The keto diet is not the easiest diet for beginners. Because keto restricts carbs almost completely, it’s not always easy to find a variety of protein options. However, the main goal of this diet is precisely the rejection of carbohydrates – which helps to lose weight.
Below in the material we will find an example of a daily keto diet diet – detailed menus will help you eat not only healthy, but also tasty. In addition, we will talk about the rules for entering the ketone diet – it is especially important for beginners to switch to carbohydrate-free in stages.
Keto diet – what is it?
The keto diet is a diet that eliminates carbs. The mechanism of the keto diet is based on the fact that when carbohydrates are excluded, the level of glucose in a person’s blood decreases, and the body goes into a ketogenic mode – in this case, free fatty acids and fat reserves become the main source of energy.
The advantage of the keto diet is the rapid weight loss without calorie control. Studies show that the ketogenic diet shows the best results in the long term – that is, with its help you can not only burn fat, but also maintain the achieved shape for a long time.
However, the keto diet has contraindications. Firstly, it is prohibited for pregnant and lactating women, as well as adolescents. Secondly, such a diet is not combined with insulin injections for diabetes or high blood pressure. Thirdly, with some chronic diseases.
Keto diet – briefly:
- carbohydrate-free diet
- weight loss without calorie restriction
- for fast weight loss
Meals by day
Beginners of the keto diet are advised to completely abandon fast carbohydrates. At the same time, if you have never tried a carbohydrate-free diet before, devote the first 7-10 days to changing your eating habits to minimize simple carbohydrates in your diet. Also suitable for beginners egg diet .
If you are already familiar with the method of limiting carbohydrates in your diet, the easiest way to enter the keto diet will be intermittent fasting – for example, according to the 16/8 scheme. Follow this regimen for at least 5-7 days to lower your blood glucose and transition more smoothly into full ketosis. For beginners, it is important not to rush.
Keto food – what can you eat?
The keto diet only allows you to eat foods that do not contain carbohydrates. They do not increase blood sugar levels and do not allow the body to get out of a state of fat-burning ketosis. Flour products, sweets, fruits, juices and sodas are completely prohibited. Also, on keto, you can’t eat potatoes and other starchy vegetables.
List of products allowed on keto:
- all types of meat (beef, pork, chicken)
- all kinds of fish and seafood
- chicken eggs
- dairy products (butter, cheese, natural cottage cheese, milk in small quantities)
- any vegetable oils
- any green vegetables
- nuts in small quantities
- berries in small quantities
- non-starchy vegetables (avocado, pumpkin in small amounts)
- herbs, seeds (including chia seeds), spices
- mushrooms
Keto nutrition rules
One of the rules of nutrition on a keto diet is to drink plenty of pure water every day. This helps to reduce the negative effects of the diet (in particular, digestive difficulties and the smell of acetone from the mouth). It is also necessary to monitor the amount of salt in the diet.
Separately, we mention the need to control the use of alcoholic beverages. The keto diet can increase the level of ammonia in the blood – together with the use of alcohol, this can provoke toxic liver damage. It is for the same reason that the ketone diet is contraindicated in diseases of the liver and kidneys.
Keto diet for a week – menu by day
To avoid a lack of vitamins while following a keto diet, it is necessary to include tomatoes, green vegetables and fruits with a minimum amount of carbohydrates (various berries, as well as citrus fruits) in the daily diet. In turn, nuts, such as peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts, or any other, will become a good source of minerals.
The ketogenic menu below has 1300 calories. per day, which is suitable for women who want to lose weight with a low level of physical activity. For men, calories and portion sizes should be increased.
1 day – Monday
- Breakfast : 2 eggs, 10 g butter, half an avocado, coffee or tea without milk and sugar
- Second breakfast : portion of cottage cheese without sugar (15 g)
- Lunch : fish (120 g fillet) with broccoli and 6 cherry tomatoes, green tea
- Afternoon snack : 1 sugar-free jelly and a handful of berries
- Dinner : chicken breast (120 g) with olive oil (10 ml) and mustard (10 ml). Salad: 3 large lettuce leaves, 1 cucumber, half a lemon and grated cheese
Carbohydrates: 24 g, proteins: 75 g, fats: 96 g
Day 2 – Tuesday
- Breakfast : 2 eggs with bacon, keto coffee
- Second breakfast : jelly without sugar
- Lunch : fried meat (120 g) with arugula salad, zucchini and half an avocado; green tea
- Afternoon snack : a handful of strawberries or other berries
- Dinner : fried chicken fillet with mushrooms, fresh leaf salad, half a tomato and cucumber with 10 ml of olive oil; ½ cup blueberries
Carbohydrates: 29 g, proteins: 80 g, fats: 99 g
Day 3 – Wednesday
- Breakfast : 2 boiled eggs, a slice of cheese and 2 spinach leaves; coffee with 10 ml milk cream or coconut milk
- Second breakfast : sugar-free yogurt, a handful of berries
- Lunch : tuna salad with fresh cabbage, sesame dressing and soy sauce
- Afternoon snack : 2 pieces of dark chocolate without sugar (at least 75% cocoa)
- Dinner : chicken breast with mushrooms, 50 g pumpkin, salad with tomato and olives
Carbohydrates: 34 g, proteins: 88 g, fats: 101 g
Day 4 – Thursday
- Breakfast : green smoothie with spirulina (10 g) and chia seeds (15 g); slicing cheese and ham
- Second breakfast : a handful of nuts
- Lunch : Baked avocado with egg, bacon and cheese. Arugula, cabbage and cucumber salad
- Snack : yogurt without sugar
- Dinner : a glass of bone broth, spinach tortillas (3 eggs, half a glass of spinach, 10 g butter)
Carbohydrates: 29 g, proteins: 80 g, fats: 110 g
Day 5 – Friday
- Breakfast : scrambled eggs with half a tomato, coffee or tea
- Second breakfast : a handful of nuts, 2 pieces of dark chocolate
- Lunch : beef fillet with mushrooms and spinach, green tea
- Afternoon snack : 150 g melon and 10 g coconut
- Dinner : salad of tomatoes, canned tuna, cucumber and olives, lemon dressing
Carbohydrates: 39 g, proteins: 76 g, fats: 108 g
Day 6 – Saturday
- Breakfast : sliced ham and cheese, green tea
- Second breakfast : 2 hard boiled eggs
- Lunch : 100 g shrimp stewed with zucchini, olive oil, cheese and arugula
- Afternoon snack : jelly without sugar
- Dinner : baked fish with eggplant caviar
Carbohydrates: 34 g, proteins: 79 g, fats: 99 g
Day 7 – Sunday
- Breakfast : scrambled eggs with bacon
- Second breakfast : cottage cheese without sugar, a handful of berries
- Lunch : chicken stew with cabbage, mushrooms and sesame seeds
- Afternoon snack : 2 pieces of dark chocolate, nuts
- Dinner : fish soup with pumpkin (50 g) and fried tomatoes
Carbohydrates: 38 g, proteins: 88 g, fats: 102 g
The keto diet is a diet with maximum carbohydrate restriction. For beginners to follow this diet, the most difficult are the first days when the body is rebuilt into ketosis mode – dizziness and weakness can be observed. In the future, the metabolism changes and the body gets used to working in a fat-burning mode without carbohydrates.