Keto Diet: Can It Really Drop Pounds For You? Dietitians Give You The Do’s & Don’t’s

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Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels recently slammed the Keto Diet as unhealthy. But lots of celebs swear by it, so we had to know more. Find out how to lose weight on the Keto diet safely, here!

Jillian Michaels recently came out swinging against the ketogenic diet, AKA the Keto Diet. “I don’t understand. Like, why would anyone think this is a good idea,” the 44-year-old trainer said in a Women’s Health video. Although Jillian, who says a “balanced diet is key”,  makes some great points in her takedown of the diet, it’s hard to ignore all the celebrities that are fans. Jenna Jameson, 44, lost 60 pounds on it. Kim Kardashian, 38, credits Keto for her rocking bod. And Halle Berry claims Keto is one of the big reasons she still has her “Bond Girl” body at age 51. So is this diet too dangerous to try? According to two diet experts we spoke to the Keto Diet can be done safely — as long as you don’t use it as an excuse to overeat meat and animal fats.

Certified holistic health coach Kristin Kilmer tell HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, “I agree with Jillian Michaels, in that the key to optimal health and weight loss is a balanced diet.  With Keto people tend to eat too much meat and animal fats a lot of the time. So while I am not against Keto at all,  I do caution people doing Keto to avoid the coming trap of eating too much meat and animal fat. A healthy Keto diet should focus on healthy fats, lots of veggies and only 2 – 4 ounces of meat per day in my opinion.” Carly Jane Winter, ketogenic dietitian, who lost an incredible 76 pounds in just eight months, echoes the sentiment telling HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that the most common misconception about the Keto Diet is that it’s all about animal fat. “People may think that it’s an unhealthy diet of just meat and cheese, that’s a common misconception, but that’s totally wrong. I have so many green veggies in my diet and it’s 100 percent a must.” Now that we know it’s not all bacon and cheese, this diet does sound a lot more sustainable.

If you do decided to go Keto it’s important to know that getting a lot of fat is important but according to our two experts it’s all about the type of fat you choose. “The proper Keto diet is not a high protein diet where one just consumes a lot of bacon and fatty meats,” explains Kilmer, “it’s healthy fats and mainly from plants: coconut oil, avocado, nuts and seeds.

Proper Keto does have some carbs in the from of vegetables and encourages lots of vegetables. It is recommended to avoid grains and beans on The Keto diet, as they contain lectins which cause inflammation that holds on to fat. However you can still eat carbs but choose sweet potatoes and starchy vegetables such as carrots and Brussels sprouts.”

Ready to jump onto the Keto bandwagon? Winter, who is an expert on going Keto shared her top five tips for making it as easy as possible. “First off, do as much research as you can so you are armed with all of the information you need, it’s not a simple diet, it’s an effective one. Then my second tip is to write yourself a shopping list and keep things super simple to begin with, I wouldn’t advise complicated recipes until you have your head around how it all works. Third, find yourself a keto macro calculator online, and stick to those macros for optimal weight loss. The fourth tip is very important, you must take your electrolytes as the ketogenic diet is very diuretic, you must replace those lost nutrients or you risk getting ‘keto flu. And finally, while it’s important to stay within your macros, if you are particularly hungry, then eat!!! It’s better to fill yourself up with keto foods than run the risk of caving into sugar!”

If you’re like us and not exactly sure what the heck “macro’s” are, have no fear because according to Winter, it’s not that complicated. “Macro’s are how much fat/protein/carbs you should eat, as general rule it should be 75% fat 25% protein and 5% carbs. There are a lot of free macro calculators online, and once you’ve calculated your own, it’s best to use a food tracking app and input your macros into it, which in turn will make staying within your macros so much simpler!” Okay, now we get it.

Before you try Hollywood’s latest diet craze it’s important to note that this diet may not be for everyone. “Keto can be sustainable long-term to reduce inflammation, auto immune conditions and to continue weight loss, but its not for every person,” warns Kilmer, “It depends on what we call, bio-individuality. What works for some people does not work for everyone.” Makes sense to us.