Lazy, dirty or strict keto

#1

What is the difference between these and which one is the best to follow? Right now I try to stay under my net carbs and meet my protein and fat intake but my choices aren’t always the healthiest ones. Does that matter?

(Karl) #2

Personally I think those labels muddy the waters. If you get into ketosis and can stay there long enough to get fat adapted, it’s “keto”, and there’s a fantastic chance good stuff will happen. All you need to do this is the ability to count your carb intake daily to 20g/day. No need to make it any more complicated than that for most people.

Edit: And if you run into any of my posts, you’ll probably notice that I do this keto stuff “on the cheap”, which means basically I don’t really care if it’s “real food” versus “cheap processed crap from aldi”. If the macros fit, they fit, and that’s all I care about :slight_smile: My 140lb weight loss happened just the same.

(TJ Borden) #3

Lazy keto probably has a bunch of different interpretations, but GENERALLY, it means you don’t track macros. That’s how I roll. I eat mostly carnivore, so most days the only carbs I’m getting are incidental from eggs and cheese. Since it’s so few, I don’t care about counting anything. I also don’t rally care about tracking protein. Every once in a while I’ll spot check what I’m eating out of curiosity, but it always seems to be about right.

Other than still trying to do it on a budget, I’m pretty much the opposite of @IceNine. Don’t get me wrong, as far as I’m concerned he’s a keto rock star and he’s had AWESOME success with keto. I prefer to stick to Whole Foods (not the store, I can’t afford that). By avoiding processed foods altogether, it makes it even easier to not have to worry about tracking macros, which I HATE doing.

What I love about this forum is it shows there are multiple ways to keto. Lazy vs strict, clean vs dirty; the most important thing is to find what works for you, and if you start down a path and it’s not working, switch it up and try something different.

#4

Great to hear! I started in March and have lost 20lbs and would like to lose 20 more. Hard for me to tell if I am in Ketosis cause I have days where the sweet cravings take over. :yum:

#5

Thanks! I just love to eat and sweets are my weakness.

#6

Doesn’t matter what you call it. If you want permanent results what matters most is what is sustainable over the long term, for you.

If you like sweets permanent elimination of them is probably not sustainable. If you’re a foodie, your new way of eating has to incorporate that, because it’s not likely to change.

There is no one way, it’s about finding your way. And this forum is a great place to get ideas.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

I’ve been eating keto for over a year and still get carb cravings, but I am getting better at postponing acting on them. How I feel after giving in helps a lot!

One thing that makes the cravings easier to deal with is that I am much more sensitive to sweetness than I used to be. Even with keto recipes, I cut way back on the artificial sweetener, and the thing tastes great to me—but sugar-burners complain that it’s not nearly sweet enough, lol!

(Brett Olgin) #8

Your success is inspiring! I am one week into Keto and def enjoy the dirty lol. Do you ever have cheat meals? And if so, at what point did you start?

#9

As a note to good things happening, I have been in Keto for about 6 months now, and the other night out of weakness I got into a bag of potato chips. I thought I messed up bad, but the strips remained dark purple.

#10

I think these ‘dirty’ style labels are just a way for people to score points off each other, so I resist them with all my might. lol.

That may seem a bit extreme, but the moment someone feels the urge to say ‘I’m only lazy keto’ or ‘I Zero Carb, but I use herbs’ then my hackles start to rise.

No need to make excuses, or justify your way of eating EVER.

You in ketosis? Then you are keto.
Doesn’t matter if you eat 5 or 95 g carbs a day. Ketones demonstrate that you are in ketosis, not the grams of carbage.

Same with ZC. You eat animal products and add the odd herb and spice for seasoning? No biggie. It doesn’t make you a lesser human being. Actually, it makes you a human being with zinging taste buds - and thats gotta be a good thing! :rofl:

I tend to say ‘my version of ZC uses herbs and spices and a square of dark choc occasionally’. But I can’t be bothered with the people who then spout things like ‘you know that means you aren’t really…’
Life is too short.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

You know, @Brunneria, you aren’t reallly being a good Internaut when you’re this tolerant! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

(Brian) #12

The longer I eat this way, the less inclined I am to even put a label on how I eat.

If I think someone will actually understand and they ask about my diet, I’ll say “keto”. If I think they won’t, I might say I eat low carb or that I dropped the carbs and sugars.

Most of the time, I really am keto. Sometimes, not all the time, on occasion, I eat things on the naughty list like carrots that aren’t a part of a strict keto diet and I may even get bumped out of ketosis sometimes. Know what? I don’t care. Most of the time I’m keto and that’s good enough for me.

Maybe some would think I’m only part time keto. That’s fine if they want to think that. It really makes no difference to me. I don’t count much of anything. I just have the foods that I generally eat and have an idea of what their nutritional profile looks like. “Lazy”, “dirty”, whatever adjective gets used, doesn’t matter a hoot to me. It’s working just fine for me.

Guess I’m not such a good Internaut, either, aye Paul? LOL!! :smiley:

(Frank) #13

Is there a “Naughty” keto category? :wink:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

If there isn’t, there certainly should be, lol! :bacon:

(Barbara) #15

I am right there with you Brunneria and will add a few more reasons why my hackles start to rise:
-Why does it EVER make sense to SHAME people with negative terms when they are doing something wonderful for their health and for all of us who pay for the skyrocketing burden of metabolic disease?
-Using derogatory terms to exclude people, especially those who are in most need of keto and the least able to afford grass fed/wild caught anything? We all know that obesity and poverty are huge global issues.
-If we would like to look forward to a happier, healthier, economically feasible future, why do we want to make it so freaking complicated that only elitists can benefit?
-Keto has to be doable for everyone that wants it and it needs to be practical for people at any age and any culture to be able to get into ketosis with the foods available in their neighborhoods without making derisive judgements.
-The last thing we need to do is discourage people from even trying or staying keto with arbitrary labels, standards and requirements
-Eric Westman has helped thousands of people with his simple “Page 4” food list approach that some keto cliques would reject as “dirty/lazy”

This forum is the best in the world.
I hope we would support terms that are not discriminatory to anyone who is curious, attempting or following a keto lifestyle. This has to be welcoming, inclusive, supportive, encouraging and respectful if we hope to make a dent in this crisis.

#16

But if we didn’t shame people for not living up to the unrealistic, ableist, and classist standards of Strict Keto, how would the tribalists get their Gold Stars?

(John) #17

I am strict, lazy, and dirty all at the same time!! :smiley:

  • Lazy in that I don’t count macros, grams, calories, anything.
  • Dirty in that I buy whatever chicken, fish, or beef is on sale at the grocery store and don’t pay up for grass-fed, wild-caught versions. Though I will spring for organic most of the time. And some of my salad dressings and mayo may be made from seed oils.
  • Strict in that I don’t try to make keto versions of sweets and treats, but try to stick to meats/poultry/fish, eggs, veggies, salads, dairy, nuts, berries, and I don’t do cheat days.
(Scott) #18

I’ll add one more type that I call “Free Range Keto” I don’t count or measure, eat when hungry and stop when full. Most of my food doesn’t have a label and the foods that do I only look at the carbs. In fact it is rare that I have anything out of a box or can. I aim for <50g so I can drink wine with dinner (half bottle). This probably fits one of the other titles but I made this one up so I use it.

(Davy) #19

I just read the book Dirty, Lazy Keto by the person who lost 140 lbs doing it.
She started out at about 300 lbs and did both Dirty and Lazy Keto. Still made it and lost the 140 lbs.
I’ll have to read it again, but dirty meant she ate pretty much any bacon, which contains nitrates. She also ate Big Macs without the bun. Also any kind of cheap chickens and beef, none of which was grass fed or free range. She also drank a ton of diet sodas. All of these will still get you in ketosis but in the long run, aren’t the best for your health. They don’t contain the best micro nutrients…anything from McD’s isn’t going to be too healthy. Diet drinks have lots of terrible stuff in them, similar to battery acid. All this is from her book. BUT, on occasion, rather than blow the Keto diet, she explains it’s okay to have an occasional Diet Soda or those other things.
So being dirty or lazy, every now and then may be okay; just not as healthy at clean keto.