Carb Tracker for Gina's Journal, 14 July 2013

If you would like help, log all of your food for the entire day tomorrow & I can help you find where you may be going wrong after I see exactly what you are eating. It can be a tough diet to figure out for the 1st few months. Both of Dr. ATkins books really help me too. I go back to them all the time for things I forgot about (when I'm not losing weight) due to my bad habits. :o) 

Sounds like you're using ketosis sticks to tell you whether you're in ketosis or not? Atkins no longer recommends those sticks because they aren't an accurate reflection of ketosis. Ketones can be excreted in your breath, sweat, and urine. Not showing ketones on the stick means absolutely nothing. If you are eating under 50 total carbs per day then you ARE in ketosis--no ifs, ands, or buts.  

Ketostix are for diabetics, not dieters. Showing a color on the sticks absolutely does not mean that you are doing Atkins correctly OR that you will lose weight. Conversely, NOT showing a color doesn't mean you're not doing Atkins correctly or that you won't lose weight. Best to spend that money on a nice steak instead. 

Well guys, I thank you all for taking the time to comment. Guess I better back up. I am NOT anywhere new to Atkins. It's been my WOE for 25+years, but when I quit smoking a few years back I trashed it. NOW I have to fix it. Having ALSO entered menopause it seems like a new world. BELLA, I did log all my food today, if you'd like to take a look. CRM Diabetics check for ketoacidosis, not ketone excretion. And yes, you can excrete in all those places. I have been using Ketostix since the '80's very reliably which I why the crazy questions I asked. We've pretty much established that the ketostix are messed up, WHICH I hope to prove tomorrow with a new batch! I also have my own Dr.s scientific proof that you are not necessarily in ketosis at 50NC, 50 total carbs, maybe. Lots of carb intolerant folks out there that can't maintain on 50. Now, I'll agree with you that if you use the ketostix incorrectly that they don't produce consistently accurate results. From my research and that of my Dr. and a very good lab, the most accurate use of ketostix is UPON RISING after a day where the last food item was consumed before 8pm the previous day. Basically, if your body is excreting ketones when it should be doing nothing other than resting you have sufficiently used fat all day for fuel. Okay, I'm not a scietific person, but you seem intelligent, I'm sure you'll understand what I meant. I'm 3 million percent positive that I'm in ketosis because I feel like I've got a bucket of metal in my mouth. It just freaked me out because my weight loss "stalled" at the same time. I don't know what you guys consider a stall, because I expect fluctuation as a daily occurrence, but I feel like, at the end of any given two week period you should see at least an overall loss of something no less than 1/2 pound, which I certainly haven't seen. I'm thinking I'm having some other issues, just can't put my finger on them. I'm not worried about not losing, because I know it WILL come off, it always does and I know for a fact that I am not consuming enough carbs to stop weight loss, i just can't come to a logical conclusion. Heck, maybe there isn't one! You guys will never understand how impressed I am that you took the time to offer your help and opinions. I will reread them many times while I try to sort this out. I'm sorry I missed logging the food, I DO have a hand-written diary, just can't get it logged in. I'll try to get tomorrows in too. Please feel free to jump in anytime with any thoughts or opinions you have. I'm truly thankful that people are willing to point out things that could easily be the thing that gets me moving again!