Am I Really in Ketosis?

Purple has got to be one of my favorite colors these days.    For anyone on a low carb diet, nothing says good job better than seeing deep, dark purple in ketostix.  Uhm, that, a drop in the scale and an inch off the hips or waistline.

Here's my purple-tipped ketostix this morning:

That funny looking thing up there is not a pregnancy test kit.   My sister actually sent me a viber message when she saw this picture on my photo stream because she thought I was pregnant before realizing it was just a ketones test strip.

For those unfamiliar with ketones, ketones are substances that are released when the body is in a fat burning state.     Because I don't consume enough carbohydrates, the body finds an alternative source of fuel by breaking down my fat stores.   These strips check for the presence of ketones in urine and indicate whether one is in ketosis, that metabolic state when the body switches to a fat-burning machine from a carbs-burning one.    Looking at the color spectrum in the bottle, one should aim for shades of pink to purple.  The darker, the more ketones in the urine.  Thankfully, I got purple. Yay! But, wait...

Being me, I take most things with a grain of salt.   I will not take it easy and grab that apple cider doughnut that I've been dying to have.    I wonder if one of the reasons for the purprle color is because I am not drinking enough water.    What if the ketones in my urine were that concentrated because I am not hydrated enough?   I read that you should drink as much as 3L of water per day on a low carb diet.  I am definitely not drinking that much yet, but I've been trying to drink more water than I used to.

I guess this is not yet a time to celebrate.  One purple ketostix shouldn't immediately point to ketosis in the same way that one swallow does not a summer make.  I have yet to make meaningful progress on the scale.   I only lost 1.3 lbs. in September.  I am still a long way from my goal weight.   Like the song says, there ain't no rest for the wicked fat.

Cue:  Aint No Rest for the Wicked by Cage Elephants