I am a pure vegetarian which means - no egg, no meat, yes to dairy. I tried experimenting with keto diet for 3 weeks to reduce the few inches I gained post surgery (knee). I am 33 years old and am not over weight. During the 3 weeks I would have consumed 30-50 gm of carbs each day. The keto sticks showed marginal - moderate ketones in urine and I was ok with that. The scale showed 56 kg in the first week and I dropped to 53kg end of first week. The weight never came down and was hovering between 53 - 54kg. I however lost about 7cm at the waist (80 cm to 72~73cm). I did not exercise during this entire period of 3 weeks. I want to experiment and see if I will gain weight if I return to my healthy moderate carb, low fat, moderate protein diet and include an hour of gym workout. Any advice?
Vegetarian Keto - how to come out of ketosis and not gain weight
I am not sure what this means exactly. This to me sounds very insulogenic, and unhealthy. I wouldn’t recommend going back to that.
If you were experimenting with keto for 3 weeks you were not keto adapted and still burning glucose for fuel. You can show color from a urine stick after not eating during the night. Not being adapted and losing weight would suggest that you were eating in a deficit allowing you to lose the weight you did. When you go back to the higher carb low fat way your body will store the excess glucose in you fat cells and you will probably put the lost weight back on. This is the problem with the higher carb protein diet over the years. Vegetarian is your choice but the same still holds true when burning glucose (unlike fat burning) the body will store the excess as fat in the body.
I’m also adding in more carbs to my diet (it would still be classed as low carb but I’m aiming to go up to moderate carb). I’m sticking to sweet potatoes, fruit, a slice of sourdough bread here and there… I’m not worried about the insulin etc because my body is healthy and, like you, I’m not overweight and I exercise a lot, so my body doesn’t respond negatively to these carbs. I’d do it gradually and just see how you feel. For me, so far, my energy has skyrocketed 
and my workouts are fantastic again, after really genuinely struggling with these two things for over two months. I recently, before adding in more carbs, started experiencing hair loss and very poor, weak nails (had to cut them very very short) which was the turning point for me. I have always had beautiful hair and I’m not willing to compromise the health of my hair for being super low carb. I hope you get good results.
Technically you are probably feeling so great because you are in ketosis.
Once you start eating carbs again and leave that magical and wonderful area, you will no longer receive the benefits such as improved mental clarity and fitness performance etc.
So no I wouldn’t recommend going back to SAD diet.
Lacto vegetarian, pure vegetarian is vegan. Just wanted to clear that up.
Keto Woman podcast #37, is by a surgeon, T1D, who has been keto for a long time. You might want to give her a listen.
Excellent suggestion! That was a fascinating podcast and I learned so much about veggie keto (which is totally foreign to me). Carrie Diulus is an exceptional woman and doc.
Well … you know the definition of doing the same thing but expecting a different result … 
What is it you were hoping to change to keep from gaining weight? how about focusing on low glycemic index carbs and maybe substituting a bit of plant based oil (avocado, coconut, olive) for the missing carb calories?
The weight you lost was glycogen, not fat. Once you start eating carbs again chronically, your glycogen will most likely recompensate, so the weight will come back. Did you really think you burned off that much body fat in one week? It was all water.
Oxymoron alert!
Sorry Ramya - I grew up a Jain vegetarian - but consider myself a tad more enlightened now…
Yes, even with water fasting the body is pretty much limited to less than a pound of fat a day, and that’s under absolutely optimal conditions - being young, (being male), not metabolically deranged, not eating anything at all, and exercising rather vigorously. There are actually formulas which will calculate max fat loss, but a best loss of half a pound of fat a day is a pretty standard number. As a small woman who is not young, I estimate that I will “permanently” lose 1 pound of fat on a three day water fast.
If you’re normal weight and your other health markers are good, go back to your vegetarian diet, if that’s what you enjoy. Diet is not a one size fits all. There are people who thrive on a low fat diet. There is science to prove it.
The majority of the folks on this forum are metabolically deranged, and there’s a minority who’s primary motivation is improving neurological, cancer, GI, mental or performance issues. If none of this applies to you, there’s little reason to suffer through a diet that you don’t enjoy.
Since you’re only trying to lose a few pounds, there are other options that may be more palatable to you. Michael Mosley, MD wrote a book called The Fast Diet in which he proposed eating normally 5 days and severely restricting calories 2 days a week. This approach has worked well for many people. Another option to consider is intermittent fasting, where eating is restricted to a given time interval, like 6 hours each day. There are many YouTube videos on this subject by reputable contributers.
Good Luck!
Just to add that there’s a 5:2 vegetarian cook book I borrowed from the library with some good recipes in it.
Thanks. I never thought I might not be in ketosis as I went through the initial 2 days of craving, low energy phase and transitioned to a colored urine stick stage. How could I be eating so much cheese and butter and be consuming lesser calories. Is it possible? I have been out of the diet for 2 weeks now and I have not added any weight yet at least going by the scale. However, I have added a cm in circumference maybe. I am unsure how to proceed. During these 2 weeks I included an occasional dessert and fries (2 times a week) and otherwise stuck to my earlier diet of vegetable based food including lentils and dairy. Did not eat much of fat though. I wanted to see if I retain the weight loss in spite of coming out of the diet and hence did not exercise either.
Thanks a bunch! I will definitely try the book!
This might come across as a lame question, but pardon the beginner - I am worried of developing serious metabolic rate drop and/or stomach ulcers if I try intermittent fasting. Is that true? Has anyone here experienced it?
Can you help me understand what you meant. You might be familiar with most of the additions I have made:
What I added back -
ragi, millets, fruits, whole grain bread, phulka;
daal, sambar etc. for protein.
milk and curd from dairy family
Removed - cheese and other fatty foods from the keto diet.
What I did not add (I never consumed these much to begin with)
corn, white rice, processed carbs, any junk food like pizzas, burgers, potatoes, naan or other maida based food
I’m not an expert, so hopefully someone with more scientific/clinical experience will chime in.
Here’s my understanding of the questions you raise.
According to the Googling I"ve done, and as mentioned in Dr Fung’s book, fasting creates a hormonal state that increases metabolism.
https://idmprogram.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/
Peptic ulcers are caused by a bacteria. Stomach acidity is regulated by stimulus. During a water only fast, the GI system drastically reduces activity (colloquially goes to sleep). Stomach acidity decreases. At the end of an extended fast, the GI system needs to be “reawakened” by the gradual (degree varies by individual) reintroduction of food.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peptic-ulcer/symptoms-causes/syc-20354223
https://www.quora.com/Can-fasting-cause-stomach-ulcers
Give episode #37 a listen on the Keto Woman podcasts, it is with a Dr. who is T1D, and she is also vegan.
http://www.ketowomanpodcast.com/
And these videos addresses muscle loss and low carb eating.
Good luck sorting yourself out, we are all different, so we have to find the right path for our personal Journey.
It seems like the opposite of what you should have done. Every single thing you have added is no bueno
And cheese and other fatty foods are muy bueno
There seems to be an obsession amongst Indians about “adding daal for protein”. Daal is 56% carb and 25% protein. A high price to pay for protein.