Beginner's Guide to Dirty, Lazy Keto

There are dozens of ways to do Keto.

Keto is no longer a single diet.

In today's low-carb world, Keto means any diet plan that can get you into the state of dietary ketosis and keep you there.

This means there is no set of rules to follow and no particular food lists you have to use to reach ketosis. The basic idea of Dirty, Lazy Keto is to simply lower your carbs to 20-net carbs per day. That's the only restriction and guideline you have, but how to do that differs from plan to plan.

That's how the terms “dirty” and “lazy” started.

What is Dirty Keto?

A few years ago, there were lots of bloggers who tried combining low carb with Paleo. You didn't just eat low carb. You ditched the processed foods and stuck to whole foods as much as possible.

They called what they were doing “clean” Keto.

Those who didn't want to give up the sugar substitutes, low-carb tortillas, diet gelatin, low-carb ice cream, and other keto-friendly processed foods called what they were doing “dirty.”

Dirty Keto has nothing to do with ketosis. It's about the type of foods you choose to eat while doing low carb. While some people do great sticking to real foods, most people find it easier to adapt to low carb by just sticking to 20-net carbs, or less, and including the low-carb version of some of their favorite foods.

What is Lazy Keto?

Okay. So, what is Lazy Keto?

This term started over at the Reddit forum for Keto several years ago, as well.

At Reddit, their version of low carb includes tracking your proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and calories to ensure that you're eating at a calorie deficit. However, the practice of counting your macros each and every day can be overwhelming, especially for newbies, so beginners to the low-carb way of life often opt for just counting carbs instead.

This is called “Lazy” Keto.

Despite the negative connotation for the word “lazy,” Lazy Keto is not looked down on over there. Lazy Keto is accepted as a viable way to do low carb as long as it works. If counting carbs stops working, due to the lack of a calorie deficit, you'll be encouraged to start tracking your macros.

When you have a lot of weight to lose, eating to appetite generally provides it's own calorie deficit. It's only when weight loss stops that you need to do something different.

So, in this Dirty, Lazy Keto beginner's guide, we're going to show you a simple way to go Keto.

How Much Protein Do You Need to Eat Per Day?

Regardless of the type of low-carb diet you're doing, your protein needs stay the same. On average, you're going to need about 12 to 16 ounces of protein foods per day.

Those protein foods consist of:

• meat
• poultry
• fish
• eggs
• cheese

That's more protein than what you'd need on a standard low-calorie diet because the body is going to use some of that protein for energy.

When you lower your intake of carbohydrates, the body switches fuel sources from predominantly burning glucose to predominantly using fats and ketones, but the brain cannot use fats for fuel.

Although ketones can furnish a large part of the brain's fuel needs, about 75 to 80 percent, the brain still needs a certain amount of glucose every day. That glucose can come from protein, if necessary, so don't skimp on the protein you eat.

Meat, eggs, and cheese is the foundation of a low-carb diet.

Trim Your Carbohydrates to 20-Net Carbs Per Day

Here's where Google can help.

If you want to know the net carbs of a certain food, you simply type “net carbs for X” into your search browser (where X is the food you're wondering about) and Google will pull that information from one of its sources and bold the answer.

What are net carbs?

Most people do not break down fiber during digestion. It passes right out of the body intact, so the standard practice today is to subtract the fiber grams from the total carbohydrate grams to arrive at the net-carb figure.

For example:

According to the USDA, half of an avocado contains 9 grams of total carbs, but 7 of those carbs are fiber, so the net-carb count drops to only 2 carbs. This is why avocados are so popular on Keto.

Most low-carb plans focus on low-carb vegetables and a few condiments for their carbohydrate intake, since the carb count for vegetables is so low, but if you don't like vegetables or you'd rather spend those carbs on something else, like nuts or berries, you're allowed to eat whatever you want – as long as your daily total doesn't go over 20-net carbs.

But please don't guess.

In the beginning of your low-carb diet, weigh and measure your carbs, so you know exactly how much you're eating.

Also be aware that some low-carb and keto bloggers don't understand what does and does not contain carbs. There are carbs in eggs, cheese, sausage, heavy cream, and sugar substitutes.

These foods are NOT zero carb.

While the carb count is relatively low, if you don't keep track of your carbs, you can easily go over your daily allotment.

Eat Dietary Fats to Appetite

Since you're not counting calories, just carbs, you're free to eat zero-carb dietary fats like butter, olive oil, and mayonnaise to appetite. You don't need to measure them. However, keep in mind that the more calories you eat per day the less body fat you'll use.

And, using up your body fat is the goal here.

The more carbs you eat, the hungrier you'll be, so keep that in mind, when it comes to fats, as well.

Be Realistic With Your Weight-Loss Goal

Dirty, Lazy Keto as outlined above is a slower way to ease into ketosis. It's going to take you 3 to 5 days to get there, since your hunger will be higher until ketosis solidly sets in.

(See How to Get Into Ketosis in Less than 3 Days for more information.)

While technically you'll be in ketosis after only a day or two, you won't immediately see your hunger drop. That will take a few days.

In addition, the average weight loss on Keto is ½ to 1 pound per week. Some people lose less and some people lose more. What you need to remember is that this isn't a fast weight-loss diet. It's just a realistic way to deaden your hunger so that calorie restriction is easier.

Initially, you may lose a lot of water weight, so don't get attached to the drastic drop on the scale if that happens for you. It's just your body adapting to a Keto way of life. Weight loss will slow down, so just accept that as a real possibility.

Eat When Hungry and Don't Eat When You are Not

This is the only rule that I have set up for myself.

It's not true that you can eat all of the zero-carb foods you like, whenever you want to, and still drop the weight. Calories count. You just don't have to count them on Dirty, Lazy Keto – unless you're overeating.

And even then, there are a variety of ways to cut back on calories without having to count them. Cutting back on portion sizes is an easier way to go – and I'm all for easy.

Instead of 2 eggs and 3 slices of bacon for breakfast, I now eat 1 egg and 2 slices of bacon instead. And some mornings, I don't eat breakfast at all.

Instead of 3 spoonfuls of salad dressing on my salad, I now eat only 2.

And for dinner, I no longer go back for seconds.

The idea is to find the amount of food that will enable you to reach your weight-loss goal and stay there.

The idea isn't to diet and then go back to your old way of living.

That's not going to work.

Guaranteed.