My understanding is if you stay under 20 net carbs/day and you don’t have any severe metabolic issues, you’re either in ketosis or you’re dead.
Though some things can temporarily interfere with ketosis like artificial sweetners, alcohol or too much protein. I’m guessing your strips just aren’t that good. You maybe only slightly in ketosis, but I’d bet you are actually in it.
Fat adapted maybe not yet. That can take 6-8 weeks on average.
There is a Keto Dudes podcast where they had a couple on the show. The wife actually gained weight her first six weeks of doing the ketogenic diet. Then after the six weeks she started loosing.
Maybe your body is going through healthy changes and healing before the main event begins.
If I can find what episode it was, I will post it.
Edit: I think this was the episode
I’ve been scouring the net and have found a few examples of Keto dieters like myself. Strict Keto, but fail to enter ketosis for weeks, even months. An exception to the rule! Also, some entered into following the diet very slowly over a 2 month period like I did. So when I started on my strict Keto, it wasn’t such a big deal. But without weight loss, satiety and other signals, it’s doubtful I’m in ketosis or fat adapted.
I’ll kcko.
Ketosis is different than fat adaption. Those things typically happen when you become fat adapted.
Good point. I meant that while some have suggested I may have entered ketosis back during the 2 months I was systematically cutting carbs, I haven’t seen the typical signs of fat adaptation.
Does that make sense?
Yes, but I’m still thinking you are in ketosis, just trace and your strips arent giving you an accurate reading.
We do these drug tests at work. They are just saliva tests, but they use a series of strips similar to the pee strips we use for keto. They can be decent for a simple pass, but not so much for a fail. If anyone comes back as anything other than a green light, we send them out for a urine test at a lab. Of the dozen or so I’ve had to send out in the past 4 years, I’ve only ever had one come back as a real fail.
My point is, outside of more sophisticated testing methods, you shouldn’t count on the reliability of these limited type of tests.
Annie you are correct. My urine stix are from from Perfect Keto. I started 
…maybe these are ALL defective?! So when I was picking up a prescription, I got some Walgreens’s strips. Yes…I tested “small”.
I’m sorry to have wasted everyone’s time, but through these interactions I have learned quite a bit.
Hi Rob, I’m only 18 days into Keto. What is your opinion of a “smoothie” with a few frozen strawberries, a couple frozen blueberries, 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk, a scoop of vanilla MCT powder, and water. No artificial sweetener.
Thanks,
Artemis
Hi @Artemis,
If you are keto to lose weight and get good blood results then why, at 18 days - why would you risk your keto path? Fruit of any sort is a bad idea when starting keto. Processing the fruit helps to sharpen the insulin spike. Tasting anything sweet will probably simply awaken your carb urges. I would stay away from ideas like this at this early stage.
If, after several months of being keto and fat adapted, you have the urge to have something like this - go ahead but, monitor heavily. Using the blood strips - does your keto level remain about the same (or dip slightly but acceptably) or does it plummet to about zero (implying fruit smoothies should not be a daily habit)? Monitor your feelings too, after the smoothie would you kill for a bagel or desire something crunchy that comes from a box?
It is usually bad to tell yourself “I can never have X again” but, in the beginning of keto, you might want to keep a strong discipline to ensure you get all of the benefit (especially so you’ll know what you are giving up later if you stray).
Yeah, for us addict types, that thought usually sets us up to fail. What works quite well, however, is something along the lines of, “I’ll definitely stuff myself with those tomorrow—just not right now.”
[quote=“AmerHerodotus, post:24, topic:45522”]
. For me, Cream caused my insulin to spike, so did cheese, Not everyone is like me, everyone is individual.
[/quote]. Ahhhh I think this could be what’s happening with me!! I’ve had minimal weight loss and suspected I may be allergic to dairy. Maybe it’s spiking my insulin I have been going to town on it 
where I didn’t really have much of it pre keto
How long have you been doing a Keto diet and how much weight do you think you need to lose?
I’m usually around 135lbs. I’m now 162lbs so I’d like to get back to where I was a few months ago. I gained it all pretty quick, (basically I binge ate after a calorie restricted diet). I started Keto in early July. (Knocked myself out a few days here and there) I took the whole ‘don’t count calories in the beginning advice’ to a whole new level. I was eating way too much peanut butter, almond butter, HWC, cream cheese. Still staying under 20g carbs. I wasn’t losing weight so I stopped all the nut butters 
I held on to the dairy 
still no loss. I think it’s the dairy preventing any weight loss. Probably eating way to much. I’ve been consistently keto for 4 weeks now.
The strategy that you use when you have 30 lbs. to lose is slightly different than the strategy you use if you need 50 – 100+ to lose. Both approaches are Keto but losing 30 lbs. leaves less room for error.
Heavy cream, cheese, nut butters, sweeteners, fat bombs, stalled me. It is common for weight loss to stall when eating those foods. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you won’t stall with those foods – until you get to the last 30 lbs. – then those people too, will stall with those foods or it will take another year, or more, to get off the last 30 lbs.
The foods that will give you a feeling of satisfaction, that is too say – you are not hungry – is saturated fat. Animal fat.
Try this: cook up a pound of bacon – and 3 eggs – coffee or tea. Eat all you want, eat until you are pushing the plate away. Eat until you are saying “I can’t eat another bite” – you won’t be able to get close to finishing that meal. But YOU will SEE how much you can eat, and over time you SEE how little food it takes to fill you up for hours – if your fat source is the right one.
And it tells your brain “we aren’t starving here” – initially, your brain needs to hear that message be/c it lowers your anxiety.
Now that your brain knows ‘we gotta lot food here’ – then wait for your “body” to send a message to your brain that says: “okay, we’re done, can’t eat another bite”
That message to the brain – that was sent with a hormone, but don’t worry about that now. Just know YOU ARE A FUNCTION OF YOUR HORMONES. If you are reaching for something sweet, your hormones sent a message to the brain that told you to reach for that food. If you are pushing your plate away – your hormones sent a message to the brain telling you to do that.
Then for your next meal: cook up a hamburger / pork chop / steak – put a little butter on it. Add some vegetables if you want. And coffee or tea or water. Eat all you want.
Next meal: same thing. Steak / hamburger / pork chop etc. / vegetables if you want.
In a few days, you won’t want to eat more than twice a day. Be sure to stuff yourself with saturated fat. That will change everything.
Don’t use ANY sweeteners, don’t eat cheese or heavy cream or fat bombs. If you do have a fat bomb, just do it once a week. If you have sweet tooth, you aren’t eating enough fatty cuts of meat. If you are craving nuts for a snack in a few hours – you didn’t eat fatty cuts of meat.
You can add back in the cream / cheese but after you lose the 30 lbs. After you figure out exactly what YOUR body needs and doesn’t need to feel good and be the correct weight.
Be careful that anything you buy from the store could have sugar hidden in the ingredients. Make sure the bacon you buy doesn’t have any sugar in it. No maple sugar, no natural sugar, no sugar at all. Be careful with any ingredients that you don’t recognize, it could be another form of sugar. No stevia – that makes a lot of people stall, not everyone, but if you are having trouble with weight loss and using stevia, that’s usually the culprit.
I buy my meat online from Grassland / US Wellness. There I get sugar free sausage, and other sugar free, high fat items that are grass feed and animals that are well cared for.
Ahhhh NOW I get it!!! Oh my god everything you’ve just said makes perfect sense!!! Absolute game changer for me now! Thank you so so much for taking the time to write that reply. Much appreciated 
You dont need Keto to lose 5-10 pounds, just eat clean, (earth food like veges, fresh fruit, fish … Paleo diet some call it but eating clean is a no brainer) I discovered nuts, exercising too much, eating too much protien (especially) stalled me.
Mct got a big bad write up in the news, coconut oil. I never use it anyhow because it caused my cholesterol to shoot up.
