Lazy Keto Anyone?

(anonymous65) #1

I’ve been keto and logging food for most of this past year. It took me 8 years (only keto this year) to lose 100 pounds and I’d like to work on the last 10-15 pounds over the course of 2017. I also need to learn how to maintain my weight, which I know can be another pitfall.

Besides my weight loss goal, another goal I have is to not log food! This is how I interpret the term lazy keto. I am going to try it for a couple of weeks to see how I do.

Does anyone else do this, and if so, do you have any good tips? I recently saw a video of Dr. Phinney that gave me a good rule of thumb. 1 ounce of protein (including 1 egg) typically has about 6-7g of protein in it. Thus, if I want to shoot for say, 70g of protein daily, I could think of it as taking in 12 ‘units’ of protein daily. So maybe I might have 5 ‘units’ for lunch and 7 ‘units’ for dinner, in addition of course to veggies.

That’s just one tip I’ll try using so I don’t have to log. Any other tips?

(Brian Miller) #2

Sometimes I can get “lazy” on counting exact numbers, logging, etc… but can do well based on general knowledge of the food/foods I’m taking in.

One key for you might be how easily you do or do not make these mathematical associations. Some people can quick glance nutritional info and get an immediate feel for how it fits into the daily intake while I’ve know others to be fully convinced that something looks perfect for Keto consumption but it’s not even close. The fact that you instinctively broke down the proteins into units leads me to believe you should have success with the method. I might suggest the occasional doible check to verify some of your decisions and increase your confidence in estimation abilities.

(anonymous65) #3

Thanks, that’s a good tip. Maybe a weekly ‘check’ of any one given day.

I suppose my scale and fasting glucose will also give me a heads up as well. I’m not diabetic but I’ve found taking my morning blood sugar to be a good motivator in addition to the scale.

(Larry Lustig) #4

This is the only form of keto I’ve ever done. I didn’t get through even a single day of tracking with MFP since I don’t have a kitchen scale to weigh out, for instance, exactly how much tomato I put in a salad. I don’t call it Lazy Keto, though, I call it Simple Keto, the idea being that the essence of ketogenic eating is replacing carbohydrates in your diet with fat and that everything else (from a ketogenic point of view) is noise.

I wrote a post about it here:

I have to say that I had just tipped into pre-diabetes when I went keto, so I did not have some of the health problems that others have. However, I was very successful with #simpleketo and accomplished my weight loss goals. Oddly enough, I think I may end up doing the opposite of what you’re doing – finding it’s more necessary to track my food when I’m on maintenance and perhaps run the danges of becoming less vigilant about sneaky carbs.

(anonymous65) #5

Larry, I saw your earlier post and loved it! It’s right along the lines of what I’ve been thinking. However, I learned early on that it was really easy to overeat protein. Logging taught me a lot and I continue to learn.

(Larry Lustig) #6

It’s true that my #simpleketo formulation ignores proteins – or, rather, it assumes that you’re already eating “about” the right amount of protein before keto. I know protein levels are something that people feel passionately about but I think it’s important to note that (1) even the most passionate recognize that protein levels are less important than eliminating carbohydrates, (2) there is no agreement from the relevant experts on general guidelines for protein levels, (3) it makes a great deal of sense that protein guidelines might vary considerably depending on your weight and medical profiles, and (3) it could easily be one of those things that is very individual sensitive.

I don’t really know about my own situation with protein since I neither track macros nor measure blood sugar, but I do know that if I eat a large, protein heavy meal (eg, a large steak) that it produces in me an effect very similar to what a large plate of rice used to produce.

(jketoscribe) #7

After eight years you surely know what foods you can eat without raising blood glucose. Dr Andreas Enefeldt (dietdoctor.com) doesn’t recommend counting and tracking, simply eating low carb, healthful foods. That’s a great way to live your life.

It does sound like you need to limit protein, but you already know what serving sizes work. Seems to me you’ve got this.

The best way to maintain, IMHO, is simply keep on ketoing on. Your body knows what to do and you are not in danger of losing “too much weight”. Maintenance is for dieters who will inevitably slip. This is a way of life. Simply carry on.

And congratulations on losing 100 lbs. WOW!:clap:

(anonymous65) #8

Jan, thank you for the vote of confidence. That makes me feel great.

You’re right, maybe maintenance comes from the dieter’s way of thinking. I agree, this is truly a way of life.

I’d forgotten that Dr. Enefeldt doesn’t recommend counting. Either does my personal hero, Dr. Jason Fung. If I can pull this off, I’ll be so proud of myself!

(anonymous65) #9

Ah yes, the great protein vs. fat controversy. I won’t weigh in on that one, but I agree, that #1 culprit is carbs. I think once someone wants to optimize their weight loss, it’s natural to next look at one of the other two macros.

For me, the ultimate will be to not have to track and go by natural hunger.

(Dennis Herrera) #10

I havent logged my food in a while. After a while i realized i ate the same sort of foods in the same quantities so my macro’s werent really changing. My weight is very stable, i feel good, so i dont sweat it. I have stalled at times, so i then start watching like a hawk until im back in stride.

(Meeping up the Science!) #11

I log what I eat, mostly to monitor and eliminate all distractions and/or sneaky stealth eating. I don’t really care too much about macros, only staying as close to ZC as possible.

split this topic #12

3 posts were split to a new topic: Questions

(Ren) #13

The 1st month I started, I logged everything. This helped me learn what the macros were for for a majority of the foods I eat on a regular basis.

After a month of tracking, I have gotten away from logging everything because I prefer to be able to eat instinctively. It has been about 2 weeks of not tracking. I have continued to lose weight and lose inches. I do plan on every once in a while tracking my food a couple days a week, to ensure that I am staying within my macros for the most part.

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #14

Nothing much to add except congratulations on your weight loss success!
I hope it’s still going well.