-2 carbs), etc.


If you're trying to get into ketosis for whatever reason, ignore those things though.
 

JDF

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The only carbs I get in are either trace carbs or from green leafy veggies, I do not eat grains. I guess I was confusing CKD and the AD, I think im going to stick w/ the AD for the time being and stay below 30g of CHO daily. I actually have tons of energy while being around 25g a day, I was thinking about dropping to around 15-20 and see what kind of results that will bring.
 

JDF

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Really? So I should stop using my xtend?

How do I count them towards my daily caloric intake or do I not count BCAAs?
 
ShakesAllDay

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I've been on a 'low carb' diet for over a month. I haven't adhered to any specific plan (Atkins, AD, CKD, TKD, etc.), just been limiting my carbs as low as possible.

I have tried the ketone strips a few times, each time coming up negative.

I have been employing a PWO carb-based shake ~50g malto/dex kind of inline w/ the TKD approach. I have been steadily losing weight while maintaining muscle fullness and endurance in the gym. Honestly, overall, I feel better than I ever have wrt mood, training, diet complacence, etc. I also take 6 scoops Xtend pre/during workout (early AM workouts).

There will be no way to tell what will get you to your goals without trying it yourself. Just experiment w/ the different types/amounts of carbs and adjust accordingly.

Other than PWO carbs, I generally consume < 20g / day... most of that coming from cheese, nuts, etc..
 
CryingEmo

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I've been on a 'low carb' diet for over a month. I haven't adhered to any specific plan (Atkins, AD, CKD, TKD, etc.), just been limiting my carbs as low as possible.

I have tried the ketone strips a few times, each time coming up negative.

I have been employing a PWO carb-based shake ~50g malto/dex kind of inline w/ the TKD approach. I have been steadily losing weight while maintaining muscle fullness and endurance in the gym. Honestly, overall, I feel better than I ever have wrt mood, training, diet complacence, etc. I also take 6 scoops Xtend pre/during workout (early AM workouts).

There will be no way to tell what will get you to your goals without trying it yourself. Just experiment w/ the different types/amounts of carbs and adjust accordingly.

Other than PWO carbs, I generally consume < 20g / day... most of that coming from cheese, nuts, etc..


I wonder if you could stay in fat burning mode, if you did a before/after workout refeed every 3 days.
 

JDF

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The bulk BCAAs taste like sh!t, I imagine the bulk leucine does too. Any suggestions on how to take it so that I dont get the horrible taste? I could cap but I dont think I want to spend that much time measureing things out and capping, I like using a scoop and putting it in a water bottle.

Im thinking I may keep the Xtend and possibly add bulk leucine ( instead of the bulk BCAAs that I add now ) and just cut back even more on the CHO's.

Great info guys, I knew I spent more time on this site @ work than doing my work for a reason :cheers:
 
ShakesAllDay

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I wonder if you could stay in fat burning mode, if you did a before/after workout refeed every 3 days.
Possible. Since I've been dropping fat pretty well and seem to be keeping lean mass in check, I'm gonna ride this out for another month. If I don't get results, I'm going to try something different... maybe CKD.

My primary goal is fatloss, but I'm not doing an all-out cut. Slow and steady until the summer (target 6-pack date is June 1st). So,that's why I opt for a generous amount of carbs PWO. I don't think it will hold me up too much. Some, yes... but not completely destroying my efforts.

Sorry for the 'jack.

:donut:
 

book

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It seems to me the reason to be on the AD is to retain muscle while dropping fat. If your in ketosis, your also in a catabolic state, and its easy to lose muscle with the fat. I guess it depends on what your goals are.
 
lozgod

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It seems to me the reason to be on the AD is to retain muscle while dropping fat. If your in ketosis, your also in a catabolic state, and its easy to lose muscle with the fat. I guess it depends on what your goals are.
In any calorie deficient state you have the potential to lose muscle and fat. The advantage with ketosis is fat is the primary source of fuel for the body so there is no need to use the protein in muscle to convert it to glucose.
 

book

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In any calorie deficient state you have the potential to lose muscle and fat. The advantage with ketosis is fat is the primary source of fuel for the body so there is no need to use the protein in muscle to convert it to glucose.
I agree with using fat for fuel I just dont want to go into a ketogenic state to do it. With 30 grams of carbs a day your still burning fat
 

JDF

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So should I be taking in some fat before my workouts to keep my body from turning the BCAAs into glucose?
 
BodyWizard

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Since you're NOT in ketosis, adding fat pre- or post- won't spare your BCAAs. I suspect you're getting more carbs than you believe.

Don't know if it's still in print, but "The Ketogenic Diet" will teach you more than you want to know (Lyle McDonald, author).
 

JDF

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Since you're NOT in ketosis, adding fat pre- or post- won't spare your BCAAs. I suspect you're getting more carbs than you believe.

Don't know if it's still in print, but "The Ketogenic Diet" will teach you more than you want to know (Lyle McDonald, author).
Thanks for your input BodyWizard

This would be the likely culprit but I think i've done a pretty good job in using fitday.com to track my kcals ( I measure everything and I understand I dont have this down to an EXACT science ).

I have now cut out the coffee ( which before I used 1 creamer and 1 sweetner on the 2-3 coffees I had a day ) and have switched to green tea with nothing in it. I also cut out the broccolli and cauliflower that I was eating to try ang get my CHO count down even further.

I used another ketostick and it looked like it was somewhere inbetween 0 and 5 dg/ml ( sorry if it isnt dg/mL im just going on the quick look I did this morning ).

What should the dg/mL be to be in ketosis? Does it just need to change ever so slightly, 5 dg/mL, to be in ketosis or will I need more ketones to be present to hit ketosis?
 

JDF

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I Am Finally In Ketosis!!!

Thanks for everyones help in figuring out exactly what was keeping me from my goal.

I completely cut out my BCAA ( Xtend ) supplemantion this week and hit ketosis on wednesday afternoon.

I also cut coffee from my diet, usually 3 a day ( made w/ 1 creamer and 1 splenda ).

Next week I will try to reintroduce coffee to see if that was the cause or if it indeed was the Xtend which I am making the primary suspect.

Going to have to rep Arjun for the link he posted which I've inturn reposted numerous times for people ( and I try to give you credit whenever possible ).

Thanks Arjun and AM.com
 

JDF

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You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to arjun4 again.
 
gogo

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OK, so whats the deal on Xtend, I love the stuff and im going to be starting the AD diet on monday..

Yay or neh on the extend?
 
Ubiquitous

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i use xtend and follow a certain CKD. I have been doing a variant of CKD for years.

What people are failing to realize more often than not is that you need to up the intake of (healthy) dietary fat to stave off the gluconeogenesis due to high protein, low carb diets.
 
gogo

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So using extend doesn't add to carbohydrate intake?
 
Bruth

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I was just starting to question this as well. Would taking Xtend during WOs and some additional glucogenic Aminos PWO (Glutamine, Phenlymine, Luecine) have a negative impact on becoming and staying fat adapted on AD?

Or even more generally how do free form aminos, like Xtend, impact AD?
 

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