You are busy. The hustle and bustle of your daily life is already overwhelming at times.
You cannot even fathom adding the daunting task of tracking your every bite in an app and restricting your food from a virtual calorie or macro bank.
No thanks.
That level of commitment is for die-hards only (or for people who have a lot of time on their hands).
That said, you have some extra pounds to shed, and you would like to feel better about your reflection in the mirror.
If you had more energy, you could be even more productive than you already are. So, what should you do?
We suggest trying the lazy keto diet!
NUTRAIL — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
A Keto Overview
If you have somehow missed the buzz around this dieting trend, let us fill you in.
(Read: If you have been living under a rock and have somehow avoided every tabloid at the grocery store check-out and countless celebrity testimonials, we are about to fix that.)
The keto (AKA ketogenic) diet prescribes a limited intake of carbohydrates, with most calories coming from fat, and a small to moderate amount coming from protein.
To achieve ketosis, you will need to be very strict about these numbers, ensuring that your caloric intake is comprised of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.
NUTRAIL — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Related:
The Definitive Guide to Tracking Macros on Keto
Normally your body will metabolize glucose for energy.
This is derived from sugars, carbohydrates, and even excess proteins when you consume too many.
When glucose is your main squeeze, your body never taps into its reserve of fat for energy, which means that any extra fat on your body isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
(Le sigh.)
On the other hand, when you limit your carb intake and replace those calories with mostly fat, your metabolism flips a switch and, TADAAAA!
You will enter the golden state of Ketosis. Bye-bye, muffin top! Nice knowing you!
While understanding that with the traditional keto diet, your carb intake will only be 5% (or less) of your total calories, you will need to restrict your carbs to 20g or less… EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Almost all of those will come from vegetables, so you can say goodbye to bread, pasta, potatoes, or legumes. (The only exception to the rule is finding keto-friendly alternatives to those items.
For example, try our NuTrail— Keto Bread Mix. It is delicious!)
Even most fruits have too much sugar to be allowed on this very regimented diet. A small and occasional serving of berries is allowed, but even too many of those will kick you out of ketosis.
NUTRAIL — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Keto is one diet that you just cannot cheat on. If you do, you have to start the process of getting into ketosis all over again, from ground zero.
This can cause a fair amount of discomfort each time. The keto flu is real and waiting for you to slip up.
So, you must prepare to make a lifestyle change and commit for the long haul.
Related:
How to Avoid the Keto Flu
To achieve and stay in ketosis, you will likely also have to practice intermittent fasting.
You will need to get religious about tracking your macros as well, making sure that over 70% of your consumption consists of fats.
Even with a restriction of carbs, you cannot over-consume calories, or you will be kicked out of ketosis.
This means also moderating your caloric intake and/or committing to enough cardio at the gym to burn off any excess.
The good news is that with keto, you will lose weight, but you will retain muscle.
This is ideal if you are athletic and need to maintain your strength. Even so, there are just too many rules for some people to stay in it to win it. Too many carbs?
Out of ketosis. Too many calories? Out of ketosis. Too much protein? You guessed it.
Kicked right on out of ketosis.
Related:
Everything You Need to Know About Intermittent Fasting on Keto
So, what to do if all of this sounds exhausting? What if you don’t want to be so strict, so careful?
What if peeing on a test strip every day to test your ketone level sounds insane or ridiculous?
What if BHB and MCT supplements just aren’t your thing? Enter lazy keto!
What is Lazy Keto?
Does it mean you get to lounge on the couch while consuming bacon and sticks of butter?
Absolutely not. Who even ARE you?!
You can think of the lazy keto diet as the more relaxed version of the standard keto diet.
It doesn’t actually make you lazy when you loosen up the rules a bit.
It merely means that you will not be obsessively entering your food intake into macro and calorie-tracking apps.
You can ease up a bit on the intermittent fasting.
(Perhaps avoiding food while sleeping at night is enough.)
We promote a healthy lifestyle, so if you like to go to the gym or participate in sports or other athletic pastimes, we support that, but it isn’t mandatory to execute the lazy keto diet.
All you need to do is simply focus on your carb intake.
Forget about everything else (i.e., the calories, the macros, and the hours without eating), and aim to keep your carbs at 20g per day or less.
As we mentioned earlier, these will likely be sourced from vegetables. While they are essential for getting enough minerals and nutrients, veggies have a somewhat sneaky amount of carbohydrates.
If you are eating plenty of them in a day, you really won’t have any room for other sources of carbs. Some vegetables are a no-no entirely.
Carrots, for example, are mostly carbs. Potatoes, beans, and legumes are totally off the table as well.
Long story short, just like festivals, clubbing, and high fives, carbs are canceled in 2020.
Because there are many variables when you don’t control the other facets of your dieting, you may never actually achieve ketosis when doing it the lazy way.
That doesn’t mean that you are not going to lose weight or see results and benefits. It may mean, however, that your progress will happen at a slower rate.
NUTRAIL — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
If lazy keto is more sustainable for you long-term, it definitely trumps any kind of crash-dieting, including standard keto.
Healthy habits and complete lifestyle changes are so much more effective overall than something that you do for a hot minute and then abandon.
So, perhaps instead of calling it, “The Lazy Keto Diet,” we should call it, “Long Term Relationship Keto.”
While the traditional version may be sustainable for some (Hello, Type A readers. We see you), it may end up being more like the “One Night Stand” edition for most.
If you do not appreciate the “in it for a good time, not a long time” sentiment, then lazy keto may be your marriage-material solution!
You have likely heard the saying that abs are made in the kitchen.
You can do crunches and sit-ups all day long, but isolating and focusing on one muscle group won’t typically yield visible results, especially if you are not careful about what you are eating.
You have to treat your health and wellness as a package deal. Thankfully, with the lazy keto diet, you don’t have to feel deprived or hyper-focused on numbers.
Because it is gaining popularity and attention, many excellent keto products are emerging in the specialty foods market space.
Many of these products mimic carb-heavy favorites but do not add to your 20g allowance for the day. Nut flours (specifically almond flour) can replace wheat flour in many easy keto recipes so that you don’t have to choose between a trim waistline or enjoying your food.
For example, you can enjoy NuTrail— Keto Cheddar Biscuits with many of your favorite easy keto meals. They would be the perfect complement for a delicious bowl of meaty chili (sans the carby beans, of course).
While it may take longer to achieve your weight loss goals, Lazy Keto is highly effective and much easier to commit to long term than other diets.
Like any other significant lifestyle change, once you are in the swing of it, you won’t even remember what life was like before.
Habit-forming routines are critical to long term success.
NuTrail — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
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