Nutritional Ketosis (LC/HF/MP) Challenge Anyone?

[Carli]

Carli--I occasionally make LC pancakes with coconut flour. I'm not sure if they're lower protein than your protein powder pancakes. For one serving I use 2 tbs coconut flour, 2 eggs, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and enough vanilla davinci syrup to thin the batter to the right consistency. I fry them up in coconut oil and you can add more coconut oil to the batter to up the fat if you like. My coconut flour has 1 gram of protein per tbs, so along with the eggs this is about 14 grams of protein per serving.

Thanks! I'll give that a try. Ive only ever made my one pancake recipe before..so I wasn't sure where to start.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by Carli

Carli--I occasionally make LC pancakes with coconut flour. I'm not sure if they're lower protein than your protein powder pancakes. For one serving I use 2 tbs coconut flour, 2 eggs, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and enough vanilla davinci syrup to thin the batter to the right consistency. I fry them up in coconut oil and you can add more coconut oil to the batter to up the fat if you like. My coconut flour has 1 gram of protein per tbs, so along with the eggs this is about 14 grams of protein per serving.

Thanks! I'll give that a try. Ive only ever made my one pancake recipe before..so I wasn't sure where to start.

Actually you should only use 1/2 tsp of baking powder. I usually double the recipe for DH and myself and I forgot to change that amount.

[kilogirl78]

Originally Posted by mom2zeke

Good morning everyone!!

I am down another .2 pounds this morning to 152. Only 2 pounds from my goal weight! I'm hopeful that I will reach it by next month if things keep going the way that they are right now. I was 160 when I started this thread on 7/15, so I've lost 8 pounds in 5.5 weeks!

I actually have lots of plans to work on my body composition when I reach my goal weight. Should be fun!

Yay!! Great job.

[kilogirl78]

Finally got to 2.0 on the ketone scale. I finally made and ate some fat bombs to get my fat percentages up there. So for me, a diet that is under 20 grams of carbs and evenly divided between protein and fat gives me numbers between .6 and 1.1.

Does a higher ketone number correlate to faster weight loss?

The urine sticks are supposed to measure the ketone level two hours prior. What is the time frame for blood ketone?

Anybody know.??

[Zyllah]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone It's nice to talk to people about food that don't think I'm crazy for not buying into the latest fad of juicing/raw/whatever. So many of my virtual friends act like my WOE is the devil Yesterday went fairly well I thought. I ate 1549 calories/burned off 605 (according to my fitbit) Fat was 131, Protein was 61, carbs were at 14 with 8 fiber. Scale holding steady. I did my measurements yesterday though and I lost another 3 inches. Mostly from my belly area and hips.

Doggygirl: That's a great improvement. I need to get back to testing. I have to admit for BG I like my one touch better than the novamax.

Paula: Yeah I'm not sure some measurements indicate small bones but then I have the shoulders of a football player I also tend to lose in spurts so I'm sure I'll stick here for a while before I see another loss.

Mom2zeke: Congrats! I do have the meter but I need to order more test strips for it. I blew through the two included in less than 24 hours. I was shocked to find my levels of ketosis were nowhere what they should be. I am in ketosis according the the ketostix I have but it's much less scientific since it just sort of indicates your body is burning fat. I'd love to be an hourglass! It's funny if you go by measurement I almost am but my body likes to carry the fat in front which distorts it. Lots of people I 'know' on videofitness love KBs. I did a whole lot of Jane Fonda in high school and more recently tried barre which made my quads way too defined for my taste. Now I do a mixture of Tracy Anderson (mostly because I like it, the workouts change which helps with boredom, and she makes a system for apples) and Ballet Beautiful. It could be the weight loss but I look much more proportional now.

Kilogirl: How did you like the fatbombs? I made a batch but didn't care for them much. I might try making some coconut oil chocolates instead.

[RebeccaLatham]

I worked 11.5 hours yesterday, and I am working 12 hours today, so I only have a moment to pop in and say:



I broke 140 pounds this morning! I weigh 139.8, and I lost 1/8" around my neck, 1/4" around my waist and 1/8" around my hips since yesterday.

My body fat percentage also broke through to a new low at 32.9%.

I am now only 5.2 pounds of body fat away from my goal. My neck measurement is at goal, my waist is 2-1/2" above goal and my hips are 1/4" above goal.

Well, gotta run! Have a great day, Fat Burners!

[mom2zeke]

Good morning everyone! No scale movement today, but after the last few days I don't expect to see any movement for a while!

I'll be shopping for pants this weekend. I have the few I bought a few weeks ago at Goodwill, but all of my old "skinny" pants have become too loose to wear to work.

We have one dinner out this weekend, but it will be early with a family with a young child so I don't foresee the weekend being too challenging on the food/drinking front.

Did anyone catch Stephen Phinney on Jimmy Moore's show yesterday? The podcast should be up this afternoon. I can't wait to listen to it--hopefully there will be more clues to nutritional ketosis and weight loss.

I heard from my son through Skype. Gotta love all of this new technology! It was great to see him and know that he made it safely to the Czech Republic.

kilogirl--remind me, do you have a protein gram number that you shoot for? I don't know if a higher ketone number correlates to a faster weight loss. It doesn't seem to be the case, but I don't know for sure. I also don't know about time frame for the ketone strips, but some of us have been testing first thing in the morning because it's supposed to give the lowest reading of the day. If you register above .5 in the morning and don't go off-plan you should be in ketosis throughout the day.

Zyllah--I know what you mean about people thinking that you're crazy. I have learned not to talk much about how I eat. It seems like people here aspire to veganism and look at it as the ultimate healthy diet (although most can't bring themselves to follow it).

If you have the Nova Max Plus meter you can get two more free ketone strips by registering the meter (it's easy to do online). Mine came in less than a week.

Rebecca--congratulations on your loss and breaking the 140 pound barrier! That's a crazy schedule you have going on.

How is everyone else doing??

[paulabob]

Good morning!

I really went off the rails yesterday, so am going to have to recover from that. TOM finally arrived, which probably explains why I absolutely could not get full yesterday at all. Dang hormones!

Today is a new day and I am going to journal my food now.

Rebecca, how exciting! I can't wait till I break the 120 barrier. Haven't been there since the first semester of college lol.

Kristn...really cool that you heard from your son from so far away.

And hi to everyone...i'm a bit lazy with personals!

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by paulabob

Good morning!

I really went off the rails yesterday, so am going to have to recover from that. TOM finally arrived, which probably explains why I absolutely could not get full yesterday at all. Dang hormones!

Today is a new day and I am going to journal my food now.

I know that feeling of not getting full much too well. I always feel like I'm white-knuckling it right before TOM! Thankfully TOM finally arrived for you and your hormones will be back to normal before you know it.

[Doggygirl]

Rebecca - congratulations!!!

Made some crappy food decisions yesterday. So even though my strips arrived I'm going to wait until tomorrow to waste one. I usually want to just run and hide (and certainly not post!) when I screw up. I think that is not the way to go, so here I am. I am determined to have an OP day today.

When I was LC successfully before, I went way over a year without ever ONCE putting off plan stuff (sugarcarbies, mainly) in my mouth. So I know I can do this. Just gotta find my mojo again. You guys are such an inspiration and I know this will work for me too.

Thanks for listening!

DG

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by Doggygirl

Made some crappy food decisions yesterday. So even though my strips arrived I'm going to wait until tomorrow to waste one. I usually want to just run and hide (and certainly not post!) when I screw up. I think that is not the way to go, so here I am. I am determined to have an OP day today.

Thanks for checking in, even if you didn't feel like it. I feel the same way when things don't go exactly as I planned. I don't want to show my face or post my progress. But there really isn't progress without taking a hard look at the truth of what you're doing.

When I was LC successfully before, I went way over a year without ever ONCE putting off plan stuff (sugarcarbies, mainly) in my mouth. So I know I can do this. Just gotta find my mojo again. You guys are such an inspiration and I know this will work for me too.

Isn't it great to have the experience and know that you can do this! But mojo can be hard to find. Just take it one meal at a time and before you know it you'll look behind you and see all the great progress that you've made.

[Doggygirl]

Thanks Kristn! Your words of encouragement and support mean a lot to me. So far, OP today.

DG

[mom2zeke]

I would highly recommend listening to Stephen Phinney on Jimmy Moore's podcast even though it's long (almost 2 hours!). It's on his "Ask the Low Carb Experts" show.

Unfortunately, I think he kind of blew off Cathy's question (I think that was Clackley here on LCF). But there is still lots of good information in there (I'm only 3/4 of the way through so far).

Like we've discussed here he likes to keep protein constant with low carbs. His assertion that you can then eat fat to satiety may work for some people, but I actually think that metabolically deranged people might need to actually set a limit for themselves.

I also think that middle-aged women may have the toughest time losing for a multitude of reasons. He did suggest that people who have been following a well-formulated LC diet and aren't losing might need to work with a willing physician to help sort things out. I think this is a big reason (along with nutritional ketosis) that I started losing again.

He said that level of ketosis within the range (.5-3) didn't seem to make a difference in how fast weight-loss occurred. And also being in ketosis did not guarantee weight-loss. He himself gains weight in the fall while still in ketosis. He stressed over and over that you need to be in an energy deficit to lose.

Did anyone else listen? I'd be interested to hear other people's take away from the podcast.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by Doggygirl

Thanks Kristn! Your words of encouragement and support mean a lot to me. So far, OP today.

DG

You're welcome! Glad to hear that you're OP today! One meal, one day at a time.

[paulabob]

Originally Posted by mom2zeke

Did anyone else listen? I'd be interested to hear other people's take away from the podcast.

I'll probably listen in next week. Sounds worthwhile!

And of course, 40+ women, we are always the most difficult at losing weight. I wasn't great even as a young woman. The first time I tried a 1200 calorie diet as a teenager, I gained weight (probably rightly so, I was 80 pounds). My second dieting attempt, at 23 or so, took 6 months to lose 20 pounds limiting fat and increasing fiber. I've never been a fast loser. Drives me crazy that my spouse can stop eating ice cream and lose 20 pounds!

[svenskamae]

Originally Posted by mom2zeke

I would highly recommend listening to Stephen Phinney on Jimmy Moore's podcast even though it's long (almost 2 hours!). It's on his "Ask the Low Carb Experts" show.

Did anyone else listen? I'd be interested to hear other people's take away from the podcast.

Yup, I listened. I had sent in a question ("Miriam's question"), and got the "many factors besides insulin resistence, such as thyroid and iron deficiency, work with a sympathetic physician" response (which was pretty much the response to Clackley's question, too). It would have been helpful if he had said, in some detail, what that sympathetic physician should test for; as you have testified, Kristn, many physicians don't even do a good job diagnosing obvious candidates like hypothyroid.

In terms of the nutritional ketosis takeaway, I'd say that the main point is that percentages are not the key thing: eat adequate but not too much protein, low enough carbs, and the rest fat, but you don't have to be at a certain percentage fat to lose weight. If one is in ketosis (according to blood testing) without losing weight, try cutting back on fat--and maybe carbs--while leaving protein at adequate levels (presumably toward the bottom of his recommended range). He also says to not drop calories below 1000-1200/day.

[Zyllah]

Morning!

Yesterday was ok foodwise. No loss but I'm getting towards the TOM where I just don't lose, usually there is a woosh after TOM though. BG this am was 89 not bad but not quite as low as usual. I didn't get quite as much sleep as I normally get though.

Rebbeca: Congrats!!

Mom2zeke: Awesome. I love shopping at goodwill and esp for smaller sizes That is awesome about hearing from your son. My friends loved Prague when they went. Yeah I really don't mention it a lot and even when I do I try to down play the amount of fat by quite a bit. Really looking forward to my next visit to my inlaws with my morning breakfast of butter coffee Oh that's the thing I find so funny about the vegan/raw/smoothie types, they are always cheating. I have had exactly one cheat day since Feb and it was a tactical one since I had been reading about refeeding on one of the Paleo sites. I'm going to register mine today actually. I was also able to request a meter for the other ketone reader but the strips are actually more expensive then Nova if you can believe it. I need to listen to that podcast this weekend. I bought his book last night since I was curious what he had to say about Maintenance. Seems like maintaining is always the part that causes people to gain back weight.

Paula: I always let myself slide a bit during TOM. I figure some sugar free whipped cream is better than something worse. Men always lose faster.

Doggygirl: Don't stress over it, the mojo can be tough to find. Also I totally understand the lack of motivation to check in when you fell badly about what you have done.

Svenskame: thanks I'm not sure how I could do less than 1200 cal. I can do 1200 cal with more protein but on the higher fat/lower protein combo it's rough to even get below 1400 for me.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by svenskamae

Yup, I listened. I had sent in a question ("Miriam's question"), and got the "many factors besides insulin resistence, such as thyroid and iron deficiency, work with a sympathetic physician" response (which was pretty much the response to Clackley's question, too). It would have been helpful if he had said, in some detail, what that sympathetic physician should test for; as you have testified, Kristn, many physicians don't even do a good job diagnosing obvious candidates like hypothyroid.

Yeah, the sympathetic physician answer wasn't very satisfying without more detail. I don't think people get obese without having some sort of metabolic derangement (or the metabolic derangement comes along with the obesity) and it's so individual and hard to address. I think really getting your hormones tested (including thyroid and cortisol) is probably part of the puzzle, but most GPs won't (or don't know how) to do it and a lot of the hormone doctors are a bit dodgy. Most don't take insurance and can be very expensive. The Stop the Thyroid Madness website is informative, but also a bit over the top at the same time. It's worth a read through for anyone who suspects thyroid issues, but take it with a grain of salt.

I also think its the woo's blog where she talks about being in the leptin trials is eye opening. After reading about her experiences I think many weight-reduced people probably could use some low-dose leptin. But it's not available so doctors may be treating the result of not enough leptin in weight-reduced people (hormone disregulation).

I did go to the lowcarb physicians blog and look in my area. My ND wasn't listed, but the main doctor of the practice (Dr. Jonathan Wright) was. She was super supportive of my WOE, but when my cortisol tests were unexpected she ended up sending me to an endocrinologist (according to her, the only good endo in Seattle) who really knew nothing about how my diet or long-term weight loss was affecting me, but finally got me on the correct thyroid hormone. I'm going to go back to her before the end of the year (when my deductible resets) and get another comprehensive hormone test now that my thyroid is straightened out. At the very least it will be a good baseline heading into menopause.

In terms of the nutritional ketosis takeaway, I'd say that the main point is that percentages are not the key thing: eat adequate but not too much protein, low enough carbs, and the rest fat, but you don't have to be at a certain percentage fat to lose weight. If one is in ketosis (according to blood testing) without losing weight, try cutting back on fat--and maybe carbs--while leaving protein at adequate levels (presumably toward the bottom of his recommended range). He also says to not drop calories below 1000-1200/day.

I actually think that Jimmy has done his readers a disservice by talking about percentages and upping fat without discussing finding the right protein and carb intake for the individual.

Dr. Phinney also said that they don't know the best time of day to test for ketones and that they haven't done any studies on whether it's best to spread your protein out during the day or eat it all at one time--but he suspects spreading it out is better.

[mom2zeke]

Good morning everyone!! Still hanging tight here at 152. I did measure this morning and was down 1/4 inch in my hips and thighs. Amazing as these are the last places on my body that fat likes to leave!

Zyllah--good job staying OP yesterday! I think there are several of us here in the "no loss before TOM club". It was even a question on the podcast I just listened to. Dr. Phinney seemed to think it had to do with inflammation which is higher during the luteal phase of a woman's cycle. I've often thought that there should be a good book about maintenance, especially LC maintenance. I'm hoping that using the meter will help me once I'm back in maintenance mode. I think staying in nutritional ketosis will be helpful, but finding the correct energy balance is key.

Paula--yes, it is amazing how much easier it is for most men. I won't say all, because some of them do struggle. My skinny ex lost weight without even trying when I first started LC and he was still eating lots of junk when he wasn't at home.

How is everyone else doing??

[svenskamae]

Originally Posted by mom2zeke

Yeah, the sympathetic physician answer wasn't very satisfying without more detail. I don't think people get obese without having some sort of metabolic derangement (or the metabolic derangement comes along with the obesity) and it's so individual and hard to address. I think really getting your hormones tested (including thyroid and cortisol) is probably part of the puzzle, but most GPs won't (or don't know how) to do it and a lot of the hormone doctors are a bit dodgy. Most don't take insurance and can be very expensive. The Stop the Thyroid Madness website is informative, but also a bit over the top at the same time. It's worth a read through for anyone who suspects thyroid issues, but take it with a grain of salt.

I also think its the woo's blog where she talks about being in the leptin trials is eye opening. After reading about her experiences I think many weight-reduced people probably could use some low-dose leptin. But it's not available so doctors may be treating the result of not enough leptin in weight-reduced people (hormone disregulation).

I did go to the lowcarb physicians blog and look in my area. My ND wasn't listed, but the main doctor of the practice (Dr. Jonathan Wright) was. She was super supportive of my WOE, but when my cortisol tests were unexpected she ended up sending me to an endocrinologist (according to her, the only good endo in Seattle) who really knew nothing about how my diet or long-term weight loss was affecting me, but finally got me on the correct thyroid hormone. I'm going to go back to her before the end of the year (when my deductible resets) and get another comprehensive hormone test now that my thyroid is straightened out. At the very least it will be a good baseline heading into menopause.



I actually think that Jimmy has done his readers a disservice by talking about percentages and upping fat without discussing finding the right protein and carb intake for the individual.

Dr. Phinney also said that they don't know the best time of day to test for ketones and that they haven't done any studies on whether it's best to spread your protein out during the day or eat it all at one time--but he suspects spreading it out is better.

I thought that it was odd that there was no reference to the blood testing for nutritional ketosis in the Phinney talk, given that Jimmy has been doing it and writing about it on his blog, and Phinney and Volek write about it in their "Performance" book. I agree that Jimmy would have been more in line with what Phinney actually recommends if he had written about finding the correct absolute amount of protein and carbs for the individual, and then adding healthy fats for the rest of intake, rather than stressing percentages.

The lowcarb physicians listed for my city (Minneapolis) (listed on Jimmy's site) are mostly people I would not consult. Two of them are bariatric doctors, one of whom puts people on VLC meal replacements and bars through her clinic (no thank you), and one of whom does Optifast (NO THANK YOU!), though he does recognize insulin resistence as key (so just drink your meals out of these cans, please), followed by the Zone diet. The lab tests listed are just the standard ones of HDL, LDL, triglicerides, blood pressure, fasting glucose, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio. There is an osteopath who says "supportive nutrition and exercise recommendations in the Traditional Foods/Primal Blueprint/Paleo diet and lifestyle are offered," so I would consider seeing him--but I already follow paleo/primal, so he wouldn't teach me anything new if that's all he does. Probably what one wants is comprehensive hormone testing by a good endo, if possible, like you say, Kristn.

There's a more extensive list of possible doctors if you search under "paleo physicians network," so I have to look through those links, too.

Can you elaborate on the issue of leptin? I thought that leptin being out of line would make one super hungry and eat excessive amounts, but most of the people I know here who are stalled are super disciplined and eating low calorie (say, 1000 to 1200 to 1400 calories/day) as well as low carb.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by svenskamae

Probably what one wants is comprehensive hormone testing by a good endo, if possible, like you say, Kristn.

If you do go this route, endos actually don't usually do a lot of hormone testing. Naturopaths or bioidentical hormone doctors usually have the most expertise.

There's a more extensive list of possible doctors if you search under "paleo physicians network," so I have to look through those links, too.

Could be interesting and worth a look. It's quite a chore to find a good doctor!

Can you elaborate on the issue of leptin? I thought that leptin being out of line would make one super hungry and eat excessive amounts, but most of the people I know here who are stalled are super disciplined and eating low calorie (say, 1000 to 1200 to 1400 calories/day) as well as low carb.

I am not an expert on the area of leptin, but I have read some things about it. Leptin is a master hormone and it controls other hormones downstream in your body. From what I've read when you lose weight your leptin decreases which is a natural process to help you preserve your body weight. When you're obese your body expect a certain amount of leptin and when it decreases that starts the hormonal process to help you regain your lost weight. Part of that is increased hunger, but it also downregulates your metabolism so that it's hard to maintain even with a lowered input.

It's the Woo was in the Amgen leptin trials after she lost a significant amount of weight using LC (over 100 pounds). She describes it as feeling like a naturally thin person. She was able to maintain easily with low-dose leptin. She still maintains with LC and ketosis but is not the same. My experience of 9.5 years of living weight-reduced you are always fighting your body to keep from gaining weight. This may be partially because your body believes you need the higher level of leptin produced when you were obese.

Apparently leptin didn't work for losing weight, but it has promise for weight-loss maintenance. I don't think we'll see it on the market anytime soon, however.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by svenskamae

The lowcarb physicians listed for my city (Minneapolis) (listed on Jimmy's site) are mostly people I would not consult.

There is (what looks like) a great nurse practitioner in Seattle on the low carb doctors blog. If I wasn't so close to goal I might consider going to see her. She offers a free 50 minute consultation and this from her website:

Getting Started

I will do a complete medical work up to determine if there are any medical conditions that are contributing to your weight issues. If any are identified, I will treat them or refer you to the appropriate specialist.

We will design a program of eating, exercise, supplements, and possibly medications, that works for you. As you move along your journey, we will modify this as needed. There is no set formula that works for everyone, although there are some basics that can serve as a foundation for weight loss and for getting back on track when those inevitable derailments occur.
Continuing Your Journey

Throughout your journey we will meet on a regular basis to review how it’s going and make any necessary adjustments in nutrition, exercise, and behavior. As needed, I will order lab tests to determine how your lifestyle changes and weight loss are impacting your health.

I assume that she's low carb since she's on the blog.

[Doggygirl]

Hi all! I enjoyed reading the comments about the Jimmy/Phinney podcast. I haven't listed to it yet but can't wait. Hopefully tomorrow. I am one who has lost 50+ pounds on two separate occassions, maintained for over a year on both occassions, and then lost it. The first time I gained it all back, and I am around 20 pounds up from the second loss. Fighting and scrapping to hang on! I have often wondered about Leptin. Kristn - I am curious to read It's the Woos experience, but since leptin probably won't be available like that for a long time, if ever, I almost don't want to! It would be like a tease I think.

Since I don't think I have a prayer of being in ketosis quite yet (sugarcarbies on Thursday) I'm thinking about doing a glucose tolerance test at home tomorrow per the suggested format on the Blood Sugar 101 site. That will involve a 60g carb breakfast, so will put me back once again on my path to Nutritional Ketosis. But I'm really concerned about the fasting BG irregularities lately, and I've never tested post prandial with that high of carbs. So I probably should do it just to see where I am.

Any thoughts on that?

OP today.

DG

[Doggygirl]

Well, took some more time to think about the glucose tolerance testing, and I think I'm going to take a pass on that for now, and just forge ahead with low carb and pursuit of nutritional ketosis. I can always do that later if my blood sugars act strange, but I suspect with LC they will be fine.

Thanks for letting me knock these ideas around here!

DG

[paulabob]

Wow, I was so hungry today! I have eaten and eaten and eaten. I'm a bit over carbs and protein, but I mostly concentrated on upping my fat. This is just a terrible TOM...eyelids pale, really anemic right now (but at least my mood is great).

Tomorrow should be a better day. I find my Sunday sermon's soothing to the soul. LOL, though, communion makes my tummy gurgle.

Doggygirl I hope your blood sugars continue to improve. I find mine are doing really well lately even with carbier challenges. I do think this attention paid to both carbs and protein pays off in terms of healthy blood sugar.

[svenskamae]

That ravenous TOM feeling can be crazymaking, but at least it can be counted on to end in a few days. Lots of us end up eating more at TOM, and good for you for keeping on plan, even if eating more. Glad to hear that you are in a good mood, regardless.

[kilogirl78]

Down to 172.8 today. Yay! I haven't seen that number in years. Ketosis has been 1.1 yesterday and today. I read that before you wake up your body releases glucose so I have been testing at night. I also finally stopped being lazy and set my protein limit to 50 grams. Wow.... that is a challenge. Definately only eating meat for two meals. I read today that after a certain point your body turns extra protein to glucose. I also found that for me coconut oil is like eating two bran muffins.

I'm off to go listen to that podcast now. It seems every day I learn something new.

[svenskamae]

Woohoo, you go, kilogirl! Congratulations on seeing 172 again, and on managing to limit your protein intake--I know that's hard for me, too. The podcast definitely emphasizes the need to include adequate but not excess protein.

[Buffy45]

Trying to learn more about this plan, have a lot of reading to do.

[Doggygirl]

Originally Posted by paulabob

I do think this attention paid to both carbs and protein pays off in terms of healthy blood sugar.

Thank you for the words of encouragement!!! I hope the cravey time passes for you quickly.

Originally Posted by svenskamae

That ravenous TOM feeling can be crazymaking, but at least it can be counted on to end in a few days.

And then someday, it will be replaced by hot flashes! See what you have to look forward to????? Actually I am on BHRT and wonder if that is somehow contributing to my hunger levels (while reducing those pesky hot flashes). I hope confirmed ketosis helps a little.

Originally Posted by kilogirl78

Down to 172.8 today. Yay! I haven't seen that number in years.

I read that before you wake up your body releases glucose so I have been testing at night.

I read that yesterday too on the BG 101 site and was wondering if I should even test first thing in the AM. Mine was 121 this morning. Maybe I will check it again before lunch. I guess I just need to keep checking and keeping a log and see what happens. I am back to being encouraged by Paula's comment!

Originally Posted by Buffy45

Trying to learn more about this plan, have a lot of reading to do.

Me too!! It's interesting to actually have a way to KNOW about ketosis status rather than either guessing or relying in unreliable stix.

Question about protein. Do you only count protein from animal sources which is complete protein? I ask this because nut butters, etc. have protein too, but not complete protein, right? If I reach a point where I am pushing the lower limit of my range (which I am not, YET...) would I want to make sure I achieve that lower limit from animal sources?

Ketosis reading this morning = 1.1!!! So excited to have some good news and feel like I'm "on my way" in a sense.

Thanks again for all the info and experience you share here!

DG