r/keto

I work 14 hour days and the last thing I want to do when I’m off is cook. This has led to some unhealthy habits and a moderate dependency on fast food. I just need a couple low effort and fast meals for the days I work. Maybe even a meal prep option for office lunches or dinner when I get home. I do protein shakes in the morning so breakfast is handled.

Is it still keto friendly? I want to incorporate liver into my diet.

I’ve tried liver in the past and it was intolerable. I’ve read good things so willing to give it a go again.

I read that soaking liver in milk helps remove the metallic taste and smell.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Any good keto friendly liver recipes?

Chicken liver or beef liver.

I'm a month into keto. I know some say not to use any artificial sweeteners, but I'm in the position I'm in to go on keto in the first place bc I was addicted to soda. I can't just go no flavor overnight. Anyway, I've been drinking one diet coke (Coke zero tastes awful to me) and several glasses of crystal light every day. I've had a terrible headache for 3 days now that won't go away. I'm new to aspartame, and wondering if anyone else experienced headaches with aspartame?

For me, if I was extremely hungry, and I ate a piece of white bread, I would feel MORE hungry instead of less. It's mindboggling to me that people can have toast for breakfast and feel even an inch full. Or have a donut as a snack and feel satiation.

I'm not insulin resistance, not prediabetic. So what is the reason that only NOT eating carbs makes me (and I assume many here) feel full, but other people can eat a bowl of just pasta and feel satisfied.

I have pcos and recently I’ve been shedding more hair than before. It is stressing me out and I’m trying to look for ways to stop it.

I know keto can be very suitable for pcos, so I am wondering if here are any women who have noticed keto helping with hormonal hair loss?

Thank you in advance ❤️

I crave chocolate and been having insane cravings so badly. I’m just curious as to how you guys manage to stay so strong during the diet. I’ve been considering having drizalicious to help with my chocolate cravings, but I’m not even sure if that will be helpful. What do you guys do?

Been on carnivore for 7 months now. Just moved to Folsom CA and need to find a new primary care provider. Can anyone recommend someone who is good with supporting a low-carb lifestyle? I would really like to have a Dr that’s supportive in my health journey.

I’ve only been doing keto for about 2 weeks, the biggest difference I notice is in my energy levels. I’ll get a random burst of energy in the evening and I go for a walk from 6-7. Dinner by 8pm, then I’m in bed by 9:30-10pm and actually fall asleep around 11pm. I have cats so they always wake me up around 4am. In the past I’m able to wake up, give kibble, and go back to bed. However, now I’m noticing I wake up at 2am then 4am and I’m tired but not sleepy. I even took a magnesium glycine last night and I’m more awake than ever, writing this post at 4am. Could this be due to keto, anybody else experienced this, ideas on how to fix it?

Hi,

I'm now 3 weeks into my keto diet and am over the 'hump'. I'm taking the suggested supplements and that seems to have helped a lot.

I've noticed that a lot of people recommend eating green leafy vegetables like spinach for nutrients. I have a medical issue though that means i'm intolerant to pretty much all of them - including things like broccoli. Right now the only vegetables i'm eating are mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados and cauliflower. I want to add pickles to my diet but I haven't found any low in sugar in the UK yet.

Does anyone have any tips on substitutes?

I'm not overweight, but thought keto might reduce my migraines. Also, "mental clarity" would be an improvement!

Five weeks in, I'm not feeling anything. No changes to mind, sleep, energy, weight. I suspect that's because I've been off sugar and junk food for a decade, so there's not that "gain" to be had.

Or, it's because I'm eating an absolute ton of calories (just like before). So I might be exceeding 50 g/day of carbs.

Typical day:

• peanuts (maybe 5 handfuls per day), almonds, cashews, and walnuts (maybe an additional 2 handfuls per day).

• tons of eggs, meat, yoghurt, cheese.

• a few non-starchy vegies

• 2 segments of mandarin orange

I'm hoping to not have to count macros, so your opinion is helpful here. Even if I did count, I wouldn't know what to make of the carb total, because I think maybe I should be looking at carbs as a percentage of my high daily intake? Or should I just cut carbs even further and see what happens?

EDIT: Correct units to g/day.

Shredded cabbage sauteed in bacon grease.

• Uses up excess grease
• Low carb
• Low calorie
• Filling
• Lots of Fiber
• Cheap
• Easy

10 oz of shredded cabbage is like $2. This scratches an itch I can't fill otherwise on keto. It feels kind of like hashbrowns or noodles and is a great breakfast side. Also really enjoy throwing a bit of soy sauce and sriracha on it.

Give it a try!

Keto about 5m. Still struggling with planning menus with enough vegetables and also with high cholesterol. Doc wants me adding more veggies for fiber but I just don't do "meals" well. I eat random foods when I feel like it.

I'm also hoping to add psyllium husks. Is there a specific time of day to take it? Should I just mix it with water? How much should I add in a day. I heard there are keto "breads" one can make with it.

I also have some Actumus Bioflow 1 or 2 I could use. I have some vegetables too. I could cook them but I have depression and ADHD and recipes just aren't "great" for me. Neither are portions. If I'm hungry, or something tastes really good, I just eat more. am not restricting calories.

I've noticed this repeatedly while doing low carb / keto / fasting; perhaps especially in the mornings and possibly after exercise.

I find areas of typically high body fat (lower back, belly and chest) feel warmer than the rest of me.

My assumption is that this is because this fat is being burned for fuel; although this is pure speculation.

Has anyone else found similar?

Day 2 of Keto for me. I have multiple issues with food because of OCD and food noise, which both turn into binge eating disorder for carbs and sugar. I feel a ton of rumination about food, I can't seem to brush my mind of sugar. An hour ago I had leftover lamb with 2 fried eggs. This should be enough to keep me going but I'm constantly thinking of cookies my sister has in her room and ruminating about eating them. I'm finding it hard to disperse my thoughts because I keep thinking of eating sugar.

Because I have OCD and food noise, is it still possible for me to do keto? Will it get better?

I cannot go on a glp because they gave me terrible anhedonia which took months to recover, horrible experience

Rate My Weight Loss Plan: 172 lbs → 135–140 lbs by Nov 1

Looking for some opinions/criticism on my current cut and whether you guys think this is realistic.

Current weight: 172 lbs
Goal: 135–140 lbs
Deadline: November 1

For some background, I've gotten shredded before using keto/carnivore, so I'm pretty comfortable with low-carb dieting and know I can stick to a restrictive diet when I'm locked in.

I started today. Here's the plan:

• First 2 days: Fast to kick-start ketosis and deplete some glycogen.
• After the fast: ~1,300 calories/day.
• Protein: Minimum 135g/day, preferably higher.
• Meal frequency: 2MAD or OMAD depending on how I feel that day.
• Diet: Primarily low-carb/keto/PSMF.
• Walking: 4 hours/day on my desk treadmill, split into two 2-hour sessions; morning and evening. It's low-intensity walking, and since I'm at my computer most of the day anyway, I figured I might as well walk while working.
• Weights: 3–4x/week to try to retain as much muscle as possible.

I'm aware that 32–37 lbs in ~10.5 weeks is extremely aggressive, and obviously the initial weight loss from fasting/keto will include a decent amount of water/glycogen rather than pure fat.

I'm tracking my morning weight, calories, protein, steps/walking, workouts and sleep every day so I can adjust based on my actual weekly trend.

What would you change?

Mainly curious about:

1. Is 1,300 calories too aggressive given the amount of walking?
2. Would you increase protein beyond 135g?
3. Is 4 hours of low-intensity desk-treadmill walking overkill if recovery feels fine?
4. For preserving muscle, would you rather do OMAD or 2MAD?
5. For anyone who's done a similarly aggressive cut, how much muscle did you actually lose?
6. How close do you realistically think I can get to 135–140 by November 1?

Feel free to tear the plan apart. I'd rather figure out the weak points now than 6 weeks into the cut.

Not too long ago, I posted about being depressed on keto on day 9, after cold-turkey going on a water fast, then quitting carbs (as well as nicotine and alcohol): https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1vl1c1q/comment/p3cvw5k/?screen_view_count=3&ext-referrer=DIRECT

Well... someone must have said a little prayer for me because, like magic, on day 10, suddenly the fog began to lift. From feeling flat, tired, overwhelmed and borderline depressed, I've now experienced the following benefits:

• Bizarre increase in serotonin and general motivation
• Calmer energy and better sleep
• Finally got my period so all the deep PMS sadness and irritability went away (now considering I may have PMDD, which may have worsened the depressive feeling initially – probably not a good idea to transition diets during my luteal phase)
• Huge de-bloating effect around my face, belly and upper arms
• 9lb weight loss (incl. water weight, of course)
• Pretty much ZERO food noise
• Genuine enjoyment of everything I eat and appreciation of flavours
• Ease in navigating social situations (I went to a long Italian baptism lunch and just went to town on the porchetta! Saying no to cannoli didn't even break my heart)
• More confidence
• Hope for the future

I thought this was going to just be a 3-month thing but I'm feeling so good I now understand why people stick to it over the long-term. This is truly incredible, I finally get it now!

My life situation now: gone back to the gym, feel like my dream bikini body is definitely within reach, got a job interview tomorrow, feeling in a better place with my fiancé after coming to some hard home truths about our mental health and how it's affected our relationship over the years, now creatively inspired and having so many ideas pouring into me about the future and how I can live my best life possible.

I just want to thank the people who supported me in the comments of my first post, which was when I was in a really bad place. Your kindness helped me keep going and I'm so relieved I came out the other end. I hope this post helps anyone struggling right now.

Wish I had discovered this stuff sooner. Been using KetoneAid, which is still my favorite if I need to get hardcore, but it's pricey. MCT oil works pretty darn well, but much cheaper and tastes way better.

I originally stopped using it because it was upsetting my stomach, but eventually went back to try it again and got through that issue, and I'm glad I did. It really is a nice go to for mental clarity, plus (and this may not be true for everyone) it oddly helps with appetite and sugar cravings a bit.

For those curious, I bought the Pure C8 MCT oil that comes in a glass bottle.

i have amenorrhea which is induced from being underweight (slash malnutrition? my labs don’t indicate that so idk) and i hope to have a dexa scan to know specifically if my body fat is too low or if it can be linked to other factors -

however, for the time being, i am aware i can under eat fat because i hate the sensory feeling of oil in my food and i dont like the taste of nuts so i pretty much only source it from avocado (i dont eat animal products so not from dairy etc either - although i do love tofu which has a good amount of fat)

i have been thinking, if my amenorrhea is related to not consuming enough fat, i wonder if a keto diet could push me to having more fat devoid of my aversion and if my meals became 50/50 protein and fat (ik it’s more complex than 50/50 but u get my point lol) if that may help restore my period.

obviously i know this isn’t a doctor subreddit or anything but i didn’t know if anyone might have anecdotal information or thoughts - ive heard it can reverse pcos-induced amenorrhea because of re-stabilizing hormones and things of that nature so idk how it might apply to my situation

I don’t post much on here, but for anyone worried about doing Keto, here are my 11-week blood work results (51M). I know how daunting it can be when you first start looking into keto. There’s a ton of fear-mongering out there about what high-fat eating does to your cholesterol, liver, and overall health. (Note: Used AI to help structure and write this clearly with my exact lab results).

I’m 51, and I recently had a comprehensive NHS blood panel done to compare my baseline against 11 weeks on strict keto.

Obviously, everyone’s metabolism is different—I may just be lucky with how my body responds—so everyone should get their own tests done to see how their own body handles it. But for anyone on the fence or worried about dietary fat, here is what 11 weeks of cutting carbs and eating high-fat actually did to my markers:

The Blood Work (Before vs. 11 Weeks In)

HbA1c (Blood Sugar / Pre-diabetes): 43 mmol/mol to 36 mmol/mol
(Completely reversed out of the pre-diabetic bracket down to optimal non-diabetic levels).

Serum Triglycerides (Blood Fats): 2.30 mmol/L to 0.90 mmol/L
(A massive 60.9% drop in circulating blood fats).

Total Cholesterol: 6.20 mmol/L to 5.00 mmol/L
(Normalized right down into the standard healthy reference range).

Non-HDL Cholesterol: 4.82 mmol/L to 3.97 mmol/L
(Total atherogenic particle load significantly reduced).

Triglyceride-to-HDL Ratio: 1.67 to 0.87
(Anything under 1.0 is considered elite cardiovascular particle quality).

Serum ALT (Liver Enzyme / Fatty Liver): 52 IU/L to 46 IU/L
(Active clearance of visceral fat from the liver).

Kidney Function (eGFR): > 90 ml/min (Zero renal strain, perfect filtration).

Other Wins & Takeaways

Down 15.4 kg (over 2.4 stone) from 128 kg down to 112.6 kg.

Blood pressure dropping: Heading to my GP to discuss tapering down my blood pressure medication (Losartan from 50mg to 25mg).

Brain fog & anxiety gone: Steady ketones replaced the daily glucose/adrenaline rollercoaster, making it much easier to taper down my anxiety medication (Sertraline down to 25mg).

If you’re worried that eating fat will automatically wreck your arteries or liver, the biology really speaks for itself: dropping the carbs and keeping insulin low forces the liver to burn its own fat stores instead of accumulating them.

Get your bloods checked, track your numbers, and see how your own body responds