I've been doing keto/carnivore for several years, but over the last 2-3 years I've struggled with stubborn belly fat that crept back and I couldn't consistently drop it.
I jokingly blamed my fiancée at first: since we met, I've eaten out more often, joined social gatherings with carby food, and tried her new dishes. (But to be honest, if I give in to cheat days more readily and frequently, it's not on her, it's my responsiblity to stick to my plan.)
For a while I suspected the occasional chocolate bars I eat here and there. Those definitely didn't help. To fight back, I devised a plan to track my pure carnivore days using Google Calendar and "scoring" my streaks. It definitely made some improvement: seeing the streak made me far less likely to cave late in the day. Office days and jujitsu days were still risky for cheats, but the system kept them mostly under control.
Our company organized a running race last year, so I signed up early and used it as motivation. I went zero-cheat carnivore for ~3 months leading up to it. My belt got noticeably looser—I had to tighten it two degrees—but my stomach still wasn't as flat as in 2018 when I first started keto (and wasn't training as hard as now).
I added targeted core work to my routine, but the results were inconsistent: some days looked promising, others not so much.
Then I realized the likely culprit: the electrolyte tablets I've been taking for years. When I first checked, I saw some mg of sugar and thought, "Eh, milligrams, no big deal." Wrong! It was in fact12,000 mg, which is equal to 12 g and what's more, that was the sugar content of 3 tablets — not the sugar content in 100g or the content for the whole package. On pure carnivore (where I thrive best), even that was too much. With multiple jiujitsu sessions a day, I'd easily take more than 3, especially in summers.
The gain was so gradual I didn't connect the dots right away. Don't be too hard on me. I'm living abroad, where I skimmed the foreign-language packaging and got tripped up by the "mg." (Yeah, I should have known better.)
After trying everything else to reclaim my "superman" days, I finally addressed this last suspect. A couple of days ago I ordered plain, no-sugar electrolyte capsules. I'll take them only when absolutely necessary. I try to just stick with the good salt I've recently gotten hold of from a nearby steakhouse, but 1-3 capsules per day might be still needed.
I started the experiment on March 19 (2 days ago). From day 1, sharper focus, longer-lasting satiety, and better sleep came back in — something I experienced in my "superman" days. I suspect those old tablets were kicking me out of ketosis regularly. The trial isn't over, but these early signs feel like I've finally found the fix.
Here's a current pic: belly still protruding (90 cm circumference = 35.4 inches). I'm optimistic about reaching a visible six-pack now that this mistake is fixed. That's why I'm posting now. Let's see how it goes.
