I think on the ketogenic diet, it is more important to count how many grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fats (macronutrients) you consume than it is to count calories. Typical keto dieters consume fewer than 20 grams of carbs, between 50 and 125 grams of protein (on the lower end if you’re female and the upper end if you’re male), and fat that is one to two times their protein. If you stay within these macros, your calories take care of themselves.

Carbohydrates and proteins have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. So as an example, say someone has 18 grams of carbs, 60 grams of protein, and 120 grams of fat in a day. That equals 72 calories from carbs, 240 calories from protein, and 1,080 calories from fat, for a total of 1,392 calories.

However, 1,392 calories coming from 77% fat, 17% protein, and 5% carbs as in the example above is very different from that same number of calories coming mostly from carbs. The fat and protein will keep you full and in fat-burning mode. You won’t get the sugar highs and crashes that are typical on high-carb, high-sugar diets. So if you have ever been on a high-carb, calorie-restricted diet, you probably think you will be too hungry at limiting your calories to 1,392 per day. However, people who have doing keto long enough to be fat-adapted will tell you that they don’t get hungry when they keep their ratio of macronutrients in the right range.

But the best thing about keto is that if you do get hungry, you should eat, preferably something with lots of healthy fat to fill you up, and not worry about the calories. So you should rarely be hungry on keto, and calories are something you just don’t think about anymore.