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We live in a world where people continuously jump from diet to diet looking for the perfect diet plan. The web is filled with countless articles, products, apps, supplements, and weight loss diet plans. Yet, Americans are sicker than ever. Headlines often claim that you should “Follow This Diet To Lose Weight” and the latest trend is towards keto. While it’s true that many have found weight loss success by adopting a keto diet, it’s also left others wondering if they have to perfectly follow this diet to lose weight.
Whenever I answer this question I always reflect on our Paleolithic ancestors and what they would have done. They didn’t have calorie and fitness trackers, nor did they know what a macro was, they just ate. The difference is that they ate real food their entire life so they weren’t burdened by insulin resistance, food addiction caused by chemical additives, and gut health issues. I’m also willing to bet the farm that if they came across a berry patch in the summer they ate as much as they wanted. The difference in the modern world is that we’re able to buy fruit year-round and we add sweeteners to nearly everything.
Follow This Diet To Lose Weight
I’ve written countless times about weight loss. While keto does work for weight loss does this mean that you have to perfectly follow the diet plan every meal for the rest of your life? No.
For decades people have been failed by diet culture mostly because traditional diets simply don’t work long term. Weight loss is hormonal, your body isn’t a bank, it’s a chemistry experiment. Your body will do very different things with broccoli, steak, and cake so assuming all calories are the same is simply false. The calories in, calories out model has set a number of people to expect their diet to fail at some point. With this fear comes a wide range of psychological associations to the keto diet, that are actually based on the calorie counting approach.
It’s as if people no longer know how to eat intuitively. They search for the perfect diet plan, typically a weight loss diet plan, and if the scale doesn’t behave how they think it should they give up or switch to the next diet plan that’s promising weight loss. Weight is such a poor indicator of health yet it’s what everyone chases. Read this post on why I’ve Never Owned A Scale.
How Often Do You Have To Eat Keto?
How often you eat keto foods depends on a number of variables. First and foremost what is your goal? Why do you want to follow the keto diet? What kind of health changes are you looking for and are you giving yourself a set timeline? What happens if you don’t follow keto? What happens if you finally have the health you’ve always wanted? Does the rest of your lifestyle fit into your keto diet attempts, or do you expect, like other diets, keto won’t work for you?
As I said, there are a lot of questions and factors. First, I never tell anyone to jump straight into a keto diet, rather I recommend a gradual transition. Most people will experience carb flu when they go paleo and jumping straight into keto only makes it worse. If you’re taking prescriptions or supplements I can’t stress enough the importance of making a gradual switch. Your prescription doses are likely going to change and you must work with a physician who will work with you to adjust those.
Many find that keto is the perfect weight loss plan for them. Does this mean that they’ll never eat dessert or enjoy mashed potatoes again? For some, it does. When you’ve been low carb for a number of months and you indulge in a carb rich food you’re likely going to feel it. How intensely you feel it is what usually determines how close a person sticks to keto. Also, there’s nothing that says you have to eat the whole piece of cheesecake. Maybe limit yourself to a few bites and call it good?
The line is different for everyone. Over the years I’ve learned that sugar, grains, chocolate, and white potatoes make my joints hurt. Does that mean I no longer eat dessert? Nope. When I make desserts at home, on a rare occasion, I try to let the fruit add sweetness and I only add extra sweetener (using honey or maple syrup) if it happens to be extra bitter fruit. Chocolate is pretty easy for me to avoid because it gives me some of the worst joint pain. If I’m going to have chocolate it has to be worth it. I’m not going to set myself up for joint pain with chocolate I could buy at a gas station. It has to be something decadent. With time you learn where the line is for you. The biggest thing to be aware of is treats sabotaging your keto efforts. This is why I don’t like keto desserts and treats, you want to make a healthy lifestyle change but you’re leaving one foot in the past, in the doorway of old habits. It’s easier to step backwards when that door is open.
How Perfectly Do You Have To Follow Keto?
First I want you to be aware that striving for perfection in every bite is akin to an eating disorder. At the same time if you’re following keto as part of a weight-loss diet plan you’re going to want to eat keto as often as you can. People typically expect weight loss to continuously happen and that simply isn’t the case. Weight loss may happen for a period of time and then stall, it’s normal. Reflect on gaining weight, it wasn’t a steady daily increase so don’t expect the same with weight loss.
If you’re following a clean keto diet plan 90% of the time the odds are good that weight loss success is headed your way. I say the odds are good because stress, sleep, lifestyle, and fitness add an extra level to how well your body is burning fat. Following keto can get you a long way but it’s not the only factor. A clean keto diet plan is super important. Measuring macros simply isn’t enough. For example, many people include vegetable oil in a dirty keto diet. However, vegetable oil (corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower) not only prevents your body from burning fat, but it’s also now suspected a huge contributor to insulin resistance.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as linoleic acid, as found in vegetable oils may contribute to obesity.
Good Fats versus Bad Fats: A Comparison of Fatty Acids in the Promotion of Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Obesity
Results confirm previous reports that omega-6 PUFAs are associated with hyperinsulinemia. Findings suggest omega-6 PUFAs are more likely markers of hyperinsulinemia.
Associations between omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, hyperinsulinemia and incident diabetes by race/ethnicity: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
A quick scroll through Pinterest for keto recipes shows countless posts with links to mug cakes and oh so much cheese… I hate to be the bearer of bad news but a diet of mug cakes and bricks of cheese isn’t going to work for anyone. If you want to follow this diet to lose weight it’s important to eat clean keto food. The perfect diet plan for anyone is made up of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and limited fruit.
Learning How To Cook Eat Keto
The biggest hurdle for most people is simply learning how to cook keto food. Heck, most of us have grown up with pre-packaged food making up the bulk of our diet. It’s what we watched our busy parents make each night for dinner. While there are some packaged foods that are suitable for a clean keto diet there, unfortunately, aren’t many.
A perfect example is the keto bread they sell at Costco. If you flip it over and read the ingredients it’s made with wheat. They’ve simply added a bunch of fiber to try to offset the carbohydrate content. When you subtract fiber from total carbohydrates that gives you net carbs, i.e. a potential dirty keto situation. Considering that wheat bread has a higher glycemic index than a Snickers bar I’m going to go on record and say it’s definitely not keto.
The general rule of thumb for a clean keto plate is a palm-sized portion of protein, lots of vegetables that grow above the ground, and healthy fat on everything. If you follow this diet to lose weight you may have to play with the amount of fat you add. A key to any weight loss diet plan: If you want your body to burn body fat you have to give it the space to use stored body fat for fuel rather than dietary fat. I use the Cronometer app whenever I want to check up on my nutrition. You can change the macro settings to suit your personal needs, but the #1 reason I love it is the nutrition breakdown. The perfect diet plan should give you optimal nutrition. Your body needs nutrients to function and Cronometer tells you what your intake was for the week. Most people don’t hit every nutrient every day, what’s the average look like? Also, be mindful that what you eat and what your body absorbs isn’t likely to be exactly the same. The best way to make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need is with a blood test from your doctor. They can let you know where you have nutrient deficiencies.
If you need more help in the kitchen check out my meal prep ideas and portable low carb lunches. For those who are really lost check out my friends at Real Plans. They make meal prep and planning simple and they offer plans for every diet including the keto diet. I don’t know of an easier way to dial in the perfect diet plan designed specifically for you. This is how it works:
With their plan they’ll give you a shopping list for your recipes and they’ll tell you exactly how much to buy. When you only buy what you need you’re not likely going to find rotting produce in your refrigerator. This is not only better for the environment, it’s better for your wallet. They also give you a timeline so you don’t forget to pull the chicken out of the freezer or put it in the marinade. You can customize your plan to suit your family size, special dietary restrictions, and you can even change it if you’re having guests over for dinner. It’s really the best tool I have to offer to help you eat clean keto that works for you.
Originally posted on April 2, 2021 @ 10:13
