This is day three for me. I'm keeping myself to a minimum of 30 carbs or less, and trying to wean myself to keep it below 25 or so. I haven't dropped into ketosis yet. Is it because I am eating more than 20 carbs a day?

Second, what's with this halitosis thing I've got going???? Is that normal?

Also, I've read several posts about folks having constipation problems, but I seem to be going in the other direction. I don't have a gall bladder, as it was removed about 6 years ago. Could this be why?

Thanks in advance those who answer!

Oh BTW.. I discovered a GREAT treat yesterday! It's called Pure De-lite Belgian Chocolate Chewy Sensations. I tried the milk chocolate caramel bar. Wow! Only 5 carbs, and VERY good!

Hello there!

>>"This is day three for me... I haven't dropped into ketosis yet."

Because your body can store enough glycogen (sugar energy) to last several days, it can take at least that long to get into ketosis.

IIRC, though, the Eadeses don't encourage monitoring whether or not you're in ketosis. I wouldn't be concerned about it. It's far more important that you eat proper foods than be producing a ton of ketones. There are plenty of non-ketogenic plans out there, and they still work, so ketosis is not necessarily a desired state.

>>"Second, what's with this halitosis thing I've got going????"

This is a sign that your body is producing ketones. If it's that bad, you're probably not drinking enough water. You can brush your teeth a li'l more often if it concerns you. IMHO, ketone breath is far better than the bad breath that comes from constantly feeding sugar to the bacteria in your mouth. You'll probably start noticing that your teeth stay much cleaner.

About your intestinal troubles... from what I've heard from other gall-bladder-less folks on the board, it's best to try to even your fat intake out throughout the day. This is because your gall bladder was the storage area for bile, and it would only "activate" when you ate fat. But now that there's no storage area, the bile dribbles in at a fairly constant rate. So this means you'll have to find a balance where you're eating *enough* fat, but not too much at one sitting. HTH - if you want to read more, go to the "search" page and search the health forum for "gall bladder." There have been many threads, probably better explained than I just did.

>>"Oh BTW.. I discovered a GREAT treat yesterday! ..."

Oh - low-carb junk food. Guess what? They knock people out of ketosis. Because of loop holes in labelling laws, they're allowed to proclaim that there's only 5 g of carbohydrate in those bars, but in reality, everyone's body handles them differently. Many people get the same insulin surge from them as they would from sugar. Anyone trying to get into ketosis should avoid them. For more info, read "the truth about low carb sweeteners info" under the "quick links" over to the right. Stick with the real, whole foods recommended in the books.

Best of luck! Keep at it!

Well, here I thought I was doing a good thing with the bars instead of other snacks! Thanks for that bit of information!


As far as ketosis, I thought that was a desired state of the low-carb/high-protein diet. (I haven't finished reading the book yet!)
OK, so I'll stop worrying about it so much. Thanks for that, too.

And no, I don't drink enough water. I know that already, but I'm working on it.

Thanks for answering!

You don't have to do that. 30 grams is just fine! Protein Power is different than Atkins, so be careful about mixing the two plans.

If you have no metabolic challenges, you'll lose fat just fine! Keep following the plan as written and you'll see!

Karen

Just to correct myself a bit, there's nothing wrong with having low-carb chocolate once in a while, but you might want to wait until you're closer to maintenance.

>>"And no, I don't drink enough water. I know that already, but I'm working on it."

So am I. I had 3 - count'em - <b>3</b> twenty-ounce glasses today, and I think that's a record for me.

Kristine, I don't think I'll EVER get that much water down!

Ugh. I did manage to get a 20 ounce glass down today. I forbid myself anymore diet sprite until I'd finished the glass.

I think I'm going to try a trick my girlfriend uses.. she uses a styrofoam coffee cup, and every hour on the hour, she fills it from the water fountain or the tap and drinks the whole glass right then, instead of sipping on it.

Ick! I don't think I could do that. I prefer the sipping method because that way, I don't really notice that I'm doing it. I guess I could call that the 'denial' method.

...but whatever works for you. My main 'trick' now is to drink at least an 8 ounce glass of water (8 ounces isn't very much) every time I'm about to crack open that can of <strike>crack</strike> I mean, diet pepsi. It's definitely helped.

Best of luck!

Water tricks:
Invest in a Brita or buy large containers of bottled water! Trust me, it's worth it.
Fill up a half liter sized bottle. You only need to drink this twice to get to your minimum. Try to set a goal to finish the first one about halfway through the day and the other by the end of the day.

Good luck guys! I'm so lucky, I'm a GUZZLER of this stuff. The office water cooler and carrying around water bottles really helps.

One liter is 33 fluid ounces, so you have to drink about 2 liters a day!! And, yes, I'm having trouble too!!

I have a couple of liter bottles that I alternate in the fridge to keep it cool and I sip away all day. But man, it is a LOT!

What I used to do, years ago, was make sure I drank 1 8-oz glass first thing in the morning (before coffee), with each meal, mid-afternoon and mid-evening - that's 6, so you don't have to sip too much to make up the other 2. I think I'll try that again.

My little water trick is to buy sports bottles that have the sipper on them. I cant drink it straight from a glass. Also , I have several of these bottles. I freeze them. When I get ready for one I just take it out of the freezer and run some hot water over it until i have room to get enough water in there with the big block of ice. Thats the only way I can drink it. Has to be ICE COLD ! I really dont have any problems that way. I get lots of water ....Im sure I get at least a gallon a day if not more. Hope that helps you all. Maybe someone could use this trick!

Wow..I always swore I'd drown in a glass of water. My throat just clamps shut for anything (other than coffee) that is non-carbonated. I blame it on my grandparents who so "lovingly" would put soda in my bottle for me when I was little! Can you believe it!!! Eesh...If you look closely at my picture, I'm holding a can of Coke!

Now what I have to do is keep a liter bottle and a small juice glass and everytime I pass my kitchen, take a shot. It's awful... I have GOT to get OVER this. I feel like a little kid who's forced to take their medicine!

I have a tiny trick, but I also work at home. To keep track of how many glasses of water I drink, I use an erasable marker and draw 11111111 for each glass on the plastic wall tile in my bathroom; each time I visit the bathroom I drink a glass of water. I wipe the marks off each night.

Since the water makes me visit the bathroom quite often, I can usually get my water obligation done by 2:00PM. Good thing I work next to the bathroom, sometimes I've considered moving my Macputer into the bathroom and save me the trips.

What I like about PP is I can count the other fluids toward the 8oz of water.

Some people tell me that they drink water all the time, I wonder if we're talking about the same amounts.

so ketosis isn't a big deal wioth this diet or WOE?

Marti, you mean as in your baby bottle??? ewwwwww

Water was a really issue for me before I starting this WOL. My day used to be 2 glasses of diet coke 1st thing, 1-2 coffee at works, 2 - 3 cans of diet coke, Water with dinner. Isn't that horrible?

anyway I have a brita filter on my tap at home and I just fill up bottle of water and bring them to work with me and sip them throughout the day. I am up to 80 or so ounces.

Hey soon2bthin - I'm doing Protein Power, I switched from Atkins after about 5 weeks because I thought the WOE was healthier. My weight has started to come of more consistently and I have stopped using the keto stix. I don't know if I'm in Ketosis or not, but I'm losing.

good day everyone!

It definitely happens but it's not stressed in the PP book.

Karen