a lazy guide to lazy keto

Keto(ish) : the lazy guide to lazy keto

2020

Craig Lamb

@lazy.life.hacks
Keto

A ketogenic diet involves low carb, moderate protein and higher fat. The reduction in carbs results in
the body breaking down fat to produce ketones which it uses as a fuel. This state is called ketosis
and has many benefits including improved heart health, reduction of acne, lower blood sugar,
cholesterol and blood pressure as well as aiding in weight loss.

Classically, keto involves carefully monitoring your intake of carbs, fat and protein as well as calories
using an app such as My Fitness Pal, aiming to stay below 20g of carbs and to get 70% of your
calories daily from fat, 25% from protein and 5% from carbohydrates. Lazy keto is much less strict;
you still aim for less than 20g of carbs per day and still have high fat, moderate protein, but in a less
regimented way (ie. Not calculating all your macronutrients and calories daily – who really has time
for that? The fucking Rock, I bet!) So instead of diligently recording every last 0.1 of a carb, it’s easier
to educate yourself on what is low or zero carb and then just make informed decisions each day on
what you’re going to eat in an effort to remain below 20g.

The problem with lazy keto tends to be when people disregard calories and think they can eat as
much as they like as long as it’s low carb and this is not true. Calorie deficit is how you lose weight,
keto just makes calorie deficit much easier.

The first two weeks of keto are the worst, at least they were for me, so I recommend spending these
weeks just focusing on eating the correct foods rather than calorie counting, you’re gonna feel shit
enough with the carb cravings (I dreamt about birthday cake more than once) and keto flu! After 2-3
weeks however you’ll feel better and generally be less hungry (the lack of carbs means your blood
sugar will remain pretty stable rather than rising and falling and making you food crazy) so now’s the
time to focus on portion size, counting calories or even intermittent fasting!

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Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting involves eating only during a certain number of hours each day. The easiest way
to do this is to skip breakfast, that way, if your last meal was at 8pm and you eat lunch at 12 you
have fasted for 16 hours! This is called a 16:8 fast.

In terms of benefits, intermittent fasting is awesome. The main one I tend to focus on is that
intermittent fasting (and keto) can trigger the process of autophagy, the process by which the body
basically removes damaged cells and replaces them with new ones. This provides a wide range of
positive results for the body including improved cardiovascular health, potential improvements in
treatment and prevention of cancer and a general reduction of inflammation, which can help with a
huge range of different ailments. Alongside this it can also contribute towards reduced blood
pressure, reduced blood sugar and increased cognitive function. Amazing. To cap it off, I heard David
Sinclair this morning on Kevin Rose's podcast mention that he believes intermittent fasting is the
most important thing he does in terms of his longevity. That guy is the king so that pretty much seals
it for me!

If you plan on fasting, 16:8 is the way to start, it’s fairly easy and gives you a wide range of benefits.
There are many different types of fast and it’s easy to move from 16:8 to something such as OMAD
(one meal a day) which is what I do most days (not every day though, sometimes I’m hungry and it’s
always best to eat when you’re hungry, stops you from making stupid decisions later). Personally I
prefer OMAD because I’m really not all that hungry during the day and it allows me to have a
ridiculous high calorie evening meal whilst still staying below my daily calorie count; giant disgusting
meals AND weight loss is the dream!

During a period of fast you’re allowed to consume beverages only but be careful what you do
consume, although diet drinks don’t contribute towards weight gain, the presence of the artificial
sweetener can cause a glucose spike which will break your fast. From what I’ve read online, chewing
gum with artificial sweetener however tends to be ok because it’s only a very a small amount of
sweetener, which is great because extended fasting can cause some real stinky breath!

In terms of beverages it’s probably best to stick to:

• Black coffee
• Black tea
• Green tea
• Water

If these things are too boring then it’s cool to add lemon or lime for a bit of flavour or even
cucumber if you’re one of those maniacs that enjoys that shit. Carbonated water is also fine. I wish I
like carbonated water, people who like it absolutely LOVE it! It just tastes shite to me.

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Easy meal maker

Choose one of these Add one or two of Optional extra (don’t Optional fat
these overdo)
Beef (steak, mince) Broccoli (normal or Peppers (either fresh or Full fat mayonnaise
tenderstem) from a jar)
Chicken (thighs or legs) Asparagus Tomatoes Almonds
Pork (gammon steak, Sprouts Onions Cheese (grated on
chops) veg)
Lamb (chop, cutlet, Kale Pickles Eggs
mince)
Halloumi Cabbage Avocado
Sausage (check the Cauliflower
carb amount on the
back)
Bacon Spinach
Fish Courgette
(This is by no means an exhaustive list of keto foods but is definitely a good starting point – come to
think of it, I probably eat 98% food from this list)

Choose a protein from the first column and 1 or 2 veg from the second column. Always eat veg
because the fibre will stop you from being constipated. The chlorophyll in the green veg is also a
good antioxidant to balance out the oxidative effects of the hemeiron in red meat. If you’re eating a
less fatty protein (eg. Fish) then be sure to add more fat to the meal to balance out the ratio, too
much protein can push you out of ketosis.

Example:

Steak and asparagus with roasted peppers

Gammon steak with a fried egg and sprouts

Chicken thighs (roast for 40 mins at 200°C) with an avocado salad and mayonnaise

Cook your food in one of these oils:

Olive oil

Avocado oil

Butter

Sesame oil

Walnut oil

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Other meal ideas:

Sausage and cheese omelette – cook the sausage as usual, let it cool and then slice it up. Put it in the
pan and let it warm through before adding the whisked eggs. Finish the omelette under the grill if
the top is still a bit wet.

Lettuce burger – I think it’s easiest to use little gem lettuce. Cut the bottom off and then it’s easy to
take off single leaves of lettuce to use instead of a bun. Add cheese, a bit of red onion, loads of mayo
and some low sugar ketchup (just a little bit)

Stuffed peppers – cut the peppers in half vertically, stuff them with loads of grated cheese and
whatever else you fancy; onions, bacon, tomatoes, chicken etc.

Stir fry – meat and low carb veg cooked in sesame oil. Add barenaked rice or noodles if you fancy.

Shepherd’s/cottage pie – make it the same as usual but top with cauliflower mash instead of potato;
add grated cheese on top of you’re feeling crazy.

Soup – chicken and low carb veg soup is great, thicken it with an egg if you like.

Chilli – make it like usual but without the beans, serve with low carb veg or barenaked rice.

Snacks:

Cheese (we get babybels cause they’re cheap, Sainsbury and Tesco also do little bags of cheddar and
red Leicester and stuff)

Cured meats (pepperoni, chorizo etc.)

Pork scratchings

Almonds (50g or less, very high calorie)

Pre cooked chicken thighs

Boiled eggs

Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries (these have sugar in but are low on the glycemic index so you
can have a small amount)

Olives

Beef jerky/biltong (check the back of the packet, some are high carb and some are low)

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Drinks

The best thing to is drink a lot of water, it prevents you from getting unnecessary hunger cravings
(when you’re thirsty rather than hungry) and keeping hydrated can help prevent constipation
(amongst other things). Black coffee and tea are both alright too, if using milk then it must be
counted in your daily carb allowance. Unsweetened almond milk is lower carb then cow’s milk. Sugar
free drinks are also ok alongside this but shouldn’t be used as your main source of hydration.

Eating out

Eating out is fine as long as it’s managed properly. Takeaway is ok in a push but shouldn’t be done all
the time because it’s hard to tell exactly what’s in the food but now again should be fine.

British – most pub style restaurants (hungry horse, beefeater etc) are easy, burgers without buns,
steak, chicken, mixed grill. Substitute potatoes for veg.

Indian – don’t order rice, naan, potatoes or dhaal (lentils). A lot of curries are ok; tikka, tandoori,
butter chicken etc as long as there are no sweeteners or thickeners in the sauce.

Thai – red or green curry is fine with vegetables on the side instead of rice.

Nandos – most of the chicken as fine as long as it’s not breaded. Broccoli, halloumi, salad and
chargrilled veg are all good sides.

McDonald’s – double cheese burger without the bun or ketchup or grilled chicken and bacon salad.

Subway – any salad with grated cheese and mayonnaise.

Five guys – bunless burger, no ketchup.

Takeaway – doner meat with salad and mayonnaise.

Shopping advice

Check the back of every packet for the carb amount. If it’s double figures per 100g then that’s
usually a bad sign.

Use your judgement on what to buy and how much, you’re aiming to be able to fit the carb amount
into your daily 20g or less.

Stay away from processed foods and anything with added sugar

Stay away from anything labelled as low fat, the fat is usually replaced with sugar.

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Tips

• This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle; you’re allowed cheat days now and then but you can’t stop and
start, if you do stop then you have to work to get back into ketosis.

• Try to stick to less than 20g of carbohydrate per day. Be sure to check this on the product
packaging or using an app like My fitness Pal.

• Aim to get around 70% of your days calories from a source of fat.

• Spend the first two weeks focusing on low carb, moderate protein, high fat and getting into
ketosis. For these weeks you’ll lose water weight

• After two weeks are up, begin focusing on lowering calories; only eat when you’re hungry rather
than when you feel like you should eat. You’ll start to feel less hungry and more satiated when you
do eat.

• Intermittent fasting is a good idea but if you feel shit or hungry then eat; fasting should feel good.

• If you plan on fasting, take a snack with you during the day just in case I unusually have a bag of
almonds. That way you’ll be less likely to make bad decisions if you are hungry.

• You’ll lose a lot of weight quickly and then plateau, don’t be discouraged, it’ll pick back up again as
long as you stick to it.

• Be sure to eat a good amount of green vegetables, not only do they help keep you regular, but the
chlorophyll has antioxidant properties which can help to negate the oxidative properties of
hemeiron if you are a red meat eater.

• More vegetables than you realise are high in carb so be sure to check before you buy. Green
vegetables tend to be fine, root vegetables tend to not be.

• Stay away from products marketed as low fat, not only is this counterintuitive to the keto diet but
usually these things are pumped full of sugar and therefore carbs.

• Less alcohol is always best for staying in ketosis. If you are going to drink try to stick to spirits (zero
carb) or dry wine/champagne (can be as low as 7g per bottle).

• Instead of having a “cheat day” every so often where you go crazy, try just expanding your daily
carb limit once in a while.

• Remove any easy carb meals/snacks from your fridge and cupboards. No matter how strong you
think your will power is, it probably isn’t.

• Condiments can help but be careful, even reduced salt and sugar ketchup is fairly high in carb so
use it sparingly. Mayonnaise however? Go fucking crazy.

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