So you’re trying to get into ketosis.
You know the basics- stop eating carbs and your body will have no choice but to turn to burning fat for fuel. The diet is so effective that the mindset is seeping into our culture. Walk into a grocery store and you’ll see low-carb food lining the shelves. Turn on the TV and you might see a celebrity or fitness expert spouting the benefits of being in ketosis.
Once your body starts getting its energy from fat, your liver will begin to produce ketones. If the state continues, voila!, you’re in ketosis.
The process is more difficult than it sounds, however. Like any weight loss plan, the keto diet takes hard work. You’re probably not used to burning fat instead of sugar. The standard American diet isn’t exactly low-carb.
If you’re serious about the keto diet and want to get into ketosis as soon as possible, here’s what you need to do.
#1 Cut Those Carbs
Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? You can’t be on a low-carb diet unless you’re willing to radically reduce your carb consumption. This is an absolutely critical step if you want to reach ketosis.
We’re cutting carbs so we’re not going to sugarcoat this- this step is HARD. If you’ve been subsisting on a diet of candy bars and fast food, your body is in for a major shock. Even if you were following a relatively healthy eating plan before your switch, you might be shocked when you learn the number of carbs in some of your favorite foods.
#2 Fall in Love with Coconut Oil
If you’re not already consuming plenty of coconut oil, you need to start. It’s rich with medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a healthy fat that reaches the liver almost immediately. Your body will use the fat to fuel itself as well to make ketones.
Adding coconut oil to your diet is easy. Start with a tablespoon or less a day and work your way up to more.
#3 Exercise
You’re dieting, you knew exercise had to fit into your plan somewhere. Intense physical activity rapidly depletes your body’s store of glucose. If you’re following a low-carb diet, there won’t be much glucose for your body to rely on. So you’ll start burning fat instead and produce ketones.
Studies suggest that being in ketosis may actually help improve your athletic performance.
#4 Try Fasting
Stop eating and eventually, your glucose level will be low enough for your body to turn to burning fat for energy. You could slip into mild ketosis just from skipping lunch.
Simply starving yourself isn’t a good plan. A lot of people who want to be in ketosis turn to intermittent fasting instead. This means that you embrace short-term fasts by only eating during a small window of the day. You might skip breakfast and lunch and consume all of your calories at night.
You could also try “fat fasting”. This strategy requires you to eat about 1,000 calories per day of mostly fat.
#5 Watch Your Protein
A diet that needs to be filled with something else. Protein is a great choice. Just make sure that you don’t overdo it and eat too much. If you consume excess protein, your body is going to turn it into glucose.
How to Test Your Ketone Level
You’ve been doing everything right. You feel like you could be the poster child for the keto diet. But are you actually in ketosis?
In the age of modern medicine, you don’t have to rely on guesswork. You can test your ketone level at home by yourself. The tests are inexpensive and extremely informative. You have two options- a urine test or a blood test. The urine tests are easier but they’re also less reliable and provide less information.
If you really want to know what’s going on with your body, you need to take a ketosis blood test. Blood testing is by far the most accurate way to test your ketone level. The method is simple and resembles a blood glucose test.
You might feel squeamish about testing your own blood but you don’t need to slice yourself open. A small finger prick will be enough. Once that’s done you squeeze a drop of blood onto a specialized testing strip and wait until you can see your results.
If no ketones are detected, you’re not in ketosis and you need to think about changing your diet. Carbs can be sneaky. Are you eating something you thought was on plan but is actually loaded with carbs?
If your ketone level is high, then you can be secure that your low-carb diet plan is working. You can pick up your test strips in small batches at your local drugstore or you can order a packet of them online. Best Ketone Test aims to make it easy for you by selling kits that will last for months instead of days.
Staying in ketosis takes dedication. Regular ketone testing can help you stay on track.
