WEIGHT LOSS SECRET REVEALED!

Today, I want to share with you a phenomenal approach to losing weight.

It’s called ketogenic diet.

It’s literally magic.

It turns your body into a fat-burning machine and makes you lose fat like crazy. I was chubby but after using ketogenic diet for the last 21 days, now I got a 6-pack…

………………………………….
Yes, of course I am kidding.

I am not Dr. Oz and don’t have a bullshit supplement to sell you.

No magic here.

I am so tired of hearing the bullshit about this diet from the keto zealots and morons alike, so I will use my playful mood today to clear the confusion once and for all.

WHAT KETO DIET IS:

Nutritional ketosis is a state created by high fat, extremely low carb intake, first intended to cure epilepsy.

Interesting point was that the initial medical approach also included low protein (we’ll skip on their reasons for now).

Then the fitness world turned it into a medium-to-high protein, high fat, very-low carb diet.

Considering that up to 75% of an average American’s diet is made up of carbs, it wasn’t a bad idea.

The actual definitions of carb intake are unclear but it’s generally considered that having less than 100gr of carbs per day qualifies as a keto diet (some claim less than 60gr, some less than 50gr…)

The details aren’t important. It’s a low-carb, high fat approach.

WHAT KETO DIET DOES:

Humans are long-lived and in the times of famine when there was no carbs, our bodies adapted to using the second energy source in the body (body fat) – as the primary one.

It’s simply a survival mechanism, nothing else.

So your body uses more fat instead of (unavailable) carbs to cover most of it’s energy needs.

So overall body fat utilization is higher.

Ok, but does this change the fundamentals?

Do calories still matter now when you’re in ketosis?

OF COURSE THEY FUCKING MATTER!!!

If your maintenance calories (kcal needed to maintain your current weight) are let’s say 3000 per day, and you eat 3500kcal of protein and fat with ZERO carbs – what happens?

You’re in a caloric surplus so you will gain weight.

Duh.

Yet, this seems to be too complicated for most keto “experts”.

BENEFITS OF KETO?

Since protein and fat are highly satiating and take longer to digest relative to carbs, there is a strong appetite suppressing effect.

Your hunger is lower, thus you possibly eat less.

You create a caloric deficit = you’ll lose weight.

If you still keep eating as many calories as you used to, you ll maintain your weight.

If you somehow manage to eat more calories (even tho they all come from protein and fat) – you’ll gain weight.

Again, the above is a mystery to your resident “keto expert”.

MYTHS ABOUT KETO:

KETO MYTH 1: Calories don’t matter when you’re on keto (cuz carbs make you fat).

Read above. Calories are king!

Yes, processed carbs are tasty and thus the easiest to overeat.

But you can effectively lose fat on a low-carb or high-carb diet as long as you control the calories over time.

Carbs are also EXCLUSIVELY an energy source, they have NO other physiological functions in the body (unlike protein and fat that are essential for life and we cannot survive without them).

So if you’re doing high intensity training of any type, you will NOT be able to do that on a keto diet.

However, for lifting workouts (that burn very little carbs), walking, slow jogging or any other lower-intensity training, you don’t really need carbs at all.

KETO MYTH 2: It is NOT safe to be in ketosis for long periods

This is complete bullshit.

Your body is perfectly adapted to survive (but not thrive, relatively speaking) on a ZERO carb approach.

The ONLY thing you cannot do if you went zero carb is – high intensity activity.

So unless you’re being chased by a lion, trying to get injured doing Crossfit or need to win a sprint race, you’l be just fine.

But..but…I can hear our high carb zealot “expert” screaming:

YOUR BRAIN NEEDS AT LEAST 30-40GR OF GLUCOSE PER DAY TO FUNCTION!!! YOU NEED CARBS!!!

No, moron. You don’t really “need” to eat carbs at all.

The brain needs up to 120gr of glucose per day but up to 75% of that can be covered by ketones (that can and do pass the blood-brain barrier).

The rest of the 30-40gr of glucose can come from either:

– gluconeogenesis (breakdown of amino acids in the liver) or
– glycerol (a byproduct of fat metabolism)

So yes, you can survive just fine and have your little brain function properly on a ZERO carb diet.

This leads us to…

KETO MYTH 3: It gives me mental clarity

Highly doubtful.

If this is the case that you’re thinking better on a keto/low-carb diet, you’ve likely been eating too many processed carbs.

This then clogs your brain and makes you dumb/slow due to the ups and downs of your insulin/sugar levels.

Simply reduce your carb intake or switch to natural carb sources (instead of processed sugar) and see what happens.

I bet you the “mental clarity” effect will be there, even tho you’re not on a strict keto.

TAKEAWAY ON SHOULD YOU USE A KETO DIET:

While keto is indeed effective for weight loss and a substantially healthier approach than sugar-loaded diet…

It’s mostly because people eat too many processed carbs and keto reduces that.

On the other hand, keto is rather too restrictive and for most people – unnecessary.

Some studies show that keto diets have the lowest stick-rate of any diet, which is not surprising given the almost total lack of carbs is psychologically hard and likely unsustainable.

A much better approach is the most unsexy one: moderation!

– Moderate to high protein (0.7-1gr of protein per pound of body weight)
– moderate carbs (1-2 gr of carbs per pound of body weight depending on the training volume and intensity)
– moderate fats (fill the rest of your calories with fats, not lower than 0.3 grams per pound of body weight)

Sedentary people really don’t need any carbs. If you’re not doing any type of activity/training – stick to veggies and some fruit and fill the rest of your calories with protein and healthy fats.

Lifters – stick to about 1gr of carbs per pound of body weight.

Endurance athletes are best to avoid keto.

LIFE TIP:

AVOID any type of extreme ideologies as they are ALWAYS wrong, lead to confirmation biases and bad outcomes.

(just look at Gary Taubes and his “10,000 calories/day of oil will not make you fat) – example of how a rather intelligent person can go so far that it becomes idiotic

Keto IS an extreme approach as it reduces carbs too much.

You can try it to get to your desired body weight/fat percentage but I do not recommend it as a long-term strategy.

If you find this useful, share this post so other people can avoid the zealotry and confusion around keto.

Posted in Lose Weight