Picture this: You’re on a new diet, but instead of feeling hangry and deprived, you’re
brimming with energy and the weight is melting off. Welcome to the keto diet. It’s a high-fat,
low-carb eating plan that Hollywood stars and athletes like Halle Berry, Adriana Lima and
Tim Tebow credit for blasting away their fat.
It seems counter-intuitive — eat fat to lose fat? But that’s exactly what happens on keto.
Here’s everything you should know about this diet, including tips to reach your weight loss
goals and troubleshoot common problems.
WHAT IS THE KETO DIET?
The keto diet is short for “ketogenic diet.” It’s a high-fat, low-carb eating plan that has the
potential to turn your body into a fat-burning machine.
The keto diet changes the way your body converts food into energy. Normally, your body
turns carbohydrates (think bread and pasta) into glucose for energy. Eating a lot of fat and
very few carbs puts you in ketosis, a metabolic state where your body burns fat instead of
carbs for fuel.
WHAT ARE KETONES?
When your body can’t get glucose from your diet, your liver turns body fat and fat from your
diet into molecules called ketones, an alternative source of fuel. This puts you into ketosis,
aka prime weight loss mode.[1]
You’re in ketosis when your ketone levels measure 0.8 millimoles per liter. The keto diet is
one way to get your body to make ketones. Other ways to run on ketones in
BENEFITS OF THE KETO DIET
The keto diet quickly boosts weight loss because your body turns fat from your diet and
your fat stores into ketones. And unlike glucose, ketones can’t be stored as fat because
they aren’t digested the same way.
That’s surprising, right? For decades, you’ve heard that fat makes you fat. Your body is
actually built to use fat as an alternative source of fuel. For most of history, people weren’t
eating three square meals and snacks throughout the day. Instead, humans would have to
hunt and gather their food, and they learned to thrive when there wasn’t any food available,
sometimes for days on end. [2] To keep going, their bodies used stored fat for energy.
Thanks, evolution.
TYPES OF KETO DIETS
Standard keto: You eat very low carb (less than 50 grams of net carbs a day),
every day. Some keto followers eat as few as 20 grams per day.
Cyclical keto: Eat a high-fat, very low-carb (less than 50 grams of net carbs per
day) five to six days a week. On day seven, have a carb refeed day (approximately
150 grams). The Bulletproof Diet falls into this category, but tweaks keto for even
better performance with intermittent fasting, protein fasting and an emphasis on
nutrient-dense, low-inflammation foods. Download the Bulletproof Diet Roadmap for
free here.
Targeted keto: You follow the standard keto diet, but eat extra carbs 30 minutes to
an hour before a high-intensity workout. The glucose is meant to boost performance,
and you return to ketosis after the workout. If your energy is suffering in the gym
during keto, this style of eating might work for you.
Dirty keto: Dirty keto follows the same ratio of fats, proteins and carbs as the
regular keto diet, but with a twist: It doesn’t matter where those macronutrients come
from. Dinner could be a bunless Big Mac with a Diet Pepsi. Learn more about the
dirty keto diet and how it works.
Moderate keto: Eat high fat with 100-150 grams of net carbs every day. Women
often do best with this diet — restricting carbs can sometimes mess with hormonal
function. Also, some athletes find they burn out with fewer than 100 grams of carbs
on workout days.
HOW TO FIND WHICH APPROACH WORKS
BEST FOR YOU
First, check with your doctor before you make any major dietary changes.
Try different styles of keto for at least a month each.
Track your carbs, fat and protein using a food tracking app
like MyFitnessPal and My Macros+.
Set goals based on fat and carb intake instead of worrying about calories. Eat until
you’re full, and listen to your body.
Are you sharpest with a weekly carb refeed, or do you do better on a full ketogenic diet? Do
you burn out when you dip below 100 grams of carbs per day?
