Meal planning can make your Keto diet a lot easier –
No more last minute trips to the grocery store for ingredients.
No more confusion about whether you are/aren’t meeting your macros for the day.
By planning your meals, you can save yourself a whole bunch of time and unnecessary stress.
In this article, we’ll share a five step guide to meal planning on the keto diet.
And we’ll also recap what the keto diet is and share a few tips for getting started.
What Is Keto?
Here’s a brief recap of what the keto diet is and where it comes from…
The main aim of the keto diet is to get your body burning fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates/sugars, by switching your metabolism into a mode called nutritional ketosis.
When you cut down your carbohydrate intake, your body is forced to start relying more on fat for energy. And it makes ketones as a byproduct of burning fat – that’s why measuring your blood ketone level can tell you if you’re in ketosis.
What do you eat on a keto diet? A moderate amount of protein, very few carbohydrates and plenty of healthy fats.
DO eat: meats, organ meats, seafood, fish, leafy green vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, avocados, olives, herbs and spices, coconut oil, ghee.
DON’T eat: grains (like wheat, oats and corn), legumes (like garbanzos, beans and lentils), starchy vegetables, processed foods (like bread, pasta and chips), diet sodas and peanut butter.
The Best Way To Do Meal Planning on Keto
Here are five tips to help you meal plan on a keto diet…
1 – Breakfast: Pick easy breakfasts you can make ahead of time…
Mornings can be tough – there’s never enough time to get ready, and it’s hard to come up with something healthy to cook when your brain is barely awake.
A few good breakfast options you can make in advance:
- Chia pudding (make this the night before)
- Egg muffins (batch prep and freeze these)
- Homemade breakfast patties/sausages (batch prep and freeze)
You can switch between breakfast options throughout the week, and on the weekend you can skip breakfast altogether for a delicious brunch instead.
2 – Breakfast: Or rely on a quick ketone-boosting breakfast smoothie…
Another great option for the mornings is a smoothie – but you’ll want to make sure you include plenty of protein and healthy fats like MCT oil.
Try adding some of these health-boosting supplements to your smoothie:
- Keto collagen
- Greens powder
- Grass-fed protein powder
- MCT oil
3 – Lunch/Dinner: Mix and match your meals…
Here’s a simple formula you can use to put your meals together – giving you variety and flavour without complicated recipes.
Choose one from each row:
- Meat: fish, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, organ meats
- Meat cooking method: bake/roast, grill, saute, slow cook, pressure cook, stew/soup
- Vegetable: carrots, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, kale/spinach, asaparagus
- Vegetable cooking method: bake/roast, steam/boil, saute, grill, mash, no cooking (raw)
- Sauce: tomato & basil, olive oil & garlic & parsley, hot sauce, ghee & garlic, tamari soy sauce & ginger & garlic
Make sure you always keep some of these ingredients in your kitchen, and you’ll be able to throw together great-tasting meals in no time at all!
4 – Lunch/Dinner: Or cook a one-pot dish…
One pot recipes are fantastic – there’s minimal clean up and you still get vegetables, meat and sauce. Try finding a handful of one-pot recipes to include in your weekly meal rotation.
Good recipes to look out for are:
- Stews
- Bakes
- Skillets
- Stir fries
- Keto-adapted curries
You’ll find plenty of one-pot keto recipes online which you can try (especially if you have a slow cooker or pressure cooker).
5 – Snacks: Stock up on a few staples…
Buy non-perishable foods you can snack on in bulk, and then you’ll have snacks you can take with you while you’re on the go. Perfect for those moments when you need something to nibble on!
Good snacks to stock up on are:
- Meat sticks
- Beef Jerky
- Pork rinds
- Low-carb chips and crackers
- 100% dark chocolate
You can also make delicious keto fat bombs at home – they usually last for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
3 Tips for getting started on Keto
If you’re only just starting a keto diet, here a few tips you might find helpful:
1 – Start off by eating unlimited protein/fat and just focus on keeping your carbohydrates under 25g per day.
After you get used to eating low-carb, you can play with your protein/fat ratios and refine your keto diet. But it’s easier to keep things simple while you’re still adjusting!
2 – Clear the non-keto foods out of your kitchen and then stock up on keto-friendly foods instead, so you don’t have unhealthy foods in the house to tempt you!
3 – Pick a stress-free week to start your keto diet and make sure you aren’t in the middle of a busy period at work.
Your body will need at least a week to adjust to a keto diet, and you might experience some keto flu symptoms – so it’s best to keep your schedule light and get plenty of rest during this time.
Conclusion
The keto diet is a great tool you can use for boosting your health – and planning your meals on keto doesn’t have to be stressful.
By following these meal planning tips, you’ll be able to simply and easily put together healthy keto meals. Without spending too much time thinking about it!
Leaving you free to focus on enjoying great-tasting food and spending time with your friends and family.
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