Hi, this is my first time posting, just after a bit of encouragement! I started keto 16 days ago, and I’ve been really strict. Had keto flu for only 1 day which was good. I lost 5lbs in one week. 3 days ago, I had some prosecco (low carb and low calorie) as i am giving up smoking this Saturday and wanted one last binge on alcohol! Sadly I found myself coming home that night with a takeaway chicken burger and cheesy chips 
weird thing was, it didn’t taste right! Not like how it used to anyway, which was annoying. I thought for sure this would knock me out of ketosis, but some how it hasn’t? I use the pee sticks and still said I’m in ketosis, weighed myself 2 days later and I’d lost another 3lbs bringing it to 8lbs in 2 weeks! As much as I’m loving the weight loss, I’m struggling so bad with the food! I can’t bear to eat anything fatty, and I’ll throw up if I have to look at bacon and cheese again! I’ve been doing a lot of fasting, not really out of choice, more that I’m just not hungry! And even when I do go to eat anything, I just feel sick and won’t eat it all. Is this normal? I feel like my body is affectively starving!? I feel good in myself, energetic and bright, but can’t help but think that this diet is incredibly unhealthy? The last few days (minus the takeaway) I’ve just tried to eat meat and brocoli or green beans, I just can’t have any more fat! And then one strawberry for dessert! My appetite has changed and so have my taste buds it seems? (don’t get me started on my death breath!) any help and encouragement would be gratefully received! I love the weightless but hate the food!
Struggling, encouragement?
I would say that’s normal and that’s the idea.
That’s how I feel when I get enough fat, that’s where you don’t even think about food.
Honestly the ketogenic diet has nothing to do with eating lots of fat, the lots of fat was originally intended to help curb carbohydrate cravings.
40 grams of fat per meal is all you really need on a ketogenic diet, and that’s nothing, any one that tells you any different is trying to step outsides mother nature’s boundaries?
What some people will do, is try to cram 120 grams of fat into one meal 3 times a day, that’s why they don’t lose any weight. 
All you will be doing is burning dietary fat not your own body fat.
This may be way outside anything you ever read but here is my TIP:
Krill oil (DHA omega 3’s), if you don’t like eating much fish, twice a week or more might help you but you have to be consistent with it.
What I think happens when you start releasing fat lipids from white tissue adipocytes or burning fat on a ketogenic diet is the dietary fat and released stored fat that does not get oxidized into a ketone body spills over into the muscle tissue or gets reabsorbed into pre-existing tinier adipocytes within the muscle fibers and that’s when the whole process of body fat burning stops working so you quit oxidizing any carbohydrate you eat coming in and it is continuously being stored in your existing white adipose tissues rather oxidized.
The krill oil stops this reabsorption process in skeletal muscle from occurring in the FFA turn over pool.
It still takes a long while for this to work so it’s not an over-night event…lol
If you are primarily interested in weight loss, I find that the advice in this article on DietDoctor is helpful. Do read the whole thing, though. Lots of ads for their subscription, but all the info you need to be successful is on that site for free:
Another good approach is Mark Sisson’s “primal” diet, which is covered here. He is much closer to Paleo than pure keto, but you seem like you don’t want to shift to strict keto just yet (or ever), so this is another option. He also focuses on exercise as a key component, which is not surprising since he comes from a fitness training background.
You don’t need to eat very fatty food (unless maybe if you have a huge energy need) or not in the form that really feels fatty like bacon… Or worse for me, added fat… I use close to no added fat now as I don’t even have vegetable or keto bread to balance the fat out. Some people have problems with liquid fat (me), others rendered fat… Try to find the fattier food items you can eat without problems. And raise your protein instead of fat then, it works to some extent. I am not for extremely high protein but I personally choose high protein instead of adequate over being miserable, nauseous and very hungry.
To me, it’s clear that eating very low carb is the healthiest I can do but read and get informed, experiment and choose your own style. Keto is very wide, has many styles, there is no single food item one must eat on it… It can be done very unhealthily, of course. We humans are different too and need different macros and food items. I am not sensitive to anything except carbs but even little carbs mess with my life. So I eat extreme low-carb now if I can as I feel best there. I’ve read things and listen to my body and choose what to do. If you find keto extremely unhealthy, it’s problematic to do it, at least I couldn’t do it with that mindset…
It seems things quickly changed for you, it happens.
How did you eat before? Can’t have something similar, except the carbs? Doesn’t a salad helps with fatty bacon? Maybe add more variety…?
Hopefully someone can help you with a low-fat past, I always ate fatty, my fat intake gets lower as I lower my carbs but I still don’t starve. I just can’t eat extremely fatty (75%? nope) and added fat is problematic for me unless I use plants. Maybe you try to eat too much fat? Or you can’t eat high protein? Too much fullness so you eat little? I don’t know but you are still in the beginning, things may change and you can figure out what you should eat. Don’t eat fatty stuff you dislike. You feel right, it sounds good. For a very short while, even eating little might work, it’s individual. Longer term you need to eat properly, of course.
Maybe keto right away is hard on you and some more carbs would help for a while until you figure out what to eat and your body gets used to less carbs. It’s possible but I can’t know if it’s true for you…
It’s a fallacy when people say you don’t have to eat fat, especially in the beginning. That view shows an incomplete understanding of Lipolysis, especially regarding the function of the Hexsosamine Biosynthetic Pathway and the role of Leptin.
Fat intake should be at least 60% of calories, with protein up to 35%. The whole point is to get.your body secreting Glucagon instead of Insulin, and using fat as it’s primary energy source. If you eat both low carb and low fat at the same time you are both overconsuming protein and denying yourself a proper Leptin response which enables you to be Sated.
Fat consumption can be adjusted once hormones are normalized, but initially the goal is adaptation. Once your body is adapted.out of carbs and.into using fat you have more ability to play with the.macros.
This is great, thank you. I think that I’ve perhaps been too strict on myself and restricted what food I eat too much. Before keto, I had major carbs with everything I ate, but also love all fruit and vegetables. I think I’ll reintroduce a few more vegetables that I love, that way I’ll at least enjoy my meals. This is by far the craziest diet I’ve ever tried, and I’m going to keep going with it as I’m seeing results and starting to feel better in myself. And if anything, it’s taught me to really look at what I’m eating and know what’s in it.
I am not sure what you are following. It’s actually one of the healthiest eating patterns I have ever been on.
It really depends on whether you are focusing on just one thing, or trying to eat a well balanced, varied diet while shifting your macro-nutrient profile.
There are people who must absolutely restrict carbs to a very low number because of their metabolic health, genetics, or trying to manage a disease like type 2 diabetes.
However, if you do not fit into that spectrum, you can see significant benefit just from the following:
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Eat real foods prepared from fresh ingredients
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Eliminate sugar, sugar-like foods, and things that immediately convert to sugar. Includes honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, molasses, etc. You know what “sugar” is.
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Eat salad greens and above-ground vegetables. Lettuces, spinach, kale, any kind of leafy greens. Broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, squash, zucchini, peppers, asparagus.
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Eliminate starches and grains as much as possible. Potatoes, wheat, oats, rice, bread, pasta. This is the only really hard part about this
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Get protein from animal meat sources like fish, poultry, pork, beef, lamb. Minimally processed if possible - i.e., pork belly is better than bacon. Whole chicken is better than chicken sausage.
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Get your fats simply by not trying to avoid them. Eat dark meat chicken, skin on, and eat the skin. Eat fatty fish like salmon and sardines. Put some butter on that broccoli, and maybe some parmesan cheese. Cook those brussels sprouts with some bacon. Steam your cauliflower then mix it up with some butter, cream cheese, and asiago into a wonderful-tasting mashed potato replacement. Saute vegetables in olive oil and butter. Scramble your eggs with some butter added, or in olive oil if you prefer.
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Choose full fat dairy and cheeses. A little goes a long way here, so don’t go overboard with cups of heavy whipping cream in your coffee. There are some full-fat yogurts like Fage 5%.
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Eat 100% cacao dark chocolate as a treat now and then. Not sweet at all, and is an acquired taste, but gives you a good fat content, and in small quantities is actually a superfood.
When I go out to eat, a typical meal for me would be blackened salmon, side salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, and bacon topped with full-fat blue cheese dressing, side of broccoli in butter topped with shredded parmesan.
Or smoked beef brisket, dry rub seasoning instead of sauce, with a side of cole slaw and green beans.
A typical breakfast for me might be 2 eggs, couple strips of bacon (pork or turkey), coffee, almond milk, a small serving of yogurt with some berries and walnuts.
If I have time, I will make an omelet with any of the following: spinach, mushrooms, cheese, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, ham, turkey, depending on what I have on hand. Saute the veggies in olive oil, add in the beaten eggs and choice of cheese. Portion control is the key here. A whole onion is a lot of carbs. 1/8 cup diced is not.
Today I was a little rushed so breakfast was about 1/4 cup yogurt, 2 oz blackberries, about 1 oz of walnuts, with coffee. Quick lunch was two slices of swiss cheese and 2 slices of deli ham (not packaged, the “off the bone” sliced kind). If that’s not enough, I have some 3oz pouches of salmon and tuna in my desk as emergency snacks.
*Edit - I have always tried to make sure I was still getting plenty of vegetables, quantity-wise, just focusing on the low-carb options. I also tend to do well on a higher level of carbs than some, and do not have any metabolic issues that I am aware of, or other confounding health issues. I was just very sedentary and had really poor eating habits.
God bless, and good luck. I quit smoking twenty years ago; you can do it!
I don’t know for how long you smoked, and although it is one of the best things you can do for yourself, could you maybe give yourself another month or so before quitting, just so your body gets used to eating keto? Doing both at virtually the same starting point is asking yourself to make two major life changes at once. Once you get comfortable with keto and feel more physically and emotionally primed to quit smoking, you might experience less challenges than you would otherwise.
Good luck.
I can see how you would think that, based on what we get to eat, compared to what we normally think of when we hear/see the word “diet”. Most people probably think of salads and “rabbit food” and Calorie restriction, and boring/bland foods, and not “let’s eat those fatty meat and other yummy stuff!”
Let me clarify a point. In no way did I intend that you should eat more carbs than the typical keto level of 20 g per day in the beginning. That is equally as important as eating enough fat to insure adaptation.