Thanks for the bump, this is an easy to understand description of ketosis.

bump

Maybe this should be somewhere in a sticky?

I still dont understand why my lethargy has continued for two months while being on the plan to a t ?

I believe it's the low calories. I only feel better by having 3oz protein with my lunch veggies & then 5-7 oz protein at supper over and above my packets. I also have to have my snack before bed or I feel really wobbly in the morning. I keep waiting for that surge of energy everyone is experiencing!

I just finished my 5 month OP!

There is a more reliable way to test ketosis in the blood, using a glucose monitor.

In maintenance it's an useful tool, just ordered it

I needed that today ...thank you!!

It is weird how the colors change on the sticks each day. I have used them three times now... I am going to be more consistent with when from now on..

Once after swimming laps in the afternoon: very dark purple

once after jogging 4.5 miles in the afternoon: light pink

this morning when I first got up: light pink

do you think the dark purple one meant that I was dehydrated? I am going to follow the advice here and always test first thing in the morning....

I am rebooting in P1 and am using both IP food and alternatives. So I want to be sure I am actually in ketosis. I think the sticks are just making me worry I am not fully in ketosis.

One of the IP videos explains why the ketostix are so unreliable.
Our bodies get better at processing Ketones and there is less left over to flush in the urine.
I consider them useless.

The other thing is ketosis is like pregnancy. It is either positive or negative.

If I'm following the protocol, there are no carb/cal/fat grams to count and there are no ketones to monitor. I just eat what the sheet tells me to to do.

thanks Lisa :) I agree. They do seem useless. I am worried because I am supplementing with alternatives. I have been in maintenance for a year and gained back some weight so am rebooting without a clinic or coach. So I am ordering everything on-line.

So I had my weigh-in today, only 4 days into P1, I have lost 2.6 lbs of fat but was told I have yet to release my glycogens. My question is how soon can I be expecting this whoosh as I have the signs of being in ketosis (bad taste in my mouth, not overly interested in eating...)

Just curious how they determined that? If you have been following the diet for 4 days, and you have the bad mouth taste and don't want to chew your arm off, you are in ketosis.

I was told something similar at first weigh in because I didn't "lose enough" as in, I didn't drop 5+ lbs.

It's garbage.

Some people don't drop 5+ lbs in the first week. I didn't. I never did drop more than 2.5/week because I was already on a low-carb diet before starting IP, AND there are SO MANY other factors as the body adjust to the diet.

Thanks ladies :) We have used the body composition analyzer so that's where she came up with that notion. I suppose it doesn't really matter as a loss is a loss but I was curious any way.

Me too. This is very helpful, thanks!