I don't think it's working.

[blondegypsy]

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working. If they don't turn I eat some meat, try a few hrs later, usually has a reaction. If not, I messed up somewhere and I just eat meat and eggs for the next day or so and Im back!

I eat only green veggies. I stay away from white, yellow and orange ones. Go for grilled chicken salad! No chips on a taco salad! A great stand by... find an old cafe that serves breakfast all day. Order the eggs and bacon, skip the toast and biscuits of course! Or just a bacon cheese burger, no bun, eat the veggies! I did that when we went to eat and they had pizza, I wasn't tempted like I thought I would be.

180/180/130

[jpark7]

Your weight is not the only thing in play here, have you taken measurements? When I lose weight, The inches come off first and then the weight. Also, eating from any fast food place contains hidden carbs and bad food ingridients that will effect your weihgt loss progress. The first thing is to always thing positivley, when you think your weight is not coming off, It wont.

Stay strong !!!

[mitzimarie]

Originally Posted by blondegypsy

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working.

It is possible to be in ketosis and not lose weight, and it is possible to lose weight, and not be in ketosis... so I'm not sure how that would help the original poster.

[blondegypsy]

I get excited when I see the purple on the sticks, it helps me to know I'm still on track. That's part of the magic of Atkins. Its science at its best!

If your FMH is activated and you are burning hundreds calories as you sleep, breath, you could be a bump on a log and still loose the fat. Of course exercise speeds the weight loss and adds the muscle tone. It is also the secret to why you won't be hungery on this diet. Your body's fat is taped into and your fat resurves are being used constantly.... so awsome!

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it. If you stop turning purple (it shows deeper at certain times of the day) completely...you goofed somewhere, just go back to the start of the diet for about 3 days till you hit it again and turn purple on the test strips. Then take off back where you were.

Man, Atkins learned his stuff and shared it with everyone! I'm soooo grateful!

pg. 18 "And the production of FMH is the whole purpose of this diet-and the reason it works when all others fail."
"Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" hardcover by Robert C. Atkins M.D.

180/180/130

[mitzimarie]

Originally Posted by blondegypsy

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it.

Again, just because you are in ketosis, that is not a guarantee that you will lose weight.

pg. 18 "And the production of FMH is the whole purpose of this diet-and the reason it works when all others fail."
"Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" hardcover by Robert C. Atkins M.D.

This board is based upon the rules in the 2002 edition of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. It is confusing to members when you quote outdated editions that we don't follow.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by blondegypsy

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working. If they don't turn I eat some meat, try a few hrs later, usually has a reaction. If not, I messed up somewhere and I just eat meat and eggs for the next day or so and Im back!

Originally Posted by blondegypsy

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it. If you stop turning purple (it shows deeper at certain times of the day) completely...you goofed somewhere, just go back to the start of the diet for about 3 days till you hit it again and turn purple on the test strips. Then take off back where you were.

Secretion of glucagon (i.e. liberation of fat from fat cells) has little to do with the reading on the ketostix. To understand what ketostix tell you, you first need to understand how ketone bodies are formed and used.

When fatty acids undergo beta-oxidation they are broken down into two-carbon molecules called acetyl-CoA. If there isn't enough oxygen available to burn all the acetyl-CoA molecules, the acetyl-CoA molecules will be converted into three types of ketones: acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. Acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid will be released into the bloodstream for energy supply and those cells that have mitochondria will take these ketones and convert them back into acetyl-CoA, which then is pumped back into the TCA cycle.

If there are any excess ketones left after all this happens, they will be expelled by your body and you can measure them in urine. However, the stix only detect acetoacetate and what you are measuring is not the number of molecules, but their concentration. For example, if you spill 10000 ketones into 1000 ml of pee, the concentration will be smaller than if you spill the same 10000 ketones into 500 ml of pee. This means that the color on the ketostix will be lighter or, if the molarity is below the one that can be detected by the stix, the color will not change at all. Similarly, the concentration of unused ketones will change depending on your activity level, on what you had for your last meal, on the time of the day when you are testing and on the type of fatty acids in your diet.

Being in lipolysis/ketosis (i.e. using fat as the primary source of energy) is not equivalent to spilling excess ketones into the urine. Folks who exercise heavily may never change the color of the ketostix simply because they are using the ketones for fuel, so there is no surplus left to pee. But this does not mean they "goofed somewhere", nor does it mean that they have to go back to Induction, as you suggested (I guess "Induction" is what you mean by "the start of the diet", although this is an Induction forum).

Originally Posted by blondegypsy

If your FMH is activated and you are burning hundreds calories as you sleep, breath, you could be a bump on a log and still loose the fat.

Yes, normal functions like sleeping and breathing do burn calories. But just because you are burning calories it does not mean you are having a net loss of body fat, which is what we care about when we want to lose weight. Imagine you have a bathtub and 10 L of water in it. If you remove the plug, the amount of water should decrease, right? Well, not necessarily. If you turn on the water and the rate at which it goes into the tub is higher than the rate at which water goes through the drain, the amount of water in the tub will in fact increase. If we would only burn energy, none of us would be fat in the first place. However, we take Calories in from the foods we eat, which means we are constantly pouring water into the tub. Atkins is not magic and the same old principle applies to it---if there is no caloric deficit, there will be no weight loss, regardless of whether you are in ketosis or not. For example, you will be in ketosis if you snack on butter and lard all day and you might even turn the ketostix dark pink. But being in ketosis only determines the primary metabolic pathway your body chooses to generate energy, not the net amount of body fat you lose.

[vector2]

Originally Posted by Georgiana

Secretion of glucagon (i.e. liberation of fat from fat cells) has little to do with the reading on the ketostix. To understand what ketostix tell you, you first need to understand how ketone bodies are formed and used.................

Great post. Just one correction: Acetyl-CoA is used as substrate for making ketone bodies not because of a lack of oxygen, but because oxaloacetate is required for acetyl-coa to proceed normally through the TCA cycle. During periods of low carbohydrate intake, oxaloacetate is shunted away from the TCA cycle so its carbon skeleton can be used for gluconeogenesis; the liver then produces kb's as an alternative method for dealing with excess acetyl-coa.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by vector2

Great post. Just one correction: Acetyl-CoA is used as substrate for making ketone bodies not because of a lack of oxygen, but because oxaloacetate is required for acetyl-coa to proceed normally through the TCA cycle. During periods of low carbohydrate intake, oxaloacetate is shunted away from the TCA cycle so its carbon skeleton can be used for gluconeogenesis; the liver then produces kb's as an alternative method for dealing with excess acetyl-coa.

Thanks for clarifying that, vector2.