Will You Lose Weight On A Lazy Keto Diet?

The keto diet is the happening trend in the nutritional industry. Celebrities and sports stars are raving about the benefits of a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) diet for weight loss and for improved energy. 

The basic idea of the diet is quite simple. You get to split your everyday calorie intake as follows.

• 5% carbohydrates
• 20% proteins
• 75% fat

That means for an average adult consumption of 2000 calories a day, you can eat 1500 calories of fat, 400 calories of proteins, and just 100 calories of carbohydrates. 

While the basics are simple, the actual diet involves a lot of minute quantifications of items you eat throughout the day. Every vegetable you eat and every spice you add to your food contribute to your macros. 

Your body also does not remain in ketosis if you do not meet your fat intake for the day. Many people miss making a note of all the foods they eat and end up losing their macros count.

For such people, the ‘lazy keto diet’ is here to help!

What is a lazy keto diet?

The lazy keto diet is an adaptation of the regular keto diet except that instead of having to keep track of your fat, proteins, and carb intake, you just have to worry about one factor - the carbohydrates.

It should be your goal to not eat more than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Apart from that, you can stuff your plate with cheese and butter one day or skip those and opt for lean meat and eggs the other.

How is it different from the Standard Keto Diet (SKD)?

The Standard Keto Diet requires your body to get 3/4th of your calories from fat to make sure the body goes into ketosis mode. You only keep losing weight in this mode.

The lazy keto diet has no such complications.

As long as you are restricting your carbohydrate intake, you do not have to worry much about meeting calorie requirements or satisfying your macros needs.

Will your body get into ketosis in the lazy keto diet?

Usually, the body may not get into ketosis on this diet because you do not measure the amount of fats you consume in a day. 

Here are steps involved for your body to get into ketosis. 

• You cut back on carbohydrates and keep consuming high amounts of fat
• The body starts looking for glucose from the carbohydrates to use for energy
• Failing to find glucose, the liver will produce a chemical called ketone.
• Ketones help convert fat deposits and consumed fat into energy for the body to burn
• The presence of excess ketones in the body is termed ketosis.
• As long as the body is in ketosis, weight loss is rapid.

Now, what happens when your carbohydrate intake is also less but you do not eat enough fat to get into ketosis?

You will still lose weight because your body is deprived of unhealthy sugars and carbohydrates. The body will still be looking to burn fat deposits for energy. 

However, the weight loss will not be as rapid as in an SKD. 

Many people who have almost reached their goal weight or those wanting to have cheat days once in a while and still maintain their weight prefer the more flexible lazy keto over the regular keto diet plan.

How to ensure you stay healthy while on a lazy keto diet?

There are a few problems you may face when you are on a lazy keto diet. These problems are all temporary and you can easily by-pass them with a little planning and logic.

You may be eating lesser calories than your body needs

When you measure your fat, proteins, and carb macros, there is no way you will miss your calorie intake for the day. The fats you consume in a standard diet will take care of your calorie count. 

With the lazy keto diet, however, insufficient calories can be a problem.

After cutting down carbohydrates, if you end up eating fewer fats and proteins for the day, you may be tired and experience fatigue.

Getting lesser calories than what your body needs will drop down your energy levels.

You may get nutrient-deprived

Choosing the ingredients you cook with matters a lot even in this diet.

Just because this is a lazy keto diet, it does not give you the free pass to keep eating the same type of food every day! This might make you nutrient deficient.

That is not what you want. Include variety in your meals.

You will have to take care of the diet quality

Check out for the vegetables and fruits that you can include in your lazy keto diet. Make sure you use all these regularly to make sure the food you eat is healthy and nutritious. 

Just because this diet does not calculate the fat macros, you cannot make unhealthy choices like picking refined oils to fry food or constantly eating fried meat just because they are low in carbs.

Do remember that the quality of food you pick matters more than the macros you consume.  Unhealthy food choices that are low in carbs can still result in inflammation in the body and a variety of diseases.

Initial bouts of hunger

When you are on an SKD, hunger may not be a problem because your plate is filled with fatty foods that promise to keep you full until the next meal. With a lazy keto diet, however, hunger could be a problem to deal with, especially at the beginning of the diet. 

The way to beat this is to consciously add extra fats in your food (even if you do not sit down to precisely calculate the macros) for the first few weeks to help your body get used to the lazy LCHF diet. 

You can sauté your vegetables in clarified butter (ghee) and make tadkas with coconut oil.

If you are eating a salad, chop a few pieces of cottage cheese (paneer) in it to keep you full.

The bottom line

If you are looking for quick and considerable weight loss or if you are obese and the weight loss is going to help with your health conditions, a Standard Keto Diet may work better for you. 

For others who are looking for slow and steady weight loss and cannot be bothered to give their heart and soul into macros calculation, the lazy keto diet is a perfect choice.

Just keep the above basics in mind, combine the diet with healthy eating habits and do not forget to work out at least 2-3 times a week. 

You will fall in love with the lazy keto diet and thanks to its flexibility, this is also easy to convert into a lifestyle habit with time.