So I think I have been doing well on this Keto diet.  I thought I figured out that I need more than 20 carbs and 1200 calories.  I upped both and felt good about that.  I can pretty much stay at or under everything other than protein which is always almost always doubled based on what I am choosing to eat to do so.  I am diligent, not perfect and although I have gotten very lazy in the fitness department with weight lifting and also running, I try hard every day.   I did lose a few pounds when I upped my calories and carbs so I thought I was on the right track.  I count just about everything, drink a lot of water and am doing intermittent fasting for 14-16 hours every day.  Again, trying hard.  Since the initial few pounds just a week ago I have wondered based on all the reading I’ve done lately, just how far into Ketosis I am.  I’m not losing like I imagined that I would in ketosis so I thought I would check my levels out with a set of ketostix.  I bought those today.

Well, disappointed is not a good word to describe the let down I felt waiting for that stick to change from white to purple… it never did.  I showed trace amounts of ketones in my urine which is better than none but WHAT THE HECK!  I feel like I put in more effort than trace but ok, my carbs are up to 50 so maybe my body is just more of a pain in the butt to figure out than I anticipated.  I could give up at this moment but I’m not a quitter, just impatient.  Getting to Ketosis can take a week to a couple of months which I have not invested in my current effort level at figuring out my recipe for ketosis.  I am at trace amounts and just upped my carbs and calories both.  So, my plan now is to lower carbs to 20-25 preferably and keep my calories up around 2000 and see if that affects the color of that ketostix strip next week.  I want to get to the moderate to a large level.  Diligence is the name of the game and constantly reworking what you’re doing and how to get to where you want to be.  Unfortunately, it’s trial and error until you figure it out.  I consider it a massive pain in my butt, but I’m willing to keep trying and reading until I get there.

So here we go again with another month of testing and tweaking and improvement.  I know I’ll get there if I just keep trying.