Questions!

[HexBramble]

I'm nearly into my 1st completed week of Low-Carbing. I'm not feeling any different though so am a little glum. I'll weigh on Monday morning to see for certain.

Can I eat coconut oil?
Will things like vitamins/supplements affect the low-car diet?

I have bought ketone sticks and I have a slight link colour. Should I be hoping for a darker pink?

Hi Hex, welcome to bootcamp. I'm not an expert by any means but can hopefully help with your questions.

Coconut oil - yes, v good for LC. Cook with it, drink it in your coffee, eat it off the spoon... It's perfect!

Not entirely sure about the vitamins/supplements as I don't take any myself. If you are following the rules tot the letter and still not losing, it might be something to tweak to see if it helps.

Ketosticks are rubbish although I do use them myself from time to time as the high quantity of water you should be drinking will keep the colour pale anyway. If you are following the rules you will be in ketosis anyway regardless of what the sticks say.

Don't feel glum, just keep on keeping on and you'll start losing in no time. Stick to the rules, eat lots of lovely fat and drink drink drink your water, that's all you have to do.

Do come over to the main thread though, we're all lovely Plus there are very knowledgeable people who can help you with any questions/problems/hints/tips. The support is amazing and I think one of the reasons so many of us are still here.

Thank you.

BIWI pointed me in that direction to but the thread is enormous and I didn't know where to start.

Plus, everyone seems more clues up than me and I didn't want to derail the thread by asking really basic questions.

feeling very sorry for myself today

Hex, don't get glum! The main thread is huge isn't it? I'm well behind with it as I've had a pretty shitty week family wise and not had much time for reading. There will be a new BC thread starting tomorrow for the new week so if you jump in there you may keep up better. Theres also a BC questions thread that might get you noticed more easily.

I don't know what your dieting history is, but not everyone gets a massive drop in the first week. Some don't lose for 2 or 3 weeks and then dump a load! All sorts of factors are involved like how much carb you were eating before you started and how many times you have dieted and lost over the years. The one thing you will learn about this WOE is that its a very individual thing that you tailor to your own body needs as you go. That's why the BC thread is good as you will pick up ideas that you can use to develop your own action plan.

Regarding supplements, if you eat to the plan then you should get all you need. The only thing you are removing is carb and theres nothing essential in carb. The tiny bit of glucose your body needs can be manufactured from protein. That said, some people do like to take a multi vitamin anyway as theres some question as to how much vitamin C is actually in our fresh veg these days given extended storage and shipping times. Diets that insist on fancy supplements are often actually selling or advertising them as additional income rather than because they will help the plan. (Unless they are really crap plans which is a different ball game!!) If you do take a mulit-vit I would go for one without iron as LC can make you a bit slow in the poo dept and iron makes that worse.