What is the keto diet?

You may have heard of a new diet plan gaining popularity in many fitness circles. 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.

But does it work?

While research indicates that the diet can help shed body fat, long-term studies supporting its effectiveness are lacking.

Can it promote weight loss?

When following the traditional keto diet, your carb intake is limited to less than 5–10% of your total daily calorie intake (1Trusted Source).

This allows your body to enter ketosis, a state during which the body switches to using fat instead of carbs as its primary fuel source, and ketones are produced in the liver (1Trusted Source).

The reduced carb intake is usually made up for by increasing fat intake to around 70–90% of calories, or 155–200 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).

Protein intake is moderate, usually around 20% of calories, or 100 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).

There are several proposed weight loss mechanisms associated with the ketogenic diet, though long-term studies are lacking.

May reduce hunger

One of the main weight loss mechanisms related to the keto diet is likely its ability to reduce hunger (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source).

Following the ketogenic diet has been linked to decreased levels of ghrelin, one of your body’s main hunger hormones (6Trusted Source).

Reducing ghrelin levels and hunger can cause you to eat fewer calories throughout the day, which may result in weight loss (6Trusted Source).

In fact, one study in 20 people with obesity following the keto diet associated this way of eating with reduced food and alcohol cravings (7Trusted Source).

Thus, the keto diet may be an effective strategy to regulate your hunger levels, though its long-term safety must be taken into consideration.

Can promote loss of water weight

Another potential weight loss mechanism of the keto diet is the loss of water weight that accompanies the significant reduction in carb intake.

This is because carbs, in their stored form in your body, hold water (8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).

Thus, when you reduce your carb intake, such as during the initiation phase of the keto diet, stored carbs are released along with additional fluid, resulting in weight loss of varying amounts.

Calorie balance

To determine whether the keto diet can aid weight loss, it’s important to review how weight loss is traditionally achieved.

To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn, which is also referred to as a calorie deficit.

One study in 17 men with obesity or excess weight found that the keto diet was associated with a small increase in the number of calories burned. Although, this did not lead to increased body fat losses, compared with a traditional baseline diet (3Trusted Source).

These results suggest that the ketogenic diet is not necessarily superior to a traditional diet for weight loss when calorie intake is matched.

The keto diet’s weight loss effects are therefore much more likely to be a result of reduced calorie intake due to changes in satiety signals associated with high fat, very low carb diets.

The bottom line

The keto diet is a very low carb, high fat diet that has been shown to offer various health benefits, including weight loss.

While the exact weight loss mechanisms associated with this way of eating are still under investigation, it appears that weight loss is caused by a calorie deficit, reduction in hunger levels, and water weight loss.

Keto supplements may reduce hunger and help you get into ketosis more rapidly, though they should not be used to promote weight loss.

While the weight loss benefits of the keto diet may seem promising, it’s important to consider its potential side effects, downsides, and the lack of long-term research on it.

Want more info? Check out the weightloss.blog on Twitter @TheweightlossB.

More people join gyms in January than in any other month. But not all of them will stick around. The International Health, Racquet and Sports Club association (IHRSA) estimates that annual gym attrition rates hover between 20 and 25 percent each year.

So how do you make sure you’re still showing up come August? You find a gym you like, and more importantly, one where you feel comfortable. “From the moment you walk in, it should be about the energy and the experience. Do they greet you? Do the people working out look like they’re having a good time?” asks Jarrod Saracco, a fitness industry consultant with 20 years of experience in the field. “The experience makes or breaks whether a gym keeps you as a member.”

Of course, there are more than 32,150 health clubs in the United States, so choosing the right one can take a little doing. Here are 10 must-know tips to make sure you choose the perfect gym the first time.

Sweat local.
Find a gym close to home. Most people, despite their best intentions, won’t regularly drive more than 15 minutes, says Jim Thomas, a fitness industry consultant. Use Google Maps or another online tool to plot all gyms within a five-mile radius. While you’re scoping out your options, check for easy parking, another potential deterrent to hitting the gym.

Visit at your prime workout time.
Saturday afternoon may be the ideal hour to check out a gym, but is it really when you’re likely to grind out the miles? “Visit at a time when you’re likely to go,” says Thomas. More importantly, cruise by the specific equipment you plan on using. If there’s a line five deep, try another gym.

Ask for gym reciprocity.
“People don’t usually think of this one until they need it,” says Thomas. Some major chains offer locations nationwide; many YMCAs offer reciprocity with other YMCAs, for example. Also, ask if a gym partake’s in IHRSA’s Passport Club. The program gives gym-goers discounted guest rates at participating gyms around the world.

Check for clean machines.
Gyms are germ factories, and keeping things clean takes more than just the nightly cleaning crew swabbing down the floors. A study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine found rhinovirus (cause of the common cold) on 63 percent of the hand-contact surfaces in the gym tested. A professional crew should come daily, but employees should also be wiping down machines throughout the day. While you’re visiting, watch to see whether there’s a strict policy of wiping down everything after use (weights especially). If not, pass on the facility — or come armed with hand sanitizer.

Ask about its emergency plan.
Should you have a cardiac event, you want to be in the gym that’s prepared for it. “Most gyms have staff members trained in CPR, but what you really want is a gym with an AED,” says Thomas. An automated external defibrillator can vastly improve a patient’s chance of surviving a sudden cardiac incident. Make sure the gym as one and has several staff members trained to use it.

Double-check the contract.
In 2008, the Better Business Bureau reported that fitness club complaints had ballooned 90 percent over the previous five years. Contracts were the number one source of complaints. Get all verbal promises in writing, and if you sign up for a contract that automatically charges your card each month, make sure to check your statement to ensure you haven’t been charged any extra fees. Also, make sure you read the fine print and ask about what happens to your contact if the club goes out of business. Finally, know that laws vary from state to state, but generally consumers have three to 10 days to change their minds about a contract.

Invest in your membership.
Put money down on specific training that requires scheduled attendance. “I suggest springing for a paid program, like personal training or a small group program, so that there really is accountability,” says Saracco. “I tell people to think of it as a protection for your investment. If you can see results, you’re going to stick with it.”

Check the culture.
Some gyms don’t allow grunting in the weight room, or they’ve removed equipment for being “too intimidating.” If you like to get primal during your workouts, that may not be a fit for you. “Try and figure out what the gym’s target demographic is,” says Saracco. “You want to be that target.”

Look beyond the deals.
When you’re weighing the costs of potential gyms, it can pay in the long run to sign up for the more expensive option. Bargain gyms often keep members that stop going because the amount of money they pay is so low they don’t take the time to cancel their memberships, says Saracco. “They figure, hey, it’s only this much money, eventually I’ll get back there,” he says. But you can guilt yourself into going by spending just a few dollars more — enough where it feels like it’s a real waste if you don’t make it at least once a week.”

Find a good mix of machines.
When Saracco looks around a gym floor, he takes inventory of whether the machines are all from one company or from multiple vendors. “One company might make a good treadmill, but they probably don’t make the best of every type of equipment. When I see only one brand, I see a guy that got a good deal, not a guy who really wants his users to have the best equipment possible.” Also, ask when the equipment was purchased and when it’s slated for an upgrade.

It used to be that if you ever wanted to be up on the latest fitness topics and learn how to be your best self, you had to pick up a magazine (and risk the papercuts!) or watch late-night infomercials filled with people in leotards. Fortunately, those days are far behind us. Nowadays, you just jump on YouTube to learn about anything and everything, even how really fit people go about living an average day.

Still, YouTube can often feel like the Wild West. Everyone thinks they’re the go-to for fitness information or motivation. Only a few have successfully built this name for themselves through the combination of relatability, superb information, and basically just being all-around inspiring.

I’ve scoured all of YouTube to find some of the best fitness YouTubers, and after many debates and arm-wrestling matches, I’ve come up with this list of three fitness YouTubers that offer safe and reliable fitness advice.

1. Scott Herman Fitness

Scott Herman Fitness is here to help you reach your goals. Whether you want to gain muscle, lose fat, increase your strength, or do some endurance training, Scott has something for you. He knows his stuff, focuses on form and always has great variations on old favorites to keep things interesting. You just have to get past the thick Boston accent.
Frequency 2 videos / week
Since 2009

2. Athlean X

If you want to look like an athlete, you have to train like an athlete. Get Exact Sets, Reps, Strategies, Workouts, and Nutrition To Reach Your Goals. All Natural Ingredients. No Proprietary Blends. 20 – 40 Minute Workouts. 60 Unique Workouts. Sustained Energy. 24/7 Workout Support.
Frequency 2 videos / week
Since 2015

3. Buff Dudes

Want to get huge and stay that way in the shortest time possible? Buff Dudes has you covered. It’s two brothers, showing the ways to ascend the altars of Brodin, God of Swoleness, with a bunch of humor peppered in here and there to keep things light and digestible, unlike your morning protein shake.
Frequency 2 videos / week
Since  2014