If you've been following me for any length of time, you'll know I'm all about making healthy food that actually tastes brilliant — without spending hours obsessing over numbers. Calorie-conscious cooking has always been my thing, and I genuinely enjoy creating recipes that prove eating well doesn't have to feel like punishment. But lately, a question keeps popping up in my comments and DMs: "Latoyah, what do you think about keto?" Enough of you have asked that I thought it deserved a proper, honest look. So here it is — my take on how keto compares to calorie counting, what actually works, and whether the two approaches are as different as people think.
What is the keto diet and how is it different?
Calorie counting and keto both aim at the same destination — feeling healthier, managing your weight, having more energy — but they take completely different roads to get there.
Calorie counting is straightforward maths. You work out how much energy your body uses in a day, then eat slightly less than that. It doesn't particularly care what you eat — a calorie is a calorie, whether it comes from chicken breast or chocolate biscuits. In practice, most calorie counters gravitate towards lower-fat foods because fat is calorie-dense, which means smaller portions.
Keto flips that logic entirely. Instead of reducing total energy, it changes the type of fuel your body runs on. By cutting carbohydrates down to roughly 20-50g per day and replacing them with fat, the body enters a metabolic state called ketosis — burning fat for energy instead of glucose. You're not necessarily eating less food; you're eating fundamentally different food.
Neither approach is wrong. They simply work through different mechanisms, and what suits one person brilliantly might frustrate someone else completely.
Why some people are switching to keto
The most common reason I hear from friends who've gone keto? They stopped feeling hungry all the time. That might sound dramatic, but it makes biological sense. Fat and protein are far more satiating than carbohydrates — they keep you fuller for longer, which means less snacking, fewer cravings, and none of those 3pm energy crashes where you'd genuinely fight someone for a biscuit.
For people who found calorie counting exhausting — the weighing, the logging, the constant mental arithmetic — keto can feel liberating. There's no app telling you you've got 87 calories left for dinner. Instead, you focus on keeping carbs low and eating whole, unprocessed foods until you're satisfied.
There's also the fact that keto allows foods most calorie counters would never touch. Butter on everything. Full-fat cheese. Ribeye steaks. Avocado by the half. For anyone who spent years eating low-fat spread and dry chicken, that shift can feel almost rebellious.
With specialist keto retailers like BeKeto now delivering across the UK, the practical barriers that once put people off are largely gone. The diet has become much more accessible than it was even two or three years ago.
The biggest challenge: finding keto products in the UK
One thing I've noticed chatting to friends who follow keto is that finding the right products in UK shops is genuinely difficult. Walk into any supermarket and you'll find entire aisles dedicated to low-fat and calorie-counted options — Slimming World meals, Weight Watchers snacks, low-calorie ready meals. But try finding bread that's actually low carb, or pasta that won't spike your blood sugar? Much harder.
The hardest thing for keto beginners to replace is bread and pasta — they're in almost every meal. But there are now specialist shops online that stock keto-friendly breads made with almond flour, coconut flour, and other low-carb ingredients that genuinely taste good. It's a game changer for anyone who thought going keto meant giving up toast forever.
Beyond bread, the gaps are noticeable across the board. MCT oil — a staple fat source for keto followers — barely exists on supermarket shelves. Electrolyte supplements formulated without sugar are another blind spot. Even something as simple as finding snack bars with under 3g of net carbs requires an online search rather than a trip to Tesco.
It's worth saying: if you're a calorie counter, the UK high street has your back. If you're keto, you'll need to look beyond it. That's not a criticism of either approach — it's just the reality of how British retailers currently stock their shelves.
Keto-friendly swaps for your favourite recipes
This is where it gets fun, and where my recipe brain starts ticking. Most of the meals we all love can be adapted for keto with a few clever ingredient swaps. You don't need to learn an entirely new way of cooking — you just need different building blocks.
Plain flour → almond flour or coconut flour. Almond flour works beautifully in baking — pancakes, muffins, even pizza bases. Coconut flour absorbs more liquid, so you'll need less of it, but it gives a lovely light texture to cakes and breads.
White rice → cauliflower rice. Grate a cauliflower, fry it lightly in butter or coconut oil, and you'd be amazed how well it works under a curry or alongside a stir-fry. It's not identical, but it's genuinely satisfying.
Regular pasta → courgetti or keto pasta. Spiralised courgette is a classic swap, though specialist keto pastas have come a long way recently and hold up much better in baked dishes.
Low-calorie cooking spray → coconut oil or butter. On keto, fat is your friend. A tablespoon of coconut oil adds flavour and helps you hit your macros — no more dry pans.
Standard bread → keto bread. This one makes the biggest everyday difference. A proper keto loaf means sandwiches, toast, and even the occasional chip butty are back on the table.
Many of these specialist ingredients — almond flour, coconut oil, MCT oil — are hard to find at the right quality in supermarkets. Shops like BeKeto stock them all in one place, which takes the hassle out of experimenting.
Can you combine both approaches?
Here's something that might interest those of you already comfortable with calorie counting: the two approaches aren't mutually exclusive. Some people follow what's sometimes called "keto with calorie awareness" — keeping carbs very low to stay in ketosis while still paying attention to overall portions and energy intake.
If you already understand macros and are used to tracking what you eat, this hybrid approach might feel natural. You'd simply shift your macro split from the typical high-carb, low-fat balance towards high-fat, low-carb — while keeping an eye on total intake to match your goals.
It's not for everyone, and it does require a bit more attention than either approach alone. But for people who like structure and data, combining the metabolic benefits of ketosis with the accountability of calorie tracking can be genuinely effective.
My honest thoughts
I'll be honest — I'm not switching to keto anytime soon. I love my calorie-conscious approach and it works well for me and my family. But I completely understand why it appeals to so many people, and I've seen friends get amazing results with it. The mental clarity they describe, the reduced hunger, the freedom from constant calorie maths — those are real benefits that I wouldn't dismiss.
What matters most, and I'll always stand by this, is finding an approach you can actually maintain. The "best" diet is the one you stick with, enjoy, and that fits around your real life — not a theoretical ideal you abandon after three miserable weeks.
If you're curious about giving keto a try, my advice would be to start with snacks rather than changing entire meals. Browse a specialist shop like BeKeto to see what's available — you might be surprised how many keto-friendly treats there are now. Start small, see how you feel, and go from there.
And whatever you choose, keep cooking from scratch as much as you can. That's the one piece of advice that works across every single dietary approach — and it's something this community already does brilliantly. ?
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