When you first start a keto diet, it’s absolutely essential that you figure out exactly what foods to eat, what foods to avoid, and how much to eat to ensure you actually get into ketosis. Keto beginners spend a lot of time learning about carb counts, fats, protein, and calories. It is absolutely recommended that you track your macros so you have a good base of knowledge about the quantities of these nutrients found in foods to get you started.
For some people, they are happy to continue tracking their macros continuously to ensure that they are moving in the right direction, or staying consistent in their keto lifestyle. Weighing, measuring, and tracking has become a normal part of their routine and they’re quite content to continue on this past. But for most people who have been doing keto for a while, this level of meticulous dedication fizzles out. It feels tedious, and even a bit redundant because they’ve tracked the same meals so many times they know it works well for their body, and weight loss or maintenance goals. They have switched to a more intuitive approach to their keto lifestyle.
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WHAT IS A KETO DIET?
The ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat diet that involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction of carbs (generally below 20-25g net carbs per day) puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
WHAT IS INTUITIVE EATING?
Intuitive eating is essentially the opposite of a traditional “diet”. It is an eating style that suggests you should eat any type of food you want, but only when you’re hungry and to stop when you’re full. It was developed by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch back in 1995.
There are 10 key principles to Intuitive Eating:
Reject the diet mentality
Honour your hunger
Make peace with food
Challenge the food police
Respect your fullness
Discover satisfaction
Honour your feelings without food
Respect your body
Exercise
Honour your health
It is also essential that you fully address and understand your own differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
Physical Hunger - the biological urge to replenish nutrients
Builds gradually
Signals include growling stomach, fatigue, irritability
Satisfied and ends once you’ve eaten food
Emotional hunger - driven by our emotional needs
Cravings arise out of emotional states such as sadness, loneliness and boredom
Signals start in the brain
Often only crave foods that bring you comfort (high fat, sugar, etc)
Eating often causes guilt, regret or self-loathing
CAN YOU DO KETO & INTUITIVE EATING AT THE SAME TIME?
There is clearly a contradiction between being on a “keto diet” and “intuitive eating”. By definition you can’t be on any form of diet and be considered to be Intuitive Eating. It’s just not possible based on the fact that keto inherently limits carbohydrates and eliminates sugar so you can’t fully listen to just your intuition sometimes. When that urge to eat pasta, white bread, sweets, or even a banana you technically can’t eat that and comply with being ketogenic.
There IS, however, a difference between “Intuitive Eating” the anti-diet, and eating intuitively where you rely on your own body’s intuition and hunger cues to navigate your keto lifestyle.
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WHAT IS INTUITIVE KETO?
While not exactly a technical term, many people who have been on a keto diet for quite some time will have transitioned into a more “intuitive keto” lifestyle.
This is essentially focusing on eating keto foods, without all the micromanaging of tracking macros or weighing/measuring their food. The basic principles are:
Eat mostly animal products, nuts, seeds, vegetables, healthy fats, etc
Eat when hungry, not specifically sticking to an eating window
Allow hunger to guide how much or little they will eat that day
No tracking macros
CAN YOU DO INTUITIVE KETO AND LOSE WEIGHT?
Maybe, but maybe not. In order to lose weight we need to be in a caloric deficit and burn more calories than we consume. It can be difficult to intuitively know how much our body is burning compared to what we are eating based on our intuition alone.
In fact, some people claim that it isn’t possible because “feeling hungry” at times is necessary for weight loss as you decrease your caloric intake. But if you’re eating intuitively and listening to your hunger cues only, you will constantly be eating during these times and not allowing your body to adjust to your new calorie intake. Intentional weight loss efforts generally involve overriding your physical body cues at times by eating specific set amounts.
There are also people who may struggle to eat enough due to the highly satiating quality of foods on a ketogenic diet. If you’re going off hunger cues and intuition alone, you may not feel hungry and consistently under-eat which is dangerous and can wreak havoc on your metabolism and normal bodily functions.
WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM INTUITIVE KETO?
That totally depends on what your goals are! This approach is best for people who want a more flexible approach, don’t want to overthink everything, don’t mind if some days are more low carb, and aren’t concerned with being in ketosis all the time.
Intuitive keto is ideal for people who are transitioning away from “keto weight loss mode” and entering “keto maintenance mode” in their journey. It has no correlation to a particular number on the scale or goal weight. If you’re happy, healthy, and feeling good in your skin that can be enough to move away from tracking and into a more intuitive style of eating.
You can also take a “diet break” if you’re feeling mentally bogged down by the tedious task of tracking, weighing and measuring everything you eat. This is where an intuitive approach can help release some of that pressure by just simply eating keto-friendly foods and listening to your hunger cues. You can always go back to tracking again if you feel that this approach is causing you to gain weight. Or you may just realize that this is a better balance even if it means you’re up a few pounds on the scale because it feels like something you can actually maintain long term.
PROS & CONS OF INTUITIVE KETO vs STANDARD KETO
Pros
No food tracking, less time consuming
Eating more mindfully can allow you to re-build trust with your body’s own signals
“Dieting” isn’t great for those who have struggled with unhealthy eating behaviours in the past
Thinking less about food can free up mental space for other things
Cons
Can make it difficult to lose weight
May kick you out of ketosis more often
Relies entirely on your ability to listen to your hunger to know when to stop eating
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TIPS FOR INTUITIVE KETO
Lean Into Your Why
Maybe you want to follow a keto diet for the sole purpose of weight loss. But WHY? Dig deeper than the superficial to find a more long term motivator. In what ways would your life change when you lose the weight?
Get Off The Scale
Focus on how your body feels as you’re nourishing it mindfully with proper keto nutrition. Success is more about making behavioural changes and lifestyle adjustments that you can maintain long term. The number on the scale is not the only way to measure progress when you’re living a more intuitive keto lifestyle. As your body gets healthier, weight loss tends to follow.
Listen To Your Hunger Cues
Since you won’t be tracking macros to ensure you’re eating the right amount of food, it is important to really hone in on your hunger cues to guide you. Pay close attention to true hunger which usually starts in your stomach and moves upwards, and always stop eating when you feel physically full. This can be challenging if you have a history of overeating, mindless eating, or binge eating certain foods. There are many Hunger Scales you can find online that can help guide you through what sensations to be aware of as you practice a more mindful approach.
Practice Mindful Eating
It’s essential to intuitive keto that you practice being more mindful around meal times. Be sure to slow down, chew your food, and eat without any other distractions. This will also help raise your awareness of your hunger cues. Make a list of foods that you enjoy, are easy to prepare, and that you tend to eat in appropriate amounts so you can include them more frequently. Focus on whole, nutrient dense foods that are full of healthy fats and protein to nourish your body. Minimize the use of keto products, as they are easy to overeat and may disrupt your hunger signals.
Track Outcomes, Not Macros
Keeping track of all the positive benefits and changes you notice is a great way to measure your overall health and happiness. Do you have more energy? Are you taking less medication? How are you sleeping? Do your clothes fit better? Are your health markers with your doctor improving? These are all bigger picture benefits of living a keto lifestyle than a number on the scale any day.
There is no right or wrong way to follow a ketogenic diet. It mainly depends on what your goals are, and what you truly feel like you can achieve long-term. It is also absolutely fine if those tools shift and change as you move along in your keto journey! You can always try something new to see if it works, and experiment with different approaches to find what’s best for you physically, mentally and emotionally. Focus on your overall health and wellbeing, not just weight loss and the number on the scale. If you’d like any additional support moving forward with an intuitive keto lifestyle click here to learn more about how Keto Success Coaching can help!
