Hi everyone,

Well, I thought I knew what I was doing. I've done the atkins induction 3 separate times in the past 8 months. Then I ended up eating carbs, feeling crappy, cranky and hungry, so I went back on atkins. Well, now I have come to the conclusion that this really must be my way of life.
So..... this is the question. Why does my ketostick show nothing?
What am I doing incorrectly? I've been on this for almost 2 weeks. I've let go of 5 pounds. I feel great.
Here's what I had today:

3 small cups of coffee with cremora and sweet'n'low (1 caffeine free)
3 oz of tuna fish
3 oz of sliced cheese
2 ounces of pistachio nuts
1 atkins advantage bar
1 large diet coke (half caffeine, half regular)
I haven't had dinner yet.

ANy ideas and suggestions?
I am 5 ft 2 inches and weigh 155. My goal is 130 - 135. Oh yes. I'm 48 years old.
Does this make a difference?
I'm looking forward to learning from all your wisdom...
Wendy

Ketostiks are not known for their accuracy. You get different readings depending on how much water you have been drinking (among other things).
I would suggest you start a journal - it is an excellent way to record your food, moods and progress. Plus, it will cause you to interact with other members. Ditch the Cremora - go for the heavy cream. If you are on induction, limit your cheese to a couple of ounces a day. Some people will react to caffeine, sugar alcohols (like those in the Advantage Bar) and asperatame ( in the diet soda). Personally, none of these things effect me in the least.

This is the really important part. You feel good. You're losing weight. Don't stress over what color those silly pee sticks are. If you do a search of the forum, you'll find a great many posts regarding "why can't I get my ketostix to change color?". The truth is that they're not a terribly reliable indicator of ketosis and if you're following the rules of low carb and losing weight, you're on the right track no matter what those strips say.

Regarding following the plan...I noticed that there aren't any veggies in your menu for the day yet. You are eating them, right? You should be getting at least 3 cups of veggies from the allowed list for induction each day. Nuts are not allowed on induction, either. You can add them after induction, but not during.
I also noticed that you don't appear to have a great deal of healthy fats in your menu. Low carbing is actually a high fat (not a high protein) way of eating and you actually need fats in your diet with this way of eating to generate fat burning. During induction, 65-70% of your total calories should be coming from fats such as butter, olive oil, mayonnaise and full-fat salad dressings.
One more thing...watch out for that Cremora...it's got hydrogenated fats in it as well as carbs. You may use 2-3 fluid ounces of heavy (whipping) cream (that's 4-6 tablespoons total) in your coffee instead. Less carbs, better fats and tastes soooo much better.

Regarding your question: "I am 5 ft 2 inches and weigh 155. My goal is 130 - 135. Oh yes. I'm 48 years old.
Does this make a difference?"

Yes, it could make a difference. I am 46 years old. Coming from an LC family, had a very active life, had the same weight for 24 years, without any problem. But at 44, as a first sign of aging, my metablism started to slow down, and I had gained 30 lbs in two years.

If you are over 40, if you have only 10-20 lbs to loose, the loosing can be much more harder, slower. But not impossible:-) I lost 35 lbs in 8 months. My secret was: to start a very vigorous exercise program. It gave me a very good start, lost 8 lbs in the first month, without any dietary changes. Later the exercise helped me to have a constant weightloss, without any stall.

(Btw I have never used ketostick. You can find interesting info about ketosis, ketostick here : http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html.)

Here is a thread, a support group for people between 40-50, who wnat to loose less than 40 lbs. Excellent advices, shared experiences...
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=131584

Welcome to the forum:-)