Thanks Diesel, really interesting info.
As for the keto diet, I've struggled with the same issues. I really think there need to be more studies on long term keto, because I don't experience any of the typical symptoms anymore. Bad breath, craving dreams, fogginess, low energy, all gone and have been gone for a long time. If anything I experience the opposite of all those. My blood sugar also continues to rise (eating near zero carbs and low protein) which goes against everything sane! Research has just starting coming out saying this is normal and healthy? There's mentions of different phases of insulin secretion and how your body over time has a harder time removing blood glucose.
I will say this, while I have noticed exceptional weight-loss on keto, it only seems to work to a point. Maybe as your body adapts and those symptoms go away, so does the great weight-loss? That's not to say being fully keto adapted isn't healthy, I tend to think it is. One magic number that's a predictor for overall health is your V02 max. Some people, no matter how hard they train, just can't raise this number. While training on keto my V02 skyrockets and continues to go up like there's no limit. Could be I'm just a good responder, but I really think the keto is key. Compared to when I was overweight and out of shape, my blood pressure is now low, my resting heart rate is athlete low, and palpitations I was starting to get have gone away. These things could just be from being healthier, but again I think the keto is a huge part of the formula.
Anyways, to keep this from trailing on; after that 3-6 month mark on keto I had to start carb-load cycling on the weekends to get results. It seems to help a lot, but it's also very easy to overdo. You might want to consider careful carb cycling. In my experience you won't get as much of an aerobic benefit as being fully keto adapted, but it seems to help if you're not responding to weight-loss as well. One thing I noticed for you is while your diet above is pretty damn on target, there are new studies saying to avoid fats, even on keto, with a high ratio of polyunsaturated fats for fat loss. They haven't been deemed unhealthy per se, but researching is pointing to polyunsaturated fats like soybean oil seems to trigger fat gain. Mayo for example, is very heavy on soybean so you might want to reconsider some of the fats you're taking and move towards foods with more saturated and monounsaturated fats. They're not sure which is better, right now the recommendation is for foods with 50/50 mix like butter as an example.
Wish I had all the answers, I've been stuck at my current weight too long. Introduced HIIT into my workouts and the weight seems to be falling again. Was nearly impossible to hold onto the strength gains I made once I started keto, and once I started losing weight. The carb cycling helped a bit. Hope that helps.
). Do I have to spread them out into 2 or 3 meals?