Thank you SOOOO much for all of your replies! A lot of the things you said make sense too, things I didn't think about. Especially exercise and ketosis.

As for Net Carbs - Maybe I was too stuck up in that? But I thought that is what Atkins said to do if there is fiber and remove those from the total carb count? I'll try that and see if that helps. Though, I was having a really hard time keep it 20g of carb and under without counting the net carbs (If I didn't count the net carbs, I would have likely ended up around 30g)

Also - it is possible I didn't have enough fat, I didn't think about that either. I think that is a large part? Sometimes I think I am so scared to do high fat when we've been constantly drilled that high fat diets are bad. BUT there is the proof that it works when you cut those carbs out! )

As for drinks when I go out - I always get un-sweet Ice tea (have for years) and a lot of times I do get it without that lemon because I read the same thing about the germs!! YUCK!!!! I use sweet and low to sweeten it, but I'm weird and I like my ice tea just barely sweetened (I usually use like 1/10th of the packet per drink)

Thank you for all of your input! I knew you all would have answers! I'm sure I will be back with more questions!

Restaurants can be tricky...I remember one time I ordered souvlaki and greek salad...everything seemed perfect...just chicken, lettuce, feta and olives...nothing tasted sweet at all and wow! right out of ketosis.

I wouldn't change anything about the way you count your carbs until you see if it was an isolated incident.

But yes, fat is our friend! Remember what Adkins recommended for the metobolically resistant!

JP, net carbs is how Atkins tells you how to do the diet, some people choose to just go by carbs because they find they cannot lose unless they do do it that way.

And I agree with Milaandra that restaurants can be tricky, I don't trust anything unless I make it myself.

Either way, keep at it and stay strong and I'm sure you will keep losing

I stopped using Ketone sticks myself.

I noticed my weightloss still occurred the same whether or not the ketone sticks were deep purple to none at all.

I have had ketone sticks deep purple and had weight gain. I have had ketone sticks a bright pink and lost 3 pounds the next day.

I honestly do not gauge my day as successful or not based on the color of the stick. Sometimes a deep purple can also mean you had a lot of protein. For example, everytime I ate a steak and used the ketone stick it was almost black purple. If I ate a chicken breast, it was not purplish at all.

Don't let it get to you.

Also, a LOT of ranch dressings out there do have sugars in it. I usually put oil on my salads if I cannot see the nutritional content because I have seen ranch with 5 carbs per tablespoon. A Generous Helping could equal 40 carbs on just one salad.