I gave up because I felt awful ... problems sleeping, strong heart palpitations, hair falling off, left foot going numb, etc... all symptoms of nutrient deficiencies, which I couldn't correct via food or with supplements and that started disappearing within a week after giving up.

And that entire time I did not lose weight, I actually gained a pound or two.

If you're interested in losing weight, find a strategy for eating less (by playing with what you eat or with meal timing). The only reason keto works for some people is because it leads to a spontaneous drop in appetite, due to cutting entire food groups from the diet, thus making the food you eat less palatable. And the extra protein sure helps. But it only works short term, after which you start enjoying bacon and butter, so the inevitable plateau happens and then you get the line about your metabolism needing to "heal" before losing weight, which is bullshit, as the causality is reversed (i.e. your metabolism is broken because you ate too much and exposed adipocytes tissue to an energy excess, aka energy poisoning, so the solution is to eat less and to lose weight).

I've lost 55 pounds and kept it off, being almost at my ideal weight. Not with keto.

> If you're interested in losing weight, find a strategy for eating less (by playing with what you eat or with meal timing).

I'd just like to chime in and echo this sentiment. I myself have lost and kept off between 2 and 3 times what parent has and it was also no thanks to keto, or any fad-diet bullshit.

There's no magic to losing weight. Consume less, expend more, weight loss ensues. Yes, it is that simple. No, that doesn't mean it is easy. There are many different paths but they all lead to the same place.

This isn't quite true. For many, keto truly is an easier way to achieve the goal of eating less. Our metabolism uses various signals and pathways to detect satiety and even in the early stages of metabolic syndrome some of the pathways get broken due to insulin resistance (e.g. insulin blocking leptin satiety signaling in the brain).

Keto truly is much, much easier for many people. If you explore the keto community a bit, you will notice that it often naturally leads to intermittent fasting - simply because people don't feel like eating all that often.

Of course, it comes with its own difficulties with regards to food selection and social eating. However, in terms of willpower, my experience has been it's zero-effort compared to previous caloric restriction diets I've done.

This is not to say that caloric restriction takes a huge amount of effort and will-power for everyone. But if it does for you, it's worth checking keto out - and it's definitely not just a fad.

I've found that a fairly good selection criterion is people that suffer from post-meal slumps (sleepiness). If you are one of them, its likely that ketogenic diets will be helpful.