Do you use Ketostix to see if you are in ketosis?
 

Do you use ketosix?
Have you ever?
Can you tell in other ways (breath, metalic taste in mouth etc)?
Do you care if you are in ketosis so long as you follow your plan?
Let's have a discussion about ketostix.

got some use them but can hardly ever get a reading have the metal taste and the bad breathe wife came in from shops and handed me a fresh breathe pump thing the other day (talk about subtle :lol: ) but the highest reading was last night funnily enough but I have been ill the last few days so dont know if that has anything to do with it.

I can tell by a lack of appitite and I'm surprisingly awake! My mouth does have the taste but diluted by 4 liters of water that I drink a day. Oh also I find myself with no cravings.

oops forgot to say about the sticks. I used them alot when I started a few years ago, and I did again a month ago (I wasn't losing and was losing faith) alas due to my high water intake they never change colors, ok they are very faint pink....

I'm not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the ketostix or the relationship between being in ketosis and losing weight. I hear people all the time saying their sticks never change color and they are still losing anyways and I hear the opposite too, people saying they are in ketosis and still not losing! This is what happened to me last year. After the results of my tests came into my doctors office and he called me in to discuss them, he says...ketones were detected. I said great, so why am I not losing weight then???? So I figured ...what's the point of the sticks? I'll use that money to buy some nice fresh strawberries out of season instead! LOL! I think for some people they might be a valid indicator or make them feel better mentally knowing they're in ketosis and in that case, go for it! For myself, I really don't care whether I am or not!

I became obsessed with them and worried myself silly tracking the exact shade of pink or lack thereof.

I finally decided to use the money on a really nice steak instead!

I use them when i introduce a new food. i check to see if that food has knocked me out of ketosis. i think they are great for people to use in the beginning, but after you have been doing it for awhile, i think most people get to know their bodies. i am not that far yet! i just recently found out that the atkins candy was knocking me out. none of the other lc candies had that affect and i didn't even test after the atkins ones until i had ate about 4 of them over a 2 week period and hadn't lost anything. i could have saved myself 2 weeks by testing when i first tried those bars.

I used them religiously the first month or so - then they stopped turning color and I was pulling my hair out! I was at a friend's house and used one of hers and it turned color - realized mine had gone "bad". So I just decided not to use them anymore, and trust that if I ate the right amount of carbs for me, I'd lose weight. And so far, so good.

Liz

My stix started turning pink after the 5th day and stayed that way for 2 weeks. I mean turning dark pink right away. at the end of the 2 weeks I had gained 1 lb. I also was eating a lot of endulge bars. How can you be in ketosis and not lose weight? no loss in inches either.

:wiggle: I hadn't been using the Ketostix and had been loosing. But I purchased some about 3 days ago, just to help keep me motivated. The first time I was on Atkins I had the horrible taste and breath. I don't notice it so much now, but I'm still losing. Maybe I'm just used to it. And being I'm single, I don't get that close to anyone but my dog to have someone tell me my breath is bad. And my dog sure won't tell me since she had doggie breath anyway. LOL!!!
My friend uses Ketostix faithfully and hasn't had a problem with them.
~Becky

I do not use ketostix as a part of this woe. I do not feel that Dr. A felt that they were that important, even. I have that metallic taste in my mouth. I have had that taste before when I knew nothing of ketosis. My hubby had asked me about it back in January. I went online and found a reasonable explanation of ketosis and I know that it is a normal bodily function just like passing gas. It doesn't cause high blood pressure or cancer, like some would for us to believe. I don't need strips to tell me that I have farted. Sorry that I am turning this into a silly vent but ketosis is gonna happen... it has to happen. As for weightloss, the scale will tell me all I need to know. JMHO

Black57

I'm new to the forum and this woe. I do use the stix because I never knew what being in ketosis would be like. I know a little better now ...however I have been in ketosis since the 4th day of induction. I lost 5 lbs the first week and haven't lost a lb since. I still am in ketosis though. I am 20 day into induction.

I voted never used them. Don't need them. I know I'm in Ketosis cause I'm losing on average 2 pounds a week.

I rather use the money for things I really need. Which right now are a new pair of jeans cause my bigger jeans are getting way too big on me.

Lily

I’ve never used them, but I like the idea of knowing whether a particular food knocks you out of ketosis or not. I may pick some up just for that reason.

The breath/taste thing clues me in. Also, when I first started induction, my husband, who has an excellent sense of smell (as well as hearing and vision), told me that he could smell it on my body. (He’s familiar with the smell because he’s a nurse.) Oh, and I know because I’ve lost 37 pounds since October.

I'm definately a believer in the stixs! (I only use them every couple of days) If it wasn't for them and my tape measure I probably would have strayed a week or so ago! I was not losing anything and was getting discouraged! My tape measure was showing improvements and the stixs were telling me I was still in ketosis so I stuck with it.

Turns out on Sunday I weighed myself at my in-laws on their scales and I was down 8 pounds. I confirmed on another set of scales just to be sure! Here my hubby looked at mine and there was a broken piece inside!

Made me glad I used the stixs and tape measure!

:yay: :agree: :yay: