hi. i'm new here. and have a question about using ketosticks. what level do i have to acheive on the ketosticks to be in ketosis. i've been on a low carb diet plan in the past with great success-- and now i'm trying to do atkins, so this is the first time actually checking for ketosis. the ketosticks range from negitive to trace, to moderate and high. just how far on the scale do i have to be to be in ketosis? i seem to be stuck on a trace. is that enough? should i be higher on the scale? i just started checking in the last 3 days. any advice? thanks. clover

hey there Clover, welcome to the forum. The deeper you are in ketosis, the more fat you apparently will burn. Because you are in trace amounts, perhaps you may want to check to see if you are consuming less than say, 25g of carbs, as well as, that you are taking in enough fat with your protein.

I must say that my recent experience with ketostix is that I've only been in trace amounts. However, I have been losing fat! So I'm no longer worked up about the sticks. I'd rather spend time ensuring that I'm doing the right things.
Good luck to you!

welocme to the club, clover! i've found the same thing as nadz, lately i've noticed that i've been trace to low, maybe a bad batch of stix???. i guess as long as you're in ketosis, you're burning fat and that's the goal....i wouldn't be too concerned....good luck

It is my understanding from reading info on this board that as long as the stick is turning you are burning fat. I have to admit that I like to use the sticks because they help me stay motivated when I am not going down in the scale. Good Luck!!

Yes, any change on the stix is good, and you really won't see it reach deep purple unless you are deyhdrated or have eaten a very very fatty meal. Remember these stix measure diatary fat burned as well as body fat burned so they are not the most reliable things in the world...

thanks for the helpful info. i'm still running between negative and a trace- but i drink lots of water, and don't eat a lot of fat- so i'm guessing that this is normal. it's only been 5 days-- so i'll know if i'm doing this right if i start seeing my clothes get looser !

...hi...i'm new here, too and have a similar quetion about ketosis...i've been on the adkins since May 12th and i've only lost 8 lbs....my sticks have never turned, and i can't understand it...does drinking a small amount of caffine a day make a huge difference? i switched to heavy cream and never any sugar in my coffee, which i really don't feel i have an addiction to, i just like it...is there any type of acceptable coffee drink? i've been told a "breve latte" at starbucks is known as an atkins latte. would this be enough to screw up my diet? thanks!

I have found that even though that drink is made with H&H, there are still a lot of carbs (simply due to the fact that there is so much H&H used in it).
I have changed my drink of choice at Starbucks to the "decaf. misto", and ask for it with heavy cream. Fewer carbs/less cream.

what is a "decaf misto"? sounds interesting!]

sorry, I guess that I could have explained that...
Basically a cup of decaf coffee with the "latte"foam on top. They use a lot less cream/H&H than they would in a latte, but still gives the same effect.

MsAtt, that's 2 lbs a week, that's awesome! I don't think you're necessarily doing anything"wrong" at all! Keep up the good work.

wow...thank you...but after losing 17 lbs in 2 weeks the first time i went on it, i feel like i'm doing something wrong...does anyone know how many carbs are in "soy milk?" i tried to find it on the counter but gave up...still trying to get that latte in - one way or another!

msatt,
i'd lost a lot of weight low carbing a few years ago-- and i'm not loosing nearly as fast this time either. it's so frustrating! i think either my body is either fighting the change- or maybe i'm just getting older and my metabolism has slowed down. but if i can loose 2 pounds a week, i'll be happy. i've recently switched to soy milk; but there's a big difference in the carbs in different soy milks. i've gotten into reading lables lately; and i've found carb contents going from 5 to 24 gms. so confusing sometimes..lol
clover