If you want to hop on the bandwagon and follow a keto diet, but you are worried about the strict tracking of macronutrients and you don’t have much time to prepare keto meals, the fraternity of lazy keto dieters has got your back!
Lazy keto came to life with the aim of providing a more flexible version of the classic keto diet. It is far less strict and more effective for maintaining weight loss over the long run.
In this article, you will learn about the lazy keto diet, its benefits, and its drawbacks. You will also be introduced to the dirty keto diet.
Rest assured that these diet variations will help you make healthier lifestyle choices.
What is Keto Diet?
The classic low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet allows for 5 to 10% of your total macronutrients to come from carbohydrates, 15% to 20% from protein, and 60% to 75% from fat. Therefore, it requires very precise tracking of your intake of calories, carbs, fat, and protein to to induce a metabolic state called ketosis, which involves burning fat for energy rather than carbs or glucose.
To make things simple, the keto diet does not allow eating processed foods and trans fats as they are high in carbohydrates; thus, you are required to make a major lifestyle change.
Why should you Consume Fats on a Keto Diet?
When following any type of low-carb or very low-carb diet, it’s important to make sure you’re consuming enough healthy fats, as they provide energy and essential fatty acids needed for proper bodily function. Healthy sources of fat include olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, and grass-fed butter. These should be used liberally when preparing meals.
What is Lazy Keto Diet?
The lazy keto diet is a simplified version of the original keto diet; it focuses on net carbohydrate intake only instead of also tracking the grams of fat, protein, and carbs. The lazy keto diet’s objective, like the classic keto diet’s, is to keep your daily net carb consumption to 20–50 grams.
What is Dirty Keto Diet?
The macronutrient breakdown of the dirty keto diet is the same as that of the original keto diet, which still calls for adhering to 20–50 grams of net carbs per day. However, as long as your diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, it doesn’t matter what kind of food you consume. You could easily get the majority of your food from fast food chains or other convenient choices.
How to Manage Carb Intake with a Lazy Keto Diet?
The aim of lazy keto is to keep your net carbohydrate intake below 20–50 grams per day. Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the amount of fiber from the total carbohydrates in a food item. For example, if you eat one cup of broccoli (6g carbs and 2g fiber), your net carb count would be 4g. To reach this goal, focus on eating whole, unprocessed foods such as leafy greens and ground lower-carb fruits and vegetables like pumpkin or berries, along with healthy proteins and fats.
Lazy Keto Food List
Some examples of low-carb foods you can enjoy on lazy keto include:
• Leafy greens like spinach, kale and arugula
• Vegetables such as zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts
• Lower carb fruits like berries, avocado and pumpkin
• Healthy proteins such as grass fed beef, fish and eggs
• Nuts and seeds such as almonds, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseed
• Oils such as coconut oil and olive oil.
It is important to note that processed foods, breads, pastas and sugary snacks should be avoided.
Benefits of the Lazy Keto Diet
The main benefit of lazy keto is that it offers an easy way to lose weight without having to count calories or macros every single day. As with other low-carb diets, lazy keto helps to reduce blood sugar and insulin levels, resulting in a decrease in fat storage and an increase in fat burning. Additionally, reducing carbohydrate intake can help you manage food cravings and hunger more effectively compared to traditional diets that require calorie restriction.
Drawbacks of the Lazy Keto Diet
You may not Enter Ketosis
On a lazy keto diet, you may consume too much protein, which may hinder ketosis. This is due to a process known as gluconeogenesis, which allows your body to transform protein into the nutrient glucose.
Deficiency of Essential Nutrients
Unfortunately, lazy keto restricts a lot of nutrient-rich food categories like fruits, starchy veggies, grains, and legumes, just like the conventional keto diet does. Consequently, getting important vitamins, minerals, and fiber might be challenging.
The Bottom Line
Lazy Keto is a type of low-carb diet that focuses on keeping net carbohydrate intake below 20–50 grams per day while allowing some flexibility with food choices and portions. This makes the diet easier to stick with as compared to the traditional keto diet, which requires counting calories and macros. When done properly, lazy keto can be an effective tool for weight loss and improved overall health.
