The Ketogenic Diet (a.k.a. Keto Diet) is a high-fat and very low-carb diet, which helps burn fat and lose weight. For beginners, you may not have ideas to get started with Keto Diet. What foods should you eat? Keep reading to know more about the meal plan for Keto Diet beginners.
How Keto Diet helps you lose weight?
The keto diet is a high-fat, sufficient protein and low-carb diet. When you eat fewer carbohydrates (less than 20 grams per day), you increase the consumption of fat. Due to your body lacks glucose by controlling the intake of carbs, your body will be changed to the metabolic state called “ketosis”. Your liver will start to burn fats and ketones as energy.
What’re the rules of the Ketosis Diet?
The ketogenic diet food pyramid should consist of 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5%(20 grams) of carbs a day.
Here is a simple example of a one-day keto diet. For the breakfast, you can eat dairy products with nuts and seeds. For the lunch, it’s better to eat fish or seafood with vegetables. Lastly, for the dinner, you can eat more meat like chicken breast and bacon with salad.
What are the benefits of a Ketogenic Diet?
Apart from reducing calorie intake for weight loss, the keto diet offers lots of health benefits, especially for people who have diabetes. Here are the pros of the diet:
- Control appetite
- Reduce visceral body fat
- Lower and stabilise blood sugar levels
- Control blood pressure
- Reduce the risk of heart disease with a decreased level of Triglycerides
- May help to hinder the growth of tumor along with cancer treatment
What are the disadvantages of the Ketosis Diet?
When you commence the diet, you experience these side effects in the beginning:
- Fatigue
- Thirsty
- Low level of sugar in your blood
- Urinate too often
- Hunger
- Sweating and chills
- Nausea
- Smelling breath
- Digestive problems like diarrhea
- Increased heart rate
These symptoms are like flu which is often called “low carb flu” or “keto flu”. It’s because your body is lacking sugar to burn energy and needs to burn fat.
Is Keto diet safe?
The Keto diet is high in saturated fat. So, it will increase the level of LDL cholesterol (often called “bad” cholesterol) which is associated with heart disease.
It could also result in low blood pressure, nutrient deficiency, mood swings, and constipation as the diet is low in fibrous foods and carbohydrates.
Apart from the short-term effect, here’re some negative effects if you follow the diet for a long period.
- Kidney stones
- Hypoglycemia
- Muscle loss due to eating too much fat than protein
- Ketoacidosis, the liver, kidneys, and brain may be damaged by the acidic blood
- Increased cholesterol levels and risks of heart disease and diabetes
How to minimize the short-term side effects?
You can drink more water and sleep more to minimize the short-term side effects. Also, you shouldn’t do intense exercise for the first two weeks. On the other hand, try to gradually cut your carbs to less than 50 grams before you start the ketogenic diet.
7- Day Keto Diet meal plan
Thinking of going Keto? This one-week keto meal plan, ideal for both keto beginners, is the perfect way to get started.
Monday
Breakfast: Yogurt with keto-friendly granola
Lunch: Grilled salmon with a salad of mixed leafy greens and tomato
Dinner: Chicken breast with cauliflower mash and green beans
Snacks: Sticks of celery and pepper with guacamole
Tuesday
Breakfast: Bell pepper eggs
Lunch: Avocado tuna salad
Dinner: Meatballs served with zucchini noodles and parmesan cheese
Snacks: A handful of berries and nuts
Wednesday
Breakfast: Mushroom omelette
Lunch: Keto chicken wings with creamy broccoli
Dinner: Coconut chicken curry
Snacks: Sticks of celery and pepper with guacamole
Thursday
Breakfast: Cauliflower toast
Lunch: Shrimp and avocado salad with tomatoes, feta cheese, herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil
Dinner: Bunless salmon burgers topped with pesto
Snacks: Coconut chips
Friday
Breakfast: Bacon & egg breakfast wraps
Lunch: Caesar salad with chicken
Dinner: Ground beef and cabbage stir-fry
Snacks: A boiled egg
Saturday
Breakfast: Keto pancakes
Lunch: Keto salmon with pesto and spinach
Dinner: Roast chicken with cream sauce and sauteed broccoli
Snacks: Slices of cheese and bell peppers
Sunday
Breakfast: Baked egg avocado boats
Lunch: Cauliflower fried rice with egg
Dinner: Beef stew made with mushrooms, onions, celery, herbs, and beef broth
Snacks: A handful of berries and nuts
Remarks:
If you have type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease, you are better to consult your doctor before attempting a ketogenic diet. They will recommend a weight-loss diet that is good for you.
Tips for adopting a keto diet on a budget
- Buy foods in bulk to cut down the expenses
- Stock up the foods when they are on sale
- Go for frozen fruits and vegetables instead of fresh
- Opt for cheaper protein like eggs
- Skip the packaged keto-friendly meals
Keto-friendly fast foods
Here are some keto-friendly fast foods that you can eat for highly restrictive keto meals.
- Cheeseburger without the buns
- All-day breakfast with eggs and sausage and avoid high card hash brown and bagel/waffle
- Fried chicken drumsticks and coleslaw
Keto Diet Recipes Recommendations
Looking for easy and quick recipes for Keto dishes, here’s where you can get the inspiration.
10 Keto Dishes for Busy People [Fast, Tasty, Low-Carb Recipes]
Easy Monthly Keto Meal Prep | Freezer Keto Dinners For A Month
Keto-Friendly Weekday Dinner Recipes
5 Easy Keto Dessert Recipes in 5 Minutes!
If you have concerns or questions, please seek medical advice before starting any diet plan.
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