Ketostix
fatchimom
Posts: 256 Member
Okay, so y'all know I'm fairly new to this. I peed on a stick today and it read small to moderate. Is that good? Is that where it should be? I'm struggling a bit with food choices and trying to keep the carbs low. I was 22 carb grams today and about freaked out!! Would like to be a bit lower but otherwise doing well. The weekend was good. Had cheese and egg white omelettes for breakfast with bacon. Yogurt this morning which has 9 but WAY less than a banana. Any suggestions on breakfast items that I can take to work or grab and eat before I hit the ground running in the morning?
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Some general tips: Whole fat dairy has much less lactose (sugar) than reduced fat; try to make sure your yogurt is unsweetened full fat, full fat greek yogurt even tops that. Even so, sour cream and creme fraiche have even fewer carbs and taste great.
I usually have bulletproof coffe for breakfast with butter and coconut oil.
Eggs are great on keto, and the bulk of their nutrition is in the yolk. Boil eggs the night before to eat the next day. Also, make a crustless quiche, lots of recipes out there, here's mine, reheats great:
1 bag frozen spinach, heated through with 1 T butter and seasoned to taste
12 eggs beaten well
6 cups grated cheese
1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 pints half and half
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray or oil a 10x14 pan.
Beat all wet ingredients together using a mixer or blender.
Spread 4 cups of the cheese in the bottom of the pan, spread the spinach on top, mix lightly together with a fork.
Slowly pour the egg mixture over the spinach and cheese, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hr, or until knife comes out clean.
12 generous portions, 372 calories each, 30g fat, 18g protein, 4g carbs.
Lastly - anything you enjoy at anytime of the day which happens to be low carb is a perfect breakfadt to have, including dinner leftovers, there's no rules, just what satisfies you.
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oyadancing wrote: »2 pints half and half
Excuse me asking in your thread fatchimom, but what is 'half and half'? I can figure out that it's dairy, but is it milk, or cream or... it's not a term used in Australia.
The recipe sounds delicious! I was going to suggest something similar, but no point repeating what's already here.
And I'm sorry but I don't know anything about ketostix either. I've just ordered a glucometer so I hope that's worth the money (and the finger pricking).
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I also prefer coffee with coconut oil in the morning. I find I can go all the way until early evening before I am truly hungry, and then I remember to eat. But, I also enjoy these for breakfast:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup finely diced walnuts
1 TBSP unsweet cocoa powder (organic really makes the difference)
Stevia powder sweetener (as much as you like to make it sweet)
3 TBSP coconut oil (unrefined type)
2 TBSP Crunchy Peanut Butter (non sugared brand, natural)
5 TBSP unsweet coconut flakes
Mix it all up in a large bowl, chill in fridge until set, but not real hard. Use a melon ball scooper to measure out melon sized balls. Place them into a container in the freezer immediately after making every 10 balls or so. Store in the freezer. You can take these with you to work in a container that has a few ice blocks in it (snack pack lunch box). They taste great, are full of fat, low carb, and filling!! I eat about 4 of them for breakfast. You could also leave out the cocoa and basically add any type of flavor in that you want. I also zest limes/lemons/orange peel and make citrus ones. I will add caramel/maple extract to a batch. You can also add crunched up bacon...and while I know that sounds funny with the peanut butter, it is actually awesomely good. Mess around with flavors you like. You will find these to satisfy just about any craving you have, because they are mildly sweet and full of cravings crushing fat.
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If your ketostix change color you are doing fine. It's not a matter of the darker the better. The color will vary depending on your hydration and how many ketones you are actually using to fuel your body as the stick only measures the excess your body is spilling out. It also only measures one type of ketone, so while your urine ketones might be low you can still have considerable amounts in your blood.
Any color change says you are creating ketones. You would not be creating any excess amount of ketones if you were eating too many carbs. If you really want proof, ask everyone you know to pee on one of your sticks. You are the only person who will change color unless someone else is also eating very low carb.
As far as breakfast, don't be afraid to eat outside the box sometimes. Nothing says we need eggs, bacon, yogurt, or toast. Have some chicken or a left over burger if you have it available in the fridge. If you are a light morning eater so cold cut turkey and cheese is easy. Anything with low carbs is fair game.0 -
thank you all for the advice and recipes!!!0
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re: the unreliability of ketostix:They measure excess ketones and only measure one of two major ketones and thus are unreliable for measuring whether you are in ketosis or not. You cannot use them to titrate your carbs.
Dilution - drink more water, the ketostix level changes and if you drink enough it will read negative...false negative result
Excess ketones - only measure excess, if you're using them all you won't have any excess excreted. When you first start keto, your body overproduces ketones but with time and adaptation you produce just enough for your brain and thus no longer spill them into the urine, ketostix will be negative...false negative result; eat 400 g carbs, immediately inhibits ketosis and you return to glucose-based metabolism and thus your body has no use for ketones in circulation and you excrete them, many then check ketostix and get a false security that they are in ketosis because they get a false positive result
Only measure acetoacetate - there are two major ketone bodies acetoacetate and beta hydroxybutyrate, ketostix only measure the former; the longer you're in ketosis the more of the latter you have in circulation so if you are spilling excess ketostix can't detect it and you get a false negative
They are intended for diabetic ketoacidosis, not nutritional ketosis and are a waste of time and money and only seem to cause confusion, frustration and false security because people don't know how they work and yet continue to use them in a way that they hope they work. Follow your macros and you're in ketosis. Focus on how you feel rather than a ketostix.0 -
re: the unreliability of ketostix:They measure excess ketones and only measure one of two major ketones and thus are unreliable for measuring whether you are in ketosis or not. You cannot use them to titrate your carbs.
Dilution - drink more water, the ketostix level changes and if you drink enough it will read negative...false negative result
Excess ketones - only measure excess, if you're using them all you won't have any excess excreted. When you first start keto, your body overproduces ketones but with time and adaptation you produce just enough for your brain and thus no longer spill them into the urine, ketostix will be negative...false negative result; eat 400 g carbs, immediately inhibits ketosis and you return to glucose-based metabolism and thus your body has no use for ketones in circulation and you excrete them, many then check ketostix and get a false security that they are in ketosis because they get a false positive result
Only measure acetoacetate - there are two major ketone bodies acetoacetate and beta hydroxybutyrate, ketostix only measure the former; the longer you're in ketosis the more of the latter you have in circulation so if you are spilling excess ketostix can't detect it and you get a false negative
They are intended for diabetic ketoacidosis, not nutritional ketosis and are a waste of time and money and only seem to cause confusion, frustration and false security because people don't know how they work and yet continue to use them in a way that they hope they work. Follow your macros and you're in ketosis. Focus on how you feel rather than a ketostix.
Good read.... I am just anal enough to want a read on ketosis... If sticks are imprecise what do you suggest as a testing device?0 -
GrannyMayOz wrote: »oyadancing wrote: »2 pints half and half
Excuse me asking in your thread fatchimom, but what is 'half and half'? I can figure out that it's dairy, but is it milk, or cream or... it's not a term used in Australia.
The recipe sounds delicious! I was going to suggest something similar, but no point repeating what's already here.
And I'm sorry but I don't know anything about ketostix either. I've just ordered a glucometer so I hope that's worth the money (and the finger pricking).
In the US half & half is a commercial product, consisting of a 50/50 mixture of whole milk and heavy cream. That works out to about 12% fat. It's popular here as a coffee diluent.
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GrannyMayOz: What KeithF6250 said - half and half is a mix of milk and cream, and is commonly available in the markets here in the states, sometimes more than heavy whipping cream - darn fat phobic folks! Of which I was one...
In the recipe, you can substitute the 2 pints half and half with either 1 pint of cream and 1 pint of whole milk, or just use 3 pints of cream.Lrdoflamancha wrote: »Good read.... I am just anal enough to want a read on ketosis... If sticks are imprecise what do you suggest as a testing device?
After 4 months eating LCHF, I too was curious about measuring and tracking "actuals". At that time, there were only two meters on the market that measure blood ketones, the Nova Max Plus and the Precision Xtra. I purchased a Precision Xtra from Amazon. All the drug stores in my area only had blood glucose meters, but you may be able find one locally. You also may be able to get one of these meters for free, depending on sites and special deals.
You'll need a meter, its appropriate blood ketone test strips, and a lancet device (I use the Accucheck Multiclix) to prick your finger.
Each model can measure both blood glucose and blood ketones; each test uses its own type of test strip. Blood glucose test strips are quite reasonably priced. Blood ketone test strips however can be ridiculously pricey. The best price I've found recently is $30 for a factory unopened box of 10. I blame all the LC folks out there (like me
), making them a popular commodity.
I tracked for 1 month, once a day, then every other day, then tapered off. Actually seeing ketosis as a number can feel rewarding, that's true. Now I test every few weeks or whenever I significantly tweak my diet or habits. However: It's not absolutely necessary, it's expensive, and for me and my n=1 experiment, I've found no correlation between higher blood ketones and more weight loss. There, I said it.
But I'd bet good money that if someone had said that to me back then, I still would have bought my meter and tested! LOL
On the positive side to testing: I feel I've gained more knowledge about my body, and I think that's always a good thing. Prior to starting LCHF, I was borderline pre-diabetic. For me, blood ketones negatively correlate with blood glucose, so the higher my ketones, the lower my fasting blood sugar, which is great.0
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