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Summary
On episode 143 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Susan, a client in his Forever Fitness program who returns after asking a question about ketosis on a previous episode.
Allan walks through why the body either burns glucose (with insulin acting as the brakes) or burns fat, and why getting fully into a fat-burning, ketone-producing state can break through a stubborn weight-loss plateau.
He covers the real risk of ketoacidosis versus normal nutritional ketosis, how to manage the “keto flu” of the first few days, what to eat, and the tools he personally uses to measure his ketone levels.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Your body runs on two fuel systems: sugar or fat. Insulin acts like a brake pedal on blood sugar. Metabolic trouble happens when you’re pressing the gas (eating sugar) and the brake (insulin) at the same time, night after night.
- Ketosis means the body switches to burning its own fat for fuel. That process produces ketones, which can also fuel the brain, part of why ketogenic eating is used clinically to reduce epileptic seizures.
- Nutritional ketosis and ketoacidosis are not the same thing. Safe, normal ketone levels run roughly 0.5 to 6.0 (Allan measured 3.6 with a fasting blood sugar of 80). Ketoacidosis requires high ketones together with high blood sugar, and it’s a risk mostly for type 1 diabetics, even though ketosis itself is used therapeutically for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
- Getting into ketosis usually means total carbs under 20 to 30 grams a day. Not net carbs, total carbs, which rules out potatoes, carrots, and most packaged “healthy” snacks; the exact ceiling is individual and can be raised somewhat for people who run or train heavily.
- Expect a rough transition, often called “keto flu.” Four or five days of fatigue and feeling ill as the body relearns how to run on fat is common; Allan recommends pushing through rather than reversing course, since cycling in and out repeatedly just resets the withdrawal each time.
- Testing tools have different jobs. Urine strips are cheap and useful in the first days but lose accuracy once the body is fully using ketones instead of excreting them; a blood ketone meter (Precision Xtra) is the most reliable ongoing measure; a breath meter (Ketonix) is a pinprick-free alternative.
- Protein should be moderate, not high. Roughly a half gram per pound of bodyweight as a starting point, since excess protein the body doesn’t need gets converted to sugar; people lifting heavy may need to raise that if recovery or strength suffers.
- Anyone on blood sugar medication needs to loop in their doctor first. Cutting carbs sharply changes insulin and medication needs, and doctors may hear “ketosis” and assume ketoacidosis risk, so framing it as a low-carb, whole-food approach avoids that confusion.
- Results can be significant, but plateaus are still guaranteed. Allan lost 15 pounds in a month, some of it early water weight, before the body defended a new “set weight” by raising hunger hormones like ghrelin, which is when people turn to tools like fasting or MCT oil to push further.