Paradox, if you are truly in ketosis (and you seem to be from all the signs) and you are truly eating no hidden carbs and eating 1800 calories a day you need to check that you are no losing inches while the scale is in a holding pattern.

How much water is "a fair bit"? It's different to me than it is to you, I'll bet. I'm at what I consider a "fair bit" this afternoon - 4 litres. I'll finish the day off around 6 litres. If you know you need to drink more then that will account for some of the 'deep' reading on the stix.

Another thing to keep in mind: Ketostix measure the presence of burned ketone bodies - regardless of their origin. This means they will register both the results of burned dietary and bodily fat.

Then there's the dreaded "Stall". What is a stall? It's when you're LCing along, hitting the big ketones but not losing fat. You're also not gaining fat - a stall is literrally being stalled during progress, and usually there is a reason for it. Sometimes it's a specific food. Sometimes it's calories (too many or not enough). Sometimes it's medicines or supplements (or a lack thereof). So, yes, it's entirely possible to be in ketosis and not losing weight. It's just as possible to not be in ketosis and lose weight.

Serrelind, when one LCs protein is absolutely positively not converted to glucose and stored as fat. Neither are excess calories. Without insulin present in excess this simply is biologically impossible.

Nat