Day 4

[luvtranscendsall]

I am on Day 4. I wasn't going to weigh myself because i know from the past that the initial weight loss is a lot and then you slow down. This can mess you with your mind. However I still went last night on Day 3 and weighed myself at work (the only scale that will weigh me adequately) I lost 10lbs 6 oz in two days. I know this is a lot of water weight but I am still feeling good about it. My keto-stix are also turning purple so I know I am in ketosis. I need these visual aids because low fat low calorie diets are so ingrained that sometimes I feel guilty eating a porkchop and one cup of acceptable vegetables or bacon and eggs in the morning. At least when I see these instant results I know that I AM burning fat for fuel and the science behind this WOE is right. My boyfriend who is the biggest skeptic of them all, the same man that told me I was making this diet up because no one is going to diet and eat bacon and eggs with the yolk everyday, told me today that when he hugged me on the first day on Atkin's his fingertips touched on the other side. He said today He could grab both of his wrists on the other side. It made me feel good that I am in the right direction.

[liv]

Wow. Really. You lost all that. That is wonderful stuff.
I know what you mean about the low fat being ingrained. But yes eating fat is a good thing but can some time to get used to. It is so sad that people are being taught the wrong things and that this make them fat rather than thin, Hopefully one day this will change.
How nice of your boyfriend to give you good feedback.
Keep plugging away

[luvtranscendsall]

Thanks, I know its amazing to lose 10lbs in 2 days but I know I was pretty swollen when I started so I know that by the end of the next week it will slow down. I have always lost 20lbs in the first two weeks on Induction and then I it slows down.

[liv]

Always does not always happen. Some times people come here crying because they did not lose as much as last time they did it. We simply change through our life travel. So celebrate your pounds lady. It is fricken awesome - I think. And a really good start.

[atkinsgal08]

Congratulations on the loss so far! Keep eating the acceptable foods and you'll be fine!

>>My keto-stix are also turning purple so I know I am in ketosis.>>

You could be in ketosis if they were light pink.

You could be in ketosis if they didn't turn a color at all!

Remember that purple could mean you're dehydrated ... or it could mean that you happened to spill a lot of ketones at that time.

Also ... sad to say, "purple" doesn't mean that you're doing Atkins properly or that you will lose weight.

I know you like the visual, but it helps to know the facts about the tools!

Here's an article on the "sticks" and ketosis you might find interesting:

The color of the stick shows how concentrated the ketones are in your urine. So, if you drink lots of water, the stick will be light, and if you don't drink, it will be dark.

****

This is not the way ketosis works, but is a myth that continues to be perpetuated because it logically sounds like it should be true. Ketones are only present in the urine if there are excess ketones in the bloodstream, and then these excess ketones "spill over" into the urine. This can happen at various times during the day. Your level of blood ketosis fluctuates all day long depending on what you eat, and there may or may not be an excess amount to spill into the urine at any given time. The amount of ketones is not static in either the bloodstream or the urine, and their presence in the urine is simply excess that spill over once the blood ketosis level reaches a certain level. A dark reading indicates nothing more than the fact that the bloodstream happened to contain a lot of ketones at that moment, and spilled a lot of them into the urine at that moment. This is why even if you read negative at certain times during the day it doesn't mean you are out of ketosis, it just means that your bloodstream isn't making excess ketones at that moment. You don't go in and out of ketosis all day depending on your stick reading, even though you can test positive at one point, and ten minutes later be negative, or vice versa.

It's also important to know this -- even though the stick is dark and reads "large," this does not indicate a "large" amount of ketones for our healthy kidneys to handle. Don't be scare by that "large" label. Don't forget, these sticks were originally made for diabetics, not dieters, and a "large" reading to them indicates something completely different than it does for us dieters. In general, these stix are also meant for screening purposes and not to make any definitive diagnoses. If a stick turns up a positive reading of any kind, it's a signal for a doctor to do further testing.

Drink lots of water, yes, as this diet is a diuretic and you need to replace fluids...but don't do it simply to change your ketostix color from dark purple.

--Nancy Eaton (who formerly was a clinical consultant for Ames, which is now Bayer, who makes Ketostix and many other kinds of diagnostic test strips and equipment)

[luvtranscendsall]

Thank you for your reply. I did not know all of that about the sticks but its good to know because a couple of times I went from a darker shade to a lighter shade to almost testing negative and I was like OMG but then I told myself I am sure it varies throughout the day just keep doing it. I know there are a couple of things I have to do to be considered a "clean induction" like the water intake, watching for the hidden sugars in salad dressings even if it says 1 carb, I also need to watch out for the nitrates. I guess for me I had to start the best way I could and see if I can still function cooking and preparing my family meals without giving in to temptation. I promise I am going to work on these things and eventually end up in a clean induction. I plan on doing an extended induction since Dr. Atkin's said that if you have significant amount to lose you can stay on Induction as long as you can tolerte it (6 months-a year) so I know I have plenty of time to clean things up. I know others might not agree with it but I had to do something immediate.

[atkinsgal08]

>>I am sure it varies throughout the day just keep doing it.>>

Quite true! It does vary!!!

>>Dr. Atkin's said that if you have significant amount to lose you can stay on Induction as long as you can tolerte it (6 months-a year)>>

The time limit in DANDR is 6 months ... and those were patients of Dr. Atkins.

Remember that staying on Induction too long can backfire ... most of your weight should be lost on OWL ... you can spend years on OWL!

[sham]

Now thats a record 10lbs in 2 days fantastic.