Lazy keto. It’s a term that conjures up idea of shrugged off workouts in favor of kicking back on the coach and eating handfuls of beef jerky instead of chips. This is not lazy keto. This lazy keto version of the keto diet plan is designed out of necessity because people are busy and need something easy to follow. Under the classical keto approach, you’d tally your calories, carbs, fat and protein to reach a carefully curated state of ketosis that burns stored fat as fuel. How can you make that easier? Just get folk to tally their carbs, they’re after all the enemy, right? Well, not quite. It’s wise to adopt a balanced approach because nobody ever followed, and enjoyed, the Atkins Diet long term.
What is lazy keto?
You simply must restrict your carb intake so that it sits at around 5-10% of your total calories. Simple stuff. You don’t have to worry about fat, protein, or calories. Who really has time to calculate all that stuff unless you’re a professional athlete? Nobody. That’s who. Just erase the thought of carbs from your memory and mouth. It’s an easy solution.
The downside?
You’re not tracking anything, so you don’t know if you’re ketosis which has a world of benefits to offer your mind, body and health. You’ll probably suffer a little sooner with the keto flu, but that’s no big deal and you can easily add some carbs. What this form of eating may still lack is an understanding of what calories and macro nutrients have to offer the shape and health of your body. Calories and their quality are very impactful on your health so if you’re getting them from poor sources then your health is likely to suffer. In other words, you’re unlikely to win over any nutritionist or dietician with this form of eating. Why is this such a thing? Well, if you stop eating fruits and most vegetables because they have carbs then you’re likely to be very deficient in all the nutrients you need to thrive. The quality of foods is possibly more important the quantity and balance of macro nutrients you decide to eat.
The upside?
Without having to calculate things, you just banish one macro nutrient. One simplistic step. It makes it very easy to track and stick to because once you stop eating foods that become very easy to overeat (ahem, that’s you, pastries) then it’s one way traffic to success. When things are simple you are more likely to stick to this plan. It’s never wise to just jump into a plan like this because it can be a little difficult to maintain. That said, low carb diets have been studied for years and are unquestionably a very powerful weight loss ally.
Sending your body into ketosis is unquestionably a smarter and more researched option that giving an entire class of macro nutrients the cold shoulder. Carbs shouldn’t be exiled but if you must send them packing, it could be a good jump off point for achieving the body you’ve always wanted.