The strategies for losing weight are endless and a quick search for weight loss info will yield thousands of options, from fasting to fad diets to keto diet plans.
Each fat loss approach can cause the numbers on the scale to plummet, but how will you prevent them from going back up in the long run?
Most of us will start strong on our new diet plan when hope and motivation are running the show. A few months later, however, the struggles begin to accumulate until no amount of willpower can keep us on our diet.
This pattern of short-term success followed by long-term weight regain is not unique to you or anyone who has tried to lose weight: It is what normally happens.
Long-term weight loss studies continuously find that most people are not able to maintain the diet that allowed them to lose weight. This is true for every diet from keto to low-fat.
In their recent review of the weight loss literature prominent diet researchers, Freedhoff and Hall, summed up one of the critical issues with dieting in this way:
“ … no diet has yet been shown to be uniformly easier to stick with than another in the long run.”
If another diet, 30-day diet plan, cleanse, or any other short-term weight loss option is not the answer, then what is?
We will attempt to provide you with a comprehensive answer to this question with the following five keto diet hacks for weight loss. These hacks will not only promote fast fat loss, but they will help you keep the fat off in the long run as well.
1. Set Realistic Weight Loss Goals
One thing that makes dieting more difficult than it has to be is setting unrealistic expectations. When searching for keto diet weight loss results, you’ll see incredible transformations that fill you with hope and inspiration.
What you don’t see is the struggles, strategies, and subtle changes behind the seemingly miraculous results. Almost everything you read about the diet indicates that keto causes rapid fat loss, so this must mean you are doing something wrong.
- Is it hidden net carbs?
- Should I eat more fat?
- Do I need to buy ketone supplements?
- Should I be in higher levels of ketosis?
If your primary goal is to lose weight and keep it off, the answer to these questions is almost always going to be “no.” Chasing these smaller keto diet pieces before you establish a sustainable dietary approach will only lead to confusion and disappointment.
This is why the first weight loss hack is to get more realistic, not strict.
Here are some suggestions that will help you implement this helpful hack:
- Compare your current self to your past self, not others. Although it can be inspiring to see incredible keto results, this can also feed unrealistic expectations and cause future disappointment. Instead of relying on inspiration and willpower to get you through the diet, focus on setting up your lifestyle, environment, and habits in a way that makes weight loss natural. We will discover how to do this in the next four keto diet hacks.
- Slow and steady wins the weight loss maintenance marathon. When we force our bodies into faster fat loss, our results become much harder to maintain in the long run. A healthier, sustainable, and more realistic goal to aim for is 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss per week.
- Track your progress regularly, but not too often. Your weight will naturally vary from day to day. To get a more accurate picture of what your weight loss rate, track your weight and waist circumference every 1 to 2 weeks. If your results aren’t trending in the right direction after a month (as indicated by a decrease in weight and waist circumference), focus on adjusting your food intake in a way that is sustainable for you. Losing weight too fast? Have slightly bigger portions or add a keto snack to your day. Losing weight too slowly? Try decreasing calorie intake by using some of the strategies found throughout this article.
Does this mean you have to track calories? No, not necessarily. There are many tools that can help you lose weight and keep it off, and tracking calories is just one of them. If measuring your food and quantifying everything that enters your mouth is not sustainable for you, then focus on implementing the other four keto diet hacks.