How to get 10lbs off by November

Sure :)

Fat adapted means that the body has adjusted to using ketone bodies (broken down fat) for energy instead of glucose. All carbohydrates regardless of what kind they are wind up as glucose. Ketone bodies are created by breaking down fat. Whenever you lose weight, i.e. loss fat, your body is using a metabolic state called ketosis to break the fat down and utilize it as fuel. The byproducts of this get expelled in urine or via the lungs.

Basically we have three macro-nutrients the body uses for fuel: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. While all three are required to function, we do not need to consume carbohydrate. The body can also make glucose by transforming protein into glucose. It does this in your liver. The fancy name for this is de novo gluconeogenesis. A few cells always need glucose (parts of the brain, the medulla area of the kidney, etc), but even the majority of brain cells prefer ketone bodies when available. This may be part of why ketones seem to cause cognitive improvements in people with neurodegenerative disorders like dementia or Alzheimer's.

As for losing fat versus losing weight, our body stores a lot of energy because our brain and vital organs must have a steady supply of energy at all times - even while asleep. So, our body developed mechanisms to store energy. We can store glucose (carbohydrates) and fat. It takes glucose and fat and stores them. Fat gets stored in fat cells, of course. Glucose gets turned into fat if we have excess, but we store a form of glucose called glycogen in our muscles or liver.

If we eat low carb long enough, the body uses these stores up. When we have lower stores the body then shifts to using fat as fuel. The body will always use glucose available first, though.

In order to store the glucose (glycogen), the body has to bind it to water. When you go on a low carb diet you will shed a lot of water - the initial weight loss and reduction in swelling is caused by this. This is also part of the "liver shrinking" pre-op.

Hey, I found this article which explains it better!