September Nutritional Ketosis Thread!

[Buffy45]

That's a good price, a little over a dollar each. I have the nova max.

[JMCM1]

I have the Precision Xtra and had to go to the Canadian pharmacy linked by Jimmy Moore's site to get a "good" price. I paid about $2/strip, but bought 4 boxes of 10 to get free shipping.
I know that's a lot, but I did like having so many at first.
I hope the prices come down as the demand goes up.

[cfine]

I checked my ketone levels this AM and it was 2.2 I haven't lost anything in two days but I guess I can't lose every day

I am finding that, for me, keeping everything evened out is best for my body. I try to have just a tiny bit of protein at breakfast, then 3oz. of protein at lunch, and 3oz. of protein at dinner. At first I thought that 3oz. looked like such a tiny amount, but now it seems like a good size. I was probably eating twice that amount before starting NK.

I am determined to hit that 50lb. mark!!!

[Buffy45]

Originally Posted by cfine

I checked my ketone levels this AM and it was 2.2 I haven't lost anything in two days but I guess I can't lose every day

I am finding that, for me, keeping everything evened out is best for my body. I try to have just a tiny bit of protein at breakfast, then 3oz. of protein at lunch, and 3oz. of protein at dinner. At first I thought that 3oz. looked like such a tiny amount, but now it seems like a good size. I was probably eating twice that amount before starting NK.

I am determined to hit that 50lb. mark!!!

Now that I am in ketosis, the 3oz servings are more than enough!

You will hit that 50 lb mark

[Buffy45]

Ok, have a question. Since starting this I have felt a lot more achy, especially in all areas of my back. Anyone else? I came into this from a very high carb eating frenzy, so it was a drastic reduction of carbs for me, could this be it? Just grasping for answers here, otherwise I feel great. Also some headaches but not too bad. If you have induction flu, how long does it last?

TIA

[Dottie]

Buffy I woke up this morning with a raging headache and I'm attributing it to the change in diet, too. I never really had the whole "induction flu" thing, so I'm guessing this is similar.

[Buffy45]

Originally Posted by Dottie

Buffy I woke up this morning with a raging headache and I'm attributing it to the change in diet, too. I never really had the whole "induction flu" thing, so I'm guessing this is similar.

Oh good, so glad you have a headache too..... Just kidding, they are no fun but it does help to know that someone else is having the same thing. It is my headaches that come and go but they are more frequent than before I started this but my back is so achy. I try not to take pain killers but am giving into a couple of tylenol once a day or so.

[3Kids4me]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

Ok, have a question. Since starting this I have felt a lot more achy, especially in all areas of my back. Anyone else? I came into this from a very high carb eating frenzy, so it was a drastic reduction of carbs for me, could this be it? Just grasping for answers here, otherwise I feel great. Also some headaches but not too bad. If you have induction flu, how long does it last?

TIA

Sodium and magnesium okay? Plenty of water to drink?

Sodium has a huge, HUGE bearing on how I feel while in ketosis. And I have to get about 100 oz of water a day.

Hope you can get it figured out.

[Buffy45]

I do drink plenty of water. Hmmm, sodium. I take a prescription potassium pill every day, last time I had blood work my potassium level was low. I try to liberally salt everything. And, I am slowly working up on the mag, worked up a little to quickly and had to back off but now working up again.

I am pretty sure it is just the adjustment in WOE and will go away soon.
Thanks for helping!

[Dottie]

You're in Texas, too Could be those fronts passing through bringing all that "Northern" pollen down

[theLossgirl]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

Now that I am in ketosis, the 3oz servings are more than enough!

I'm finding the opposite. I'm experiencing some hunger since reducing protein, though I'm in ketosis, my carbs are very low and 80% of my calories come from fat. I'm still maintaining, or even losing, but not used to experiencing hunger with this woe.

[Buffy45]

Originally Posted by Dottie

You're in Texas, too Could be those fronts passing through bringing all that "Northern" pollen down

These aren't my usual allergy headaches, in fact, I don't even have one today which is good. It is my achy breaky back that hurts the worse today.

[Buffy45]

Originally Posted by theLossgirl

I'm finding the opposite. I'm experiencing some hunger since reducing protein, though I'm in ketosis, my carbs are very low and 80% of my calories come from fat. I'm still maintaining, or even losing, but not used to experiencing hunger with this woe.

Aren't you pretty low calorie Deborah, if I remember right, or have the right person in mind, you were around 1200 or so? Maybe you need to eat just a bit more?

I am 66, sedentary and losing on keeping my calories at about 1400.

[3Kids4me]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

I do drink plenty of water. Hmmm, sodium. I take a prescription potassium pill every day, last time I had blood work my potassium level was low. I try to liberally salt everything. And, I am slowly working up on the mag, worked up a little to quickly and had to back off but now working up again.

I am pretty sure it is just the adjustment in WOE and will go away soon.
Thanks for helping!

You might try adding in a cup of broth from bouillon every other day or so to see if that helps. I liberally salt too, but still need the broth a couple times a week.

[route66]

Originally Posted by theLossgirl

I'm finding the opposite. I'm experiencing some hunger since reducing protein, though I'm in ketosis, my carbs are very low and 80% of my calories come from fat. I'm still maintaining, or even losing, but not used to experiencing hunger with this woe.

How many cals roughly are you eating a day? if you're eating 1000 cals it won't matter if 80% or 100% is fat or protein - perhaps you're just not eating enough?

[zay]

ok, since talking about how we're feeling...
I've had a couple of very sensitive teeth for about 10 years. I've even ASKED for a root canal a few times..doc says not needed. Since starting this NK a couple weeks ago. I've had episodes where my teeth are extremely sensitive. OMGosh..terrible. I have realized when I go LOW LOW carb...my teeth do this. Horrible nerve pain in my teeth.
Anyone else?

[mom2zeke]

Hi everyone!
I've been MIA for a little while. My mom is in town, work is pretty busy, ex is being a PITA, and I got a brand new crown yesterday.

Yesterday and today my am ketones have been 1.3. My weight has been up and down 2 pounds, but this morning I was 149.2 which I'm happy about.

Definitely for me the water retention is related to hormones. TOM has been a bit strange for me for the past few months. Starting late and then lasting 10 days! I'm sure it has something to do with perimenopause, but it keeps my weight bouncing for almost 2 weeks!

Congratulations on everyone's successes!!

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

I am beyond excited this morning! Although I am just updating my weight on Mondays here, I have to tell you all that this morning I am 10 lbs down from my starting weight! 10 lbs in 14days! Not to mention feeling soooo much better, sleeping better, getting to sleep easily at night instead of tossing and turning. And, my skin is not nearly as dry. And, I love this WOE.

Congratulations Buffy!!

[theLossgirl]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

Aren't you pretty low calorie Deborah, if I remember right, or have the right person in mind, you were around 1200 or so? Maybe you need to eat just a bit more?

I am 66, sedentary and losing on keeping my calories at about 1400.

You're right; I do keep my calories between 1200 and 1400, but usually closer to the lower end. I'll have to bump it up to the higher end for sure if I'm going to start doing Insanity! All in all, my goal is to try to be at around 1600 calories when I'm truly ready to maintain, while staying in NK.

[3Kids4me]

Originally Posted by mom2zeke

Hi everyone!
I've been MIA for a little while. My mom is in town, work is pretty busy, ex is being a PITA, and I got a brand new crown yesterday.

Yesterday and today my am ketones have been 1.3. My weight has been up and down 2 pounds, but this morning I was 149.2 which I'm happy about.

Definitely for me the water retention is related to hormones. TOM has been a bit strange for me for the past few months. Starting late and then lasting 10 days! I'm sure it has something to do with perimenopause, but it keeps my weight bouncing for almost 2 weeks!

Congratulations on everyone's successes!!

I'm waiting to see the post-TOM whoosh myself. :-/ Tired of these extra pounds trying to lie to me about how well I'm doing. ;-)

[MissG]

Hello everyone!!

I'm all in on trying a new WOE to get the weight loss going. I have been back on Induction now for 2 weeks as of tomorrow. While I feel awesome, way more energy, no carb fog, and I'm losing inches , The scale is not moving. I know inches is great and it shows I am doing it right.

However, I do think I am eating too much protein and not enough fat. I just stumbled upon this thread and read the last few weeks posts and it sounds like something that I can do easily without putting too much more effort into my daily eating. I already incorporate HWC, CO and the use of butter in my daily foods. So just upping my fat a bit more and lowering the protein part while staying LC should be easy.

I jotted down my ratios and get that part of it. My question is this:

Is it really necessary to take blood sugar levels and ketones?

Although I have not read about this woe in it's true context I could very well be missing why it is important. Just wondering since I do not have the extra money to purchase these things if it is really necessary to be monitoring these numbers?

It seems as though this woe has some great benefits and I'm looking forward to giving this a shot and seeing some results myself.

[3Kids4me]

Originally Posted by MissG

Hello everyone!!

I'm all in on trying a new WOE to get the weight loss going. I have been back on Induction now for 2 weeks as of tomorrow. While I feel awesome, way more energy, no carb fog, and I'm losing inches , The scale is not moving. I know inches is great and it shows I am doing it right.

However, I do think I am eating too much protein and not enough fat. I just stumbled upon this thread and read the last few weeks posts and it sounds like something that I can do easily without putting too much more effort into my daily eating. I already incorporate HWC, CO and the use of butter in my daily foods. So just upping my fat a bit more and lowering the protein part while staying LC should be easy.

I jotted down my ratios and get that part of it. My question is this:

Is it really necessary to take blood sugar levels and ketones?

Although I have not read about this woe in it's true context I could very well be missing why it is important. Just wondering since I do not have the extra money to purchase these things if it is really necessary to be monitoring these numbers?

It seems as though this woe has some great benefits and I'm looking forward to giving this a shot and seeing some results myself.

Welcome!

No, not necessary to torture your fingers for ketones or blood glucose.

Especially if you're seeing results of any sort. And inches TOTALLY count. If you have the other signs of ketosis--steady energy, appetite suppression, weird taste (though I don't notice that anymore) and have some kind of fat loss as shown by clothing, tape measure or the scale, then it seems like you've got things working just fine!

The scale is very fickle with me, but the tape measure and my clothes are telling me that I am melting, slowly but surely.

--Jamie

[svenskamae]

Originally Posted by MissG

Hello everyone!!

I'm all in on trying a new WOE to get the weight loss going. I have been back on Induction now for 2 weeks as of tomorrow. While I feel awesome, way more energy, no carb fog, and I'm losing inches , The scale is not moving. I know inches is great and it shows I am doing it right.

However, I do think I am eating too much protein and not enough fat. I just stumbled upon this thread and read the last few weeks posts and it sounds like something that I can do easily without putting too much more effort into my daily eating. I already incorporate HWC, CO and the use of butter in my daily foods. So just upping my fat a bit more and lowering the protein part while staying LC should be easy.

I jotted down my ratios and get that part of it. My question is this:

Is it really necessary to take blood sugar levels and ketones?

Although I have not read about this woe in it's true context I could very well be missing why it is important. Just wondering since I do not have the extra money to purchase these things if it is really necessary to be monitoring these numbers?

It seems as though this woe has some great benefits and I'm looking forward to giving this a shot and seeing some results myself.

My personal view is that it isn't necessary to take blood sugar levels and ketones, if you follow the basic parameters of NK and get good results. I'm limiting net carbs (under 30 grams/day) and protein grams (around 50/gram/day), limiting calories (around 1200 day), and making the rest of what I eat be fat. Under those parameters, I get 70-80 percent of my calories from fat, and I'm losing weight at a much improved rate, without checking blood results. If I wanted to vary the parameters (say, to see if I stayed in ketosis at a higher protein or carb level) or found that I wasn't getting improved results, I'd probably start doing the blood testing regularly, at least for a while.

I hope you get some good results, but I will note that it may take a while for your body to get used to this way of eating and start burning fat well. I was often hungry and didn't get immediate losses when I restricted my protein significantly, but I am feeling much more satisfied and losing much better now, after maybe 6 weeks of following the NK approach.

[JMCM1]

Originally Posted by zay

ok, since talking about how we're feeling...
I've had a couple of very sensitive teeth for about 10 years. I've even ASKED for a root canal a few times..doc says not needed. Since starting this NK a couple weeks ago. I've had episodes where my teeth are extremely sensitive. OMGosh..terrible. I have realized when I go LOW LOW carb...my teeth do this. Horrible nerve pain in my teeth.
Anyone else?

Not horrible pain, but I've noticed increased sensitivity. I switched to toothpaste for sensitive teeth, but it's not doing much good. It has in the past. If you hadn't mentioned anything I might not link it.

Is tooth sensitivity linked to low carb?

[route66]

Originally Posted by MissG

Hello everyone!!

Is it really necessary to take blood sugar levels and ketones?

Although I have not read about this woe in it's true context I could very well be missing why it is important. Just wondering since I do not have the extra money to purchase these things if it is really necessary to be monitoring these numbers?

It seems as though this woe has some great benefits and I'm looking forward to giving this a shot and seeing some results myself.

I don't test, but if I weren't getting results, I would. My parameters are 50-70g protein (leaning to lower end), 40 carbs or less and eat to satiety with fat. That has typically been around 1600 cals/day, but it has fluctuated up to 400 cals either way. It took me about 2 weeks to get my protein down to my target of 50-60. I'm in week 5 now - 1 lb a week so far...

[zay]

Originally Posted by JMCM1

Not horrible pain, but I've noticed increased sensitivity. I switched to toothpaste for sensitive teeth, but it's not doing much good. It has in the past. If you hadn't mentioned anything I might not link it.

Is tooth sensitivity linked to low carb?

I'm not the only one! Thank you and sorry you have it too!

I use the toothpaste as well. Not sure if it is helping. Hot and/or cold food sets it off. Not just a sensitivity but very very sharp nerve pain. Hopefully it is an adjustment thing and it goes dormant again.

[lowcarbella]

I am sure I saw somewhere in these threads a recipe for fat bombs without using nut butters,I have been searching for them and can't find them.Does anyone know?Thanks

[solarpluvia]

Originally Posted by JMCM1

Not horrible pain, but I've noticed increased sensitivity. I switched to toothpaste for sensitive teeth, but it's not doing much good. It has in the past. If you hadn't mentioned anything I might not link it.

Is tooth sensitivity linked to low carb?

I don't know about tooth sensitivity being linked with LC, but anything is possible when there are so many variables.

Anyway, I have problems with sensitive teeth and gum inflammation from sensitivities to chemicals. Because I can't use most commercial toothpastes and especially not the ones for sensitive teeth, my dentist has me use Gel Kam which is an over the counter stannous fluoride gel that remineralizes tooth enamel. Most toothpastes use other fluoride compounds that don't actually do anything to remineralize teeth but also don't make acids taste funny for half an hour. The SLS in many toothpastes keeps the fluoride from working too. So after brushing teeth with Lush Toothy Tabs or xylitol based children's toothpaste, I put on the Gel Kam for about 30 seconds to a minute. You can feel it working. It kind of heats up. Weird but good. I used it about a month the first time and now use it only for a few weeks out of the year when my teeth get sensitive. I've used maybe a third of a tube in 4 years.

This whole thing was probably a derail and TMI, but as far as I can tell, those 'sensitive teeth' toothpastes are just a self-perpetuating bandage so that you have to buy more pricey product that doesn't fix the problem. Gel Kam isn't shiny and new, but it addresses the actual cause. As long as you use as directed on the package, and don't let any kids or animals eat the whole tube, it certainly isn't any more dangerous than any other bathroom product.

[mom2zeke]

Originally Posted by lowcarbella

I am sure I saw somewhere in these threads a recipe for fat bombs without using nut butters,I have been searching for them and can't find them.Does anyone know?Thanks

I think you just leave the nut butter out. It's more like coconut bark--coconut oil, sweetener, and cocoa powder. Rebecca's fat bombs also have butter.

[mom2zeke]

Like others have said, I don't think you need to test if you're getting results. But if you're stuck the ketosis reading is a great piece of information to help you tweak your intake.

I've also found it useful in maintenance to see how high I can push protein and carbs.

I have to say that the geek in me loves all the testing. I also like knowing that if I'm not losing at least I'm burning fat for fuel and that if I lower my intake a bit I can access my body fat.