I believe my only down fall was I was not eating enough. Last friday I went and stocked up on good food to eat. THought I did wonderfully all weekend.

Last time I weighed in over one week ago dropped down to 193. Today i stepped on the scale and it said 197.

How can this happen when twice a day I test the keto stick and it comes up the darkest color purple.

I have been drinking my water, eating my vegis, and reading every label. I figure my carbs are below 20 grams most day and close to 20 on some days.

THe only thing I was not sure of was I ate sunflower seed (out of the shell) at the movies. I know the book said no nuts for the first two weeks. I am over the two weeks and showing dark purple so I thought this would be a nice treat at the movies to distract me from the popcorn. Other than that I am sticking to the book.

THen I whipped up some whipping cream and added two packs of splenda because I wanted something sweet and creamy. I had no jello so I ate the whipped cream right out of the bowl. (3/4 of a cup)

Is it my calories? Am I eating too much? DId I blow it eating a cup of whipped cream? How can I be gaining?

My only complaint is that I constipated. Otherwise not feeling hungry to often and when I am I eat an allowed food.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Weight fluctuations are entirely normal. It's not fat that's coming and going, but water. One of the best illustrations of this is in this post here.

If you're following your plan cleanly, getting your carbs mainly from vegetables and drinking plenty of water, you cannot go wrong.

The best measure of ketosis is an odd taste in your mouth. Some people describe it as metallic and some describe it as sweet.

Stay on course and the fat will melt away. You'll be very happy that you did!

Karen

Thanks for the encouraging words. I know I should just stay off the scale but I figured over a week went by I was anxiuos to see if it was going down,.

I have not given up hope. Although it was tough sticking to the program yesterday after that weigh in.

Ya, most of my carbs come from the salad and 1 cup of vegis.

I am drinking plenty of water. I will ignore the scale for now and keep on track in hopes that it was water like you said.

Are you taking measurements? I find that my tape measure gives me a much more accurate account of what is going on than the scale.

No, I was not. But I did take some advise and began measuring myself on Sunday.

I know I should not trust the scale. I am addicted to stepping on it and must get rid of it.

Someone had mentioned to me that just because the sticks are puple does not mean a lot. It could mean I am burning dietary fat rather than stored fat what the heck does that mean?

Does that mean I should be watching my fat intake. I thought that was something I did not have to do!?!?!?!.

Very confused!

When you keep your carbs relatively low and up your fat intake, the ketostix can register the fat being released and not stored in your body. If you don't have insulin in your system, the fat you eat cannot be stored. That is what they mean by dietary fat.

You should NOT worry about your fat intake, unless you are not getting enough. 70% of my calories come from fat. I am getting rid of both the fat I eat that is not used by my body for energy and the fat already stored on my body.

Thanks for the info. I am trying to be more dilegent about entering food in fitday. Just have to take the time to enter my commonly eaten foods. To make it easier.

I posted me food to my journal and have not gotten any negative responses so I am assuming I am eating ok.

I was occasionally skipping meals if I was in a rush and had nothing prepared. I am trying my hardest not to do that any more.

I forgot to add in the extra cheese I ate yesterday but other than that I think I am doing what I am suppose to.

I have not been counting cals and didn't think I was suppose to. Is this the case like the fat, no counting or should I be watching cals as well.

Again, thanks for your support.

i never show any change in the ketosis stixs...i am getting frustraited with it...i feel like i'm eating too much! but i read every label...i am so sick of steak i could puke!

i know...patience...but sometimes i just wonder ..why? hey paleoanth...are you out of school yet? i'm a 5th year senior and that's my major!

Those ketostix are known to be unreliable-I wouldn't stress. If you are losing weight, then you are in ketosis!

Nope-still in school. Working on dissertation right this minute!

I have the opposite problem. The keto sticks are always negative for me. Any comments?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Paleoanth
[B]Those ketostix are known to be unreliable-I wouldn't stress. If you are losing weight, then you are in ketosis!


that's my problem...i'm not losing any weight! i can't believe this! i was on this once before a couple of years ago and i lost 17 lbs in two weeks...this time, i just seem to stay the same... i lost my initial few pounds the first week, but since then i've stalled out..and i've been on low carbs since 5-12...

paleo...you in grad school? i'm a senior undergrad (will be in my 5th yr. after fall quarter)...i'm lost as to where to apply for grad school...my university is not much help with my field of interest, which is near eastern.

Well, you guys might want to post what you have been eating for the last few days and see if anyone can give you any feedback. I know it can be frustrating. Unfortunately, the less you have to lose, the slower it is. I only lost 4 pound in a 3 week induction period and then averaged 3-4 pounds a month.

There are other signs of ketosis besides the sticks. Bad taste in the mouth, smelly urine, a hot feeling at night are a few of the most common ones. I get the metallic taste in my mouth and that is how I tell. Any of you guys getting any of these signs? I would post my menus for you to look at, but I am a vegetarian and I am not sure how well they would apply. If you look at peoples journals (Karen, LisaN....) you can see what they eat and that might give you some ideas.

MsAtt-Yeah, I am finishing a Ph.D in anthropology at the University of Tennessee. My specialty is paleoanthropology (human evolution) which is where I got my screen name. My suggestion is to start looking at the web and see what kinds of programs there are out there. You also might want to talk to a couple of profs in your department and see what they suggest. Check out the journals in your field-all fields have their professional journals and societies- and see where people who publish teach and check out those schools. Is there a Near Eastern Archaeology journal? You might want to try American Association of Anthropology Journal-that is mostly cultural and archaeology.

Try these links:

http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/career.html

http://archaeology.about.com/library/univ/blggsa.htm

Once you have narrowed down the places you want to apply-call those schools and talk to the person you want to work with and also talk to grad students in the department to get the real scoop. BTW, I got sober in 1988!

thanks paleo for the links and the carb info...and congrats on your sobriety! it will be 4 yrs. for me june 30th.

i doubt very seriously that i will get a phd...i'm nearly as old as the stuff i study! i do want to get my master's degree and after i finish with the gre i'm going to start applying..i'm going out to california sunday for 10 days and i'll be checking out schools while i'm there...right now i have to finish my finals...bleh!