Can you do avocado? Do you know how many calories you’re eating, and what your fat and protein grams are daily? I have found the web site ruled.me to be really helpful. You may find some info on this subject there.

Thank you for the fast reply Lucille. Yes, I just visited my PCP, and that is why I'm asking questions. She was very happy with my vastly improved A1C and Cholesterol numbers, but warned me against much more weight loss. The rest of my blood work is also good. I also just had my scan/checkup with the oncologist. Everything is in order, so it appears I just need to try to increase my calorie intake. I'm already a heavy butter user, but will try making butter and cream based sauces for my meats and vegetables. I love most veges, so rarely put anything on them, but may learn to. Again, thank you for your help.

I remember doing low carb, but I was so hungry for bananas and other fruits. Bananas would be a good addition to your meals or as snacks. Since it is fall, the starchy, hard shelled squash are in season. I love acorn squash with butter, a dash of cinnamon and salt, and brown sugar melted in the cavity the last 15 minutes in the oven.

I'm not trying to go Keto, but rather just lower carb, so here is where I am currently. I'll have to start watching my calories, as I'm very unsure on that number.

Carbs - 100 grams/day max., usually 60 ish

Protein - 100-120 grams/day on average

Again, thank you everyone.

Cheese and Butter and very calorie dense. That is, a small amount packs a lot of calories. Also, as Lucille said, heavy cream. I drizzle of olive oil or flavored oil. Perhaps you can supplement with protein shakes between meals. I like Atkins or Premiere Protein, both lower carb options.

I just started back on low carb, not specifically keto. I try to keep it under 30 carbs a day, and don't really pay attention to calories or anything else.

To get the calorie number, or at least a guideline, you can find a calculator online where you enter your info and it will tell you how many calories (roughly i am sure) you need to either lose, maintain, or gain weight. I have used the one on my fitbit app when i tried watching calories.

There are some protein bars called One that are low carb but high in calorie, and they are delicious. The birthday cake bar is so good. If you ate 2 of those a day, maybe one in the morning and one as an evening snack, you would increase you calories by about 450 per day and should see a weight gain slowly with that. I second using heavy whipping cream and eating bacon also. I wish I were like you, seems I always need to lose 10 pounds, not gain it.

When I was doing keto, one of my favorite treats was Zevia soda with heavy cream added. It was like a float! Delicious but very calorie-dense and I started gaining weight drinking a few a day. :)

Bullet coffee can be a delicious way to add fat calories. There are several versions for it; just google.

I'm no doctor or nutritionist, but do see articles on nutrition and have come across a couple of studies that might be useful.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124716312864 is the more scientific version...

https://www.masteringdiabetes.org/high-protein-diets-impair-insulin-sensitivity/

is the easier to read more journalistic version of the same study.

Despite the fact that participants in both groups lost 10% of their initial weight, only subjects that ate the normal-protein diet gained insulin sensitivity. Subjects in the high-protein group actually became more insulin resistant.

Then there's this one on the impact of high saturated fat diet and triglycerides.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2018/05/24/dc18-0071

CONCLUSIONS Macronutrient composition of excess energy influences pathways of IHTG [triglycerides in the liver]: CARB increases DNL [turning carbs into fat], while SAT [saturated fat] increases and UNSAT [unsaturated fat] decreases lipolysis [breaking down of fats]. SAT induced greatest increase in IHTG, insulin resistance, and harmful ceramides [waxy lipids]. Decreased intakes of SAT could be beneficial in reducing IHTG and the associated risk of diabetes. [my edits]

Now that you've accomplished your weight loss and are looking for ways to add some calories back into your diet in a healthy way, you might consider adding healthy high fiber carbohydrates as a way to achieve a more balanced diet while keeping your blood sugars and blood fats in check, rather than adding even more proteins and saturated fats. I suspect that adding some more carbs into your diet will also make it a lot easier to stick to over the long term, which, IMO, is the hardest part of any diet program.

Annie, a low carb diet and a high protein diet are not equivalent. The findings on high fat are interesting but very new, I'm interested to see how further research on this subject goes.

I did low carb for close to a decade and have been on and off for the last 5 years. Typically, the advice back when I started was to gradually add carbs back (good ones like sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa) until you stop losing weight. This is permanent number of carbs for your metabolism that keep you in balance.

I second the idea of using avocados for fat. Plus there are other seed butters like sesame, sunflower etc that may work for you.

High healthy fat things like hummus are good too. Mine has tons of olive oil in it.

Well, Lucille, carbs are bad for your blood sugar, protein is bad for your kidneys, fats are bad for your arteries but you've got to eat something...and even water will kill you if you drink too much. So it's simply a matter of finding the right blend of macronutrients that works best for your body...if only it was simple to do and simple to stick with.

I had the same problem when I did Keto. I was sooooooooooo strict. I lost 50 pounds in about 5 or 6 months, then stopped counting calories. I still made sure to eat the Keto way, I just didn't track anymore because I was at the weight I wanted to be. But the weight kept falling off. My goal weight was 160. I did that by Christmas (I started in August at 193). My weight kept coming off and my March I was down to 149. People kept telling me I was losing too much weight but it just kept coming off. I wasn't eating less food. I think I was eating about the same. I actually didn't gain any weight back until my husband had 4 1/2 feet of his stomach removed and we crept back into eating like crap again. I've put back on over 20 pounds in 2 years. :(

I'm not suggesting eating like crap again. ;) But maybe add back a few healthy carbs to your way of eating. More fruits and vegetables. The avocado is a good suggestion. Lots of healthy fats and tons of calories.

Annie, fats are NOT bad for your arteries. Sugar is. Sugar is the main culprit in most of peoples pain and sickness. Remove sugar in ALL forms (honey is sugar. Agave is sugar.) and see how fast your body comes back to life.

Thank you everyone for you help and suggestions. I began tracking my calories this morning, and it appears I'm consuming somewhere in the area of 1500 per day. Per a couple different website calculators, I apparently need more like 1800 to maintain my current weight, so now I understand why I'm losing so consistently. I'm thinking I should be able to add an evening snack of plain greek full fat yogurt or some hummus and low carb crackers to meet that increase.

Annie,

I think the best way to choose what to do is to get the facts and decide what is best for you as an individual. But many people make the mistake of assuming that because a diet is low carb it must be high protein, and you are partially right in showing by including your link that very high protein diets can have problems. But it is not true that low carb= high protein, there are fats to balance out the equation.