Welcome to day 4 of The Keto Cut - a series that will follow my daily routines as I cut for the summer on a ketogenic diet. These posts may not be for all of you as they are intensely focused on fitness and nutrition. Health is one of the most important parts of my life and I take it very seriously and I figured I would share my experiences and daily "logs" with all of you who may also be interested in this topic.
On Reaching Ketosis
For this section on reaching ketosis I'm going to address 2 really common questions:
- How do you reach ketosis?
- How do you know when you're in ketosis.
(1) How do you reach ketosis?
I figured I would clear this up by listing the specific things that one should do when trying to reach ketosis:
Restrict your carbs: this is the obvious and most important factor when it comes to reaching ketosis - you have to lower your carb intake significantly. Most people will find that anything below 35g of carbs per day is sufficient for getting into ketosis. It varies greatly from person to person and is also impacted by your activity level. For example, some athletes follow a ketogenic diet, but still eat 100-150g of carbs per day. You may have to experiment with it a little, I recommend going low - about 20g per day - and then working your way up by slowly adding a few more carbs.
Eat enough fat: this is surprisingly a huge issue for many new keto dieters. It's hard to change your mentality from the traditional view of avoiding fat at all costs to the keto view of eat tons of fat. It's very common for new keto dieters to lose weight when starting the keto diet, but then hit a plateau aftter a short period of time because their body is exhausted from carb AND fat deprivation. Make sure you figure out how many calories per day you need for your fats and that you're accurately hitting that number.
Watch your protein: many new keto dieters, especially those from the weight-lifting community, tend to overdo their protein intake. I personally eat 1g per lb of lean body mass (about 170g for me). If your body has excess protein, it can convert that extra protein into glucose which can knock you out of ketosis. I struggled to stay in ketosis during my first attempt at the diet because my protein was too high - I think I was eating around 220g per day at the time, but I also had less lean body mass than I do now.
Water is your friend: it's easy to get a little dehydrated when you first try to reach ketosis - this can happen for a lot of different reasons: you tend to eat saltier foods, you tend to feel more full and thus drink less water, etc etc. Water is a really great way to keep your body refreshed and keep you from losing your mind.
(2) How do you know when you're in ketosis?
This is a kind of complicated question to answer. There are a few "symptoms" or "signs" of being in ketosis, and you can try to use these to gauge whether or not you feel like you're in ketosis, but the only way to really know for sure that you're in ketosis is to find a way to measure the level ketones in your body. You can measure your ketones with "keto strips" found at local drugstores or even blood-glucose monitors (there's some great ones on Amazon).
Here are the "symptoms" that you can use to try and "feel" ketosis:
- More bathroom breaks
- A dry mouth and/or bad breath
- Reduced hunger and reduced fatigue
Day 4 Log:
Weigh-In:
| Start Weight | Goal Weight | Weight Lost |
|---|---|---|
| 198 | 173 | 2.6 |
| Today's Weight | Fat Mass (%) | Body Mass BMI |
|---|---|---|
| 195 | 25.1 | 27.1 |
Workout:
Pull Day (back, biceps, traps, rear delts)
| Movement | Weight lbs | # Reps | # Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bent Over Barbell Row | 135 | 8-12 | 4 |
| Bent Over Dumbbell Row | 80 | 8-12 | 4 |
| Standing Barbell Curl | 60 | 12-15 | 4 |
| Bicep Preacher Curl Machine | 70 | 12-15 | 4 |
| Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl | 30 | 12-15 | 4 |
| High Row Machine | 140 | 12-15 | 4 |
| Rear Delt Fly Machine | 90 | 12-15 | 4 |
What I Ate Today:
| Meal | Food |
|---|---|
| 0 | Coffee with 2 TBSP MCT Oil |
| 1 | 4 Eggs, 2 Slices of Cheddar Cheese, 6 oz deli turkey |
| 2 | 8 Oz Chicken and Spinach cooked in 2 TBSP Coconut Oil |
| 3 | 8 Oz Ground Turkey, Mixed Vegetables cooked in 1 TBSP Coconut Oil |
| 4 | 4 Servings of Mixed Nuts, 1 Avocado, 1 TBSP MCT Oil |
Here's the Question of The Day, don't forget to post your answers in the comments!
QOTD: How do you measure your keto levels or how would you measure your keto levels if you attempted the diet? Through science or through intuition? or both?
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave your thoughts below and I look forward to seeing you in the comments!
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