How I Changed My Mind About Keto: Bill Jones on Weight Loss, Bodybuilding and the Power of a Low-Carb Diet
For most of my life, I have been involved in bodybuilding. I have seen countless diets come and go, from low-fat diets and calorie counting to meal-replacement programmes and various forms of fasting. In the article Bill Jones on Weight Loss, I will discuss what I have learned.
Some worked for a while. Many did not.
And if I am being completely honest, I initially had my doubts about the ketogenic diet too.
Like many people involved in bodybuilding, I had been brought up with the idea that carbohydrates were important for training, that dietary fat needed to be controlled and that a bodybuilder’s diet should revolve around relatively frequent meals and plenty of protein.
Then I started seeing what was happening with some of our members.
People were losing significant amounts of weight. They were finding it easier to control their appetite. They were eating fewer meals without constantly feeling hungry. And, importantly, they were achieving results that they could actually maintain. Indeed, some Gym 21 members were training like Trojans on an empty stomach – and even in the midst of intermittent fasting!
That made me take another look.
Why Do People Go to the Gym?
People join a gym for all sorts of reasons.
Some want to build muscle. Some want to become stronger. Others want to improve their fitness, confidence or mental wellbeing.
But there is one reason that brings a huge number of people through the doors:
To lose weight!
For many people, losing excess body fat is the first step towards becoming healthier and more active. The problem is that people are often given the impression that they can simply exercise their way out of a poor diet.
That is rarely the most effective approach.
Exercise Is Important – But Diet Does the Heavy Lifting
There is a popular saying that weight loss is “80 per cent diet and 20 per cent exercise”. The exact percentages should not be treated as scientific measurements because the contribution varies considerably between individuals.
However, the underlying principle is sound: what you eat has a much greater influence on your ability to lose weight than most people realise.
You can spend an hour in the gym and burn a relatively modest number of calories. It is remarkably easy to consume those calories again afterwards.
That does not make exercise unimportant.
Far from it.
Strength training helps preserve and develop muscle, while physical activity improves fitness, mobility and mental wellbeing. But if significant fat loss is the objective, nutrition has to be addressed as well.
The Old Weight-Loss Methods
Over the years, I have watched people try almost everything.
Low-calorie diets.
Low-fat diets.
Meal-replacement shakes.
Very small portions.
Six small meals a day.
Constant calorie counting.
And, of course, the inevitable cycle of losing weight, becoming hungry, giving up and eventually putting the weight back on.
The problem with many traditional diets is not necessarily that they cannot produce weight loss. They can.
The problem is sustainability.
If you spend months feeling hungry and deprived, eventually you are likely to want to return to your old eating habits.
That is where I believe the ketogenic diet can be very different.
Why I Eventually Warmed to Keto
The ketogenic diet dramatically reduces carbohydrate intake and replaces much of that energy with fat, while maintaining adequate protein.
The aim is to move the body towards nutritional ketosis, where fat and ketones become important sources of energy.
What particularly interested me was not simply the theory behind ketosis. It was watching real people use the approach successfully.
People who had struggled with conventional diets were suddenly saying things like:
“I’m not hungry all the time.”
That matters.
A weight-loss diet that allows someone to control appetite and reduce unnecessary eating can be considerably easier to maintain than one based on constantly fighting hunger.
Recent research continues to find that ketogenic and low-carbohydrate diets can produce meaningful reductions in body weight and body fat, although individual responses and long-term adherence vary.
Fewer Meals Can Make Keto Even Simpler
This is another area where keto can challenge conventional thinking.
We have spent years being told that we should eat frequently to “keep the metabolism going”.
But you do not necessarily need to eat five or six times a day to lose weight.
Some people find that a ketogenic diet naturally makes it easier to reduce their eating window. Instead of constantly thinking about the next snack or meal, they may comfortably eat two substantial meals a day.
For some, one meal a day can become their preferred approach.
That is essentially where intermittent fasting enters the picture.
Time-restricted eating and other intermittent-fasting approaches have been shown to produce weight loss, although they are not magic and their benefits appear to be largely related to reduced energy intake and improved adherence.
The attraction is simplicity.
If you are not hungry, why automatically eat simply because the clock says it is lunchtime?
But What About Cholesterol?
This is where the ketogenic diet really challenged some of my old thinking.
For years, fat was treated almost as though it were the enemy.
Then came the message that cholesterol was dangerous and that foods containing fat should be restricted.
We now understand that the subject is considerably more complicated.
There are different types of cholesterol and different types of dietary fat. LDL cholesterol is an important cardiovascular risk factor, and people with elevated cardiovascular risk may be advised by their doctor to take a statin. Statins have strong evidence for reducing cardiovascular events in appropriate patients.
So I would never tell somebody to ignore their blood tests or stop prescribed medication because they have started eating keto.
That is a decision for the individual and their doctor.
What I would say is that “fat is bad” is far too simplistic.
Low Fat Does Not Automatically Mean Healthy
This was one of the biggest changes in my thinking.
The body needs dietary fat. Fat provides essential fatty acids and helps the body absorb vitamins A, D and E.
The important question is not simply:
“How much fat are you eating?”
It is:
“What type of fat are you eating?”
There is an enormous difference between eating nutritious foods containing beneficial unsaturated fats and building a diet around highly processed foods simply because they are labelled “low fat”.
Olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds are examples of foods rich in unsaturated fats. These fats have an important place in a healthy diet.
A ketogenic diet therefore should not mean eating unlimited bacon, butter and processed meat and calling it healthy.
Quality still matters.
The Keto Problem for Bodybuilders
There is an obvious elephant in the room.
Traditional bodybuilding competitions are largely about maximising muscular development, conditioning and presentation. Competitive bodybuilders have historically relied heavily on structured carbohydrate intake to support demanding training.
So keto can appear to fly directly in the face of bodybuilding convention.
But here is something worth remembering:
How many people walking into a commercial gym are actually preparing for a bodybuilding competition?
A very small proportion.
Most people who join a gym are not trying to step on stage. They want to lose fat, build some muscle, look better in their clothes, feel healthier and enjoy a better quality of life.
For that enormous group of people, the diet does not have to be designed for a bodybuilding stage.
It has to be sustainable in real life.
Where the Gym Still Fits In
None of this means I believe diet replaces exercise.
Quite the opposite.
If you are losing weight, resistance training becomes particularly valuable because you want to maintain as much lean muscle as possible while reducing body fat.
The gym also provides benefits that have nothing to do with the number on the scales.
Training can improve strength, mobility, confidence and mental wellbeing. It gives people a routine, a purpose and somewhere to go where they can concentrate on themselves.
That is why I still believe the combination of sensible nutrition and regular resistance training is so powerful.
What Changed My Mind?
Ultimately, it was not a fashionable diet book or an internet influencer.
It was results.
I saw members lose substantial amounts of weight using a ketogenic approach. I saw people who had struggled with conventional diets become more comfortable with eating less frequently. And I saw the simplicity of the approach make a difference to people who had previously found dieting difficult.
That made me reconsider what I thought I knew.
I am still a bodybuilder. I still believe in hard training, discipline and building muscle.
But I also recognise that bodybuilding principles should not automatically be imposed on everyone who walks through a gym door.
For the competitive bodybuilder, the nutritional requirements may be very different, but ask yourself one question – are you competing in the Olympia next year?
For someone who simply wants to lose 30, 40 or 50 pounds of excess weight and keep it off, a sustainable ketogenic diet combined with sensible meal timing and resistance training may be a very different proposition.
And that, ultimately, is why I changed my mind about keto.
Bill Jones Mr Universe may be associated with competitive bodybuilding, but decades of experience have taught me that the best approach is not necessarily the one that works for a bodybuilding stage.
It is the one that works for the individual standing in front of you.
If you liked this article, you may also like this one named benefits of a wholefood diet and also this one named strength training for longevity (from the Bill Jones Mr Universe website.)
Bill Jones has spent decades helping people of all ages become stronger, healthier and more confident through sensible, consistent bodybuilding. The principles discussed in this article (Bill Jones on Weight Loss) reflect the training philosophy that has made Gym 21 one of Liverpool’s best-known independent gyms.
The article ‘Bill Jones on Weight Loss’ was written and first published on behalf of Bill Jones Mr Universe on Monday 24th August 2026 at 21:00 and is subject to copyright – All Rights are Reserved.
If you have a medical condition, take prescribed medication or are considering a significant change to your diet, speak to your GP or an appropriately qualified healthcare professional before making major changes. In particular, prescribed medication should never be stopped or altered without medical advice.
Finally, if you have any questions or need advice about succeeding in losing weight (for good!) speak to Paul or Mike at the desk and tell them you saw the article ‘Bill Jones on Weight Loss’ and we can help you.
All the best guys!