"It Works for Me": What That Should Mean on Keto, and Why Protein Comes Second

2018-04-24

In this recording

A 48-minute Live for the Keto Basic group. I announced it as "a short one". The file is dated 2018-04-24, but what I talk about (the holidays, a January reintroduction, the Eagles going to the Super Bowl) puts the recording in early 2018. It was never posted to YouTube.

[0:01] "It works for me" usually defends nonsense. Someone loses weight on high fat and too little protein, and can't say whether it was fat or muscle.
[1:03] Being happier with your look or lifting more doesn't prove you kept muscle. Those are scale results.
[1:56] What it should mean: the keto style that fits you. Same five foods every day, or lots of variety and keto-fied recipes.
[3:18] Be realistic about the results you compare yourself with: a trainer, repetitive meals, an expensive grocery bill.
[4:20] You don't need grass-fed butter or MCT oil. You can do keto cheaply at Walmart or Aldi.
[4:54] Fathead pizza and keto baking are more maintenance food. At my weight-loss calories, around 1,100 a day, every food choice matters more.
[7:09] The order: carbs first, then protein. I said protein is the most satiating nutrient, calorie for calorie.
[7:42] You need protein even if you don't train. Your heart and diaphragm work every day.
[8:12] The math: about 100 g protein (400 kcal) and 50 g total carbs (200 kcal) leaves fat as the only place to save on an 1,100-calorie day.
[9:05] Protein-to-fat ratios: chicken breast about 10 to 1, sirloin about 3 to 1, burger, eggs and bacon about 1 to 1, ribeye fattier still.
[11:03] Doing stall breaker over the holidays, I made progress but started getting scale-obsessed and missed easy foods like pork rinds.
[13:13] The labor-camp line: nobody is the exception to eating less. Rare genetic cases exist, but they're rare.
[14:33] Food logs. I said studies show even trained dietitians under-report what they eat. If you track 900 calories, you're probably eating more.
[16:57] Vitamins and minerals. If you need to lose 30 or 40 pounds, the weight may be the bigger threat for a few months. If you won't eat vegetables, lean on supplements.
[20:41] My own plan for 2018: a reintroduction after holiday cheats, holding my weight while I got settled, then a slow cut toward a fight weight.
[25:15] Rib eye and cheese still help most people more than other diets do. Leaner protein and tracking are the next step if you want faster loss.
[27:07] Bored of lean chicken? Have a maintenance day. One delicious on-plan meal won't undo fat adaptation.
[28:43] For faster loss: chicken, tuna, white fish, pork chops. Read the protein-to-fat ratio on the label.
[33:49] The order of operations: control carbs, hit protein, then trim fat, then consider vitamins and minerals.
[37:33] Housekeeping: plans for a separate life-strategy group, and clearing old obligations.
[40:13] Technique over recipes. I'd been watching Thomas Keller talk about it.
[41:49] Tired of taking food off your plate? Add a 30-minute walk a few times a week, or bodyweight squats.
[44:29] A request for YouTube watch time and subscribers, and my Amazon wish list.

Watching this in 2026

I like the reframe. "It works for me" should mean you picked the style of keto you can keep up, not that your body is an exception to energy balance. The order I gave at [33:49] (carbs, protein, then fat, then micronutrients) is still the cleanest way I know to explain keto for weight loss.

Two things I wouldn't say the same way. The labor-camp line makes the point, but it's a brutal image to aim at people who already feel judged about food. And I made a claim about how badly dietitians under-report their food, with a specific percentage. That study isn't on the evidence pages I use now, so I'm leaving the figure out. The direction is right: most of us log less than we eat.

The claim worth unpacking: "protein is the most satiating nutrient"

This one holds up well.

Reviews by Westerterp-Plantenga et al. (2009) and Paddon-Jones et al. (2008) report that protein increases satiety and helps keep lean mass when you're eating less.
In Weigle et al., 2005, raising protein from 15% to 30% of energy, with carbs held constant, led 19 adults to eat 441 fewer calories a day without being told to. They lost 4.9 kg over 12 weeks.
Across 24 trials and 1,063 people (Wycherley et al., 2012), energy-restricted high-protein diets gave modestly more weight and fat loss and less loss of fat-free mass.
Leidy et al. (2015) associated about 1.2–1.6 g/kg a day, with about 25–30 g per meal, with better appetite control and weight management.

On my opening worry, losing muscle on low protein: in older adults, Houston et al. (2008) followed 2,066 people aged 70–79 for three years. The highest protein quintile lost about 40% less lean mass than the lowest. That's a big part of why "it works for me" on a low-protein, high-fat plan worries me for anyone getting older.

Then vs now

Fat: in 2017 I told beginners to count only carbs in month one and eat fat to fullness (video DoSUgIr2rNo). Here, once you're adapted, fat is the lever you pull back. That's where I landed by my 2018 basics video too (video UygKGoP_BtA).
Money: this Live ends with a request for watch time so I could monetise YouTube, plus a wish list. I wouldn't put that at the end of a nutrition talk now.

Who should be careful with the calorie talk

I talked about days around 1,100 calories, and said clearly I wasn't telling anyone to go under 1,000. If you have a history of an eating disorder, involve your doctor or therapist before cutting. If you take diabetes or blood pressure medication, tell your doctor before you change how you eat, because cutting carbs can change what you need.

Key points

"It works for me" should describe the style of keto that fits your life, not an exception to energy balance.
Order of operations: control carbs, hit protein, trim fat if you want faster loss, then look at micronutrients.
Protein is satiating and protects lean mass (Weigle 2005, Wycherley 2012).
Lean sources (chicken, white fish, tuna) hit protein targets with far fewer calories.
Food logs usually undercount. Build in some buffer before deciding you're the exception.

Guide: protein and satiety · how much protein · eating too much fat · hidden calories · tracking · vitamins · eating disorders
Blog: does protein help weight loss? · hit your protein goal · keto on a budget · macro calculator accuracy · nutrient shortfalls · does lazy keto work?
Videos: keto basics for beginners · what is lazy keto? · eating too much fat · do calories still matter?