Your Master Keto Menu Plan Template
It’s imperative that you stick to any diet for long enough to reap the benefits. That timeframe is usually 30-45 days. This is why we made it the KETO 30 Challenge, rather than the KETO 15!
That means you should make the diet sustainable. Arming yourself with a delicious and easy-to-follow keto menu plan is part of that.
Read Also: Tim Tebow’s 7-Day Keto Meal Plan
Enter this keto menu diet template. It’s fully customizable, adapts to your lifestyle and, most importantly, is the only keto meal plan that really works.
What is Keto?
A ketogenic, or keto, diet involves restricting your carbohydrate intake to put the body into a state of ketosis (not to be to confused with ketoacidosis[1], a condition that affects diabetics when the body is unable to produce enough insulin).When the body is deprived of carbohydrates for long enough, the body’s glycogen stores — its preferred source of energy — are depleted, the body begins to produce ketones and switches to burning fat for energy.
While being in ketosis technically requires nothing more than restricting carbohydrates, a keto diet usually involves eating higher amounts of fat. This not only supports your newly fat-fuelled body, but helps you feel satiated now that carbs are off the (dinner) table.
A keto diet follows a macronutrient ratio of:
- 75% fat
- 20% protein
- 5% carbs.
Sound extreme? It’s easier than you think.
Creating Your Perfect Beginner Keto Menu Plan
If you really want to succeed with your keto diet, the secret isn’t finding the perfect meal plan. It’s creating one that’s perfect for you.A personalized meal plan will help you feel more satisfied and in control while building long-term success with your diet.
Everyone has different dietary needs and preferences, which means there’s no one keto meal plan to suit anyone and everyone. A busy stay-at-home mom needs different nutrition than a seasoned bodybuilder.
Thankfully, keto can be tailored to suit just about anyone. And it’s as simple as making a few keto tweaks to your current diet.
Step 1: Use Your Current Diet to Create a Menu Template
To make the transition to keto as smooth as possible, look at what a typical day of eating looks like for you. Whether you at six small meals a day or eat your first meal at noon, write everything down, including beverages.Now note examples of food you’d normally eat during those meals.
You should now have something that resembles a standard day of eating for you, like this:
- Morning coffee: Skim milk latte
- Breakfast: Egg and bean breakfast burrito or fruit smoothie
- Second coffee: Skim milk latte
- Lunch: Turkey sandwich and a banana
- Snack: Blueberry muffin
- Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese
- Dessert: Chocolate ice cream
Step 2: Make Keto-Friendly Swaps
Now for the most exciting part: creating your perfect keto diet menu.The key here is to keep it as close to your current diet as possible. Except that we’re going to replace the carb-heavy options with delicious keto alternatives.
Let’s look at how the above example can be changed to be keto-friendly with a few simple swaps:
- Morning coffee: Bulletproof keto coffee
- Breakfast: Breakfast casserole or keto smoothie
- Second coffee: Almond milk latte
- Lunch: Keto cobb salad with turkey
- Snack: Macadamia nut butter or a keto snack bar
- Dinner: Bolognese with zucchini noodles and parmesan
- Dessert: Keto chocolate ice cream
It doesn’t matter if you like making exciting, complex dishes or prefer to eat meat and vegetables for each meal. It’s about doing keto your way.
To make things even easier, write out a list of your favorite meals and then see how you can modify them to make them keto.
Browse our recipe database and bookmark your favorites for your own meal plan. Keeping a list of recipes on hand that you know you’ll love to cook and eat will make meal planning a breeze.
Your Keto Meal Template
![fullwidth keto menu plan](png/pasted-image-0.png)
When creating your own meals, swap the high-carb items from your usual shopping list with low-carb alternatives from our keto shopping list.
Include a low-carb base, protein and quality sources of fats from the keto food list. This will make it even simpler to create complete keto meals without confusion. And don’t forget to increase the fat to stay satiated.
If you’re feeling lost, just follow this template for making any keto meal:
- Choose your base
- Fresh greens
- Zucchini noodles
- Sauteed or roasted low carb vegetables
- Cauliflower rice
- Add your protein
- Meat
- Fish
- Eggs
- Tofu
- Tempeh
- Increase the fat
- Avocado
- Mayonnaise
- Almond or macadamia nut butter
- Keto-friendly nuts
- Olive, avocado and coconut oil
- Lard
- Grass-fed butter or ghee
- Olives
- Cheese
- Heavy cream
- Chia and hemp seeds
What about keto snacks? Are they allowed on keto?
Yes, though you might find you’re not terribly hungry after your main meals. If you are hungry, feel free to snack on keto foods, or grab pre-made keto-friendly snacks. Options include:
- Cheese crackers or chips
- Olives or pickles
- Pork rinds
- Keto snack bars
- Nut butters
- Jerky and keto meat sticks
- Trail mix and nuts
- Keto chocolates
Sample Keto Menu Plans
Still not sure how you can make a keto diet work for your lifestyle or dietary preferences? Here are a few example menus to inspire you and show just how flexible a keto diet can be:Sample Keto Diet Menu: Paleo
You can eat both a paleo and keto diet (in fact, they compliment each other quite well!). Here’s a sample menu.- Breakfast: Avocado breakfast scramble
- Lunch: Tuna salad with mayonnaise
- Snack: Pork rinds
- Dinner: Meatloaf with green beans
- Dessert: Maple Pecan Paleo Pumpkin Bars
Sample Keto Diet Menu: Vegetarian
Yes, you can be a vegetarian on keto!- Breakfast: Green egg omelet
- Lunch: Egg salad lettuce wraps
- Snack: Chocolate coconut energy balls
- Dinner: Cauliflower fried rice
- Dessert: No-Bake Keto Cheesecake
Sample Keto Diet Menu: Vegan
Adhering to the ketogenic diet is a bit more difficult as a vegan. It’s not impossible though.- Breakfast: Coconut cream chia pudding
- Lunch: Grilled tempeh and walnut salad with cashew “cheese”
- Snack: Carrots and guacamole
- Dinner: Tofu and green veggie stir fry
- Dessert: FBOMB Macadamia Nut Butter
Sample Keto Diet Menu: Busy People
You don’t have to have a ton of time on your hands to stick to a ketogenic diet menu. The following sample menu is quick and easy.- Breakfast: Bulletproof coffee
- Lunch: KetoMeal
- Snack: Keto Crisps
- Dinner: Keto-friendly fast food option
- Dessert: KetoLogic Keto Indulge
Top Tips for Sticking to Your Ketogenic Diet Menu Plan
1. Simplify for success
Simplicity creates sustainability. Just stick to your meal plan and don’t be afraid to rely on things like meal replacements to make your diet as easy as possible. Remember, you can always improve and optimize your diet as you get the hang of things.2. Fine-tune your diet based on what your body is telling you
Many people experience side effects when they first start a keto diet, such as the dreaded “keto flu”. If you’re feeling flu-like symptoms then you may need to drink more water or even increase your electrolytes through either food or supplements.If you’ve been kicked out of ketosis, take another look at your diet and dial in your carb count. It could be something as simple as added sugar in your almond milk, a high carb protein powder or too many blueberries. When in doubt, consult the carb counter!
Read Also: The 10 Most Common Mistakes on the Keto Diet
Measuring your ketones is also an accurate way to see how your body is responding to what you’re eating. This is a good option to keep your body in ketosis and your diet on track.3. Think of it as a lifestyle, not a diet
The key to sticking to your keto diet is enjoying it. Forget time limits. Forget dreaming about the day when you’ll be reunited with sweet potato. Forget the diet mentality altogether. Just focus on how you feel and enjoy the journey while you’re on it.“Diet” can mean a quick fix to your weight or health, but it can also mean your way of eating for the rest of your life. No matter how many structured meal plans and diets you follow, the one that’s going to stick is the one that works for you and can be sustained long term.
The keto menu diet template does exactly that. It’s a formula you can use over and over to make planning your meals effortless and enjoyable, no matter how much your way of eating changes. Because the best diet isn’t the one that works for most people. It’s the one that works for you.
No comments yet