EVERYTHING SUSAN SAID (before I hit refresh on my browser) and here’s my reply:
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re feeling so hopeless and frustrated … it’s certainly understandable.
Everyone’s situation is different so it’s hard to give actionable and prudent advice from a distance (and, in my case, being such a newbie myself doesn’t give me much credibility or confidence to help either).
Not everyone gets through the changeover to ketosis as quickly (or easily) as others - so one possibility is that it will simply take you a bit longer.
But I’m guessing another potential challenge may be that you THINK you are sticking to a highly restricted carb diet … but the reality may be that you’re not quite as restricted as you think. If you need to get <20g daily - for example - and you’re really still eating say 30-40 carbs/day, then the fat you’re eating is not getting burned … it’s getting stored by your body for a rainy day. And that glass of red wine is contributing about 4g of carbs (20% or more?) of that 20g carb ceiling.
QUESTION: Are you testing for ketones (ideally in your blood, but even in your urine from the outset)? If so, what do these results suggest?
SUGGESTION: Perhaps more importantly, are you really counting your carbohydrates CAREFULLY? An app like CarbManager might really help you get a clear handle on how much you’re eating from each of the macronutrient groups. The free version is more than enough to get to the bottom of this issue. This will help you narrow down where your intake is coming from.
Finally, I’m afraid the red wine may not be ideal for you at this early stage. I say this as one who really enjoys a glass of dry red with every dinner - but apparently I’m able to “get away” with it at this point without jeopardizing ketosis. Your body will metabolize the alcohol before it is forced to metabolize the (hopefully minimal) carbs in your food, which also is before it ever seriously gets to metabolize proteins and ultimately the fats … the latter of which is the way of forcing your body to transition into ketosis.
In short: you may have to put the red wine aside for a week or two until you get into the groove, then reintroduce it slowly - counting your carbs carefully - and ideally testing along the way to see what effect it has. You may comfortably enjoy that daily glass of red without upsetting your overall progress, but maybe not quite yet in your trajectory towards your larger health goals.
Please look into one or more of these suggestions - along with the sage advice you’ll likely get from far more experienced keto’ers hanging around here.
In any event, please DON’T just give up. You need to explore further to see what’s getting in the way of your own unique progress and resolve the issues so you can enjoy the great benefits awaiting you on the other side!