Something weird ... can this be right?

[Yoly1001]

I haven't had the ketosis sticks in a while but I happened to be at the store the other day and saw them on sale. I picked some up and went home and tested. I was surprised that it was actually negative. I hadn't been excercising as much as I would have liked and I hadn't been logging in my food into fitday but I was still eating everything on the acceptable food list for extended induction.

I decided to jump back on a few veges and get down to basics for a few days to see what happened, nothing. I started working out again, and nothing. It is TOM so I knew I couldn't rely on the scale so I just kept on doing everything that I was supposed to.

I have been pretty much on extended induction since I started, I've been clinging to it so deathly afraid to let go of my safety net and work my way through (what I think) the complicated rungs of OWL. But I was getting a bit tired of stuff so I added some extra veges still keeping my carbs under 30. I did that for a while, still no ketosis. Hmmm, then yesterday I decided to go for some blueberries, I know it's rung 3, but I'm not really into nuts and seeds so much so I had the berries like a treat. I had about half a cup or so. I had practically given up on the sticks but just now I tried it again and I am in deep ketosis, really deep. I need to up my water, I've never had a strip so red! I am closer to my goal, about 15 pounds from first goal and a total of 40 from final goal, but I guess it's time to move on.

So I am wondering if your body gets used to one thing and you need to change it up like you have to with excercise. I guess I"m an owler, even though I didn't do it exactly right. I'll go back and do it over again, I really want to find my CCLL. I guess my body couldn't handle induction anymore and really liked the berries. This morning I stepped on the scale and was at 178, thats three pounds lower then I was last week, but of course we have to factor in TOM issues.

I'm sorry this is so long winded but I never would have thought that upping my carb intake could push me into ketosis. I have to reprogram my way of thinking, I've been worried about taking them away for so long that I don't even know how I'll do it when I have to add them back in. I guess a good thing that has come out of it is that I get to eat berries every once in a while. I would love to eat oatmeal though, oh well, maybe at goal.

[Moochiecat]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

Firstly, it sounds like the box of ketostix you bought contained a bunch of duds. I wouldn't put too much faith into them.
If you are eating properly there is no reason you shouldn't be in ketosis. If you feel things are standing still for a while and you are in a stall (typical stall is one month without any change in weight OR measurements) then you might benefit from shaking things up a little.
Remember that OWL stands for Ongoing Weight Loss, and adding in a half cup of blueberries or nuts or whathaveyou is not likely to knock you out of ketosis.
It doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong to me, but you might feel better if you re-induct for a few days, then start into OWL after you've done some more looking into it, and follow the rungs as they are laid out in a more organized manner than you have been.

Again, let me reassure you that it doesn't sound like you did anything detrimental at all, but with OWL you can experiment with what your body likes and doesn't like. It just sounds like you need to get your ducks in a row and you'll be set.

[Chris]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

Those stix worked for me for about a week, and then, after that, nothing. I know I'm in ketosis, but I think I drink so much liquid that it dilutes the ketones to the point that they don't register.

[Yoly1001]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

Thanks Moochie, honestly it hadn't even ocurred to me that the sticks might be bad, lol. I give that advice to everyone everytime they are talking about the same thing and then I forget to take it into consideration in my own case, what a nut. Thanks for the advice, I am new to OWL and I hopt that it is a better fit. I am going to re-induct for a few days here, find my copy of DANDR and read up on OWL, then start up from the beginning, by the book.

Chris - thanks, great job in staying in ketosis, i really need to up my water intake, I'm usually pretty good about it but I haven't been very thirsty the last few days, even my lips are chapped, yikes! I'm off for water, thanks for the reminder.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

all those stix will measure is the excess concentration of a certone form of ketones in your blood stream at the time that urine was created.

you can be burning them up exercising and they will not show on a stix.
you can be making the other formes of ketones and it will not show on a stix

you can be drinking enough water that the concentration of them in your urine is less then the stix bottom number. Say you have 10 units that they measure and you havedrunk 100 ounces of water turned to pee then your concentration would be 10 but if you drank only 25 ounces your concentration for the same amount of ketone bodies would be 40.

use the knowledge you have abut your body during ketosis and the physcial symptoms your Atkins gives you like appetite suppression and know if you are correctly eating your Atkins you are in ketosis

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

all those stix will measure is the excess concentration of a certone form of ketones in your blood stream at the time that urine was created.

you can be burning them up exercising and they will not show on a stix.
you can be making the other formes of ketones and it will not show on a stix

you can be drinking enough water that the concentration of them in your urine is less then the stix bottom number. Say you have 10 units that they measure and you havedrunk 100 ounces of water turned to pee then your concentration would be 10 but if you drank only 25 ounces your concentration for the same amount of ketone bodies would be 40.

I was on a medically supervised diet a few years ago and they measured ketones 3 times a week and if that stick didn't change color they accused you of cheating. I was losing a lot of weight but the stick often didn't change color and they kept telling me I was cheating. I didn't last very long on that diet.

[not2late]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

TOM can also affect the accuracy of the stix. So can various medications and vitamins.

See if you still have the physicial signs of ketosis. If you are, then dump the stix.

[slimndown]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

It's true that the stix are inaccurate but I've seen in lots of posts here that many that stay on induction with alot of weight to lose at some point plateau probably because the metabolism gets used to it. That's is where it makes sense to make the leap to OWL. Atkins did say in his book that there are times where we need to throw in a carb here or there to jog the metabolism and bump the plateau.

[not2late]

Re: Something weird ... can this be right?

PS: 1/2 cup of blueberries is about 9 net carbs. Remember when you are on OWL or Pre-Maintenance, you really have to measure each food and know the carb content of each food you eat. The easiest way to screw yourself on OWL is to think "1/2 cup or 1 cup is always 5 net carbs no matter what food"