The problem with this blog post is it creates tension from the start. Either you’re reading this to debunk everything that is written here about Keto and proclaim it as the way to weight loss, or you’re here to counterattack the pro-Keto party.
By simply having an opinion on Keto, emotions seem to flare.
First things first, the aim of this blog post is to quickly show you the mechanism in which Keto helps you achieve weight loss. After reading this blog post, you’ll be more educated on what Keto is and you will be in a better position to determine whether Keto is right for your weight loss goals or not.
Let’s get to work!
What’s Keto?
Keto, or Ketogenic Diet, is a type of low-carbohydrate diet. Originally, Keto consisted of ingesting 90% of daily calories through fat. The remaining 10% of daily calories came through ingesting protein and carbohydrate with the target carbohydrate goal of 50g per day or less.
The reduction of daily carbohydrate intake opens up pathways in your body to create glucose from non-carbohydrate sources.
Additionally, the Keto diet seems to allow for the formation of more ketone bodies (ketones) in higher concentration to be used for energy. This is called ketogenesis, hence the name Ketogenic Diet.
For a complete introduction to a Ketogenic Diet, please read the Introduction and Background in this peer-reviewed article.
What’s Keto do that gets you to lose weight?
It puts you in a caloric deficit.
Seriously, you’re not going to tell me more?
Imagine a table set for a family gathering.
Theres a white table cloth laid down and all the choice dishes that are reserved for an extended family meal are placed neatly around.
You see the spread of food being laid out one dish at a time:
Freshly cut french bread, creamy mashed potatoes, asparagus with a generous drizzle of quality olive oil, and a juicy slow-cooked prime rib finished with a garlic-herb compound butter is a beautiful painting come to life.
And how did you forget about dessert waiting patently for your family to finish dinner on the corner table of the family room?
It’s a big one today, so you went a little extra with the dessert, so no one goes without.
On the almost inadequately-sized dessert table, there’s a homemade double chocolate cake ornately decorated with little chocolate morsels, a few excellently cut raspberry crumb cake bars stacked in a picturesque manner, and a plate of snickerdoodle cookies that look moist from across the room.
Now imagine you’re on Keto.
What you eat: Prime rib and asparagus.
What you don’t eat: French bread, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake, raspberry crumb cake bars, and snickerdoodle cookies.
What you would have normally ate: Everything.
It seems like Keto has no real magical properties other than the fact it restricts your dietary options. It looks like because you nearly remove an entire macronutrient from your life, you’re less efficient at finding alternatives which reduces your overall caloric intake.
It sounds like Keto is a way to get you into a caloric deficit, which leads to your weight loss.
Is the cheekiness of this blog post indicative of Cornerstone Weight Loss being against Keto?
It seems like it is, but no. At Cornerstone Weight Loss any macronutrient distribution that allows you to be consistent and keep your weight loss progress for the long term is just fine.
The mission is to help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look. The more you know about everything weight loss related, including Keto, the better the position you will be in to make a decision on how you want to go about achieving your weight loss goal.
Based on many past clients, Keto does not seem to be a weight loss path that people tend to stick to longterm.
*Side note: there are some of you who can stick with Keto longterm. You are awesome, and if you like it and it gives you results, do not think this blog post is here to change what’s working for you. Cornerstone Weight Loss is not here to fix what’s not broken.
There have been many clients in the past that end up doing fantastic with Keto for their first three to six months. They tend to experience substantial weight loss and get nearer to their goal. Many times, however, their strict Keto regimen turns into being calorically maxed out in fat and protein with multiple weekly slip ups in the carbohydrate department (usually from Friday through Sunday). You can probably guess this leads to a caloric surplus which leads to weight gain.
Discussion is welcome!
It seems like Keto is a hot subject, and for good reason. It has helped many get the weight loss they deserve which has led to great zeal for this way of eating.
Feel free to say no here, but if Keto has helped you, please comment below. If you have stuck to Keto longer than two years straight, send Cornerstone Weight Loss an email at info@cornerstoneweightloss.com.
At Cornerstone Weight Loss we help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look. In order to get in touch with a professional who can help tailor your weight loss plan to you, click below, fill out the information, and a member of the Cornerstone Weight Loss team will reach out to you to get the results in weight loss you deserve.