I'm curious. When you eat something high in carbs and it throws you out of ketosis, how long before it shows on the ketosis stixs?

Shelley, because those stix are so inacurrate when it comes to monitoring fat burning it could never show. Just as many of us who are burning body fat never show a positive reading with those things. What you eat, when you eat, what you drink, if you exercise .. all these will effect a reading.

There really is no answer.
Nat

Occasionally I have to take Fioricet for headaches. This med has caffiene in it. I don't drink anything but water so this would be the only caffiene I have on induction. I guess I was wondering how I could tell if the Fioricet has thrown me out of ketosis.

I'd guess not, Shelley. You'd have to test this by having caffiene when you're off the meds and see what happens. I'd be more apt to believe that you were getting negative readings because of the water you were drinking. When you dilute the concentration of ketone bodies that spill over into your urine you often get a negative reading.

There are better indicators of loss than those stix. How's your breath? Have you taken measurements? Often a pause in scale loss signals inches lost. How do your clothes fit?

Nat

Nat - I've never gotten any negative readings since I'll been on induction since April 16th. I have stuck to the under 20 carbs a day, seven days a week I do aerobics for 30 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes when I get home from work, and I drink 80 to 100 ozs of water a day. I'm very strict with my food. I don't cheat and I don't even have anything with Splenda in it. I have been able to use the stix at any time of the day and it shows ketosis. That's why I was concerned about the caffiene in the Fioricet. I had to take 2 yesterday and was really afraid I was going to be thrown out of ketosis. I have been very dedicated to this WOL since I've started and have worked very hard to stay in ketosis. Even though I took the 2 Fioricet yesterday, I still show ketosis on the stix. But like you said, I don't know how accurate they are.

Then if nothing has changed I wouldnt worry about it. A lot of us aren't sensitive to caffiene in that manner. Caffeine can actually help you when you're losing fat (it preserves lean mass ensuring what you lose is fat not muscle). Keep in mind, Shelley, that many people who follow a LC WOL do so very successfully w/o ever hearing about 'ketosis' or peeing on a stick Simply cutting out refined carbs and avoiding junk foods can lead to fat loss - it's all about the quality of carbs eaten.

If you've been LCing and working out for a few weeks now chances are you've exchanged some fat for lean mass which will work to your benefit, even if the meds knock you out of ketosis. I wouldnt worry about it, though. Keep doing what you're doing, consistency is important.

Nat

Thank you so much for your insight and input. I notice you provide that for alot of people on the board. You're a sweetie!