Grief + heartbreak + depression + seasonal depression = disaster & keto implosion. I've got a lot going on at the moment and it has totally thrown me off. It feels like a perfect storm, since halloween I've essentially forgone keto. I'm extremely disappointed in myself, I've tried to give myself grace considering the circumstances but thats been enabling my "bad behavior". I'm already hard on myself and it's just been worse lately. I've gained back 7 lbs which I know isn't a lot but it's frustrating especially when just before this I hit a bit of a plateau. I know this is a rant and I've flair it as such but advice, comfort, etc is more than welcome. Thanks in advance, you guys tend to be super kind & helpful. 🥺❤️

Went high protein / low carb on the advice of an endocrinologist to try to balance my hormone levels. Not only do I feel so much better in general but three months later I’ve had blood tests back with everything now in normal range!! Have also lost some weight which is a nice bonus but not really the focus.

I’m not a doctor but I would encourage anyone worried about their hormones to give this diet a try, I can’t even explain how relieved I am that it’s working for me :)

After the birth of my twins I was 13 pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy. A year after I ended up gaining another 20 pounds due to a really stressful time in my life. I was working out really regularly so for me exercise doesn't help with weight loss. To lose the weight I tried counting calories and then doing low carb which both didn't work.

I read a book that talked about how keto is great for mental health and your brain so I decided to try and let me tell you the weight started to melt off and I was honestly shocked. My parents ended up visiting from a different state so I stopped keto for about a month and didn't lose weight but also didn't gain any weight back either which really shocked me. I'm now back on keto and started losing again and now have about 10 pounds more to lose before I'm back to my original pre-pregnancy weight. So I'm curious anyone have any reasons on why I can only lose weight doing keto? I'm asking because I'm a huge nerd and love learning the science behind things :)

So this is my second attempt at keto. First attempt was great for the first few weeks, then I started spotting with random heavy bleeding and it never stopped for 3 straight months. During this time I had no appetite and had to force feed. I was also extremely depressed. Started eating carbs and spotting stopped. Took a break from keto for a year. Well I'm a month in now on my second attempt and this time I'm trying to keep my calories up and increase fat. Unfortunately the spotting started again, along with worsened depression. I am doing keto to treat PCOS and trying to lose 80 pounds. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm seriously thinking about increasing my carb intake. I'd appreciate any advice, kinda losing my mind over here 😆

EDIT: Thank you so much for the replies everyone. You all have been so encouraging and informative. I am going to stick with it and not give up! You all are truly awesome!

I have PCOS and have been TTC for 2 years. I started keto on 10/14/24 and as of this morning I’m only down 4.4 lbs. I thought the weight loss would be a bit quicker? Am I overthinking it? Is this ok? I have noticed that my usual sporadic BBTs have leveled out and are pretty consistent since starting keto. I think I’m just antsy to really start seeing the weight loss and how it affects my fertility journey. I’m so excited! & honestly love how I feel eating keto. 💕

Hi ladies!

So, I think I may have posted this on here before, but never got a concrete answer, so I'm trying again.

I've done keto/low carb on and off since 2018 and every time I've done it, I've noticed it affects my cycle in a lot of positive ways (less bloating, less sweet cravings, less severe mood swings, etc). There's one thing it does, however, that I can't figure out: without fail, every single time I do it, if I eat A LOT of protein in the week leading up to getting my period, I don't get cramps, and if I do, they're barely noticeable...and when I say a lot of protein, I'm talking bacon, eggs and sausage for breakfast, two tilapia filets for lunch, steak for dinner and chicken tenders for a snack...

Anyone have any idea as to why this works with the cramps, specifically?

Hello! I live in France and will be traveling to the US soon, what food items would you recommend I look into and bring back home?

I was thinking low carb wraps but I dont know what other keto foods there are that can withstand a long flight.

So in total I've lost 37.1 lbs, 33.7lbs on keto from 7/21/24-10/21/24. I have PCOS which of course makes weight loss more difficult for me. Keto & going to the gym every day for 6 months straight is the only thing that has worked for me. Due to stress from a lot of different factors seems to have slowed my progress. I've been teetering up & down a couple lbs for what feels like forever. What amount of time determines an actual plateau/stall?

34 year old woman... NEVER missed a period in my life (I've had late periods but I've never completely missed one!) I'm very nervous... I feel GREAT on keto but it's the only thing I've changed, so I'm pretty sure that's the reason. First month on Keto, I got my period 2 weeks late & then the second month it didn't come at all. Help!! Do I need to up my carbs a bit??

I'm just starting off and it's a bit overwhelming. I basically eat dairy eggs and fish the only thing I don't eat is meat or meat by products like lard or broth. Any insight tips or tricks will be greatly appreciated. Please share your Costco Staples with me thank you!

I just saw video in which a guy ate a slice of homemade sourdough bread - checking his blood glucose before and after. It didn't spike his sugar.
Does anyone have experience with real, homemade sourdough? Did it spike your sugar? Did it kick you out of ketosis? Or is this all BS?

So I posted this in r/keto and was attacked by a couple of people claiming I was lying about my calorie intake, that it was impossible to not lose weight while eating the amount of calories that I eat. I just need some insight here...

Hi! So I've been doing keto since June, and this is attempt number 2 to seriously do it. I was diagnosed with insulin resistant PCOS in my early twenties (I'm now 40). The first time I tried keto on advice by my doctor, I lost 80 pounds, but life happened. College, travel, stressful jobs, marriage....a lot of things got in the way. I had several miscarriages from the PCOS in my 30's, decided to start fostering, and let go of my diet with having to make food for little ones whose taste palates are of just McDonald's and ice cream. I gained it all back and then some, and I topped out this year at my heaviest weight yet being in the 270's. I don't remember the exact number, I was so embarrassed to tell my husband how much weight I gained so I just told him 270 and that number stayed in my mind.

Since June, I've lost about 30 pounds, give or take. But for the past 2 months or so, I keep gaining and losing the same amount. I'd lose 2 pounds, gain it back next week, lose 3, gain 4, so on and so forth. I do intermittent fasting 18:6, I eat unprocessed whole foods and make meals from scratch. I stay away from soda of any variety, if I have anything carbonated, it's sparkling water with no added sweetener (think La Croix). I track every piece of food and every drop of drink that goes in my mouth, I get enough sleep, and I'm at the gym 5x a week (3 days cardio, 2 days strength)...I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know if I should adjust what I'm doing, how to adjust it, or if I should just keep doing what I'm doing and maybe something will happen.

We're on track to adopt a foster kiddo and he's less than a year old. I want to be fit and healthy so I can run around with him and be able to bend down and pick him up without hurting myself. My husband said the other day that I won't be able to go to the gym anymore once the baby's in our care and I fought tooth and nail with him. I told him absolutely not, I need to continue strength training, especially since I've hit 40. He brought up maybe that's why weight loss stalled so soon this time, that maybe it's because I'm not in my 20's anymore. I'm so discouraged because I can't fight not being able to lose weight because I'm getting older. (Edit from original post: He relented and we figured out a way to let me keep going to the gym.)

Now just so y'all know, my husband is super supportive, he's just also super stubborn. He's never been unkind, he just doesn't really understand where I'm coming from....he's never dealt with being obese, he's always been average, sometimes a little chubby. He loses the weight so fast though that he can just go on a few runs and it's gone. He honestly started keto to make it easier for me, and he's come to love it. I love it too, I love how my joints don't ache, how I can think clearly, and how I don't wake up tired anymore. Sure my muscles are sore pretty often and sometimes (especially recently) I've had to hype myself up to go to the gym, but overall I love it. I'm just so stinkin' frustrated with how little my body responding to it.

So...TLDR; Help, I've stalled and I can't get back down!

EDIT: I have my calories set for 1500/day, sometimes I hit it, most of the time I land around 1200.

I am doing a Ketovore version of keto. I eat mostly animal products, but I have the occasional avocado. It also means I have a little more protein.

I've successfully made it into ketosis by doing OMAD and eating under 8g of carbs (from animal products/avocados) a day.

My blood levels are steadily in the 0.9-1.5 range. My blood glucose levels are consistently in the 77-89 range. (Pre-diabetic was always high for morning fasting numbers).

The first week I had no appetite at all (I also take Wellbutrin and Zoloft at the lowest dose- which also tends to lower my appetite).

My period is in T-1 day, and I am miserably starving. I can't even seem to fast for more than 16 hours without being hangry. I haven't been able to fast for the last 3 days. I'm feeling frustrated.

Is this normal around your period for you? Do I just need to suck it up and get over myself?

I test my ketones every day and they have been all over the place.... Seems like i am out of ketosis one minute and then I test later that day and I am back in it....I just can't seem to get a handle on it .

So I’m 41. My gyn gave me the news of PCOS a few years back and the only options she offered were an ablation or the depo shot. As I could see no real benefit to ablation (like how is that gonna stop cysts?) I opted for depo. Also worth noting my tubes have been tied since 2009. It did not work, still felt cysts and had a lot of the nasty side effects that come with it (massive weight gain, severe depression, fatigue like a mofo) then my bestie turned me on to keto for it. I went all in and I LOVE my new woe, I feel amazing on keto (has been about 10 months strong now) but here’s my problem. I had spotting for about 3mo, no period since. I’m not doing this to conceive, I’m just concerned for my hormones. GYN says it can take 2 years to get period back but I’m considering seed cycling and am wondering if any of you have tried this or had success?

ETA no longer on depo.

Do they matter when it comes to calories protein and fat or should I just be concerned with staying under carb limit? I honestly right now focus more on carb limit only, this is week one back on keto for context, and lost 1.2 lbs. i am happy for the loss, but was hoping maybe to see a higher loss, although I also maybe want to be mindful of losing it too fast? All over the place, but any thoughts would be helpful! TIA 🥹

Help! I’m like a week in to a keto/ketovore lifestyle and have loved how much better I feel. I also had a few symptoms that could be attributed to pregnancy. Prior to this, my birth control pill really messed with my cycle for the past few months to the point that I no longer knew when anything was happening. Before that my period was like clockwork. This morning I got a faint positive when I took a pregnancy test. I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been at 294lbs at 5’9” 🙃 I’m doing keto to lose weight primarily, but also gain energy and was going to do it to get healthy and prepare to try and get pregnant sometime next year. Welllll that plan didn’t really work out. Is keto safe while pregnant? Can I lose weight? My GYN isn’t a fan of keto but I don’t want to stop due to her advice. Has anyone done keto and lost fat while pregnant and what were the results?

Between losing my Mama in May, going through a break up, seasonal depression, & my period days away I am an emotional depressed mess. Fall flavors are my weakness, & of course with the colder days here/colder on it's way, sweet treats are taunting me. I need some help, motivation, or maybe even permission to let myself wallow for just a little while.

Trying to lose weight but I’m not feeling satisfied.

Rare occasion where I’m in the city, I have every food imaginable nearby, money is not an object, and I have to order dinner for the whole extended family. I do NOT want to cook for once… what are we feeling Reddit, is there anything amazing I should get?

Update: Got Greek food delivered, family style. Big containers of marinated beef and chicken and gyro meat, marinated veggies, Greek salad on the side, and the fun sides and desserts for everyone non keto. Great decision.

I just got a positive pregnancy test after trying with no success for almost a year and a half. I’ve been keto for about 5 months (less strict for the last month because of a surgery I had to have) and have lost 30 lbs.

As someone who has a history of a miscarriage, I’m so worried about losing this pregnancy. Should I alter the way I’m eating now? Increase carbs some? Am I overthinking things? Any advice appreciated!

I’ve been falling off the wagon lately because I’m struggling with feeling satiated from my meals. Anyone got recommendations?

I am gluten free and dairy free as well but I’ll be looking to reintroduce dairy again in a few months. I’m at 1200-1400 kcals daily ideally, depending on whether or not I go work out.

Going through a horrendous breakup right now and the past 2-3 days I've been half assing keto. Binging carbs and then the rest of the day being strict or vice versa. I feel horrible, last night I felt like I had keto flu again. My head hurts like hell, super nauseous, & I'm constipated but then having not quite diarrhea not quite regular poops. Please advise!

I had the misfortune of starting keto about 10 days before my husband decided to quit smoking. This is my second time doing keto, after having been off for a year and gaining 20 lbs. I'm am due for AF and my PMS anxiety is overwhelming. But at the same time, hubby's mood swings with quitting (he's about 2.5 weeks in) aren't helping. This isn't his first time quitting, so I know the drill, but the anxiety I currently have feels like I'm drowning. I'm taking magnesium supplements, but what else can I do? Do I need to just wait until the extra estrogen flushes out?

Edit: thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I am reminded of why I love this community and keto so much. <3

I fell off keto hard a few months ago and am struggling to get back on. I would love to start over tomorrow (Monday). I've basically been eating whatever i want all summer and have gained about 8 pounds back of the 20 pounds I lost in the past year.

I feel like shit and miss the way I look and feel when I am on keto. My mental health has taken a hit, my clothes look bad on me, low energy, sleeping too much, acne is back, etc.

The main thing holding me back is that I've gotten used to eating delicious carbs and I know it's going to be so hard to give them up again.

Anything from encouragement to real talk to yelling at me Jillian Michaels style to recipe suggestions would be perfectly acceptable and much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

I plan on starting keto again after not doing it for 6-7 years. I felt amazing and looked amazing. Since then I’ve had 2 more kids (3 total) and I’m on 3 medications to help with anxiety. I still have intense anxiety/ mostly social and I wanted to hear any positive stories about it. Thank you!!!

I was down to 1 swimsuit in a size medium from Target. One piece. I tried it on today because my hubby purchased us a Mexican cruise in January and I wanted to double check that it still fit. Nope. Baggy especially on the rear. Like most swimsuit shopping isn't a favorite. Of course the main shopping season is over. I took a chance and ordered a few options online. Hopefully one works. 🙏

Just in case these don't work where do y'all get your suits from off season? I'm middle aged so one piece or tankini I'm more comfortable with. Sill have the mid-life middle/c-section middle.

All the

I started up on Keto again on 9-3-2024. I use the Keto Diet App to track my macros 20NC/127F/102P/1635Cal per day. I am 38F starting weight 182.8, this morning I weighed 180.1.

I have no clue what I’m doing wrong or if this lack of weight loss is my age or something else? I have a 2 year old and I work from home. According to my Oura ring app, I walk anywhere from 5-6 miles a day in steps and I am constantly moving around the house, so imo I am not sedentary. I use pee strips to test my ketones and they typically say I am in ketosis (either light pink to mid-pink). I eat Whole Foods, and my carb intake is usually well below 20 net per day…I’ve tried OMAD and I also drink 100 oz of water most days.

In 2019, I did low carb not knowing what keto was at that point and just stayed away from carbs as much as possible but I didn’t know what a macro was so I wasn’t tracking. Anyway, I went from 186 to 146 (very sedentary lifestyle) from June to December that year. So, I’m baffled as to what I’m doing wrong or differently now and if anyone has any suggestions or ideas to shed this weight. I would love to be 150 again and I honestly thought I would be well on my way.

Every day I wake up thinking I’ll see some change in the way my clothes fit or on the scale and nothing. My husband has been eating the same as me and has lost about 10 lbs so far. He is 44. Is it my age? I would think that my low net carb would make my keto levels be in the deep red every day and my body would be using that to burn all this fat but - nothing is happening.

We are trying for baby 2 in March next year and I’m so desperate to be at a healthy weight so I don’t have to hear it from my OB along with being called a geriatric preggo …I am otherwise healthy and any bloodwork I’ve done recently is totally normal.

I sleep 6-7 hours a night and I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. I am stressed from a toddler and WFH but that can’t be enough to stall this weight loss.

I don’t want to accept this body as my final form and I feel like I’m doing everything right. But if I’m not going to lose any weight then I might as well have pumpkin pie because NOTHING IS CHANGING after all this effort I’ve put in.

Any ideas?

I have decided that enough is enough. I am so tired of feeling the way I do, looking the way I look, and not doing anything about it long enough to see results. I decided that I am starting tomorrow, and even if it isn’t magical, it’s worth it to just try.

I’m physically and mentally exhausted. I’m an anxious mess, my sleep sucks, my executive dysfunction is overwhelming, I’m obese, and I am super out of shape. My depression has recently gotten overwhelming, so I have decided to also go see a GP to rule anything else out (sleep apnea, vitamin deficiencies, etc.), maybe start on a stimulant for ADHD or a SSRI, see a therapist, and then try to heal as much as I can on my own. I started going for walks outside recently, going on my phone less, and drinking more water. So I have made some small changes recently.

I’m tired and I don’t want to do anything. I don’t even want to eat, I just want to lay in bed and do nothing—but that’s not an option. I have to continue living and doing things. I am slightly hopeful that trying keto could help, after reading some inspiring stories.

Has anyone else started keto very depressed, exhausted, etc.—and found relief? How did you start? I’m overwhelmed by the information and I just need to keep it simple so that I stick to it. Any tips for getting through the first week? I am desperate for relief and I am really hoping this can help me.

Thanks!