Ahh, keto. You can’t open a single article on weight loss without hearing about it. If you couldn’t tell by the title, I’m not a keto acolyte. Since you are reading this, we obviously share the same goal, to improve our health and fitness, but if you are an easily offended keto crony, this article is not for you. Here’s why it’s time to say enough with keto already.
There’s a few things to know before we get into it. This is my opinion, which is based off the research that I have done. It is also based on my own experience with keto and that of others I know who have/are trying it.
I am also talking about 80/20 here. Maybe even 90/10. Meaning, I don’t want to hear about your co-worker’s sister who lost 900 lbs on keto or how you lost 10 lbs. in two weeks. Everybody has stories about that one guy or girl who did it and loved it. These are the exceptions. Most likely short-term exceptions.
The keto following has become cultish with proponents claiming that it can do anything from shed pounds forever to make you shoot lasers out of your eyes. Red flag number one. Anything that becomes this popular this fast is nothing short of a fad. It was created by someone and then jammed down our throats until we all bought in. Key word, bought. This is nothing more than a product that makes some people a lot of money.
Before I get off the soap box and get into it, one last comment. Like I said, this is my opinion based off my experience, research, and observations. If you Google “the benefits of keto” you will get a huge list of content. If you Google “problems with keto” you will also get a mile long list. Point is, do your own research and draw your own conclusions if you are seriously considering trying this.
What Is Keto?
I won’t go too in depth into what keto is here, because you probably already have some idea. Here are just the basic principles of Keto.
The premise of it is that your diet consists of mostly fat, which puts your body in a state of ketosis. In ketosis, your body will burn fat for fuel rather than carbs for fuel.
Your macro intake will look like this: 75% Fat, 20% Protein, and 5% Carbs. This is the breakdown of where your calories should come from.
This article will go into more detail for those of you unfamiliar with the basics of keto.
The Problems With Keto
Here are some of the common problems for the average person trying to use keto as a weight loss tool.
- It Just Isn’t Sustainable. This is hands down the biggest issue. Consistency is key. It isn’t about just losing weight but keeping it off and leading a healthier lifestyle. keto is just too restrictive. If you can only eat less than 50 grams of carbs a day, your food list is drastically reduced. The more restrictive the diet, the harder it becomes to keep up long-term, making this one virtually impossible.
- Weight Regain. A great follow up to the first point. Because the diet is so restrictive, you are extremely susceptible to putting the weight back on once you stop keto. Many people, myself included, see a drastic weight drop when they first start. Well, first of all, a lot of this is water weight. And second, this weight is very easy to to put back on. If you are thinking about this just because you have a friend who has lost weight, I encourage you to continue to watch them. I would bet they put a lot of it back on. Don’t be the chronic yo-yo dieter.
- Leads To an Overall Unhealthy Diet. Even many hardcore keto fan boys and girls admit that if not done properly, you will be eating an unhealthy diet. Let’s be honest for a second. You are in a position where you need to lose weight because you have made some bad choices for a long period of time regarding your diet and exercise. This is precisely why keto appeals to people. Yeah, you could eat lean cuts of fish, nuts, olive oil, and avocados, but I have literally never seen anyone do that. It’s bacon, beef, processed meat, three pounds of cheese, and a boat load of other dairy. Does that sound healthy?
- Nutrient Deficiencies. So if you are eating mostly fat and meat, probably of the unhealthy variety, what happens? For one, you probably miss out on a lot of great micronutrients found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and healthy grains. Not only that, but you can be severely deficient in dietary fiber by cutting these things out. What’s that lead to? Diarrhea.
- Increased Risk Of Heart Disease and Cancer. If the equation still doesn’t make sense, bad diet + nutrient deficient = health risks. Consuming all that saturated fat and missing out on essential nutrients can increase your risk of heart disease and cancer. A 25,000-person study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress suggested that people on the very low carb diets had the highest risk of dying from cancer and cardiovascular conditions.
- Decreased Muscle Mass and Low Energy. Eating protein is linked to increased muscle mass. Remember though, you are only eating 20% of your calories from protein. There is also a strong link to eating carbohydrates and protein together to maximize muscle growth. Simply eating protein alone is far less efficient. Moreover, the lack of carbohydrates can cause fatigue and lack of energy. This will effect your workout routine and decrease how much and how often you can lift. Your body naturally loses muscle mass as you age, so building a solid base is important to maintaining your health as you get older.
- Nobody Wants To Hear About It. This is somewhat sarcastic, but somewhat not. Seriously, nobody cares that you are doing keto, nobody wants to hear you ask if their Thanksgiving dinner is keto-friendly, and nobody wants to watch you sulk over a water at happy hour because you can’t afford to have the carbs in a beer.
Alternative To Keto
I don’t want to be the guy to present a problem and have no solution. Here it is: exercise for 30-60 minutes, four or five times a week, eat less calories than you consume, and the majority of the time, stick to healthy whole foods.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but that is really it. Diets are called fads for a reason, they come and go. A few years from now nobody will remember keto, and we will be onto something new. Your mindset needs to change. Being healthy and fit is about more than losing a few pounds for a little while; it is not a finite activity. You need to be conscious of how you are treating your body all the time.
Focus on small changes first and work your way up. Don’t try to go cold turkey on everything and turn into a gym rat overnight. It takes roughly 21 days to form a habit. Start small and form some good habits and progress from there. Here are some tips on good steps to take to help lead a healthier life without choosing gimmick or fad diets.
- Cut out a few small things from your diet at first. Start with soda. Once you get that out move onto breakfast cereal (replace it with eggs or oatmeal).
- Try replacing things like white bread and pasta with whole grain products or brown rice.
- Use intermittent fasting. This will decrease the amount of time you have to eat during the day so you will eat less calories.
- Start prepping at least one meal a day. This will relieve the temptation to eat out.
- Track what you eat. If you burn more than you eat, you will lose weight. It’s that simple. Start tracking your calories. If you are too lazy to track calories, you are too lazy to lose weight.
- Use the 80/20 rule. Eat a healthy balanced diet 80% of the time and splurge 20% of the time. This will reduce cravings and help you feel satisfied. Build in a few cheat meals to your eating plan. You will keep your sanity and not feel like you are being restricted too much.
- Go to the gym right before or right after work. This way you won’t get caught up in something at home and cause you to skip the workout altogether.
- Sign up for group classes to help keep you motivated.
- If you are unfamiliar with proper exercise techniques, take the time to do some research and put together a workout plan before charging into the gym unprepared.
- If you are not a fan of traditional cardio and workout methods, try something new. I find traditional methods boring myself. Give cardio kickboxing, HIIT workouts, or Yoga/Pilates a go. I wonder what a good site is where you could find some of these things…
- Don’t let past fitness failures hold you back. It didn’t work that time, it’s fine, just try something new, and most importantly, try again.
Wrap Up
To summarize it all, keto is not the long term solution to leading a healthier life. Yes you can see some fast weight loss results at first but at the expense of other health and performance aspects. In the long run, it is just too hard to keep up, which ultimately leads to chronic dieting.
I know it isn’t sexy, but there is no substitute for healthy eating and exercising. Work on changing how you think about weight loss. Think about it as caring for yourself rather than an activity you have to do. This will help you make lasting lifestyle changes. Without your health what do you really have?
Please do your own research and draw your own conclusions. There are literally volumes of articles and research on the topic. Keep a questioning mind, and don’t just follow the heard.
I would love to hear your experiences and opinions in the comments. As always, thanks for reading!