KETO DIET PLAN FOR BEGINNERS STEP BY STEP GUIDE. You may have heard of the high-fat, low-carb diet that models and actors love. And for good reason: low-carb diets give you the nutrients you need from whole foods while keeping your body burning fat for power. Being this way is great because it makes losing fat pretty easy! But what does this word “ketogenic” mean?
What does “ketogenic” mean? It comes from the word “ketosis,” which is a state in which your body turns fat into energy-giving ketones. In order to reach this state, you need to eat very few carbohydrates and a lot of fat. This process by which carbs are burned for energy is called “glycolysis” and is the “normal” state of fat metabolism. In short, when your body is in carb-burning mode, it will use all carbs for energy before it goes after fat that it has stored. This is great news for people who want to lose weight because it means their bodies are ready to burn fat.
Benefits of Ketosis
We can greatly lower insulin resistance, which is a major cause of type 2 diabetes, by eating a lot less carbs. Also, low-carb diets and exercise can be very helpful in easing the symptoms and slowing down the development of type 2 diabetes. Besides that, ketosis itself makes you feel less hungry, so your hunger will go away on its own. This will increase your caloric loss and help you lose fat even faster.
Getting Started
It takes a while to get into ketosis. Eating low-carb for about two weeks is enough to make the first changes. A lot of people get what is called the “keto flu” during this time: sluggishness, tiredness, headaches, and stomach problems as they make the switch. Most of these problems can be fixed by getting enough electrolytes. Also, you shouldn’t worry about the “diet” part of this ketogenic diet plan, which means limiting calories. It’s not a good idea to limit calories for the first two weeks because your body will lose weight as it controls your hunger and your cravings for sugar and processed foods fade.
The meal plan is meant to make sure you eat three healthy, well-balanced meals every day that give you enough fiber, protein, and satisfaction. When you eat a ketogenic diet, you don’t lose muscle like you do when you eat a carb-based diet. When you cut calories and eat a lot of carbs, you often lose weight from both muscle and fat. But when you eat keto, you can burn fat without losing muscle. “Body recomposition” is another name for this. It makes your body look much better after you lose weight.
Additional Points of Interest
During the beginning stages of a ketogenic diet, people often lose a lot of water. This is because your body turns carbs into glycogen, which is kept in your muscles and liver as water. Your body flushes this water out as you use up saved glycogen. This is a big reason why people lose weight in the first few weeks of ketosis. At first, you may lose a lot of fat quickly, but you may also lose a lot of water weight. This is great news because it usually means you lose weight and have less bloating, which means your clothes will fit better.
Foods Recommended on a Ketogenic Diet
Beef, goat, lamb, turkey, pork, veal, and chicken are all types of meat.
There are many kinds of fish, like salmon, trout, catfish, sardines, tuna, haddock, and more.
Fruits: avocado, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
Broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, onions, and many more are vegetables.
Nuts and Seeds: Pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, almond, walnut, and more.
Things made from milk and cream: cheese, Greek yogurt, sour cream, thick cream.
Peanut butter, flaxseed oil, butter, sesame oil, olive oil, and almond oil are all fats and oils. You can read this to find more things that are good for the ketogenic diet: What to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet: The Whole List
Foods to Avoid on a Ketogenic Diet
These are grains: rye, corn, wheat, oats, and corn. It comes with pasta and bread.
Like Sucralose, Equal, Acesulfame, Splenda, Saccharin, and others, these are all artificial sweeteners.
Processed foods: Don’t eat anything that has carrageenan in it.
“Low-fat” foods and drinks include Atkins foods and drinks, gluten, diet soda, and more.
7-Day Ketogenic Diet Meal Plan And Menu
Now that you know what your macros are and have found the ketogenic diet, you can’t wait to start. Here are some meals for a week that are on the ketogenic diet. If you are just starting out, this simple plan will help you get going.
IT TOOK ME 4 MONTHS TO LOSE 45 LBS WITH A KETOGENIC DIET
Five months into a ketogenic diet, and I’ve already lost 45 pounds. All my life, I have tried to lose weight , and I am now 46 years old. In a strange way, I have also spent years learning how to eat well and work out. It’s easy for me to figure out macronutrients because I’ve done it so many times in my life. By sticking to a keto diet, I’ve finally been able to lose weight. In spite of years of working out and being busy, this is the case.
The ketogenic diet has been incredibly beneficial for me thus far. Many of you who are trying to start one may feel overwhelmed and confused by all of the figures and information that is bombarding you. So, this is a meal plan for the ketogenic diet. I’m doing this to keep things easy. I’m a guy. I need easy.
I think that the best way to stick to a keto diet is to eat a few basic meals every day and then add some variety as needed. I mean, I eat the same thing almost every day. Getting rid of 45 pounds in 4 months is pretty cool, so I’m going to stick with it. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.
7-DAY KETO DIET GROCERY LIST
Dinner will consist of bacon and eggs, chicken with vegetables, and beef with vegetables every day. These are base meals that will give some people good numbers. Some people need more food (fat), so just add one or two keto-friendly snacks to get your numbers back to where they need to be. I need to do this.
Twelve eggs.
A box of bacon.
Bread and butter. (true butter)
A pack of chicken legs with skin on and no bones
One onion.
1 bell pepper (you can pick green, red, or yellow)
There are two garlic plants. [Not required, but very good for your heart.]
A big bag with at least 12 cups of frozen mixed veggies. If you don’t know what to get, choose something else that is keto-friendly, like frozen broccoli.
an almond bag and an almond butter jar (very pricey; the cheapest I can find is $10 for 750g at Costco).
A bunch of meat. Look for beef that can be easily sliced into six comparable pieces weighing about 5.5 ounces apiece (about the size of a deck of cards).
I AM ACTUALLY COOKING. WELL…SOME
I’m not a great cook, but I’m getting better. When you have food ready to go, a ketogenic diet meal plan works better. It eliminates the guesswork, and in order to be successful, we must keep things as simple as possible.
- Place the 12 thighs in the oven with all of the garlic cloves from a bulb. You should separate the cloves but do not skin them. The heat from the oven will do the trick, and you can peel them when you’re ready to eat them.
- Hard boil the eggs while the thighs are cooking. After that, set them aside to cool.
- Put some butter in a skillet and fry the bacon in it. (Note: Some may claim that butter is unnecessary. In my experience, you must either grease the pan or your initial slices of bacon will be burnt.)
- Half the onion, diced; reserve the other half for next week.
- Slice the pepper
- At this point, you may need to remove the chicken. If it’s done, take it out and set it aside to cool.
- Sauté the pepper, 1⁄2 onion, and another bulb’s worth of garlic cloves in the skillet (I like to use bacon oil as a basis). (Just like previously, leave the skin on.)
- Brown the beef in the pan.
GETTING THE MEALS TOGETHER
- 12 containers should be washed and rinsed.
- Put two chicken thighs in each of the six. Divide the garlic and fat juice evenly between them.
- Spoon the beef/pepper/onion mixture evenly into the remaining six.
- Pour the veggie blend evenly across the 12 containers, directly on top of the meat.
- Place them all in your refrigerator. If you only have a little amount of fridge space, you could put some in there and the rest in the freezer. Simply take another when you take one from the fridge.
- Take six plastic bags and place two hard-boiled eggs in each.
- Divide the remaining bacon evenly by 6.
- Put it in a brown bag and put it in the fridge.
THE MACRONUTRIENTS OF THE KETOGENIC MENU PLAN
You currently have six days’ worth of meals in your refrigerator.
- 6 bags each containing 2 hard-boiled eggs and bacon
- 6 thighs/veggies containers
- 6 beef/veggie containers
Okay, so it’s just been 6 days. Make enough for day 7 OR get creative and create your own meals. Ruled. If you’re feeling bold, I have some fantastic keto dishes.
I’m going to utilize the following macronutrient profile that I helped someone set up for themselves for this basic ketogenic meal plan:
1570 TOTAL CALORIES
20g net carbohydrates per day
80 g of protein per day
130 g of fat per day
Divide each of those by three (for three meals each day) to get:
7 net carbohydrates per serving
Protein intake of 26 grams per meal
Each meal contains 44 grams of fat.
Oh my goodness, so much math! If you cut the protein in each meal in half, you’ll get quite close to these totals PER MEAL!
Personally, I require more protein and fat on a daily basis, as may some of you. So I munch on cheese or keto fudge throughout the day to get my macros up to where they need to be. I also make my own Bulletproof coffee, which is:
- 1 coffee cup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ONE tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon full-fat coconut milk (from a can)
This adds approximately 25g of fat to my day.
If you get hungry between breakfast and lunch, or lunch and supper while you’re still at work on Day One, eat additional fat!
You might also want to consider the following fat-boosting strategies:
- In your coffee, use full-fat cream, butter, coconut oil, and MCT oil.
- While the chicken is baking, brush it with a spoonful of mayonnaise.
- Before reheating, sprinkle the vegetables with cheese.
SALT AND ELECTROLYTES WITH THE KETOGENIC DIET
It’s also worth noting that you should consider taking a multivitamin along with the ketogenic diet meal plan. It is deficient in vitamins B1, D, E, and K. Calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium are also quite low, but we must control these as part of our electrolyte strategy on keto anyhow.
Sodium (Na+), chloride (Cl-), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg++), calcium (Ca++), phosphate (HPO4-), and bicarbonate (HCO3-) are all necessary electrolytes. On high fat diets, a lack of electrolytes, specifically the body’s key electrolyte sodium (called Salt), is responsible for lethargy, brain fog, and keto flu symptoms.
You should drink at least 8 cups of water per day. I have a 600ml bottle that I empty at least ten times every day. That’s a lot of water, and yeah, I’m going to the restroom frequently. Carbohydrates hold water, thus eating fewer carbs will speed up water flushing. So there will be even more restroom breaks.
BUT HOW DO I KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THIS?!
Setting up a free account with MyFitnessPal is the “easiest” way to track your eating (and consequently your macros) for your ketogenic diet meal plan.
This app is available on the web as well as on your phone. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep track of what you consume. This has made a world of difference for me and is a big part of my keto diet success.
Once your account is set up, you simply enter the foods you consume, and the software estimates your total consumption for each macro and total calories. A “bar code scanner” is also included in the program. You “scan” the bar code of the food you’re eating with your phone, and it inserts it into your daily meal plan. Genius!
SUMMARY
I am living proof that the ketogenic diet works. I also understand how perplexing it may be to deal with all of the numbers and then figure out what to eat. I’m hoping that my 7-Day Ketogenic Diet Meal Plan may assist you in remaining calm (at least a little) and focused on your fat reduction goals…
