What Is a Lazy Keto Diet? Is It Better Than Keto? (2024)

FAQs

What Is a Lazy Keto Diet? Is It Better Than Keto? ›

The lazy keto diet only requires people to restrict their intake of carbohydrates. It is less restrictive in terms of carb intake than the original keto diet and does affect fat and protein consumption.

If you've tried the keto before and found it too tedious, lazy keto could be a good compromise. It's essentially an easier, more relaxed version of the ketogenic diet. Not having to track every aspect of your nutrition will save you time and energy.

Takeaway. The lazy keto diet offers a more flexible and simplified approach to the popular ketogenic diet. It can be an attractive option if you want a sustainable and less rigid eating plan that still promotes weight loss and other potential health benefits. However, it is important to remember that results may vary.

Though both the keto diet and Mediterranean diet can both promote weight loss, evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet is safer, more sustainable, and more effective long-term.

As with the keto diet, the goal of the lazy keto diet is to limit your intake of Net Carbs to between 20 and 50 grams a day. Sound familiar? This flexible and sustainable version of the keto diet is exactly what you do with Atkins 20 (the original low carb ketogenic diet) and Atkins 40.

However, as the lazy keto diet does not always induce ketosis, it may not promote weight loss as effectively as the traditional keto diet. A person who is not tracking all of their macronutrients may also be less likely to create a calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss.

The lazy keto diet is essentially another low-carb eating plan that helps with weight loss. The cardinal rule to lazy keto is to eat no more than 20 grams of carbs per day. Unlike the original keto diet, you do not have to track your calories. You also do not have to count other macronutrients: fat and protein.

A lazy keto diet food list includes foods like olive oil, coconut oil, free-range eggs, grass-fed butter and meats, and wild-caught fish. Clean keto encourages you to eat lots of non-starchy vegetables everyday to obtain essential vitamins, minerals and fiber, plus to help keep hunger in check.

Without tracking the amount of fat you're taking in, you're unlikely to get your body to make the transition. Possible weight gain. Since there is no calorie restriction on the lazy keto diet, it is totally possible to binge and actually gain weight on this diet.

(Just remember: Cheese isn't “unlimited” in a keto diet, as it still contains calories and carbs; it's also high in saturated fat, which is a less heart-healthy option than unsaturated fats, per the American Heart Association.)

What is the best alternative to the keto diet? ›

For most people, the paleo diet is a better choice because it has more flexibility with food choices than keto, which makes it easier to maintain long-term. At the end of the day, the diet that works long-term for you is the best choice.

Common short-term side effects resulting from the initiation of KD have been referred to as “keto flu,” which encompasses symptoms including fatigue, headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and low exercise tolerance [6].

Foods you can eat on the keto diet include fish and seafood, meat and poultry, non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds, eggs, high-fat dairy products, olive oil and other oils, and high-cocoa chocolate.

Even if lazy keto means you won't reach the coveted ketosis status, Bradley said this is a moderate version of a low-carb diet that's more sustainable. It can still help with weight loss, reduce cravings, and lower the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

On Atkins, you eventually reintroduce carbs, but on keto, carbs are always limited. That means Atkins may be more sustainable in the long run because it's not quite as restrictive and doesn't require you to make sure your body remains in ketosis.

Q: Lazy Keto vs Dirty Keto: What Is Right for You? A: The lazy keto diet approach is less strict since you don't have to monitor your fats or proteins intake, compared to the dirty keto diet, where you eat high-fat foods.

There's no sugar-coating it: Clean keto is healthier than dirty keto. Clean keto emphasizes food quality, like eating grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic foods. Dirty keto doesn't place the same importance on where your calories come from. On dirty keto, you eat things that are technically low carb.

Keto Cheat Days Are Definitely Possible

However, if you want to go all out on your cheat day, be ready for some of the side effects and the fact that you'll more than likely have to spend some time getting back into ketosis.

Pros of Dirty Keto

By changing the body's energy source from carbohydrates to fat, it can significantly reduce body weight and body mass index. At the same time, carbohydrate restriction can decrease levels of cholesterol, blood glucose, and triglycerides, a type of fat.

Still, some nutritionists have understood keto 2.0 to have the following macronutrient limits: 50% fat, 30% protein, and 20% carbohydrate. This ratio is lower in fat and higher in carbohydrates compared to that of a traditional keto diet.