Does this mean I am in Ketosis/ higher metabolism or am I doing it wrong page

[niah]

So I started a high protein low carb lifestyle exactly 7 days ago. I have cut out all fruit, starches, dairy etc. I will reintroduce fruit at the 14 day mark. Anyway, I feel like a bottomless pit the last two days. I am not craving carbs. It's peanut butters or protein pancakes or meat etc. I am having less of a three meal a day and more eating eating eating. Like I had lunch at 11:25 ish came home ( now 3 o clock ) had beef with tahini and devoured that and three protein pancakes. lol. I feel like I can't get enough...... Am I in ketosis now or something?

[j3nn]

Well, ketosis does mimic starvation so maybe your body is freaking out and thinks you're trying to kill it? Lol

[Drumroll]

It thinks you're trying to KILL it? Oh come on j3nn, you know better.

I'm not sure if the OP is in ketosis just yet though, as one of the primary symptoms of ketosis is a blunting of the hunger signals. Also seems like he/she might be eating too much protein to get into ketosis. If that's a goal, some dialing back on protein might be necessary.

Also, OP, don't let people scare you by telling you ketosis is bad, or stressful, or dangerous or that low-carb is somehow "damaging" to your body. It's a perfectly natural state to be in if that is your goal. Some people do better when in ketosis than others do, it doesn't work for everyone, but that is no reason not to try it out for yourself! Don't let the fearmongerers scare you away from giving it a try if you want to. A key component of the Primal Blueprint is experimenting for yourself and finding out where you feel the best/most healthy.

[AshleyL]

No, you are eating too much protein to be in Ketosis. A ketosis diet requires high fat, moderate protein (only enough for your needs) and low carb. Protein above what your body requires will be turned into glucose, preventing ketosis.

That said, for me, when I cut back on carbs, and continued eating however much protein I wanted, like you, my sugars lowered (they were too high). I have insulin resistance. So as my sugars normalized (because protein is low glycemic, even if it does turn to sugar, it does so at a meted rate, doesn't flood the blood with sugar so easily) my body thought they were low and I was ravenous. It took about 2 weeks for that to go away. I just toughed it out.

[j3nn]

It thinks you're trying to KILL it? Oh come on j3nn, you know better.

I know better, yes. The body doesn't. The body knows survival. The body does not prefer being in survival mode. Why would it?!

[Drumroll]

I know better, yes. The body doesn't. The body knows survival. The body does not prefer being in survival mode. Why would it?!

Because we can't even really prove that the body sees this as a bad thing. That's mere speculation at best.

[ChocoTaco369]

It sounds like your body is craving carbohydrate, so you're overconsuming protein and nuts to get it. Chances are, you're making too much glucose to be in full ketosis.

One thing to note: a high protein content is generally going to increase your metabolic rate because of protein's high TEF - the thermic effect of food. Essentially, when you eat protein, roughly 1/3 of the calories are lost because your body elevates its metabolism to process that protein.

Carbohydrate has roughly a 10% TEF - around 10% of the calories are lost due to metabolic rate increases.

Fat is close to 0% TEF, with MCT's being a blip on the radar, around 3%.

Essentially, a high fat, low carbohydrate, low to moderate protein diet, which is typically required for constant ketosis, is going to lower your metabolic rate pretty substantially versus a high protein, higher carbohydrate, lower fat diet (the preferred choice of most athletes/body builders).

What's the reason for wanting to do keto? Is it medicinal in nature?

[Neckhammer]

It thinks you're trying to KILL it? Oh come on j3nn, you know better.

I'm not sure if the OP is in ketosis just yet though, as one of the primary symptoms of ketosis is a blunting of the hunger signals. Also seems like he/she might be eating too much protein to get into ketosis. If that's a goal, some dialing back on protein might be necessary.

Also, OP, don't let people scare you by telling you ketosis is bad, or stressful, or dangerous or that low-carb is somehow "damaging" to your body. It's a perfectly natural state to be in if that is your goal. Some people do better when in ketosis than others do, it doesn't work for everyone, but that is no reason not to try it out for yourself! Don't let the fearmongerers scare you away from giving it a try if you want to. A key component of the Primal Blueprint is experimenting for yourself and finding out where you feel the best/most healthy.

+1

And for those 14 days don't worry bout calories. Just eat as much as you like. I assume your doing something akin to induction phase (Atkins) or the carb tolerance test (Maffetone). Either way I think its a pretty great idea. It gives you a clean slate from which to assess your health and really monitor the carb sources and loads that you reintroduce. Done correctly its very educational in terms of getting to know your particular sensitivities to carbs and their sources. You can then use that data to optimize from there.

How much this method works really can't be understated. Ignore the haters

[Neckhammer]

One thing to note: a high protein content is generally going to increase your metabolic rate because of protein's high TEF - the thermic effect of food. Essentially, when you eat protein, roughly 1/3 of the calories are lost because your body elevates its metabolism to process that protein.

Carbohydrate has roughly a 10% TEF - around 10% of the calories are lost due to metabolic rate increases.

Fat is close to 0% TEF, with MCT's being a blip on the radar, around 3%.

I agree, fat is by far humans most efficient energy source. You shouldn't have to convince anyone here of that. It's pretty much the premise of the primal blueprint after all.

It goes the same in functional training and sports biomechanics. Movements are broken down and rebuilt to find the most energy efficient models. You certainly wouldn't train to promote the most friction, heat, and waste of energy would you?

[ChocoTaco369]

I agree, fat is by far humans most efficient energy source. You shouldn't have to convince anyone here of that. It's pretty much the premise of the primal blueprint after all.

It goes the same in functional training and sports biomechanics. Movements are broken down and rebuilt to find the most energy efficient models. You certainly wouldn't train to promote the most friction, heat, and waste of energy would you?

You know, the funny thing is, we spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years weeding out the people in the gene pool that couldn't efficiently store fat for people that could pack on body fat efficiently. Those were the people most likely to survive the famine to spread their genetic material.

And now, in the past few decades, we've been cursing what the human race has spent its entire existence trying to do. All those skinny people that never seem to put on weight that people envy so much would be DEAD if they were born at any given time except EXACTLY NOW.

Fat is a very efficient fuel source - it is stored very easily and takes a very, very long time to burn. A higher fat diet can be very useful to get from very overweight to an average, healthy weight because it is such a steady, slow burner - it is quite stable. But if you want to get very lean...well...the very lean societies will eat a mostly carb-based diet lower in fat. If you're very overweight, you probably won't lean out as easily on a carb-based diet because it involves more metabolic highs and can feel more like a rollercoaster if you're not insulin sensitive I suppose, but I can tell you first hand, as a lean individual, it is A LOT easier to pack on body fat eating fat than carbs if you're a healthy weight with a healthy metabolism.