But when undertaking any lifestyle or dietary change, a healthy mindset is always essential—especially when beginning a diet whose success relies on perfectly calculated ratios of macronutrients. As a functional medicine practitioner, I have seen the most well-intentioned people become obsessed with following the conventional keto diet perfectly, and this stress actually ends up causing more harm than good. Here are six signs a well-intentioned diet, whether it’s the ketogenic diet or any other way of eating, has likely devolved into disordered eating: In a way, it’s “easier” to choose these processed foods—along with high-fat, virtually zero-carb foods like bacon and butter—instead of fresh foods like vegetables, which naturally contain some carbs that are harder to calculate as precisely. So, if you are hyper-fixated on being “high-fat, low-carb,” while giving little regard to any other aspects of your food or how those foods are making you feel, that’s a red flag. One of the main things you can do to help ensure your keto diet doesn’t devolve into an obsession is this: Shift your focus away from hitting specific macronutrient numbers and tune into how you feel. Why did you want to go keto in the first place? Was it to think clearer, lose weight, restore your energy, or something else? Focusing on your improvements, rather than the numbers, will reveal more about your success than numbers ever will. Even if you missed the mark one day, if you are feeling healthier and stronger overall, that’s ultimately why you began this way of eating. Give yourself grace and lightness, and go into the keto diet (or any way of eating) with this positive mindset. If you can’t, consider holding off and working on your relationship with yourself until you can. Additionally, I do not suggest the conventional “dirty” keto diet, with bacon and butter all day, every day. This way of eating is unsustainable for most people in the long run. I suggest going keto the balanced way, something I call ketotarian: a mostly plant-based keto approach that I talk about in my book (here’s a typical ketotarian day of meals). Here are some tips to help you take a more balanced, intuitive approach to your keto diet: Of course, shifting your mindset and mending your relationship with food won’t happen overnight. So remember to give yourself grace—wellness is a journey. A cutting-edge nutrition deep dive taught by 20+ top health & wellness experts
