One month in

Congrats on your loss!!👍🏼👍🏼 I was just asking myself the same thing in regards to the (fake) sugar.  Question;?? I have heard by different people that for some it does stall a weight loss and for other it doesn’t have any effect,whatsoever. Maybe try going without for a week. ( if your able) just to restart you metabolism. Hope that helps. 😊😊 good luck 

idonails congratulations on 9lbs loss. Yes men do lose faster so don’t be hard on yourself. Having said that you should be showing strong ketones. I am 3 months Keto and mine are still through the roof.  Hope you have time to read through old posts and the Favourite Self Education post.  From reading & YouTube I don’t touch artificial sweeteners at all. To be in ketosis your body needs fat not sugar, not carbs. Carefully look at each little item you consume. Is it creamer for example? Are you hungry? Do you have cravings still? Both useful information. Feel free to share what you eat and ask questions ~ you need to find out where the hidden sabotage is.

regarding goals of weight by date.... be careful as if you fall short by only 2lbs you may feel so disappointed that you don’t love the changes you’ve made. 14 yrs or so ago.... I started at 289lbs! I took it at one pound steps only focusing on that one pound right in front of me. It really helped me thinking, I have only a pound to lose. I got there but menopause and lack of knowledge has meant I have been regaining 30-50lbs over and over and over ever since until Keto. I originally lost on a self styled type of Keto which I had no clue existed. 18lbs remaining currently. 18 weeks could crack it but health is more important nowadays. 

see Dot2Trot on YouTube she had 150lbs to lose and has always broken her goals into 5% chunks personally I think 10% is better (my current next target is 1.8lbs) and her maths are not her strong point. ...... She is adorable to watch though. 

Hi! Yes, some sugar alcohols can affect some people's getting into ketosis. The advice DobermannsRock gave is good. 

 It's also possible that for some reason you are in ketosis but are not producing the type of ketone bodies that show up in urine. This sometimes happens when somebody was already eating fairly low carb for a while before going keto. It may also result from some medical issues, though I am simply guessing at that. A blood test might reveal if you're shedding one of the other ketones.  

Also, you don't mention your age, but since you've had a hysterectomy, you may be having some of the same issues menopausal women experience with keto (and any weight-loss regimen). One such issue can be eating too much protein. It's best to keep this near the minimum required to maintain your lean body mass. As with sugar alcohols and other carbs, some people are just more likely to gain (or keep) weight with protein than others, and many women report they really have to watch their protein more during/after menopause. 

There's a decent calculator online to help you estimate your LBM based on your measurements (see Joanna's self-education thread). Some medical clinics will use calipers (or some can do a DEXA scan) to more precisely  determine your body fat percentage and LBM to help you safely cut down to just what you need to maintain that lean body mass. 

I would suggest the precision xtra blood meter in this case to be in the safe side. It really does give piece of mind to me when sometimes my urine sticks are hardly changing, then I run to my blood meter and am running .6 -.8 and I'm okay with that. Time of day matters also. I never really test in the morning, more towards dinner time. My highest ever on blood meter was 1.6 and at first was turning the sticks dark red- the darkest color they have. Albeit in a few weeks or less they will turn? Maybe post your macros here for us to see - what you have been eating in a day. Your still doing your metabolism wonders by staying off the carbs, and albeit your melting body fat, just won't reflect on a scale yet. Give this some time. I'm putting my scale in the basement for a few weeks and I'll weigh in two weeks. . It appears it's messing with me. Lol

How many net carbs are you doing per day? I forgot to ask. And albeit your fat adapted now. The sticks may not reflect much when we are fat adapted. The body is using the ketones for fuel, so less spillage. Everyone has a sweet spot", just have to figure out where it is. Yes, try to avoid all artificial sugars if at all possible for a bit. See what happens. 

Joanna One pounds steps/goals; what a great idea!

idonails I THink  got the meter like from a Walmart online or some sort of recognized store, incase it was faulty - dealing with Amazon in this nature can be frustrating.

Also, I am assuming they removed your ovaries with the hysterectomy ? or do you still have them?

idonails I’m on HRT patches after 10yrs of menopausal hot power surges! My Dr finally felt sorry for me. Keto has cured me of 99% of any excess hotness I used to get to.  For shortness on fats ~ 50g of macadamia nuts, some olives with a few cubes of good cheddar are both snacks I have when 2 meals a day aren’t  quite enough ~ I normally IF with an eating window 1-6.

idonails Okay, with that said, your into Keto 1 month, switched out fat bombs for bullet proof coffee. Start just having black coffee to replace the bullet proof. Maybe wean off it if you need to. Pour a slight amount of heavy cream to each cup if you "need " it. Once you can drink black coffee, your going I see a fat loss, not so much in the scale but in your jeans. Month three should be amazing. Your replacing essentially one fat bombs for another type right now and what's going on is your body is using the fat in the coffee first, and not your body fat. I hope this makes sense. I do think the body when "fat adapted" starts to look for the fat we ingest and bam! If it doesn't see it coming in, it takes from our fat cells. Pure energy from outside that we ingest on keto is essentially putting in an iv for fuel. If you know you won't be doing much a Particular day, scale back a little on fats. If your going for a long walk/hike or exercise, utilize the entire fat wheel if needed. I started to cut back a little on the extra fat I was eating - no more side mayo on everything or melted butter. The macros are not perfect for everyone, just a guide. But the whole idea about the body looking for a quick fix for energy like we used to eat carbs, now once fat adapted it still looks for that quick fix- I.E. pure fats. The fat part we ingest is essentially the energy we may live on now- and if the bmi is really high, you have a lot of reserves for brain and essential organs to thrive. No need to fill up on the fat wheel if you feel really good. Let the body start utilizing the stored reserves. 

badmojomn BE aware, you may experience more flushing/surge of warmth like a hot flash  and possibly headaches when you take some pure fat away.  The body I adjusting - your making it do something it doesn't want to do, insulin resistance. Make sure you have a pure protein dinner or snack closer to bedtime. I kept waking up hungry or couldn't fall asleep easily. 

I have always drunk my coffee black. But now that I am not eating breakfast, I have just started adding a little HWC and coconut oil to my morning coffee to keep myself from getting hungry before lunch. Yes, I see how some might consider it "unnecessary" calories/fat, but I figure it is better than eating a full breakfast and certainly is better than getting into food-obsession mode (something eating a small breakfast or black coffee only can do). Doing this has, like idonails said, kept me from needing the fat bombs I relied on at first. So, I am not disagreeing with you, badmojomn ... but everyone's mileage will of course vary and each individual may have different needs at different stages of their diet.

My own weight loss stall (after 20 lbs) seems to have been because --surprise, surprise-- after several months of hoping I was done, I'm having an actual full-on period. LOL. And it's a doozy, with bad pimples, worse cramps,  mood swings, the works. I have read that stored estrogen releases back into our system as our fat cells get burned (something like that anyway) and so maybe my body has spent the last couple months thinking I was back in childbearing mode. Ha!

Anyway, hormone imbalances may explain some of your stall, too, idonails. Just keep on keeping on, and over time it should balance back out. 

Joyful I agree. Was just a suggestion for her to try. It's been tested and theorized to hinder fat loss. When I dumped my ccno and my cream in my coffee, that's when the fat accelerated and melted off me. I actually felt better also. Everyone is different, that's for sure.