Ketosis and Catabolism (a primer)

Here is some information I gathered from trainer/posing coach/former competitor/nutritionist Michelle which I find interesting and might serve as mind candy for others (no calories!). It concerns the existence of test strips to determine whether your body is in a state of ketosis. What's that? It will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the Atkins Diet, something which I cannot say I am. However, I am well aware of ketosis, a condition where the body is beginning to use muscle for fuel which occurs when carbs have been depleted. If you're on a low carb diet, this condition is a likely outcome, although the body also will burn fat in the absence of carbs. This is the source of weight loss and supposed beauty of a low carb diet. Of course, if you're a bodybuilder, the last thing you want to do is burn muscle and this is a likely outcome if your body fat percentage is low. It's simply a more attractive option to your body since there's so little fat. Catabolizing (catabolism) is another word used to describe the burning of muscle for fuel. I raise this because, in the coming months, I will be reducing my carb intake carefully to lose fat but not to go so far as to lose muscle. One way to safeguard against it is by using KetoStix (made by Bayer) but also sold under other names (i.e. ketone test strips) at regular pharmacies (i.e. CVS). Much like pregnancy test strips, they require the morning's first pee. The strips have shades of purple indicating the degree to which your body is in ketosis. I became very excited when Michelle told me about this product because it offers a reasonably accurate (though not 100%) method of determining whether you've gone too far. Without a diagnostic tool, how would you know? To further educate yourself, here is a decent article covering the topic: www.lowcarbluxury.com/ketostix.html.