Free Keto Diet Meal Plan

So, you’re ready to dive into the exciting world of keto. It can be overwhelming. You’ve been told all of your life that fat is bad, and the base of your diet should be grains and carbohydrates

But now is the time to flip all of that on its head. It's time to take action and ownership of your diet to drop that weight you've been wanting to go for years, and do it in a healthy, sustainable, and enjoyable way!

You’ll find out that the keto diet is more than just a weight loss diet sent from heaven. There are many other benefits associated with the keto diet that will leave you feeling healthier, less hungry, and looking beach-ready.

What Is Keto?

Many take a keto diet to mean “eliminate all carbs.” However, this is not the case as some carbohydrates are allowed. A typical distribution of protein, carbohydrates, and fat looks like this:

Protein: 20-25%

Carbohydrates: 3-10%

>Fats: 65-80%

The keto diet is a variation of the low-carb diet where protein is slightly lower and fat is slightly higher to gently nudge you into ketosis.

One big mistake a keto dieter can make is eating too much protein (generally greater than 25% of total caloric intake). When eating too much protein, the excess is converted into glucose and used as energy stifling your ability to get into or stay in ketosis.

Why is ketosis so important? Turns out, it could be the answer you need to finally shed those kilos!

Why Use The Keto Diet For Weight Loss

We at Meat Box have been through this too. Your stomach starts talking to you. Begging for that sugary treat. Or the left-over pizza in the fridge. You open your calorie tracking app… and you’ve reached your daily caloric intake. And there’s still four hours until you go to bed!

Unfortunately, this hunger is what contributes to many giving up on their weight loss journeys. But what if we told you there is a way to stave off this hunger when eating less?

A recent meta-analysis (the gold standard of scientific research that combines all relevant studies into one big study) found that participants eating a ketogenic diet with reduced calories were less hungry and had a reduced desire to eat</span></a> even when compared to their baseline or maintenance caloric intake.

Turns out, being in ketosis could be your weight loss superpower as it may be one of the reasons you don’t feel as hungry during the keto diet.

How To Know If You’re In Ketosis?

You don’t need to go to your doctor to find out if you’re in ketosis. There are easy to use, home testing strips that will measure your ketone levels through your urine. These strips will change colour based on your ketone levels in your urine which you can match to the colour levels on your testing strip bottle.

If you want to really get nerdy with your keto diet, use a ketone blood analyser and aim for 0.5-3 millimoles per litre.

Those who don’t want to go as far as testing their urine or blood can use ketone breath or increased thirst as potential indicators of ketosis. Ketone breath will smell similar to nail polish remover. But don’t worry, it’s only temporary! So you won’t scare off your next date.

How Long Does It Take To Start Losing Weight On Keto?

Weight loss starts very quickly on a keto diet mainly because of the reduced carbohydrates. Each gram of stored carbohydrate in the body retains 2-3 grams of water. Within the first few days of dieting, you will notice a significant drop in body weight for this reason.

Other Benefits Of The Keto Diet

Weight loss isn’t the only benefit of the keto diet. In fact, the keto diet may help prevent serious diseases.

Alzheimers

 A span class found those with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's diseases may improve brain function when ingesting medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs: coconut oil is a common MCT) which boosted ketone levels.

This has been echoed among other stating the ketogenic diet and MCTs may help with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Parkinsons

More research is needed in this area but one study has shown promising results after 8-weeks of the keto diet to improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms.

Epilepsy

A span class found that over 50% of those who suffer from epilepsy reduced their seizure rates by ;50% after 3, 6, and 12 months.

Type 2 Diabetes

This is where the keto diet shines. Keto is the perfect diet to manage Type 2 diabetes as it lowers blood sugar and therefore, lowers insulin levels. The reduction of carbohydrates in the diet is what makes keto so great for Type 2 diabetics.

Heart Health

Turns out, a high fat intake isn’t the cause of heart disease. A ketogenic diet has been shown to reduce body weight and body fat increase HDL cholesterol (the good one), and lower blood pressure.

Easier Adherence

Research has shown that ketogenic diets may reduce the drive to eat and leave you less hungry even when eating less food. Diet adherence is considered one of the most important factors in weight loss success making the keto diet a prime candidate for weight loss results.

Who Shouldn’t Do The Keto Diet?

While the keto diet has a long list of benefits, there are certain people that the keto diet may not be suitable.

Those Seeking Athletic Performance

To excel at most sports, a high intake of carbohydrates is needed to fuel training and competition. This is because it is our most readily available fuel source whereas fat takes a lot longer to break down for fuel.

Drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake in this scenario is not a good idea.

Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women

While not extensively studied, some animal studies have suggested that ketosis may negatively impact fetal growth causing organ dysfunction. Being pregnant or breastfeeding requires a higher caloric intake and a wide range of nutrients so a keto diet may not be the best play here.

Healthy Children

Children should never be put on special diets (unless it's removing foods causing allergies as per your doctor's recommendation) as it potentially impacts their development.

What Are You Allowed To Eat On Keto?

Now to the fun part! Here is a quick list of all the foods that fit into a keto diet:

Fatty cuts of meat (did we mention the Keto Box is full of them such as chicken thighs and beef brisket?). Fatty cuts of meat are generally cheaper than leaner cuts too.

Fatty fish (salmon, sardines)

Eggs (always eat the full egg!)

Full-Fat Dairy (cheese, butter, cream, the good stuff you’re often told to avoid)

Oils (healthy oils like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil)

Nuts and Seeds (anything that takes your fancy)

Avocados (the only reason you need to do the keto diet, yum!)

Veggies (must be low-carb, dark leafy greens are the best option like spinach, silverbeet, broccoli, etc. Eat carrots and beetroot in very small quantities as they are higher in carbs)

What Is Not Allowed On Keto?

If you have a giant sweet tooth, you may cringe when you see this list. But it will be all worth it when you reach your goals.

Starches (potatoes, kumara, etc)

Grains (all of them, rice, pasta, etc)

Sugar treats (lollies, biscuits, cereal, etc)

Fruit (small portions of berries are allowed within your carbohydrate limits)

Legumes (chickpeas etc)

Most sauces (hot sauce is usually fine, but not BBQ or tomato sauce, etc)

Sugary drinks (juice, soda, etc)

Alcohol

Free Keto Diet Plan For Beginners To Transform Your Body

A keto diet plan is useless when no quantities are given. So here is an example keto diet plan for a beginner female weighing 70 kg. First, we must calculate her estimated daily caloric intake to start losing weight. This is simply done by taking your bodyweight and multiplying by 2.2 then taking this number and multiplying again by 14.

70 x 2.2 = 154

154 x 14 = 2156 calories per day

This is a rough estimate of your daily caloric intake to start the weight loss process. You will likely need to reduce these further by 100-200 calories after a few days of no weight loss.

Now to calculate your protein, carbs, and fats. For this example, we will use 25% protein, 80% fat, and 5% carbs. Protein and carbs both have 4 calories for every 1 gram. Fats have 9 calories for every 1 gram.

Protein: 2156 x 0.25 = 539 calories. 539/4 = 135 g

Carbs: 2156 x 0.05 = 108 calories. 108/4 = 27 g

Fats: 2156 x 0.80 = 1725 calories. 1725/9 = 192 g

Here is a simple four meal a day plan for beginner keto dieters!

Breakfast

4 x Size 7 free-range eggs cooked in 15 g grass-fed butter

3 rashers Meat Box Gourmet Streaky Bacon

Half a medium avocado

Lunch

100 g (raw weight) Meat Box Chicken Thighs Skin On cooked in 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Leafy green salad (tomatoes, peppers, and drizzled with 1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar)

Snack

4 x fresh celery sticks with 32 g of almond butter

30 g raw macadamia nuts

1 scoop protein shake with water

Dinner

100 g (cooked weight) Meat Box Beef Brisket browned in 1 Tbsp coconut oil and slow-cooked.

Leafy green salad (tomatoes, peppers, and drizzled with 1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Dessert

100 g full-fat Greek yogurt

What Is The Best Way To Start A Keto Diet?

Going full keto when you are used to eating high carbs can be a harsh transition. Rather than going cold turkey on carbs, make a gradual transition where you start to reduce your carbohydrate portions (less rice, bread, pasta, etc) and increase your fat intake by cooking with more oil and eating fattier cuts of meat.

Start with the Meat Box Keto Box which will kickstart your keto diet and be delivered straight to your door. No need to try and guess which meats are fatty enough or of a high enough quality at your supermarket!