If you do a search for CICO and calories, you can read plenty of good topics regarding why most of us don’t count calories.
Especially when you are first beginning keto, don’t count anything but carbs. If you are restricting calories while trying to live a keto life, you’re going to burn out fast, give up, and move on to another yo yo diet. Not only that but, anecdotal evidence from this forum shows newbies who restrict calories seeing no changes or even gaining weight.
A ketogenic way of eating is not about restricting anything but insulin spikes which we control by eating low carbohydrates and allowing our bodies to shift to burning ketones as fuel. It is not a yo yo diet. It’s not yo mama’s diet. It’s a way of eating that allows your body to heal itself with a side effect of weight loss. Your body does not care what arbitrary number you use to judge it by. All it cares about is taking the right inputs and being its best self. We have two sayings here, “keep calm and keto on” and “trust the process.”
There are two phases to ketosis and a ketogenic lifestyle.
Nutritional ketosis is phase one. Your body begins to produce and uptake some ketones while dumping the rest. It will still search for glucose to use as fuel. In this phase it’s not an efficient process. It has to work actively to get rid of stored glycogen, clean up excess blood sugar, and turn on the ability to use ketones.
Fat adaptation is phase two. Your body is efficiently producing ketones from intake and stored body fat and is also using them efficiently for energy. It takes around 6-8 weeks of strict keto to achieve for many but not all.
Basically, the whole point of doing the ketosis is to reach the fat adaptation. People who stop short won’t ever experience the true reason for the work they and their body have put into this metabolic shift.
The basic “rules” I go by and many others can agree with especially for beginners are:
*20g net carbs max (you might tolerate more but, starting out, 20g net carbs or less will get you into ketosis.)
*Moderate protein (1g-1.5g per kg of lean bodyweight is a good goal based on the 2 Dudes recommendations.)
*Fat to satiety (add fat to every meal and, if you are hungry, eat more fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. It is energy.)
*Do not restrict calories
*Drink plenty of water
*Get plenty of sodium and other electrolytes
*Do not do excessive exercise to try losing excess weight. You may notice decreased stamina in the beginning. Listen to your body.