Do you find that this requires an unusual amount of self-control? I have no reason to manage my food intake, but in the limited times where I have I've found it quite difficult

I did keto for almost a year, and it wasn't that bad. My wife lost 50 lbs and I lost 45lbs. 190 > 145 (I had to put on weight afterward). First of all, you can eat things you enjoy, and you don't have to limit your intake. Basically, eat until you're full. When you're fully in ketosis (~2 weeks) you'll naturally not feel hungry. This is what makes keto great because you're never in a situation where you're hungry (at least after a few weeks).

Eating out isn't as bad as you think when in that position. Get a steak with some low-carb vegetables on the side. You can still have blackberries and raspberries and if you really need to "cheat" you can find some deserts that are no carb. Although best to limit those types of sugars. Use an app / website to track carbs for the first few months.

Just remember you're either in ketosis or not. There's no such thing as a "cheat" day on Keto as going over carb amount can kick you out.

Is there a recommended amount (or formula) of carb intake on keto? I use an app called MacroFactor and it suggests up to 45 grams of carbs per day, but I find it too low. I’m somewhat struggling to stay under that limit.

Also the binary nature of either being in ketosis or not is somewhat disappointing. I unfortunately find it impossible to be on a keto diet for long periods of time due to social situations and eating out. Do you have any advice?

45 seems like a lot, honestly. I think we did 20 at first. The ketones blood test kit is a must have. You have to know if you're actually in ketosis. People can do it at different carb amounts.

Societal pressures can be challenging but it's really not that bad. We ate out quite a bit because of birthdays and such. If you're at a nice restaurant, get a steak and a low-carb vegetable. At Ruth's Chris we did Tomahawk steak with mushrooms. Drink club soda with lime or lemon. Chipotle is a good meal. Chicken steak, guac, cheese, salsa (check their site)

Wingstop was also goto for us. They have quite a few sauces that have no carbs. Eating out is planning. Check the menu; if it's not a chain, you might have to call. We did that a few times. Ask if they put sugar in certain things. Burger with bacon and cheese no bun is also an option. You have to be careful with chicken dishes because they might put a sauce on it.

Remember, it's low-carb, not no-carb, so if you accidentally eat a few pieces of bacon with sugar in it, it's not the end of the world. It's probably not going to be enough to kick you out.

Many restaurants don’t have great options though. I find it really easy to do keto when I only eat at home but if I have to travel I fail almost instantly.

That's the optimization problem. I find one can't always have it all. Sometimes health means have a less than delicious meal or skipping a restaurant.

When I'm on my deathbed, I'm far more likely to regret the things that I did eat opposed to the ones I didn't

I actually think this is an important part of cultivating healthy relationships with food. I needed to stop thinking about boring meals as missed opportunities for consumption.

I mean, there aren't great choices at Sonic, but it's not too hard to find a burger at most restaurants, and a steak at the ones that don't (and just don't eat the bun).

A diner breakfast of eggs and bacon or sausage will do as well. Just don't eat the starches.

I'm much less strict now than I was, because I am comfortable going into ketosis and losing a few pounds if my clothes start getting tight. But in the beginning, I aimed for 10 g of carbs, assuming that due to wrong estimates and "hidden carbs" (anything with less than 0.5 g per serving can be listed as 0 carbs) I'd still likely be under 20 and definitely under 40.

Some would say that's not a varied diet. I would argue that eating a different dessert at every meal isn't all that much variation except in taste - which is not to be laughed at, but I've always been the kind of person who would rather have more steak or hollandaise than a dessert. Poached eggs on ham, covered in hollandaise, is not exactly an ascetic diet.

Yeah, travel would be really hard. We didn't go anywhere more than a night when we were on. You would have to pack food to do it successfully, but yea keto is best when you're fixing most of your food.

I have done over a year of keto on two separate occasions and found it VERY easy to maintain. I contribute this to a high level of satiety while consuming foods high in healthy fats and protein. I rarely had cravings. My go-to fat is coconut oil which I put in my morning coffee and can add to just about any cooking and soups (coming up on soup season so bone broth and coconut oil is my go to). Just about anywhere you go out to eat you can find something that is keto-friendly. Anecdotally, during both of these stints I did not need to take my long term asthma medication and my frequency of use for my emergency inhaler was considerably lower.

I heard about keto diet and tried severely limiting sugar and other carbs intake. I instantly felt better and lost 6kg in two months. Sticking to the new diet was pretty easy. Now after 6 months I have constant headache, painkillers don't work, constantly tired and no further weight loss whatsoever. Every test was ok, sugar perfect, just insulin in upper bound of range. Limiting sugar is not panacea. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

No, I do not. My father was a diabetic who did not take good care of himself. He died quite young, so I have a negative model that I'm trying to avoid.

Same. Except then I subsequently found that I actually had adult-onset Type 1 diabetes. But I was still in the "honeymoon" phase, so my pancreas was producing enough insulin to get by still.

I stayed on this for seven years until I finally had to go on insulin.