I bought NHE on the advice of a friend, a swimmer in college, who
swore that the diet/lifestyle change worked. I found the book to be a
fascinating read and I very much enjoy it. I've tried the metabolic
shift period of the diet several times, failing each time because of
cross-country travel due to work (eating on the road, on any kind of
structured diet, is difficult) or not being careful and getting
nickeled and dimed to death by hidden carbs. The fact that food
labels can advertise zero grams of carbs per serving when in
actuality there is <1gram of carb is very misleading, and upon
further research I've learned it has been my undoing several times in
my numerous attempts at the metabolic shift (drinking flavored water
or eating meat processed with sugars, for example).

I read about the Atkin's diet, and learned Dr. Atkins recommends
using Ketosis sticks to keep track of progress during the first TWO
weeks of the metabolic shift (as opposed to the NHE's one week). On
the Ketosis Sticks bottle, a color exists to help me track my
progress, with categories that measure ketone elements in the urine
at None, Trace, Small, Moderate, and Large. As I'm sure you all know,
the more ketones in the urine, the more one is in a fat-burning mode,
where None and Large represent the two opposite extremes of the fat-
burning specturm.

My first week during the metabolic shift, for the first time, I was
100% certain that I was under 20grams of carbs per day. However, on
the morning of the 8th day the Ketones in my urine were still
measured in the "Small" range, meaning my body was only a "little
bit" in the fat burning state after following Rob's guidelines.
According to the NHE plan, I should have been in a fat burning state.
So, I decided I'd do it for a second week - figuring maybe Dr. Atkins
was right about the length required to make the shift, and Rob was
wrong. This morning marked the 15th day of me being absolutely 100%
certain that I ingested less than 20grams of carbs per day, and I
STILL was only in the "Small" range. What gives? I test every morning
when I wake up, and when I first did this 15 days ago - my ketone
measure was "None" - so I've definitely made some progress.

So, some questions for everyone, and I'd really appreciate some
feedback. 1) Has anyone here used Ketosis sticks with the NHE eating
plan? If so, what were your results? 2) How can I benefit from the
plan if my body never enters the fat burning mode? I don't understand
how it's possible to NOT be a fat-burner after 15 days of less than
20 grams of carbs per day. Do I need to do a full week of NO carbs?
At what point do I dabble in "witch's brew", which Rob warns against?

And so you know, I do high e-intensity resistance training
thrice/week and moderate volume/moderate e-intensity wind sprints
twice/week.

I'd really appreciate some feedback, everyone, as this is incredibly
frustrating. I've been trying for over a month to do the metabolic U-
turn. It didn't work initially because I wasn't careful and got
nickeled and dimed to death by hidden carbs. Now, when I know I'm not
making that mistake anymore, my body simply doesn't want to make the
shift. I have the will and desire to succeed, but I don't know how I
could possibly fail this time.

Thank you all,
-Steve