Rash, sort of got off Keto, what to do about vegetables?

[Lc14503]

I started keto in July. I did not have a lot of weight to lose, but the main benefit for me was that it stopped my annoying habit of snacking on junk food when bored or tired or nervous.

In mid-October, I had a two-week jury trial and was having my meals provided during the mad scramble. Then I got a cold. I also have a new boyfriend and he likes to cook for me.

With all that, I started eating some carbs again-- not a whole ton like before, but definitely more than keto. A salad or cooked vegetables each night, a carrot in the day, maybe a slice of bread or small amount of rice, or some grapes. Handmade tortillas.

I have also been eating more processed lunch meat instead of home-cooked meat.

And snacking on candy-- but not nearly as much as before.

I’ve noticed:

Increased need for sleep. (Maybe that’s just the trial? It was stressful.)
Rash on my cheeks.
Increased bloating.
Horizontal bumps on most my fingernails.
Hairline seems to be receding now.
Cannot resist snacking if tired or low energy, now.

I wonder if the fingernail bumps and receding hairline are from the keto diet, before?

Have I really gotten that off track if I’m having maybe 100 grams of carbs some days, more like 30 other days?

Can the rash be from reintroducing sugar? I’ll stop the sugar of course.

I still have a vegetable bias. I craved fruit and vegetables so much during keto. Has anyone done near-keto, with meat and plenty of vegetables? Not just the “keto” vegetables but a bigger variety? I don’t like restricting even onions, but will if I have to.

Is is okay to ease from the 20 grams carbs per day, to more like 50 (but avoiding sugar)?

Do people recommend I get back into strict keto for several days/weeks for now and see what happens with rash and energy?

[Shinita]

Hopefully others will be more useful, I am very lost if it’s about problems after a diet change, I just can say that it’s very individual how much carbs your body handles well. Mine is somewhat tolerant but I only can expect benefits if I go very low, ketosis isn’t enough. And food choices are important too, not just the macros.

A cooking boyfriend is fine, it’s easy to cook keto and even carnivore meals… Though mine started to complain when I expected a dish that suits me as I ate less and less carbs… But with some guide, he was okay. He unable to make carnivore dishes but he gets close enough and that’s fine with me (and I can cook my food anyway).
And occasional carbs especially if they aren’t plain sugar don’t cause noticeable problems for most of us. I rarely am super strict, I suspect what I can afford and try eat accordingly.

Cannot resist snacking if tired or low energy, now.

Eating when low energy seems okay though it doesn’t always help… IDK what you call snacking. Snacking is eating to me but there are “snack foods” and people call small meals snacking for some reason too. I have no problem with either as long as they suit the person and there is need for food or at least it doesn’t do harm eating more.
Maybe you don’t eat much enough or not the right, satiating food? Eating lots of fatty protein usually solves all my food related problems but of course it’s not that simple…

Vegetables. I was a veggie lover, too bad they aren’t good for me but fortunately I don’t want them anymore except a few. I did low-carb but not keto with plenty of vegs but without meat. I did keto with moderate amount of vegs (25g net carbs a day only from them), it was hard to eat that little, I must say but they still interfered. I always enjoyed keto doesn’t ban anything so I ate many high-carb vegetables and very little other kind, probably I never could consider most green leaves food so I ignored those (cabbage was fine). I banned cauliflower as it was so very carby for a portion. Carrots, green peas, onions and garlic, they were fine. Sometimes lentils or split peas but only a taste… I did the same with fruits, why not? I wanted them. It went away after years when my carbs went quite low.
I don’t restrict onions but I learned to consider it a very sugary spice… So it’s kinda automatic to eat it only if really needed. But it’s flavorful so a little goes a long way. It’s the case with all the carby vegetables I used to use. And it’s not THAT carby unless you want to use many normal ones in a day… I know some people use more onions than meat in a stew but I found more logical stews (much meat, not very little but way less onion) great enough, never even trying the super onion-y ones (they would be way too sweet for me now for sure).
Unless you are sensitive to onions or something, I don’t think you need some severe restriction.

[PaulL]

I wonder if the fingernail bumps and receding hairline are from the keto diet, before?

Possibly, but possibly not. Any change of diet can cause them, or so I understand.

Can the rash be from reintroducing sugar? I’ll stop the sugar of course.

The rash is more likely just from the general glucose level, not from sugar specifically. I used to have a number of skin problems that vanished (some took longer than others) when I started eating a ketogenic diet. They start to return whenever my carb intake rises above a certain point, even if I’m still in ketosis at that level.

Your carbohydrate tolerance depends on how messed up your metabolism was before you started a ketogenic diet. Our recommendation to stay under 20 g/day is somewhat arbitrary, but it was chosen because it gives so many people a real shot at success on the diet.

I still have a vegetable bias. I craved fruit and vegetables so much during keto. Has anyone done near-keto, with meat and plenty of vegetables? Not just the “keto” vegetables but a bigger variety? I don’t like restricting even onions, but will if I have to.

Is is okay to ease from the 20 grams carbs per day, to more like 50 (but avoiding sugar)?

There is no reason for you not to eat as you please. If your resulting carb consumption is higher than your carbohydrate tolerance, your serum glucose and insulin will rise and start to do damage again, but the process is long-term enough that you probably will be fine for quite some time.

[gingersmommy]

Maybe you don’t eat much enough or not the right, satiating food? Eating lots of fatty protein usually solves all my food related problems

That was my thought, too.

@Lc14503, I always ate to satiety and met or exceeded my fat macro every day. Fatty meats, sauces, cream, heavy cheeses, etc., were what I enjoyed and eating them completely removed my carb cravings. I came here needing to lose 80 lbs., and for that reason I was strict about keeping the carbs well under 20. Sounds like you don’t have a weight issue, so I think a goal of 50/day is reasonable. I’d still be careful about fruit, however, as it has so much sugar and may awaken the sleeping giant for more or more carby things. Same with veggies. Maybe you could try to keep the mainstay of veggies the keto friendly ones and stay away from like yams, potatoes, etc.

Good luck on your journey.

[islandlight]

It seems that, for you, the benefits of keto were not great enough to really motivate you. So it was easy to slip away.

Now you’re experiencing some negative effects from not being keto.

I’ve been there, both sides.

Now, for me, the negative effects of not being keto/carnivore are severe enough (abdominal pain from most plant foods) that the choice is obvious.

I think we all know what it’s like to feel tempted or pressured to give up, or to be too busy to bother.

You’re in the fortunate position of being able to go one way or the other. Which is more important? Eating free/convenient meals or having good hair? Yummy carby vegetables or bloating? Hmm …

[collaroygal]

You might want to listen to this podcast with Daisy and Dr. Diulus, who is a T1D, keto vegan.

https://ketowomanpodcast.com/carrie-diulus/

If your rash is extreme redness on the face, not bumpy, it might be caused by the nightshade veggies, tomato, potato, or eggplant.

Nails require 6 months to grow out, if you have only been keto since July I doubt it is related to keto, probably something you were doing before.

Good luck sorting yourself out.

[Fangs]

You are ok. Just get back on plan and yes, if you feel more comfortable truly doing a step down, like 50g net carbs week 1 and 40g net carbs the next week and so on then do just that, or jump in and get that total control on your 20g plan. That is a personal decision on what works best for you kinda.

But yikes, jury trial and routine off, new boyfriend who cooks, yikes again with that dating focus around food and then feeling icky thru being sick…yea, your routine got slammed. You felt it, stressed ya out. I know that feeling

your list of symptoms can be alot related to stress and of course having sugar again throws off the body and more but I think if you just ‘do you back’ into what worked for you, you will be ok in a short time!

but make a plan to be back on plan and have a ‘keto goal’ eating plan in mind and just take control and action to do just that.

wishing you the best, I feel ya got this!!

[Marise]

Keeping carbs under means you have a serious problem…but you still have to have more healthy fats and low protein.

[PaulL]

Not sure what you mean by low protein, but the standard recommendation for a ketogenic diet is 1.0-1.5 g of protein per kg of lean body mass per day. That is considered a moderate protein intake by most researchers.

The very-low-protein, very-high-fat ketogenic diet used as a treatment for epilepsy is quite different from the sort of ketogenic diet we recommend. And even there, more recent data shows that a diet can still be therapeutic for epilepsy with less fat and more protein than the original formulation.