No more ketosis..

[bkrymsin]

Hi All,

I'm on my third week of induction. So far I have lost 11 pounds, and still losing I think. However the ketostix are showing that I am no longer in ketosis. Furthermore, I am starting to have _big_ cravings for sweets (usually when I have cravings for anything I attribute it to my body needing something),

I have been taking my supplements plus omega3's as wel as drinking a lot of water (most days). My carb count has been below 20 grams each day so far. I have also been strength training (which feels great!!) with some occasional cardio thrown in.

Here are the questions: Should I still be in ketosis? Am I doing something incorrectly? If so, what would be the best way to hop back in to ketosis?

Thanks,

B

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

Well,

After doing a better search of the forums I would say that I am still indeed in ketosis, even if the stix tell me otherwise!

Thanks,

B

[Georgiana]

Re: No more ketosis..

Woo hoo for the 11 lbs! In 3 weeks, that's great!

The ketostix are not a reliable indicator of ketosis, meaning that you could be in ketosis without turning the stix pink or purple. As long as you are losing weight, no need to worry.

The fact that you have cravings is a bit worrisome. Did you introduce any new foods? Are you still measuring foods or did you begin adding a dollop of sour cream to your foods and pouring heavy cream directly from the carton? Please post a menu, indicating quantities for everything (meat, veggies, cream, sweeteners, spices, beverages, etc.), and we can see if there's anything to be tweaked there.

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

Hi Georgiana,

Thanks for the reply!

I have gotten more lax with the measuring, but it is usually for the things with "0" carbs on the label (such as the heavy whipping cream. Even so, on FitDay I tend to overestimate the amounts used (and still come in below 20 net carbs).

A very typical day:

Morning:
2 or 3 eggs with 1 oz provolone, or 3 slices of ham

Lunch: (these are indeed estimated amounts, but I am quite confident with them)
2 or 3 cups leaf spinach
.25 cups celery
6 slices cucumber
about .25 cups jicama
.75 to 1 cup diced chicken breast
.25 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
or.. 1 to 2 tabllespoons regular ranch dressing


Dinner:
3 frozen hamburger patties (with mustard)
1.5 oz colby jack cheese

Snacks: (at night)
pork rinds! love 'em spicy..
celery stalks w/ whipped cream cheese


Perhaps a tad more cheese than wanted, but if anything I have been under my carb limit by a bunch on some days versus over it.

I drink bunches of water. a couple cups of coffee throughout the week. 3 or 4 cans of Diet coke with Splenda per week, and some great flavored fizzy waters (although they have aspartame :-/ )

What do you think?

Thanks,

B

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

I also forgot the sugar free jello's for a snack. I have only had 3 since on induction. However I would think they are a better choice for my sweets cravings than perhaps a handful of M&M's sitting about 2 feet away!! (I really should get rid of those...)

Thanks,

B

[mizski]

Re: No more ketosis..

I drink bunches of water. a couple cups of coffee throughout the week. 3 or 4 cans of Diet coke with Splenda per week, and some great flavored fizzy waters (although they have aspartame :-/ )

Maybe the SF soda, SF jello and fizzies w/asparatame are causing the sweet cravings. I don't know if they would kick you out of ketosis but we're not supposed to have asparatame products during induction. I don't remember the reason why.

If you don't mind my asking, what made you want to do an extended induction?

[Georgiana]

Re: No more ketosis..

Too many sweeteners in your diet are probably causing a cephalic response. You are allowed to have at most 3 servings of sweetener per day (which doesn't mean you must have 3 servings daily). Right now you have sweetener coming from diet sodas and flavored waters (8 oz of drink is 1 serving of sweetener), from the sugar free jello... and I don't know if you're also adding sweetener in your coffee or you drink in black.

If your coffee is the regular kind, another possible (likely!) problem is caffeine. For many of us it causes blood sugar stress. Cravings are one of the symptoms (among many others) of sugar stress. Do you have the book? There is a table on pp. 150-151 with a long list of symptoms.

Your menu looks okay otherwise. As you said, keep an eye on cheese and try to stick to not more than 3-4 oz per day. Are you eating enough? How many calories do you have in that menu? And what are your fat, carbohydrate and protein percentages? If you are very active, you will need more protein than someone who sits at the desk all day.

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

If you don't mind my asking, what made you want to do an extended induction?

Hi Mizski,

I started induction at my highest weight ever, 260. I'd like to get to 200. So I decided to stick with induction for a bit longer. Ill re-weigh on Wednesday morning to see if I'm closer.

Thanks,

B

[Georgiana]

Re: No more ketosis..

Maybe the SF soda, SF jello and fizzies w/asparatame are causing the sweet cravings. I don't know if they would kick you out of ketosis but we're not supposed to have asparatame products during induction. I don't remember the reason why.

Dr. Atkins noticed some of his patients were stalled by aspartame. Now this is a tricky subject. He was suggesting aspartame in his early books, so probably most of his patients were consuming aspartame thinking it's okay to have it... "Dr. Atkins said so." But along the years Dr. Atkins' office got calls from many stalled dieters who were desperately asking for help. When these stalled Atkineers ditched diet sodas sweetened with aspartame, about a quarter of them managed to break their stall. So in DANDR 2002 Dr. Atkins wrote we should avoid aspartame whenever possible. I'm wondering if he would have changed things for Splenda too, had he had the time...

Anyway, from what I've seen on the Board, Jell-O and diet drinks (sodas, flavored waters) sweetened with aspartame do indeed stall a lot of people. Bkrymsin, you can make your own jelly from unflavored gelatin, a "legal" sweetener and some flavoring. And to flavor your water, you can use slices of cucumber, lemon or lime.

[mizski]

Re: No more ketosis..

Thanks for the explanation on asparatame. I try not to have any artificial sweeteners and gave up sodas last year. I have noticed though that a lot of people complain of plateaus and poor weight loss results and wonder if that may be a cause.

I just love cucumber water...especially in the summer. So refreshing.

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

Hi Georgina,

Wow! Thanks for the in-depth response!

I usually have just a bit of heavy cream in my coffee. Perhaps a packet of splenda sometimes, but that does get added on FitDay.

I didn't know about the limited sweetener amounts. However, I'm quite confident that I have gone over that limit perhaps 2 days of the induction so far. I did however know about the aspartame. I tremendously dilute those those fizzy waters with regular water, however I may do that quite a bit throughout the day.

I originally read Protein Power, and haven't read the updated version. I should get a copy, because I understand that the plan is slightly different.

I think my calories are actually quite high. Some days they are 2200 some days 1700.

Thanks,

B

[bkrymsin]

Re: No more ketosis..

I should add, the cravings are not constant. I've had about 3 days when they were quite extreme, which is when I might have a Jello to appease the id.

For the most part I'm quite satisfied.

Thanks,

B

[msanjelpie]

Re: No more ketosis..

heavy cream has a LOT of calories... so watch that too...