I personally wouldn't waste my time or money on keto sticks. They are highly inaccurate.

It is possible that ketosis is partially respsonsible but ketosis is not an on/off switch like many here would have you believe. I think the suggestion to count your carbs carefully and see where they fall for the day is a very good one. Keep it under 50 and you're guarenteed to be in ketosis.

The suggestion to split up your protein is also a very good one which I see has helped.

The final suggestion I would make is to stay away from artificial sweetners as much as possible and see how that works for you. Some people find their cravings are affected by sugar or sugar substitutes. (Others don't)

Goodluck!

Ingrid: Really. Don't waste your money.

I agree with above. I don't go anywhere without my 24 oz refillable water bottle. It is especially helpful in the afternoon while I am in the car driving the kids around. If I know I can put *something* in, even water, it helps! Then once we get home, dig in to some yummy meat and vegetables!!! :flow1:

I have been using my fitness pal to count my carbs and daily I am some where between 70 and 100G of carbs. And thats just from the IP snacks and the veggies. Should I cut out the Restricted snacks??

100g of carbs is higher than you should be even including restricted items. Can you post an example menu from a day where you were that high? there might be something else going on...

I am often hungry at 10 am and usually have some stir fry spinach and mushrooms.

Afternoons can also be a hungry time for me, and it helps when I
-have 3 oz protein at lunch
-graze on veggies ( roasted cauli, kale, plain lettuce & celery,!)
-have both IP packs in the afternoon if really desperate ( skipping the dinner one then!)

Then if STILL starving, I come hang out on these boards. =)

Wow! My Total carbs yesterday were 48 (WITH a restricted!) I had 30 g fiber so that is 18 net carbs.

I had spinach (1c), asparagus (1c), cauliflower (2c) for veggies and
IP milk choc pudding, IP potato puree, and 1 Quest Bar for "packets"

If you list what you've been eating or give us your MFP user name, we can take a look and try to help.

It may also be the fiber content. I did Medifast 5+1 and was never hungry. Then I switched to IP and was starving the whole day. Even more on the alternative products. Now I mix the two and am much better.

ok so here is my menu for yesterday - ** my days are all pretty similar.
Breakfast 7am - WIld berry Yogurt IP drink, coffee with milk and splenda, Carbs = 8g
Lunch noon - iceburge lettuce, green pepper (1 cup), oil & vinegar dressing, IP chocolate pudding Carbs = 25g
Snack - 2pm IP chocolate chip cookie = 23g
Dinner 6pm - 2 cups steamed broccoli and chicken breast cooked on George Foreman grill Carbs = 12



Total carbs = 97g

oh my fitness pal name is Bowie1221

You need to be subtracting the fiber to get net carbs. For example, the cookie has 9 grams of fiber, bringing the net carbs down to 14 grams.

Also, unless I'm over-looking something, did you only have 3 cups of veggies?

The problem I've found with Myfitnesspal is that a lot of the data in there is not accurate. You may have selected green pepper from the list and it showed up with really high carbs. I just checked green bell peppers and one came up with 5g carbs per cup and another showed 9g.

Knowing that, you shouldn't worry too much about what numbers you are getting for total carbs. If you are using the IP products and the approved veggies you will be ok.

oh I didn't know the fiber rule! I have said before - my coach is useless!

I have been hungry lately also, I just try to drink more water. I think it has to do with hormones also, I have missed my last two cycles, so it may be that time it is slowing down for me!

As Ragdoll said, be careful what entries you are selecting from MFP when you are searching for a food. For example, when I entered your lunch into MFP I come up with 14 g carb (7 from pepper, 7 from pudding). Subtract the 5 g fiber and it ends up being 9 g net carbs. When searching in MFP and there are a lot of options to choose from, I always check the nutritional info and how many confirmations there have been. For the green peppers, I use the entry named "Peppers-sweet, green, raw, 1 cup, chopped" which has 212 confirmations. Also, be sure when selecting meat and veggies from the MFP entries that you select "raw" entries. If you can't find an entry with the correct nutritional info, you can correct an existing entry or make a new entry with the correct info.

If you want to friend my on MFP my user name is pocahontas812. It might help to see what others are entering into their diaries.