When I was at my center and peed on the stick...they told me it was to see how much I was exercising? If it was a certain color they told me I would have to cut back. i try to walk 30 mins a day- is that wrong?

The sticks are to measure if you're in ketosis or not. ("fat burning") Not all centers use them, I have never been asked to pee on a stick yet! Lots of things cause you to be in ketosis, mainly low calorie diets, exercise and illness. They like your ketone level to be on the lower end, so I guess this is where the comment about exercise came in. Walking 30 mins a day is reasonable and shouldn't create any problems for you. Welcome and good luck!

The first time I Wi I didn't but the second time I did and tey made a big deal not to exercise too much- it just was weird. ALways thought eating right and exercise went hand in hand to lose weight
Thanks for the info- I'll keep trucking along

The program is chemically balanced for optimum fat burning and allows for 90 min of moderate exersize each week. The thinking is if you do more than that your body may get out of fat burning mode and go into starvation mode which can slow down or halt your weight loss. When you get close to your goal and stabilization the program starts adding more activity. I think MRC has a program for those who are already extremely active...It is a different menu.

something i learned at the my center today was that when you workout its best to be in fat burning mode, your heart-rate doesn't need to be super high. for me, my heart-rate should stay at about 118-137, and exercise for at least 30 min. she said that would be more effective than doing being in cardio mode. i'm going to try this for a couple of weeks and i hope it works.

Anyone know what color you should be getting when you test for ketosis? I had to use the restroom at my center the other day and tried it really quick, but felt stupid asking, 'HEY! What color should my pee turn this here thingy?!" :P

the med pinkish colors are good, they said you do not want the dark colors because you are in too high of a ketosis level and may cause liver problems

Ah, cool - thank you!

The Lafayette IN center has a poster (next to the toilet) showing the various shades that your ketosis stick may be and how each color translates. Seems that would be needed in any center sending you regularly to check this. Mine is always negative -- Always!

Mine is always negative too!

Mine is always negative, so I just quit worrying about it.

My center has never mentioned ketosis or using the sticks. Strange how the centers can all be so different in how they run the program.

I agree. If it weren't for this forum, I wouldn't know how inconsistent they are!

I have tested three times and I am always negative as well.

From a medical perspective since this seems to be something that MRC does do (inconsistently at least) I would ask your center to do it now and then. The reason being is the diet already puts your body into burn mode (hence why it works) if you do over do it with the exercise you can put yourself in ketosis. For most it's not a big deal, however, if you have other issues (diabetes for example - and you may not know that) or have kidney issues, it can be a big deal. And since it sounds like the testing is part of the package and not "extra", it can't hurt.