hi there everyone all week my strips have been indicating that I'm in ketosis but when i tested it today i wasn't i haven't done anything different is this normal ?do you have days were this happens or do i need to do something to help it along xx:help2:

 

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Are you on exante?
How long have you been doing it?
How many bars have you eaten ( if you are on exante) when you got the none ketosis Reading?

did you drink a lot of water and then test with the ketostix?

 

So checking your posts, you have been on exante for 2/3 days now ?

Doubt your body will have settled into the diet yet

I took a week
I am losing weight, not feeling That hungry
so presume I am in ketosis
I haven't tested in a week myself

 

Ketostix only measure excess ketones leaving your body, and not whether you are in ketosis itself. (Common misconception.)

If you are producing ketones, but are using them all up (and therefore there are none to excess), they will not register on ketostix. Some people are so efficient with ketones that they don't register on a stick at all. Also, you often get more efficient as time goes on, so veteran VCLDers tend to register less often, too.

There's far too much fuss about whether you are in ketosis or not, IMHO. It's a bit of a gimmick that distracts from the main aim. If you are following the diet you will be burning fat (of which ketosis is a by-product, not the other way round), and in the grand scheme of things, that's the important bit.

So in short, if you're following the instructions, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

hi there tomorrow will be the end of my first week and my first weigh in i do feel as though i have lost some weight normally i have a shake for breakfast soup for dinner and a bar in the afternoon although yesterday i had a bar in the morning to. oh just thought had a coffee yesterday with sweetex was told this was OK by my friend who's on the CD is that were i went wrong ? thanks xxx

 

If it helps, I've not even bothered with the ketostix - just going with the old scales and clothing to tell me I'm doing good

 

You probably havn't gone wrong.

Just because you're not registering on a ketostick, doesn't necessarily mean you're not still losing weight.

Just wait and see what the scales say.

I bought a box of ketostix once in haste. That was a waste of a fiver...

 

I wouldn't worry about the bar
although if you don't lose, it may be just that tiny bit too many carbs in the bar (as they are more carb rich)
it's eating more protein than carbs is what males this diet work without hunger
I sometimes eat half a bar as a treat, but here at the end of week 3, I have only done that with 2 bars

I don't want to risk feeling even more hungry than I am now!!

 

I find there's not enough carbs in just one bar to upset things. I am grateful for my daily solids. It's my 5 minutes of near-normality...

 

I have found the following on the internet. Hopes this helps
Love Myr xxx


Low-carb dieters have often used a product called Ketostix which change color to indicate the concentration of ketones in the urine. Yes, you pee on them and they change color to indicate the presence or absence of ketones in the urine.
There are a number of problems with Ketostix not the least of which is that urinary ketone concentration is at best a very indirect indicator of what’s going on in the body. True ketosis is defined in terms of blood concentrations (terms ketonemia), not urine (terms ketonuria). But since you can’t easily measure ketones in the blood (no, you can’t put blood on the Ketostix, I tried it years ago and it doesn’t work), the next best thing is urinary ketones.
Now, obviously, if you have ketones in your urine, you certainly have them in your bloodstream. However, the absence of ketones in the urine doesn’t mean that you’re not still in ketosis (as defined by blood concentrations). You might be in ketosis as measured by blood levels but simply not be excreting any in the urine. Or not excreting enough to change the Ketostix.
Basically, there are a variety of things that influence whether or not there are enough ketones present to be excreted in the urine in sufficient quantities to make the Ketostix change colors. For example, you might not be making ketones in sufficient quantities (this happens in lean people, especially if they are very active), lots of water can dilute your urine and the ketone concentration, some other variables can impact on whether or not you show ketones on the Ketostix.
As you might imagine, at the end of the day, I don’t think focusing on ketosis per se (or the lack thereof) or the Ketostix is very valuable. You can develop deep ketosis by gorging on dietary fat (especially Medium Chain Triglycerides) but your calories will be so high that you won’t be losing much, if any fat, that way. And you can lose fat without ever showing a single ketone in the urine. Basically, there’s just no real correlation between ketosis, what the Ketostix are showing and fat loss.
Basically, I have seen too many dieters focusing on the Ketostix instead of what’s important: relative amounts of fat and lean body mass lost. Focus on the latter, if you’re losing fat and maintaining lean body mass, your diet (low-carbohydrate or otherwise) is working, whether you are in ketosis or not.
====================

 

Yep, top find. Much truth, that.

 

Agreed.

Rather than depending on ketostix a better investment whilst doing a VLCD might be a set of scales that show body fat, and/or water and lean percentages.

You can pick them up from supermarkets for around £20.

They work by sending tiny electrical impulses into your bare feet when you stand on them, and then analysing the impulses that come back so they are reasonably accurate, although like the actual stones and pounds you can change by a significant amount over the course of the day depending on what you have had to eat and drink, how much excercise you've done etc.

I use mine once a week at the same time of day for my official weigh-in (I have normal scales for peeking at during the week too ) and have found it very useful to keep a track on how my body fat %age is going (down) as well as my weight.

 

If you have a HOme Bargains Store near you, they were selling them last week

I think if you have more than one bar in a day, you may have added to your carbs is all

 

thank you all for your advice i think i need to relax a bit more about the hole thing lol!! just wondered how everyone else is doing theres are you all just having the shakes or soups and the bars as a treat for now and then ? i do find the shakes are what keep me fuller the longest .i think the hardest thing for me is having to cook the meals for my three children and partner and the social side of it :family2:and how do i put my picture up thanks again

 

shake in the morning (8am ish)

half a bar at 11:15 - 11:30 ish
rest of bar 12:30 ish

soup 5.30 ish

you are doing just fine

 

Nah, I've been having 1 each of shake soup & bar every day and I'm doing OK.

I split my shake in half (so effectively have 2 shakes a day ) cos I don't like them too thick, and I try to have my bar in lots of little bits over the course of an hour or so as well, with lots of water whilst I'm eating it, rather than just wolfing down the whole thing quickly.

You just need to test what works for you.

Play with it a bit (but keep the book handy so you don't break any rules) and you should be able to work something out that suits you.

 

Shake - before work. usually made hot.

Bar - lunch. The whole thing, every day, 12:30 - 1pm. More discreet for work, rather than messing about with hardware.

Soup - me dinner.


If I only left the bars for treats, I'd go nuts. Besides, they're designed to be a replacement meal. but you have got to go with what works for you. Ultimately it's calories in vs. calories out over a 24 hour period, so if nothing's changed (apart from perhaps the timetable) you've got nothing to worry about.

Now chill...

(PS You need at least 50 posts to play with most of the toys here.)

 

Weekdays: M-Th my working hrs are 08.30-19.30
Shake about 8.30hrs
Bar over time between 13.00-15.00hrs
Soup about 20.00hrs

Friday & Saturday
Shake about 09.00-09.30
Bar ½ about 14.00
Soup 17.00ish
Bar other ½ about 20.00

Sunday
Shake about 09.00-10.00
Soup about 15.00
Bar between 18.00-20.00

Love Myr xxx

P.S did I mention water? :drool: