I lost my weight over a decade ago, before "keto" was a buzzword. I've become less strict, because I know that if my weight starts going up, I don't have a problem going very-low-carb to drop it again. It's still calories in, calories out, at the end of the day - but for me, it's a very sustainable diet. I like cookies, but if you offered me the choice between a sweet dessert and another steak, I would have taken the steak even when I was a junk-guzzling fatty.

I never asked anyone to do any special stuff for me after the first few weeks. Someone serves you pasta alfredo? Eat it; one meal isn't the end of the world. Unless your social schedule is very different from most, you're not going to eat at someone else's house more than once a week, and restaurants (at least in the US) can be counted on to have a chicken Caesar salad if nothing else.