Balanced Diet vs Keto

I have been trying to see if I can lose weight faster on keto vs a balanced diet.

The last 14 days I have been doing what would probably be considered high protein keto. My macro goals are 10% carbs 60% fat and 30% protein, but I have been a little higher on fat and lower on carbs than that each day.

The previous 14 days I was doing what I consider is a more balanced diet but still probably low carb. My macros then were 40% carbs 35% fat and 25% protein.

I lost 9 lbs in 14 days on the balanced diet and 10 lbs in 14 days on keto with the same calorie limit on each. Appears to me it is mostly about calories.

Your opinion?
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Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited June 2021
    You won't actually get into ketosis with those macro's. Protein is insulinogenic and your carbs are too high. It also takes a while to fully adapt to ketosis and 2 weeks is probably not enough time in a good keto macro. Your basically consuming what would be considered a low carb diet. Chalk up your weight loss to water weight and a calorie deficit. good job though in losing the weight.

    EDIT: 40% carbs isn't really low carb. The Average American was a little higher, can't remember maybe 43 in the 1960's and early 70's. Then soon after saturated fat was replaced with more carbs in the diet from the low fat philosophy, basically.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    I have been trying to see if I can lose weight faster on keto vs a balanced diet.

    The last 14 days I have been doing what would probably be considered high protein keto. My macro goals are 10% carbs 60% fat and 30% protein, but I have been a little higher on fat and lower on carbs than that each day.

    The previous 14 days I was doing what I consider is a more balanced diet but still probably low carb. My macros then were 40% carbs 35% fat and 25% protein.

    I lost 9 lbs in 14 days on the balanced diet and 10 lbs in 14 days on keto with the same calorie limit on each. Appears to me it is mostly about calories.

    Your opinion?

    My opinion: why are you trying to lose weight so quickly? Are you morbidly obese? These are numbers that nobody should expect.

    Apart from that: once you eat less carbs you lose water as glycogen binds water. But you weren't really low carb. So...
  • chrisalexander851
    chrisalexander851 Posts: 14 Member
    Yes, I am considered morbidly obese. I have so much to lose if I dont lose it quickly it will take forever.

    Currently my blood keto measurement is 1.3
  • Dootzy1
    Dootzy1 Posts: 2,116 Member
    I applaud your efforts to reduce your weight and get healthier. I know that some people in my city participate in a medically supervised fast to get the desired outcome more quickly. They progress to a more moderate diet that is sustainable on their own.
  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,693 Member
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌
  • chrisalexander851
    chrisalexander851 Posts: 14 Member
    VegjoyP wrote: »
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌
    VegjoyP wrote: »
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌

  • chrisalexander851
    chrisalexander851 Posts: 14 Member
    edited June 2021
    I was pretty happy with the balanced approach and did feel like it is something I could sustain long term. I read and listened to some information about training your body to be “metabolically flexible” and part of that would be doing keto for a while. So, I decided to try it for a month or so. There is no way I could do this forever, but if it helps speed things up a little bit then I could white knuckle it for a month or so every now and then. I think the main thing that is making it work for me is weighing, logging, and counting everything I eat and so I a can control the calorie intake. I will probably need to do that for a long time if not forever or it is really easy for me to overeat.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited June 2021
    psuLemon wrote: »
    You won't actually get into ketosis with those macro's. Protein is insulinogenic and your carbs are too high. It also takes a while to fully adapt to ketosis and 2 weeks is probably not enough time in a good keto macro. Your basically consuming what would be considered a low carb diet. Chalk up your weight loss to water weight and a calorie deficit. good job though in losing the weight.

    EDIT: 40% carbs isn't really low carb. The Average American was a little higher, can't remember maybe 43 in the 1960's and early 70's. Then soon after saturated fat was replaced with more carbs in the diet from the low fat philosophy, basically.

    You should probably do more research on keto. It doesn't take two weeks to get into ketosis. You can do it in a few days. And while protein might inhibit some keto production, it will only be suppressed a little.


    OP, like others said, it's about calories... Not macro split.

    Using ketones as ATP happens everyday for everyone. Being in a fully adapted state of ketosis is quite another.

    I never said it would take 2 weeks. Some people where their already using a low carb diet can be fully fat adapted quickly when they drop carbs lower where their body is using ketones as their primary energy source.
  • Sara3veg
    Sara3veg Posts: 48 Member
    VegjoyP wrote: »
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌

    Well, to be fair the long term success rate for weight loss adherence is pretty dismal, regardless of which approach you do.
  • chrisalexander851
    chrisalexander851 Posts: 14 Member
    Sara3veg wrote: »
    VegjoyP wrote: »
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌

    Well, to be fair the long term success rate for weight loss adherence is pretty dismal, regardless of which approach you do.

    Way to keep it positive
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,905 Member
    Sara3veg wrote: »
    VegjoyP wrote: »
    Question. Do you just want to loose it fast or sustainably, permanently, wisely and with livable choices for life?
    Balanced. The keto diet has good points and medicinal uses however a custom eating pattern designed to get you permanent healthy happy and well is not a diet but a way of eating 👌

    Well, to be fair the long term success rate for weight loss adherence is pretty dismal, regardless of which approach you do.

    Way to keep it positive

    She has a point though.


    I had about 80 pounds to lose. In the beginning I ate the way I always ate, lots of grains, sugar, cheese. Not many vegetables. I was drinking juice still. It was easy for me to lose those first 20 pounds by not making a whole lot of food-choice changes and eating really low calorie (1200 Plus Exercise calories."

    Then it started getting a bit more difficult.


    I think you'll try all kinds of things along the way. I finally had to give in and eat a well-balanced nutritious meal plan with sufficient fat, fiber, protein and vegetables.

    THAT still works at my goal weight now - since 2008.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited June 2021
    heybales wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    You won't actually get into ketosis with those macro's. Protein is insulinogenic and your carbs are too high. It also takes a while to fully adapt to ketosis and 2 weeks is probably not enough time in a good keto macro. Your basically consuming what would be considered a low carb diet. Chalk up your weight loss to water weight and a calorie deficit. good job though in losing the weight.

    EDIT: 40% carbs isn't really low carb. The Average American was a little higher, can't remember maybe 43 in the 1960's and early 70's. Then soon after saturated fat was replaced with more carbs in the diet from the low fat philosophy, basically.

    You should probably do more research on keto. It doesn't take two weeks to get into ketosis. You can do it in a few days. And while protein might inhibit some keto production, it will only be suppressed a little.


    OP, like others said, it's about calories... Not macro split.

    can be fully fat adapted quickly when they drop carbs lower where their body is using ketones as their primary energy source.

    Well no.

    They still use fat as the main energy source for the upwards 90% of the day as it would have been anyway.

    But now your 10-15% that would have been carbs for the brain and the few other organs that can trade off - is now ketones.

    Also, 10% carbs was reference to the Keto time - the 40% was used on the balance diet time.
    And yes - still not that low carb anyway.

    The ketones accesses the fat for ATP so of course fat is the primary energy source, that's what fat adapted means. To access that energy source consistently the person needs to be in full Ketosis. That isn't going to happen when the OP is using 30% protein and 10% carbs....that's 40% of the foods that are insulinogenic. As soon as the beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin the beta cells in the liver stops producing ketones, so your out of ketosis. That's one of the main reasons the Keto diet adherence is so difficult. Does that mean that ketones aren't being made, no, some will when insulin comes back to baseline or for example first thing in the morning after the nights fast or working out fasted etc. The ketone pathway in the brain bypasses the one for glucose so the brain works fine with ketones and anything that crucially needs glucose will be produced through gluconeogenesis. Anyway, we may be talking a similar thing, right now I'm not quite sure

    EDIT: The OP was referencing the other diet and seemed to think 40% was low carb, that's why I commented because 40% isn't low carb.