One key part of the keto way of eating is to listen to your body and stop eating when satisfied. (Notice I didn’t write “full”—because when I was a sugar-burner I could fill my stomach with pasta, say, be ready to burst, and still be trying to eat more.) Fat is highly satiating, which is one of the reasons it’s such a big part of the keto WOE (the other being that it doesn’t stimulate the secretion of insulin, the way carbs do).
While it is possible to consume large numbers of calories and still lose weight when eating keto, most people find that their bodies are well-satisfied on a caloric deficit, because they have enough body fat to burn to help meet their energy requirements. Dr. Phinney has observed that people nearing their optimum weight, and who have thus already burned off most of their excess body fat, naturally eat more calories than they used to, because there is less body fat to make up the difference.
So when they were burning off body fat they were listening to their bodies and stopping with a caloric deficit, and when they were reaching maintenance mode they were listening to their bodies and eating more fat to meet their bodies’ energy requirements. Either way, they were listening to their bodies, and their bodies were telling them what level of energy their diet needed to be at.
So why don’t you try it? Keep your protein level moderate, your carbs under 20 grams a day, and eat fat to satiety. I’ll bet that, like most people, you will stop being hungry long before consuming as many as 3500 calories. And I’ll further bet that, even if you do remain hungry up to 3500 calories, you will still lose weight—as long as you’re listening to your body and not eating when you’re not hungry.
