How to Know If You are Burning Fats Not Muscles?

The danger of any weight loss program or even regular daily workout regime is that you may lose more muscles instead of burning fat. This is unhealthy because it will lead to slow the rate of metabolism and the body retain more fats consequently. A good indication of fat burning is production of ketones. Whenever the body metabolizes fats molecules, it releases ketones. One simply yet to determine the amount of ketones production in the body is the use of ketones strips to test for ketones in the urine. Usually the desired value for ketones production is 40 mg/dl They are available in the pharmacies, and usually used by diabetic patients. It is an easy method to test the effectiveness of weight loss program. If you are on a weight loss program and not producing ketones, then that is an indication the program is not effective and you are burning other energy sources such as carbohydrates or baking down your muscles.

Tips to get your body into Ketosis:

• Minimize the carbohydrates consumption: normally the cells use glucose as their main source for fuel. The body stores glucose as glycogen as well for later consumption. Low intake of carbs, means low storage of glycogen. This will lead to lower the level of insulin. A lower level of insulin triggers the release of fatty acids in the body. Fatty acids are converted eventually by the liver into ketones. For normal adult the recommended amount is 20- 50 g/ day of carbs intake.

• Include Coconut Oil in your diet: it contains fats called Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). Consuming coconuts oil provide the body with MCTs that help with conversion of fats into ketones. Recommended start with 1 tsp per day and work up to 2- 3 Tsp over a week.

• Maintain adequate protein intake: consuming too little protein can lead to muscle loss and excessive intake may suppress ketones production as well. To calculate the need of protein on Ketogenic diet multiply your IBW in Ib by 0.55 to 0.77.