[butterflygal7373]

Decided to buy some ketone strips. Earlier today it showed it was strong( day3). Later after a steak dinner and broccoli and salad it is less strong. I know its not requierd to test but I am xurious. What makes it vary? Did I eat something wrong?

[Arctic Mama]

Too much fat? No. Too many calories? Absolutely. But it's difficult to do if you're in strong ketosis. Most people get fairly good appetite suppression and find themselves satisfied without overeating. Some though, like me, do track carbs and calories because of consistent overeating tendencies and being highly weight reduced (and therefore more sensitive to regain).

[butterflygal7373]

Ok...so the more fat you eat the more ketosis? More you can lose? Is this correcr.

[berryblondeboys]

The less carbs you eat the more ketosis.

[JerseyGyrl]

Originally Posted by butterflygal7373

Ok...so the more fat you eat the more ketosis? More you can lose? Is this correcr.

Are you doing Atkins Induction?

[butterflygal7373]

Yes on day 3.

[JerseyGyrl]

Have you read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution 2002 or prior versions?
Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein plan. 12-15 of your 20 net carbs for the day should be coming from veggies & salads on the acceptable foods list.
I hope this helps.
You CAN do this!!
All the best to you!

[JLUS]

Ketosis - it's like bring pregnant... you either are or you are not. There are not degrees.

However if you have low carbed for awhile, your body gets very efficient at processing ketones and few if any are released into the urine. You may register very low /light on the scale or maybe not at all and still be in ketosis. The best way to know if you are is to know you have been following the low carb plan and not eating excess carbs.

[pnkrckpixikat]

The darkness of the strip can also be changed by how hydrated you are. If you are dehydrated the color can appear stronger because there is less fluid to balance out the levels.

[mars735]

The darkness of the strip is not really useful. As JLUS point out, you're either in it or you're not. If you're in it, you are burning fat because fat is what provides the raw material to make ketones. I think that the strips were originally developed for insulin-taking Type 1 diabetics to know if they were in a serious & potentially life-threatening condition called keto-acidosis. Back in the day, there were no home-use fingerstick glucose tests, just urine dipsticks. Knowing how much ketones were spilling helped to know what was going on with blood sugar & insulin.

If someone on Atkins or other ketogenic diet knows otherwise, I would love to hear. I wish they would sell strips for dieters that were just positive/negative and not degrees of ketones. Mine never got more than "small" on 7 months of ketosis, losing 3 lbs on average--almost like clockwork. I always felt a little envious reading dieters' reports of their strips turning dark purple!

[JerseyGyrl]

I don't put much stock in those test strips. I lost over 100 lbs. on Atkins and they never changed color for me at all

[TheSatinPumpkin]

Never seen one before. Might check them out.