question about ketosis

[7Miriam]

I'm on the nuts rung and at 30 net carbs. I want to try to find my CCLL. But I noticed that since I've gone up to 30 net carbs, the ketosis stixs don't work as well - before they were always dark purple and now they are very pale pinkish-purple. But my weight loss has stayed about the same - I'm still losing on average a little over 2 pounds a week. I remember DANDR saying the sticks may not work at higher levels of net carbs.

My question is, if the stix stop working, can I still be in ketosis, and how will I know? If it is possible for me to eat more carbs and still lose over a pound a week I think I'd like to do this - but I don't want to go out of ketosis and stop the fat burning!

[Georgiana]

The color on the ketostix is not important. As long as the color changes... that's what you want! Whether is light pink or dark purple, doesn't matter -- you are still in ketosis.

For most people, ketostix stop turning pink when the carbohydrate intake exceeds 50 g. If you are lucky to have a CCLL higher than 50, from that point on you will have to go by what the measuring tape and the scale tell you. I never used ketostix... so one can do Atkins without them just fine.

2 lbs a week is great!

[not2late]

Georgiana is correct. The stix stop measuring at a 40-50 net carbs daily. So go by the physical signs of ketosis rather than by those stix.

Another thing of interest is what a nutritionist who does ketogenic diets for children with seizures told me... The children stop measuring on the ketostix after about 4-6 months on the ketogenic diet, even though the children are eating a high fat, low carb diet. My guess is that these children (and us!) become more efficient in using ketones for energy, so there isn't an excess ketone around for them to pee out.

[Desertthorn]

My question is, if the stix stop working, can I still be in ketosis, and how will I know? If it is possible for me to eat more carbs and still lose over a pound a week I think I'd like to do this - but I don't want to go out of ketosis and stop the fat burning

Absolutely. In fact I went through 2 bottles and they never turned color yet I lost 50 pounds. Very often when you move up the ladder you eat less fat and it could have been the that fat that was registering

Congrats

[lgowan]

They also fluctuate colors at various points in the day depending on how concentrated your urine is. Ketosis can also indicate dehydration so if you are drinking tons of water you may never show a change. I have not gotten beyond small to moderate. I hit moderate ketosis 2 times. I am extended induction phase because I cheated the second week while my father was hospitalized. I am still bad about the whole water thing and think that is why my weight loss slowed down, but I am still trudging along. Keep up the good work, we are all here to support one another!