This is day #8 for me. I lost 3 lb in the first 4 days but haven't budged much since. I actually weighed 1 lb heavier today than yesterday.

I know stalls are natural, so I'm not terribly put off by this (yet), but I'm also worried that the 3lb loss was just simply due to less food intake, and not due to ketosis.

From what I've read here, the ketosis sticks can be unreliable, or variable from person-to-person, so I'm sure I'll waste my money on them. So far I don't have any of the physical signs of ketosis -- coppery taste, or bad breath and body odor (no one, including my wife, has made any comments on this... not that I've asked around ).

How do I know if I'm in ketosis?

I made a couple mistakes when I started out. On day #2, I made a huge mistake, and instead of grabbing a bottle of 0 carb ice tea I grabbed a bottle of regular ice tea which had 21g of carbs, all sugar. I didn't realize my mistake until after consuming the whole bottle . Also, I didn't start drinking tons of water until a few days ago, and likewise, didn't reduce my caffine intake much until a couple days ago . Also, I've had a hard time getting my fat intake above 60%. I've managed as high as 70-75% on a couple days, but most days I was below 60%.

Is it possible I'm not in ketosis yet, due to these errors?

Another mistake I made, yesterday, I was spreading maple syrup on my son's waffle, and absent mindedly (honest! ) licked the knife afterward. Boy, was it a shock for taste buds when that suger hit. It wasn't much -- probably less than a gram -- but whammo!

Would something like this throw me out of ketosis? (assuming, I was in there to begin with)

I'm also terribly constipated. I thought the water was helping, but I've stalled there too. Now I just feel bloated.

To much sodium, perhaps?

I've been keeping below 20g carbs and about 1800-2000 calories per day. I'm counting everything, and cross referencing my counts with fitay.com just to be sure. And erring on the side of caution, as far as the carbs go.

Any advice for a constipated, early staller?