Ketone test strips accuracy / very low GKI

The ketone strips are a lot like a preggers test - any purple color on the strip means that you are in ketosis, beyond that, they are pretty much meaningless.

Also, you should NEVER see an appreciable amount of glucose in your urine - it is an indicator that bad things are happening in your body if you do see glucose in the urine.

I used keto strips back in 2011, when I did Atkins. They turned darker, if I got deeper into ketosis.

The best way to know you are in ketosis, is to eat under 20 total grams of carbs per day. I know when I am out of ketosis because it usually means I ate carby foods.

Once you get an idea of what 20 grams of carbs is.. a small side salad, and maybe some peppers and onions ( a cup ) in a stir fry.. I get mine from 4 Jumbo eggs a day.. and a little cheese.. 5 grams today.. so no need to test when you are that low.

if you feel the need to test, then you are likely at the point where you jump out of ketosis.. about 25 grams a day for most people. You are basically looking to eat as many carbs as possible, and stay in ketosis.

If you have a banana, don't waste the stick.. you are not in ketosis. Any color change is probably a sign that your sticks are garbage.

Decide if you want/need to be in ketosis, and if so, drop down to 15 grams a day, and after a couple of days, your sticks should turn darker. You have to burn all the glucose in the body off, because your body prefers alcohol, then regular carbs, and when all those sources are gone, you start breaking down fat, and ketones are a byproduct of the process.. created as you body burns off it's stored fat. This takes a few days to occur.. do a week on low carb, THEN test for ketones. if you are in ketosis, then just continue eating the same amount of carbs every day.

if you don't push up against the max allowed carbs, it should be easy to get into & stay in ketosis.. you can eat 10g a day and be fine.. and then you won't need keto-sticks. I think if you aim for 20-30 grams of carbs a day.. the keto sticks will let you know you are out of ketosis, but what good is that? You want to STAY in ketosis, so why not eat 1/2 the carbs they allow for Keto? Then you have no fear of being out of ketosis. Plus, you won't need to test any more, and I remember the sticks being pretty expensive.

If you like 50 grams of carbs, that might work for you.. but you won't be in ketosis, just LC.. and unless you have medical issues, that will be just fine.. you can be healthy eating more carbs than on the keto diet, but you won't be ON Keto, or in ketosis.

people fall in lve with the idea of ketosis/Keto, but tend to want to not be strict enough to actually DO the diet.. they aim for the max carbs, and most fail in the end. MY first question was if I needed ANY carbs, not how many can I eat.. the answer is NO.. you don't need any carbs, but you find some in eggs & cheese, so I get that.

if your goal is more carbs, then Keto is likely not the diet you should be on.. maybe a meat & veggies diet is more your speed.. 40-75g of carbs.. if that gets you the results you want. I started on Atkins, cut down to mostly stir-fries.. meat & veggies.. cut fruit, and then did keto at 15 g a day, and now do Carnivore.. my only thing which held me back was concern for eating too FEW carbs, and if it would be a medical problem.. so I ened up at meat, eggs, cheese, water and fats.. nothing else.

What is your real goal? You need to figure that out, and maybe that will help you decide to do Keto right, or choose some other healthy diet, which gets you what you want. That way you can stick to it. You need to love what you eat.

Good Luck!