I recently started Atkins and have followed it to the letter. I also bought the ketosis strips to see where I am at. I was fine until access to my local gym got flooded out with all the local rains. I suppose I could have swam there or built an ark for excercise but didn't. Anyway, three days of no gym dropped me out of ketosis. Then almost immediately after I started working out again, I was fine. Is this normal?

Rob

sure it's normal. that's what your body did, right?

rob, it helps to remember that the strips and the scale and measurements and all of it are just indicators of progress, not the actual progress. the strips help you know that your body is burning fat. so yeah, it's normal for you to burn more fat when you're working out than when you're not. but the strips work differently for different people. some people can lose without ever showing ketosis on the strips.

if you are losing weight, or you're losing inches, or your clothes fit better AND you feel good and energetic and your appetitie is under control...then i couldn't care less about what your strips say: that means it's going well! it's easy enough to second guess ourselves into a panic, but the real proof is not in any single indicator of progress, it's in your personal experience of progress.

carry on!

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EatSmart Nutritional Scale Review

I second that,
and also say "Welcome aboard!"

Ditto the above!

Seriously, you can be in ketosis & doing just fine and NEVER show up on the strips! This is especially true if you are good about drinking your water (LIKE YOU SHOULD! ). Adequate water intake will dilute the presence of ketones in your urine so they don't show up as much, but they are STILL THERE.
My personal opinion about why they show up more after we've been exercising is also directly related to water... More water is being utilized by your body when you exercise (and also more is being put out in the form of sweat), so you end up *seeing* more on the strips.
But if you are still concerned, the best thing would be to post a couple days of menus for us to look at... sometimes we can catch mistakes that newbies miss.
I wish you the best & yes, WELCOME!

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Summer

Thanks everybody for the input. It helps, (and it was quick too... wow). My daily menu is pretty much the same everyday (except for dinner which rotates), so here goes:

Breakfast: 3 eggs
3 sausage links
decaf coffee

Snack: pepperoni slices
strip of cheddar chez

Lunch: Salad with chicken

Dinner: Meat of some kind (steak, chicken, hot sausage, hamburger (no bread obviously)
veggies: usually green beans, asparagus, or broccolli

Throughout the day about 1 gallon of water (I think I get a lot of excercise at work running to the bathroom)

So how am I doin? Suggestions?

Thanx,

Rob

Looks pretty good to me.
You've got quite a lot of sodium there with the sausage & the pepperoni, but you males can often get away with more of that than we can.
You're doing just fine on the water & if you are continuing to lose, I wouldn't change a thing!
Summer

I agree that your menu looks good. As time goes by, I'm sure you'll discover a lot of new foods to add more variety to your menus. That's one of the joys of this way of eating - there are so many new foods to discover and so many new uses for familiar foods. So, don't let yourself get bored by eating the same things. If you need ideas, just ask - folks here can point you to lots of tasty dishes and meal choices.

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

Welcome Rob....for expert and kind advice.....you've come to the right place!

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Welcome, RobW.

Hope you'll make yourself at home!

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Welcome Rob! You have come to a great place...there are very knowledgeable people here who are more than willing to share with you. I have gained a wealth of information here and don't think I would have done so well if it hadn't been for this forum. In fact, I KNOW I wouldn't have done so well!

Best of luck to you !
Meg

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Atkins - 11/03/03 (lost 103 lbs)
Restart Atkins - 11/03/08
269/247/150ish

Try testing yourself at a different time of day. My ketostix register negative or positive at different times of day.

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

I lost 17% of my excess weight in two months and never once registered even a trace on the strips. From what I read here and on other sites, having a positive keotone reading seems 50/50 with folks and off again on again is even more prevalent.
Cheers

Well, you can lose weight without being in ketosis, no question about that. Especially if you are new to low-carbing, I would suspect.

Still, it's good to have some feedback when you're troubleshooting.

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

My sticks have hoswn positive for Ketosis since about 4 days into Atkins, yet now I am not losing much weight which leads me to believe I am intaking too many calories.

Rob, try checking first thing in the morning.

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keep on keepin on

211/165/170