1st time around I used them. Now that I learned more about the principles I know I don't have to waste the money.

I can tell when I'm in ketososis and I would actually PREFER that it not show as much on the strips.

The strips just show how concetrated ketones are in you urine. The more urine you have (Drinking Plenty of Water) the less concetrated the ketones will be..

There are other ways to tell .. Less hungry, Bad Breath....

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do but I ran out today & have to go buy some! They can be addicting, at least to me.



Answered this already. :p



I guess if I actually paid attention I could.



I don't know if it is so much that I *care* but seeing the strips turn colors is motivating for me. It basically tells me that I am on the right track & that keeps me *in the mood* to go on with the diet.

Here's a great tip for buying ketostix! Call your local pharmacy & ask them if they carry "Ketostix", preferrably Rite Aid if you have one. I just bought 50 strips today for $13.99. The "Thinz Metabostix" are really a rip-off. They can be bought pretty much everywhere, including Wal*Mart BUT they cost about $15.00 for 25 test strips (more money for half the strips). You do NOT need a prescription for "Ketostix" from behind the pharmacy counter. I think they just keep them back there to keep people from stealing them. Good luck!!!

Better yet, get them on ebay for on a few dollars. I use them occasionally just for fun. As long as I'm losing inches or pounds I'm happy ;)

Alli

First time I did Atkins, I was obsessive with the ketostix. Now I don't use them at all and weight is still coming off and it's less stressful for me.

Andrea

I used the sticks at first. They were a great motivator for me. I only use them every now and then now only because I still have some left. For those of you that do use them check ebay. That is where I bought mine, real cheap something like 3.00 for 100.

I use the sticks every once and a while b/c I was not loosing for a while and worried that I was meesing up. Now I use them every day for several days after adding a new food (this week is sugar alcohol, still pink!) to see if that makes a diff. I don't worry too much about the shade, as long as it turn pink. Of course, if it is very dark for a while, and then I add something new to eat and it is much lighter I cut back and eat less of the new item. I like to have some assurance that I am doing things correctly b/c my weight loss was so slow for a while. I have experimented using the strips and cutting things out and so forth, and have come to the conclusion that it wass not WHAT I was eating, but how MUCH of it. (ie: FAR too much...) ;-)

Ketostix are our tools!!
 

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I used to do a clinical diet (that cost me "an arm and a leg") called the Bernstein diet. This diet was supervised by a full medical staff tracking your progress. This diet was also based on being in ketosis and they believed in using Ketostix to help track your diet. It is in using the Ketostix that you can tell if you ate too many carbs/sugar because it shows on the Ketostix. One of the main reasons that I started Atkins was because he refered to ketostix and I immediately understood being in Ketosis. My lesson was that being in ketosis has the product of rapid weight loss (by the way the Bernstein diet works, but only Stars can afford it). I was sold when the doctors and nurses were checking my ketones, and was sold when reading about it in Dr. Atkins diet revolution. The way they did it at the clinic was on a daily rotation, and that how I've continued to do it. One day you check your morning urine-that tells you if you burn at night....then the next day you check your urine at night-to see if your burning during the day. It works for me!!!! P.s I never go by the color of the stix because as long as it changes you're stll burning right?

My vote: "I don't need them - I know when I'm in ketosis."

Definitely the breath - no doubt about it. Plus I've had quite steady weight loss since I've started. I figure that one obsession (that SCALE) is enough for this WOL! :lol:

I don't need them. My wife always lets me know!! (bad breath)

I am too tight to buy stix! But, the idea of using them as you introduce new foods, sounds like a swell idea! Iam going to check out e-bay tough, as i said I'm cheap..er..er..i mean, tight!

Never used them.... I just know when I am there