Greetings,

Definitely heed TD's advice - it's pretty good.

If you've already established that the ketostix have meaning for you (for some people they just don't) then use them periodically. But tracking your measurements weekly or monthly is probably the best methods. Scales lie. Period. Of course, they aren't really lying (well, they can certainly be inaccurate - especially the digital ones) but they are giving you a number that can be interepretted a lot of different ways and so they are not a very reliable indicator of fat loss. But the measurements, while they CAN be misleading, are far more likely to be meaningful.

And a big second to the recommendation to put beer as a very occasional treat. In addition to the carbs, the alcohol will stop fat metabolism until the alcohol is all metabolized.