When does keto start working?

The short answer is that it takes a couple of days to get started.

The body has to run out of its current supply of glucose and then switch over to burning fat. That process takes some time. For some people it can take as little as two days, and for others it can take a week or more. It does take less time the fewer carbs you eat in the beginning, so you may want to consider a stricter carb limit for the first week.

In most cases people that have trouble entering ketosis are unintentionally eating too many carbs. This is especially common if you eat out a lot. Sauces like salad dressings, bbq sauce, and ketchup can have a lot of hidden sugar. Same for that morning mocha latte.

Eating too much protein can also kick you out of ketosis. The body looks at the excess protein and then coverts it to sugar and burns that instead of fat. A short term, high fat fast, like an egg fast can help you get into ketosis faster. That particular fast is a very short term option though and should be used as infrequently as possible. It can lead to nutrient deficiencies if it’s taken too far. No more than five days, less if you can get away with it.

If you want to know for sure if you are in ketosis, there are some testing methods that you can use. They make urine test strips, breath tests, and blood tests. Personally I don’t use any of them. They can be expensive to use constantly. The way I look at is if you are keeping below a certain carb level and are losing weight then don’t worry about it. The end goal is losing the weight, not staying in perfect ketosis for a set number of days. If I was to start using the tests, I’d end up fixating on whether or not I’m in ketosis instead of simply accepting that I lost 3 pounds last week and only 1 pound this week. Either way I still lost weight so why should I add another thing to track and worry about?

Bottom line, stick to a set number of carbs per day and track your carbs religiously. The rest will take care of itself over time. This may mean that you need to find out exactly how many carbs are in the morning mocha latte. Might need to switch to sugar free ketchup instead of a sugary bbq sauce.

Of course sticking to a prebuilt meal plan will help immensely. You can get one here that is easy to customize to your favorite foods and will help you track the carbs in the meals you eat out at fast food places. Check it out here.