Out of ketosis, 5 weeks into keto

Hi there guys,
I've been doing Keto on and off for 4 months now. My stats are as follows:
90kg
1,83cm
+-15%bf

Train at least 6 days per week, an hour of weights/bodyweight training in the pm and fasted cardio in the am (hiking/jocking/boxing). Only really take rest days when I feel the need to. So on most days I'm burning atleast 1200kcals, and because of that I rarely track cals, but on days i do track.
Id say i eat +-3000 cals
Macros p - 160 -200 (eggs/lean meats/nuts)
f- 250- 300 (nuts/avo/cream/mayo/mct oil)
c- 20-40 (just those 1/2gs of each meal adding up)

Two weeks ago, my Keto test piss strips started giving me a negative reading after about 4 weeks of a strong positive reading. I have not changed anything in my diet, if anything I'm working out harder.
Any ideas on what could be kicking me out of ketosis? I've heard that glucogenesis only happens when your body is out of fat for fuel, and i keep my protein relatively high to hold muscle.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Hey buddy, i'm not a pro when it comes to ketosis but i do think it could be your protein that's still a bit high. From what I've read, most bodybuilders struggle as they don't want to drop their protein in take too low.

I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in soon though and give more clarity

I'm also no expert, but my wife and I have been experimenting with Keto for a while.

I'm currently on two months Keto and the fat loss is great. The urine strip has indicated ketones of various quantities during the two months. Even after cheat days I still shows ketones.

Two things to keep in mind is that you might show ketones after a cheat and not be in ketosis. We don't stay in ketosis permanently and get kicked out every now and then.

If your urine does not shows ketones you might still be in ketosis but very well fat adapted. Your body is not supposed to piss out all the ketones, that is wasteful. A Youtube MD had a nice discussion about fat adaptation and the possibility that your body will more efficiently reabsorb any extra ketones.

Point being, you might be in ketosis, but not show it. My wife hasn't changed the urine strip to purple in months, but she is within her carb macros. Me on the other hand don't seem to ever stop producing ketones, even after a heavy cheat day.

The only real way to know if you're in ketosis is to test for ketones in your blood.

Also for those who are concerned about too much protein, consider a 3500 calorie diet vir 15% protein which is pretty standard (for epilepsy treatment, not gains). At that percentage 3500 * .15 = 515 calories which at four calories per gram of protein is about 131 grams.

I struggle to get all the food in with all the fat and find that it is hard to exceed this. Also keep in mind gluconeogenesis is demand driven so we don't get kicked out of ketosis because we looked at the steak the wrong way.

You can try to play with your macros to try to get purple on your next urine test strip, or look for the other signs, such as the mental clarity in ketosis, acetone smell on your breath or sweat. Or, if the fat is dropping, and your strength is not, why worry.

Some quick math.

P 200 = 800 calories
F 300 = 2700
C 40 = 160

---

3660 (at the upper end) with protein at 800 = 22%. Seems legit to me.

Amazing responses, thank you for your input vojago and hoosain.
Strength is definatley up, ,mental clarity is there, breath/sweat stink also there lol. Fatloss is noticeable each week even but my weight just wont go down.
I suppose the weight is due to me eating at maintenance or above, my reference is the mirror and I take weekly pics in the same lighting and have been doing so for months. I'm not really planning on cheating this time around, since its so easy to get back into the habit of eating carbs and I really enjoy having abs.
Although a cheat day for me now would just be 500+ kcals extra of keto friendly food.
Next week, I will be be starting a slow cut, maybe like a 200-300 kcal deficit and see how my body responds, So really needed to get to the bottom of the test strips before starting that.
Will invest in some blood test strips just for some piece of mind.

Vojago, any keto friendly supplement recommendations? My body has been taking a beating lately

Sorry bud, not sure what supps will help. Only two supplements I used before were protein shake, and that I've stopped due to problems, and creatine which I'm not currently using. Neither of these will necessarily help for recovery.

The previous time I went Keto I felt great, although energy was low, but my body felt wonderful. All my aches and pains seem to go away on Keto. As soon as I touch carbs, or more specifically, grains, everything goes to hell. The more I experiment it seems my recent health problems originate there.

I supplement with a home made Himalayan salt drink as it seems to be necessary for energy and this time around I'm cheating with some MK-677. The salt does seem to help a lot with the achy muscles and MK-677 seems to be great for recovery and my joints specifically. Some old injuries appear to be healing properly after almost a decade.

So after all the above, my answer is actually no, sorry, apart from the MK and salt, I don't really use or know a decent Keto friendly supplement for recovery.

Possibly repeating what has been said but keto piss strips are inaccurate. They are designed to test for ketoacidosis - extremely high levels of Ketones. The strips generally give you false positives when you cut carbs and then become meaningless thereafter. Blood or breath are the only viable options. Looking at your macros, your protein consumption (absolute) is too high. I know the% of total macros suggests you may be in line but it’s the absolute protein grams that matters. If you are burning the calories you say you are are thus “still in an effective deficit” at those calories, extra calories should come from fat not protein to make up the shortfall as that is what your body will be burning. If you are topping up with protein, which you are basically doing, then the protein will be more than likely converted in the liver through gluconeogensis into glucose knocking you out. Test your blood. Get used to correlating how you feel at certain blood levels and the impact of protein on your level of Ketosis.

I note on the salt: if you are in ketosis you generally excrete sodium, lowering blood pressure making you feel crap. You definitely need extra salt on keto to feel good. This does eventually settle as your body gets into homeostasis.

Thanks alot for the response, Morrgear! I've read up quite abit about the protein intake and its been a debated topic amount people i follow. Will cut down my protein intake and see how it goes, will also add some more salt into my diet. I forgot to add that I'll be adding in IF with keto soon, just to test it out and see how my body responds. Definitely still a noobie when it comes to keto, but I'm learning more everyday. Gotta order those blood test kits then I guess.

Whats weird is I tried out carnivore before keto, and got some insane fatloss aswell. I went from 93 to 86kgs in about 2 months, without tracking macros or even training at all.Although now, I definitely feel much better on Keto overall in comparison.

I would also get blood ketone monitor to really know what’s going on - only downside is that the strips are expensive but readily available.

Hiroich, since your post I did an experiment, accidentally, to see what happens on my urine strip. I upped my protein to above 200 g per day.

I went away for a weekend and did not have to cater to the families requirements so I ended up eating mostly fatty carnivore. Adding all the protein sources I ended up with between 200 and 250 g per day but in a decent caloric deficit. Arriving home I tested my urine and had a very positive ketone result.

I carried on in this way for a few more days and the result stayed the same until I upped my calories with other healthy foods. Only then did the test start showing reduced keto levels in my urine. That could mean anything, but I do believe, and this includes judging by the way I feel, that I stayed in ketosis the whole time.

Not sure if this is in any way helpful.

very interesting. From what ive read high protein isnt all that bad, and on some days i do have more protein than others, and it doesn't affect my weight.

Since this post, I've been sticking with the high fat moderate protein way, and have gotten some good results, down 6,5kgs since jan 1st. Lifts are strong, endurance and fitness is there, body is feeling way better. The only downside, is watching my friends eat chips/burgers/pizza/sweets; but every morning i see myself in the mirror, its worth it ahah

I know the feeling well. Initially I struggled a bit too. But now my friends suffer when they see me eat steak, and cheese and fatty goodness to my hearts content every day. Fortunately I don't have a sweet tooth, so I don't miss that but I do make lots of biltong with delicious fatty bits to take care of my snacking needs.

I'm down 7 % since starting near the end of last year. My wife likes the improvement in my appearance, and I can't say I mind it either. That definitely helps.

Hi will you be able to help me with ketosis? I Lost 30kg on high protein but want to try the ketosis but have no idea where to start. What products should i use etc....

Female
37
75kg's
not sure about my cm's

i felt great about a month ago but im back in to my old habbit :sick:
Please help

Zenna wrote: Hi will you be able to help me with ketosis? I Lost 30kg on high protein but want to try the ketosis but have no idea where to start. What products should i use etc....

Female
37
75kg's
not sure about my cm's

i felt great about a month ago but im back in to my old habbit :sick:
Please help

Please start your own thread if you need some help, but I'd advise that you do some of the homework yourself. That way people will be more willing to help, nobody likes spoon feeding here.

I see you have a thread open, use it to discuss the things you need help on. Discuss these points on there.