Lazy keto strategies?

#1

So been here for about ten weeks, feeling pretty good, and things are going well. No complaints, think I am here to stay. Stuck to the rules, tracked everything in MFP, staying under 20g carbs a day, my macros look ok. I IF about 16:8 for 4-5 days out of 7, even do the odd 24 hr IF a couple of times. So far I’ve lost about 12 kgs, with about another 14 to go. I have also lost about 13 cms from my waist.

Now that I’ve got a handle on what a day of eating looks like for me, I have been free wheeling for about two weeks, but thought I had better track every now and again to watch any carb creep. So plugged in some numbers today and all is well!

My plan is to continue on as I am, and maybe weigh in once a week, measure one a week, and randomly pick a day to track my intake, just to keep me honest. BUT, I am wondering if anyone else has had experiences with doing Lazy keto this way?
Have you got a better method? Or does this seem like an ok plan? Am I experiencing a false sense of security?

I’m keen to hear if this way disaster lurks!

(Alec) #2

Seems ok to me.

I do extremely lazy keto, in fact I have never measured macros. It is clear to me what has carbs in it and what doesn’t (I was and am a pretty experienced dieter: a completely failed one, but experienced all the same!), and I make sure that anything with carbs in it is kept low. The oniy carby stuff I have lots of is salad and non-starchy veg. I may go over the 20g some days, but when I run an average of 5-6k a day, those carbs soon get burnt off.

I am finding it truly amazing to just eat and eat and eat, and I either lose weight or maintain. For the first time ever in my dieting life, I am not hungry, and yet it is working. How good is that?? :upside_down_face::upside_down_face:

#3

That is my main benefit too Alec- not being hungry. If I am hungry I eat. If I am not hungry I don’t eat. I still find that kind of miraculous.

I eat other carbs- incidental in dairy, the odd piece of 90% chocolate (ok, I eat a square of dark chocolate every day), some nuts (macadamias and walnuts, the odd spoon of natural peanut butter).

But so far I am making this work.

(Alec) #4

The one thing I do think is important is keeping regular weighing and/or measuring. If things are going north, you need to know that things are not going right, and you need to change it up. This is the only non-lazy bit of my regime.

(charlie3) #5

I’m constrained by long work hours and a long commute. I do 16:8 Monday through Friday, eat nothing on Saturday then breakfast and early dinner on Sunday. Since I never snack that adds up t 12 meals a week. Lunch is hb eggs, cheese, meat, and nuts. I prep all 5 of those on Sunday. Dinner is almost always a large dinner salad with avecado, meat, and olive oil. I cut the greens for two salads at a time so I only have to prep dinner three times a week. 8 of my 12 meals are preped on Sunday.

I track meticulously with cronometer every day, food and activity. For maintenance I eat 300 extra calories 6 days a week then zero them out with no eating on Saturday. I feel hunger for a couple of hours in the morning on week days and often little or no hunger on Saturday.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #6

I see a lot of people here that have great success with lazy Keto. If you hit a stall, maybe go back to tracking just to see what you could tweek, but beyond that, if it’s working for you, go with it.

I am a tracker. It’s just who I am. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do lazy Keto, but unless Keto brings me great zen abilities, I doubt it.

(charlie3) #7

I think if you strictly follow Dr. Westman’s page 4 then may be tracking is never needed but I bet the only people who do that are his patients. I also think page 4 is a theraputic diet, not realistic for life long eating. The way I do weight maiintenance is to eat 300 calories too many each day for the pleasure of it then zero that out with a 36 hour fast every Saturday. This works beautifully for me after 11 consecutives Saturdays. I couldn’t do it without tracking.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #8

I tend to eat too little unless I track. When I get to my last meal for the day, I can assess where I’m at. If I’m too low, I up my fat and take away a veggie, which allows me to increase calories without adding bulk to the meal. If it looks like I’m eating enough, I will keep the veggies and still have fat, but maybe not as much.

But ultimately it isn’t to restrict calories but to make sure I get a good amount of calories before my satiety signals kick in.

(Lorraine) #9

Yep. Lazy Ketoer here, too. I tend to keep to the basics and have calculated macros on some of my favorite meals. I also skip a morning meal, have macadamia nuts in my desk at work and will many times only eat one, large meal in a day. This saves most of my carbs for that meal and it’s pretty easy to stay within 20 carbs when I do that.

I have been doing it this way for nine months and have lost 74 lbs, so it’s working for me.

(back and doublin' down) #10

Starting my 12th week and the next couple of weeks are going to be full of activities and travel that makes tracking more difficult.

So, I’m metaphorically throwing out the tracking app (I use Carb Manager), the scale (only weigh once a week anyway) and eating as I’ve been eating for the past 11 weeks. IF is most days cause I skip breakfast and do BPC. Plan to eat when I’m hungry, and see what happens if I treat this as a real WOE and not some strict measured diet. I’ve lost 34#s so far, have about 70 or more left to lose.

#11

I’m only 3 weeks in but find I will be a lazy (or should it be called efficient :grinning:) one too. However, today I just happened to put hibiscus tea into MFP and was shocked to see it has 9 carbs per 8 oz. It has a little protein but not enough to matter. So, I will definitely be checking every little thing I eat and drink!!

(Terence Dean) #12

11 weeks here, I’d say I probably fit the lazy Keto category perhaps not purist compared to others but I’m getting it done with 17kgs lost so far. My wife weighs herself every 3-4 days but doesn’t have as much to lose as I do. I need to track my progress via the scale daily to make sure that I stay on track. In the past as soon as I stop tracking the weight comes back. I’m not that bothered if the scale goes up some days, so long as the trend is going down for the week I know everything is good. The big challenge which I’m looking forward to is maintenance; uncharted territory for me.

(back and doublin' down) #13

This makes me wonder. Maybe if I’m not tracking and weighing and measuring, then a scale might be the balance. Will see where I’m at in two weeks after my traveling.