9 Signs You Are in Ketosis (Without Testing Blood or Urine)
Are you stuck with wanting to know whether you’re in ketosis or not, but not wanting the hassle or expense of actually having to measure your ketone levels? I’m going to show you nine Signs You Are in Ketosis!
Measuring your blood ketone levels is definitely the most accurate way of knowing whether you’re in ketosis or not. But the strips can get pretty expensive and who wants to prick their finger several times a day? Measuring urine ketones with a dipstick is a much cheaper alternative, but the results can sometimes be a little bit inaccurate and difficult to interpret.
Table of Contents
Whether you’re just starting out on a ketogenic diet, or you’ve been on one for a while, there are a number of different ways our body tells us that we’re in ketosis. While measuring your blood or urinary ketones does come in useful sometimes, I think the vast majority of the time we don’t really need them, and we can rely on the symptoms that I’m going to explain below.
1. Keto Flu

Keto flu is so called because of the flu-like symptoms that you get maybe two or three days after starting a very low-carb ketogenic diet. You can feel a bit headachy, a little bit tired, and maybe suffer from poor concentration.
To be honest, I think calling it flu is a little bit extreme. If you’ve ever actually had the flu, what you go through here is nothing in comparison. But it could well be that as it’s the first time your body is burning fat as its primary fuel source, which it’s not used to, it takes a short period of adaptation.
2. Keto Breath

3. Change in Bowel Habit

4. Decreased Exercise Performance

No glycogen stores
Not ketone adapted
5. Insomnia

6. Reduced Appetite

You’ve created the conditions in your body in which you can now access your stored body fat as energy.
You’re going to be less hungry, because you’re getting your energy from your fat stores. This is a really positive sign: it’s also very often at this point that people decide, “I actually don’t need breakfast anymore.” This is a really good segue into intermittent fasting. The fact that your hunger levels have reduced means that the transition to intermittent fasting can be much easier. That’s one of the reasons I often recommend people start the low carb diet before they actually start intermittent fasting. It can happen that way quite naturally.
The second reason you’re probably not feeling as hungry is that you’re not getting the huge insulin spikes after a carb-based meal that you would have been doing, and we know that that can drive hunger forward when you get a reactive low blood glucose level.
7. Improved Mental Clarity

8. Improved Physical Energy Levels

You’re now accessing your fat as your primary store of energy, and that’s giving you a more even delivery of energy throughout the day. You don’t get those afternoon carb-crash slumps anymore. Hopefully, your early phase insomnia will have cleared up and your sleep will probably be better at that point.
You will be waking up more refreshed. Often people need a little less sleep when they’re on a ketogenic diet, and these are great signs that you’re probably in ketosis.
9. You're Losing Weight

If the reason you’re on a ketogenic diet is that you’re trying to lose weight, and you find you’re actually losing weight, then it’s really not worth bothering to check whether you’re in ketosis or not.
You’ve probably got enough evidence that you are in ketosis, and you’re achieving your goal of weight loss. Losing weight for me is the biggest sign you are in ketosis, and weighing in on a regular basis, you get to know fluctuations within your body weight that tell you whether you’re on the right track or not.
Conclusion
So there you have 9 signs that you are well on your way to being in Ketosis if not there already.
By looking out for these signs means you don’t have to be stabbing your finger or peeing on test strips to check…… by far the easiest and cheapest way to check!
And of course, if you are getting the results you want then testing doesn’t really matter.