I've done keto a couple of times, with massive weight loss each time. The last time was 30kg in 6 months.
The first time, I tried close to 0g carb as a goal. The second time, I was a bit more relaxed about it, had some yogurt (still very slow carbs, but some), peanuts (again, low but still some), olives, more veg than before. I was still comfortably under 50g-100g per day though, and lost more.
But in each case, I never really had "keto flu" which everybody seems to complain about. I did get strongish hints from my body that I needed some carbs, which is normal at first as your body is used to having a ready supply of carbs, but this phase only lasts about a week. Rather than going cold turkey, I'd just have a SMALL amount of carbs, e.g. half a small chocolate bar, or whatever. Enough for my body to get the immediate "give me carbs now" that it neeeded, but not enough that I got a big insulin spike and disrupted the transition into keto.
After about a week or so, the body doesn't really need carbs any more at all, although every now and then I'd set a sudden craving for something sweet. I found it worked best just to give in and have a small amount rather than going fully cold turkey on carbs. Probably it wasn't even carbs my body needed, but rather something else that my body associated with carby foods. For instance, I had to consciously increase my salt intake when eating primarily just meat, as I realised I wasn't getting enough, but it's so ubiquitous in processed carby foods that you don't realise how important it is.
Keto flu for me is really hard to cope with. Even a walk on flat terrain feels too much and I feel miserable for the few days it lasts (usually 4/5). But still I lack explosive energy even when I am fully keto adapted which is a problem because I really like Bouldering. That's why I stay more on the intermittent fasting and less strict about keto.
Finally, you are correct that increasing salt helps, but just barely for me.
The first time, I tried close to 0g carb as a goal. The second time, I was a bit more relaxed about it, had some yogurt (still very slow carbs, but some), peanuts (again, low but still some), olives, more veg than before. I was still comfortably under 50g-100g per day though, and lost more.
But in each case, I never really had "keto flu" which everybody seems to complain about. I did get strongish hints from my body that I needed some carbs, which is normal at first as your body is used to having a ready supply of carbs, but this phase only lasts about a week. Rather than going cold turkey, I'd just have a SMALL amount of carbs, e.g. half a small chocolate bar, or whatever. Enough for my body to get the immediate "give me carbs now" that it neeeded, but not enough that I got a big insulin spike and disrupted the transition into keto.
After about a week or so, the body doesn't really need carbs any more at all, although every now and then I'd set a sudden craving for something sweet. I found it worked best just to give in and have a small amount rather than going fully cold turkey on carbs. Probably it wasn't even carbs my body needed, but rather something else that my body associated with carby foods. For instance, I had to consciously increase my salt intake when eating primarily just meat, as I realised I wasn't getting enough, but it's so ubiquitous in processed carby foods that you don't realise how important it is.