The FastDay Forum

Yeah the trick is finding out how many carbs you can get away with and stay in Ketosis but its a bit difficult when combining 2 diet plans - Its different for everybody and also depends on the types of carb (Simple or Complex). With atkins induction, they wanted you to stay under 20 g a day, but since we are not doing that, we can get ways with more, especially since when on a fast day we are depleting any carbs in our bloodstream very fast since we have no food.

"Hey, wanna do this thing where you smell bad, your breath stinks like nail polish remover, your mouth is slimy, your urine reeks and your sense of taste changes so it seems like you're eating coins?"

"Oh yeah, that sounds fab, I'm totally in!"

LOL Yeah, it's not pleasant, but it's not THAT horrible either Chewing a piece of gum usually helps with the breath thing, and no one else will smell your pee but you (I hope!) At least when it's happening you know you're burning fat, so I guess in a way it's not so bad, and for us fasters, it doesn't last as long each time as maybe a low-carber's ketosis state would..

I was in ketosis for 9 months straight and the symptoms of being in ketosis were not as bad as advertised here. My breath wasn't shiny in the beginning, but it went away after a while.

Also, the time it takes to enter ketosis varies quite a bit. I know of people for whom it took 3 days. Personally it takes 1-2 days. I am sure I go into ketosis on fast periods now since I mainly eat tuna and eggs on fast days.

A third observation of mine is that now when I have gone into ketosis and fallen out of it dozens of times I don't notice it at all. The first time I got the flu like symptoms which are not rare when you enter ketosis for the first time.

A third observation of mine is that now when I have gone into ketosis and fallen out of it dozens of times I don't notice it at all.

That is interesting and I really do think it is different for everyone. I personally taste it, always and usually at least part of every day except Sunday when we tend to eat out or have more carbs.

How many carbs it takes varies by person, and I think even by day and meal. What I mean is that most days I can eat a serving (small potato, brown rice, smart fiber pasta) and stay in ketosis. But, if I add dark chocolate or a very small "something sweet" it varies. Some days I stay and sometimes not. Even if it is the same small sweet that didn't knock me out of ketosis yesterday....today it might. So, my guess is that it must depend on the ratio of carbs/protein, the serving size of all things eaten, the total amount of calories eaten that day, etc.

It depends on your personal sensitivity to carbs and on the ratio. According to Phinney and Volek the range of carbs varies from 20 to 50gr. Some can even stay in ketosis at up to 100g. It also depends on your protein intake being moderate as protein can be broken down to make glucose in the absence of carbs. To go into ketosis you need tp be burning fat.

If you are a regular fat burner you will find you lose the odd taste and the smelly breath/pee. I'm simplifying but basically you produce two main types of ketones. One that is basically acetone (hence the smell of nail polish remover) that is produced when you first go into ketosis, and another that comes later as you get fully into using fat as fuel. The second leaves less smell or taste and tends not to be detected by the urine reagent strips.