Do you use Keto sticks?
Before surgery, I did low carb for years. I used to use the keto sticks to see where I was in my diet. It's really hard for me to get into ketosis, and one slip up would knock me out of ketosis for days.
Do you use them?
Do you find them helpful?
Have you ever lost weight when the sticks showed a negative result?
I haven't used them since I was on Optifast. That was more than 15 years ago.
I had thought about it, but I'm in maitnenance now, and I do eat a few more carbs than I did with the first year eating plan. It's the only way I can put the brakes on the DS train, and I'm nearly four and a half years out!
When I did Optifast, it was a hospital-only, Rx-only plan. I used to cheat a little, and I used the sticks to make sure I wouldn't test negative on meeting days. They checked your pee for ketones, and if you came up negative three times, they would kick you out of the program.
HW 405/SW 397/CW 138/GW 160 Do the research! Check the stats!
The DS is *THE* solution to Severe Morbid Obesity!
oh my go****hink we have all did some of the same things, yes i used keto stixs it has been a while, but i think it is a great thing to see that you are actually in ketosis. it is not unusual for it to get harder and harder take longer and longer to get into ketosis, the body is a marvelous survival machine....
This does bring back memories of my Optifast days. 
I wonder if this is helpful in the first couple of years post op DS? The mal absorption and the
smaller stomach are going to do their part no matter what. Don't you think?
Once your in maintenance mode this might be a good way if you need to turn around a weight gain. I just am not sure it is useful early out.
HW 552 CW 198 SW 464 4/15/13 - Lap DS by Dr. Philip Schauer - Cleveland Clinic.
Good point. Probably not needed early on.
I stopped losing like an old nag race horse at 2 months. From then on, it's considered a good week if I lose 1 lb a week. It's really slow going. And this started at the 2 month mark. So the term 'early out' is really relative.
I'd say take a look at the keto stick if you stall, or if the weight loss has slowed down. Just knowing that you are no longer in ketosis, but don't eat above 20 carbs a day, tells you a lot of info and how to approach the situation - IMHO.
I just found a vial of them in my bathroom. Expired, so I tossed them. But it did dawn on me that they could have given me some good info this last 4 months. I put it on my list of things to pick up the next time I'm in town.
I used them all the time after my gastric bypass surgery. In a lot of ways they were a source of comfort to me, especially during the frustrating stalls that we all experience. They allowed me to know what was going on in my body.
As far as being in ketosis, I would always, always have stalls and not be in ketosis during my period. Not sure why this happened but it did. Things always improved when my period ended.
