Intuitive Eating and Keto

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:

1. Reject the diet mentality

2. Honour your hunger

3. Make peace with food

4. Challenge the food police

5. Respect your fullness

6. Discover satisfaction 

7. Honour your feelings without food

8. Respect your body

9. Exercise

10. 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!

KETO WEIGHT LOSS & BODY IMAGE

So you’ve started a ketogenic diet, and are seeing better results than you ever have before. You’re finally losing weight while eating foods you enjoy, and it feels like something you can actually stick to this time. The weight comes off pretty quickly too, which helps keep you motivated to keep going!

Pretty soon you can barely recognize the person in the mirror. You’ve achieved results beyond what you even thought was possible, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by all your family and friends. They’re praising you with compliments for your new smaller frame, and want to know the secret to how you’ve achieved such dramatic results. They assume you MUST be so much happier and healthier since losing the weight.

But there’s a catch. You don’t always see what they see when you look in the mirror. Logically you know that you’ve lost weight, but you still see your former, larger body in the reflection. You’ve put in all the work to lose the weight with keto, but your brain hasn’t quite caught up.

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Our body image refers to how we perceive ourselves and our bodies visually. It includes how we talk and think to ourselves (and to others) about our bodies, how we think others view our bodies, and our level of connectedness to our bodies.

No matter what the scale says, adjusting to a new body size can do a number on our self esteem. For some people, body image can become a big preoccupation especially if you view yourself as being outside the “norm” in terms of your body type, weight, or have newly developed stretch marks or loose skin from your weight loss.

There are many factors that can influence your body image including:

• Comments about your appearance (good or bad)

• How often you compare yourself to others

• Exposure to the media (photoshopped or idealized images vs “normal” bodies)

• Experiencing discrimination based on your appearance

• Ideals you develop about your appearance from a young age

Any of these factors or more can have an effect on how you view your body before, during, and after keto weight loss. 

Developing and fostering a negative body image can affect your mental and physical health and may increase the chances of:

• Developing anxiety or depression

• Having trouble concentrating

• Avoiding social situations

• Avoiding physical activities

• Suffering from eating or exercise disorders

• Making reckless health choices

• Feeling uncomfortable in your skin
  
  

While you may not suffer from any of these specifically, having a poor body image after weight loss can directly influence your mood, confidence and self esteem. Some days it can feel like you’ve put in all this work to feel happier and healthier, but it STILL doesn't work causing you to feel frustrated and defeated.

YOUR REASONS FOR LOSING WEIGHT WILL IMPACT HOW YOU FEEL AFTER

Body image after weight loss can be really challenging. Some people consciously or subconsciously have used their excess body weight as a shield. Maybe it’s kept you from applying for that big job, or speaking up in your relationships, or stopped you from getting back into dating after a bad breakup. Maybe your extra body weight has helped you stay safe, and kept you from putting yourself out there in fear or criticism or rejection. If everything about being overweight was so bad, we wouldn’t stay there as long as we do. It is important to identify, acknowledge, and develop a new thought process for not holding yourself back in your life.

If you set out on your keto weight loss journey with the goal of creating a true lifestyle change - creating healthy habits, improving energy, increasing mobility, being more active, and being healthier you are more likely to achieve body acceptance after your keto weight loss.

However, if you are motivated to lose weight based on external pressures, idealized societal norms, or engrained ideas of beauty from a young age, self image even after weight loss tends to be more negative. 

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WEIGHT LOSS CAN LEAD TO IMPROVED BODY IMAGE

First of all, you can ABSOLUTELY have a positive body image no matter what your size, and appreciate your curves and everything that your body does for you regardless of your weight. But it’s also totally possible that your body image will improve after you’ve lost weight.

You may gain more confidence in your new size, and be able to appreciate the hard work and your dedication to achieving your goals. Weight loss can encourage you to continue to take care of your body and your overall health, and create a true keto lifestyle change. When you look in the mirror you will be able to feel better about yourself, and identify parts of your body that you do like more regularly. It can reinforce the healthy changes to your lifestyle, and validate feelings of accomplishment towards your weight loss goals.

EVEN IF YOU FEEL BETTER PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY YOU MAY STILL STRUGGLE

Body image is perceptual, not physical. So even when you have lost weight, how you perceive yourself may not have changed - especially if the weight loss was rapid. Despite the pounds and inches lost, you still may view yourself as “heavier, stockier, shorter, larger” than you really are.

Many people who have lost weight know the struggle of looking good on the outside, but still suffering on the inside emotionally. It’s so common after a lifetime of our inner critic telling us negative stories for it to damage how we perceive ourselves, even if we’ve lost weight. Then hearing praise and compliments from loved ones about our incredible keto weight loss may not actually help as it reinforces that we were a) overweight before, and b) emphasizes our physical body versus who we are inside.

It’s important to realize and acknowledge that weight loss doesn’t automatically equal a positive body image. It can create loose skin, stretch marks, muscle loss and a reduction in your curves. It can also create fear around eating food like carbs, overeating or binge eating tendencies, and anxiety around gaining weight again. 

It takes time to heal your relationship with food, with your body, and with yourself. Weight loss isn’t a guaranteed path to body acceptance. It doesn’t automatically mean you can try on any piece of clothing and feel great. It takes more than just weight loss to change our negative perceptions of ourselves.

You have to believe that you deserve to be happy and content no matter what your size or how your body looks. That’s how you can start to see the value in just being who you are. It takes a shift to a more positive mindset and transitioning away from the negative self-talk. It’s truly an individual process, but it’s best to surround yourself with positive empowering people. A keto health coach can hold that space for you without judgment as you figure it out, and fully support you through this journey.

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TIPS FOR BODY ACCEPTANCE AFTER KETO WEIGHT LOSS:

• Write out affirmations that resonate with you and say them daily.

• Appreciate your body and everything it does for you.

• Believe that you have the right to be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

• Practice meditation to feel more in tune with yourself and grounded.

• Shut down the negative inner voice immediately and ask “Is that REALLY true?”

• Take photos of yourself to see your progress.

• Surround yourself with positive people who accept you as you are.

• View yourself as a whole person, not just a person who lost weight.

• Keep a gratitude journal to focus on all the positives in your life.

• Don’t compare yourself to others, everyone is on their own unique journey.

• Dress your new body in clothes that fit well and are comfortable. 

• Share your journey with others.

• Give yourself grace and time to adjust to the physical, emotional, and psychological changes that come with weight loss.

• Don’t avoid the mirror, face your reflection head on and say your positive affirmations to rewire your negative self-talk.

• Hire a coach to help support you to achieve true body acceptance.
  

When it comes to your weight loss journey, you want to be sure that you are happy and healthy throughout the entire process. One step to achieving that is being able to accept your body at any size to truly learn to love the person you are, and appreciate the person you are becoming.

Sometimes when we’ve physically lost weight on keto quickly, our perceptions and emotions haven’t had a chance to process everything. For example, if you’ve spent your entire life being “the bigger girl” in your friend group, and suddenly you’re not - you may feel like you’ve lost part of your identity. It’s also possible to develop a fear around eating and gaining the weight back, especially after receiving so much praise from those around you for losing it. 

This may be a sign that it’s time to put your trust in someone who can help you to truly heal your relationship with food, and your body. It takes strength to recognize we don’t know everything, and might benefit from another person’s perspective and expertise. You can learn more about how Keto Success Coaching will help you work towards your weight loss, positive mindset, and body acceptance goals to truly live your best life!

HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR KETO WEIGHT LOSS

So you’ve been following a keto diet for some time now, you’ve put in the work, and reached your ideal weight - congratulations! But, now what happens? Anyone who has successfully followed any weight loss program can agree that losing weight is easier than maintaining your new weight! When we’re in “weight loss mode” we know exactly what to do. We’ve established what works for us, and we have a routine that has gotten us results. But it can be scary, confusing and intimidating to stray from what has been successful, and venture into the unknown world of keto maintenance. Do you increase carbs? Do you increase calories? How do I navigate keto maintenance without ruining my weight loss results?!

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First and foremost, there are no guarantees that you will absolutely maintain your new weight once you sway from your keto lifestyle. There may be some trial and error to figure it out, and that’s ok!

The most important factor is to find what works best for you, and what you can truly maintain long term. Obviously, you can’t go back to your old pre-keto eating habits and foods with the expectations that you’ll maintain your results. If you fall right back into unhealthy eating habits and patterns, you will gain weight back.

But there are ways to transition into maintenance, or slowly off a ketogenic diet without negatively impacting your weight loss journey. There are multiple approaches that you can try individually or in combination to find what works for you.

GRADUALLY INCREASE CARBS

On a ketogenic diet, most people limit their daily intake of carbs to 20-50 net carbs per day, depending on the person. The majority of people use 20 net carbs as the standard starting point for their weight loss journey. Once you’ve reached your goals and if you want to start incorporating more carbs into your diet, be sure to do it gradually. Start by increasing your daily carb intake by 10g every other week. This will give your body time to adjust, and give you a chance to observe any changes that may occur. 

Example: 

• Week 1 maintenance: 30 net carbs

• Week 3 maintenance: 40 net carbs

• Week 5 maintenance: 50 net carbs

• Week 7 maintenance: 60 net carbs, etc

FIND YOUR DESIRED CARB RANGE

Once you have gradually increased your carbs over a period of time, you can find a carb range that specifically suits your body and your goals. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to this, and it can vary greatly depending on your body, metabolism and activity levels. This will allow you to eat a greater variety of foods so that you don’t feel as restricted but still maintain your new weight and feeling good. Just like at the start of keto, it will require you to track and adjust your macros based on how you feel and your weight maintenance goals.

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GRADUALLY INCREASE CALORIES

If you want to remain in ketosis, but are ready to maintain your weight and not lose any more you can try gradually increasing your calories. This approach allows you to continue focusing mainly on eating keto foods, while increasing the amount of calories you consume. It allows you to enjoy all of the other benefits ketosis has to offer, while maintaining your new weight. Start by increasing your daily calories by 100g per week until you reach a new calorie range to maintain your new weight.

ADD MORE PROTEIN

The keto diet in theory is a high fat, moderate protein, very low carb diet. One way to maintain your new weight loss results is to lower your fat intake slightly, while increasing more lean proteins on your plate. This will help you stay full, but keep your metabolism high. Increasing lean proteins takes advantage of the thermic effects of food. The thermic effect refers to the amount of energy it takes to digest certain foods. It takes 20-30 percent of the calories in protein to digest, compared to 5-10 percent in carbohydrates. This can help boost your metabolism, and help you maintain your weight.

SWITCH FROM FAT LOSS TO MUSCLE GAIN

This isn’t necessarily for “weight loss” maintenance, but more accurately - “fat loss” maintenance. The goal is to maintain a lower body fat percentage, while increasing muscle mass. The scale will go up, but it will be a result of an increase in muscle. A higher muscle mass improves metabolic flexibility, decreases risk of diabetes 2, strengthens bones, and makes it harder to regain body fat. In this approach you will need to incorporate resistance training such as weight lifting or body weight training that feels challenging to you. 

As your muscles grow it is important to fuel them properly by either:

• Adding more protein and calories, but keeping carbs low

• Adding in carbohydrates around your workouts only

Realistically, you can only gain 1-2lbs of muscle mass per week. The timeline is not the same for everyone, but if you’re going over 2lbs of gain per week it may be partly fat. 

TRANSITION TO LOW CARB PALEO

You may not need to remain in ketosis to maintain your new healthy weight. Transitioning to a more paleo style diet will allow for a great range in foods you can eat, while putting an emphasis on nutrient dense, whole foods. Keep in mind that you will likely gain a few pounds of water weight when you add more carbohydrates to your plate. If you want to try adding more carbs to your diet, but are worried about spiraling right back into high carb junk-food, sticking with paleo friendly foods will give you specific limits and guidelines so you don’t go right off the rails.

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TRY OR CONTINUE INTERMITTENT FASTING

Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food for a certain amount of time during the day, and only eating in a specific “window” of time. This is an easy way to keep your new weight on cruise control, especially if you already used this technique during your keto weight loss. For some people this is psychologically easier to do as it inherently limits the amount of food you will eat by limiting the amount of time during the day you can eat.

As with keto weight loss, the most important thing to maintaining your new, healthy weight is to find what works best for you. As a way to continually commit to your health be sure to make a plan in advance when you’re nearing your ideal weight.

Don’t suddenly start considering what you’ll do once you see your target weight on the scale. You don’t have to keep eating the same way as you did during keto weight loss mode, but you do need to consider a plan of approach that feels right for you to maintain it.

Remember that everyone is different, and you may need to experiment a little bit until you find a new lifestyle that works best for you. If you want any additional help in navigating keto maintenance click here to learn how I can support you during this exciting transition!