The sweet smell of success!

Or not so sweet, I guess it depends on your point of view!

What am I talking about? The smell of ketosis! When you fast and / or follow a ketogenic diet, your body switches from burning glucose as its main fuel source to burning fat.

The Fat-Bank Audit

Think of your body like a high-interest savings account. When you eat carbs, you’re making constant deposits into your Fat Storage Bank. But when you fast or go keto, you stop the deposits and start making massive ATM withdrawals from your waistline.

Chemical money laundering

To make those withdrawals usable, your liver has to “launder” that stored fat into a currency called ketones. One specific byproduct of this transaction is acetone – basically the chemical “receipt” of your fat-burning success.

Since your body can’t spend the acetone, it tosses the receipts out through your breath and urine. So, if things start smelling a bit like nail polish remover, don’t worry – it’s just the scent of your “bank balance” finally going down!

Fortunately, I haven’t really suffered with ketosis breath, or at least not that anyone has pointed out to me! 😬

Eau de Adipose

So, the smell of ketosis could more aptly be called the “fragrance of fat loss”, or perhaps the French might call it “eau de adipose”! 😜

But ultimately, for me, it’s the sweet smell of success. It tells me that I am doing the right things, and keeping my blood sugar as low as possible.

When my pee stops smelling I know that I’ve somehow snuck in too much sugar and I’m now making glucose deposits rather than fat withdrawals.

Taking the piss

This has become a bit of a light hearted mantra for me – every time I pee I discreetly sniff just to see that I’m on track. When I get that telltale scent I smile to myself and think “ah! The sweet smell of success!” 👃🏼😁

Just a word of caution: it may be wise to avoid sharing this particular bathroom ritual with your friends or coworkers if you value their continued company and respect!