In the past few years, the ketogenic diet has become one of the most popular lifestyles of weight loss and improved health worldwide. If you’ve been looking for a way to kick off a change in your eating habits, this meal plan will lay out a foundation that you can follow along with.
The downloadable and printable keto diet meal plan features tried and true recipes that you’ll be sure to enjoy. From make-ahead meals, using leftovers, cooking low-carb treats, to incorporating intermittent fasting – this meal plan will show you the different aspects of keto from all angles.
You’ll find over 15 delicious recipes in the meal plan – breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day (except when fasting) along with dessert. Perfect for starting out and seeing a bit of variety in a standard ketogenic diet.
In this article, we’ll go over the basics of keto, from what it is, what to eat, to a full 14-day plan you can follow yourself to see what it’s all about. If you want to skip ahead, feel free to use the links below:
- What is Keto (and How Does It Work)?
- What Foods to Eat
- Premium Meal Plan for Your Macros
- Tips Before Starting
- Preview of Week 1
- Preview of Week 2
- Get the Plan
- Inside the Shopping List
- FAQ & Resources
What is Keto and How Does it Work?
A keto diet is well-known for being a low carb diet, in which the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. It’s referred to by many different names – ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat (LCHF), and so on. Though some of these other “names” have different nutritional standards, we’ll stick with the rules of keto.
When you eat something high in carbs, your body will produce glucose and insulin. Glucose is the easiest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy so that it will be chosen over any other energy source. Insulin is produced to process the glucose in your bloodstream, by taking it around the body. Since the glucose is being used as a primary energy, your fats are not needed and are therefore stored.
By lowering the intake of carbs, the body is induced into a state known as ketosis. This allows your body to use the fat you’re eating along with your body fat to create energy called ketones. Instead of using glucose for energy, you now use fat. While this is a basic explanation of how keto works, if you want more information please read through our in-depth guide to ketosis >
Why start a ketogenic diet meal plan? Some researchers swear that it is the best diet for most people to be on, while others think it is just another fad diet. While there isn’t one perfect diet for everyone or every condition, there is plenty of solid research backing up the benefits of keto. In fact, it has been found to be better than most diets at helping people with:
- Weight Loss & Obesity
- Epilepsy
- Type 1 & 2 Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- High Blood Sugar Levels
- Heart Disease
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- Cancer
What Foods to Eat on Keto?
Being on a diet isn’t the easiest thing in the world, especially when you don’t know what you should eat. Below is a quick list of what to eat and what to avoid, but if you want a more in-depth approach on everything you should and shouldn’t eat, check out our ketogenic diet food list >
You want to keep your carbohydrates limited, coming mostly from vegetables, nuts, and dairy. Don’t eat any refined carbohydrates such as wheat (bread, pasta, cereals), starch (potatoes, beans, legumes) or fruit. The small exceptions to this are avocado, star fruit, and berries which can be consumed in moderation.
Do Not Eat
- Grains – wheat, corn, rice, cereal, bread, etc.
- Sugar – honey, agave, maple syrup, corn syrup, etc.
- Large Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, etc.
- Tubers – potato, yams, etc.
Do Eat
- Meats – fish, beef, lamb, poultry, eggs, etc.
- Leafy Greens – spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, kale, etc. (fresh or frozen)
- Above ground vegetables – cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, etc. (fresh or frozen)
- High Fat Dairy – hard and soft cheeses, high fat cream, butter, etc.
- Nuts and seeds – macadamias, walnuts, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc.
- Avocado and berries – raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other low glycemic impact berries
- Sweeteners – stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and other low-carb sweeteners >
- Other fats – coconut oil, olive oil, MCT oil, high-fat salad dressing, saturated fats, etc.
Here’s a quick video that goes over the full 14-day keto meal plan and what you can expect. The video is condensed into just a few minutes, so keep in mind all of these keto meals are 2 weeks worth. Scroll down to learn more about it and download it to try out yourself!
Get Personalized Meal Plans Made for You
If you’re looking for a simple, long-term solution, the Keto Academy may be right for you. Our program will allow you to create customized keto meal plans made specifically to your macros. This will scale over 1,300 recipes down to your specific macros and let you choose (or swap out) recipes as you want.
It’s simple: you choose the recipes you like and they will always be made to your exact macros. No guesswork and no tracking needed.
You can specify exactly how much time you have to cook, if you want to avoid any foods, and if you want to use leftovers as well. You get full control over what you eat and you just need to follow along with the plan. If you enjoy intermittent fasting for a boost of weight loss, you can also enable that. A shopping list is made and will adapt to any recipe you swap out. You can scale the meal plan for multiple people, too!
Tips Before Starting Your Meal Plan
1. Calculate Your Macros and Adjust Plan
Calories are still something you need to consider on a ketogenic diet. While some people can get away with the “eat until full” philosophy, this doesn’t work for most people. There are tons of hormone, endocrine, and deficiency problems that we still need to take into account.
Use our keto calculator to figure out exactly how much you need to eat and adjust the plan to fit your needs. This meal plan averages 1538 calories, 120g fat, 24g net carbs, and 83g protein over the 2 weeks. If this is different to your macros, consider adjusting the plan to fit your needs.
To increase calories. If you need to increase the fat intake of the plan, add additional oil, cream, cheese, or cream cheese into your recipes; or drink coffee with cream with your first meal. If you need to increase protein, just increase the amount of lean meat that’s added into the recipe.
To decrease calories. If you need to decrease the fat intake of the plan, remove oil, cream, cheese, or cream cheese from the plan. Similarly, if you need to decrease the protein intake of the plan, remove some lean meat that’s added to the recipes.
2. Prepare and Get Ready Ahead of Time
You want to keep your cheats to none. Be prepared, make sure you’re eating what you need in order to be satiated, and make sure you’re satisfied with what you’re eating. If you have to force yourself to eat something, it will never work out in the end. This is just a guideline on how you can eat on a ketogenic diet, so you’re very welcome to change up what kind of foods you eat!
Set a start date. Be realistic with yourself and set a date you want to start. Make sure to get the shopping ready for when you start so that there’s no missing ingredients or surprises. Commit yourself to follow the plan fully and stick to the start date you determine.
Re-organize your fridge and pantry. With temptation looming each time you open the cupboard, it can be difficult to stick to your newfound dietary choices. Ketosis is a process that happens in your body. You can’t just have “that one” cheat meal. If you do, it can hamper progress for up to a week before your body is back in ketosis and burning fat again.
If possible, clear out any high-carb snacks and tempting items from your kitchen so that you can stay on track. There will likely be a few new keto ingredients you’ll need to purchase for the plan, so make sure you read ahead and stock up your fridge as needed.
3. Understand the Keto Flu
The Keto Flu is a combination of symptoms that happen when you first transition to a low-carb way of eating. You may get dizziness, headache, fatigue, cramping, nausea, or fatigue for a few days after starting your keto meal plan. Don’t worry, this is normal and there are ways to combat it.
Keto is also a diuretic and can cause dehydration. With the extra urination, you will deplete both water in your body and your electrolytes quicker. Your T3 (thyroid hormone) will decrease some, and your cortisol levels will raise up. Although the keto flu affects everyone differently, you may feel some of these symptoms but you can do something to reduce the symptoms or completely stop them.
Simply increase your water intake (or drink other keto-friendly beverages) and increase your electrolytes. You can use electrolyte supplements (this is the one we use) or take a multivitamin that includes potassium and magnesium. Additionally, add salt to your food (and/or water) to help.
If you want to get a deeper look into the keto flu and more tips on how to remedy it, take a look at our in-depth article here >
4. Stop Mindless Snacking
Not only does snacking increase the number of calories you’re intaking per day, but it also creates insulin spikes each time you eat a small meal. It’s truly best to cut out all snacking when you’re on keto to see the best results. Keeping snacks to a minimum will allow your body to use your fat stores as energy and allow you to see success.
Last but not least, just do it. It’s fantastic to read, research, and plan but at the end of the day you just have to jump in and make sure that you start. Good luck!
Week 1 of the Keto Diet Meal Plan
Our main goal here is to stay pretty simple at first. In my eyes, simplicity is key for someone that is just starting out on a low carb diet. You don’t want it to be a difficult transition (kitchen-wise) because it will be hard just to get rid of your cravings in the beginning. You don’t want to spend too much time cooking and slaving away to make meals.
Leftovers will be another thing we will take into consideration. Not only is it easier on you, but why put yourself through the hassle to cook the same food more than once? Breakfast is something I normally do leftover style, where I don’t have to worry about it in the morning, and I certainly don’t have to stress about it. Grab some food out the fridge, pre-made for me, and head out the door. It doesn’t get much easier than that, does it?
Breakfast.
For breakfast, you want to do something that’s pretty quick and tasty, and of course – gives you some leftovers. I suggest starting day one on the weekend. This way, you can make something that will last you for the entire week (or close to it). The first week is all about simplicity with flavor. Nobody wants to be making breakfast before work, and we’re not going to be doing that either! We’ll focus on making flavorful breakfasts that you can either make in a pinch or have leftovers for the week.
There’s a variety of low-carb options so that you can have an idea of a generic week on a ketogenic diet. If you want to add more variety, feel free to browse our breakfast recipes for more ideas. You can replace any of the breakfasts in the plan with recipes of similar nutrition.
Lunch.
We’re also going to keep it simple here. We’re mostly relying on salads that you can make the night before if needed. You can portion out the salad and dressing/components separately beforehand and grab-and-go in the morning.
The salads will be mostly a bit of protein with leafy greens. This helps with our micronutrient intake and will help tremendously with fat intake while keeping it low-carb. You can also add spices and seasonings to your salad to your liking. Just be careful about onion and garlic powder, but most other spices in small amounts have negligible carbs.
Dinner.
Dinner will mostly be casseroles with cooked-in vegetables, so no side dishes required. Casseroles are great on a low-carb, ketogenic diet because you get so many leftovers. It’s not uncommon to see recipes that take quite a long time to make, so when you can save a little time by eating leftovers, it makes a world of difference. Simply stick them in the fridge, reheat as needed, and you have dinner in little to no time at all.
Sides and snacks.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to keep snacking to a minimum in order to keep insulin spikes to a minimum.
P.S. No dessert for the first week. Studies show that cravings will be significantly reduced when you skip out on sweetened items for a while.
Week 1 Weekly Macro Averages
| CALORIES | FATS (g) | CARBS (g) | FIBER (g) | NET CARBS (g) | PROTEIN (g) | |
| Day 1 | 1570.2 | 123.1 | 31.1 | 12.1 | 19.6 | 85.2 |
| Day 2 | 1360.7 | 105.9 | 31.4 | 8 | 23.4 | 63.1 |
| Day 3 | 1570.2 | 123.1 | 31.3 | 12.1 | 19.6 | 85.2 |
| Day 4 | 1493.8 | 125.8 | 31.8 | 9 | 22.9 | 66.4 |
| Day 5 | 1651 | 134.1 | 24.5 | 7.3 | 17.6 | 91.3 |
| Day 6 | 1442.7 | 106.4 | 29.3 | 7.5 | 21.9 | 83.3 |
| Day 7 | 1584.3 | 138.8 | 38.2 | 12.8 | 25.9 | 58.8 |
| WEEK TOTALS | 10672.7 | 857.1 | 217.7 | 68.7 | 151 | 533.4 |
| DAILY AVERAGE | 1524.7 | 122.4 | 31.1 | 9.8 | 21.6 | 76.2 |
Recipes Included in Week 1
Sausage Gravy & Biscuit Bake
Oven Roasted Caprese Salad
Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Casserole
One-Pot Shrimp Alfredo
Cauliflower Pizza Casserole
Ketoproof Coffee
It’s important to note that we do use meat and dairy in our recipes. The bulk of the meal plan is based on an average ketogenic diet that most people would follow. If you don’t eat meat, you can still do keto but it will be a bit more challenging. You will rely on plant-based protein and added fats to get to your goal macros. You can see some examples of our vegetarian and vegan keto recipes at the end of this article!
Week 2 of the Keto Diet Meal Plan
This week we’re going to be keeping it pretty simple again. After finishing off the leftovers, we’ll incorporate intermittent fasting. We’ll also include some desserts to keep your sweet tooth at bay. I’ll introduce you to some of our favorite classic low-carb recipes including new salads, soups, and another casserole.
Breakfast.
We’re fasting! Black coffee if you’re a caffeine addict like me. Tea, if you are not into the coffee so much. Tea can add great health benefits like coffee also. Some of the great benefits of green tea are:
- Polyphenols – These function as antioxidants in your body. The most powerful antioxidant in green tea is Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which has shown to be effective against fatigue.
- Improved Brain Function – Not only does green tea contain caffeine, but it also contains L-theanine, which is an amino acid. L-theanine increases your GABA activity, which improves anxiety, dopamine, and alpha waves.
- Increased Metabolic Rate – Green tea has been shown to improve your metabolic rate. In combination with the caffeine, this can lead up to 15% increased fat oxidization.
Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the fasting (and through the day). It’s very important to stay well hydrated on keto – I recommend at least 2.5 liters for women and 3.5 liters for men.
Lunch.
Easy to prep salads with lots of leftovers. We’ll alternate between a salmon salad and a meatball bowl. Plenty of leafy greens and protein to fill you up and fantastic to break a fast with. Green vegetables and high-fat dressings (or vinaigrettes) are key. Making sure to balance out the fats with the amounts of protein is very important.
Dinner.
Dinner will be pretty simplistic. We alternate between a soup and a casserole that taste great and develop even more flavor as you use them up as leftovers. On the last day, we’ll have a second salad to give you a bit more variety and a better idea of what type of foods you should be eating on a keto meal plan.
Dessert is included for a few days – if you don’t like coffee with chocolate, just leave the coffee out of the dessert!
Week 2 Weekly Macro Averages
| CALORIES | FATS (g) | CARBS (g) | FIBER (g) | NET CARBS (g) | PROTEIN (g) | |
| Day 1 | 1531.5 | 119.4 | 26 | 8.7 | 17.5 | 90.8 |
| Day 2 | 1645.5 | 127.7 | 43.2 | 11.5 | 31.7 | 85.2 |
| Day 3 | 1502.3 | 110.4 | 35 | 10.4 | 24.6 | 101 |
| Day 4 | 1645.5 | 127.7 | 43.2 | 11.5 | 31.7 | 85.2 |
| Day 5 | 1502.3 | 110.4 | 35 | 10.4 | 24.6 | 101 |
| Day 6 | 1645.5 | 127.7 | 43.2 | 11.5 | 31.7 | 85.2 |
| Day 7 | 1385.1 | 104.5 | 37.8 | 12.6 | 25.1 | 82.1 |
| WEEK TOTALS | 10857.8 | 827.6 | 263.4 | 76.6 | 187 | 630.6 |
| DAILY AVERAGE | 1551.1 | 118.2 | 37.6 | 10.9 | 26.7 | 90.1 |
Recipes Included in Week 2
Sesame Salmon Salad
Nacho Chicken Casserole
Sausage & Kale Soup
Avocado BLT Salad
Mediterranean Lunch Bowl
Mocha Mousse
Download Ketogenic Diet Meal Plan
Since this is my full-time job, donations really help allow me to post as much to the website as I do. It’s not often that someone can say “I love my job” and mean it, but this is one that I’m truly able to. I just want to say thank YOU for making that possible. While I do really appreciate any donation you want to give, you can enter $0 in the amount given to download it for free! I’ve added $10 as the suggested price. I think that’s a very fair price considering other websites are charging in the hundreds of dollars and I’ve seen what they are like on the inside.
I have put a lot of work into this and revised it many times, but if you want it for $5 or $10 or $0, feel free to put whatever you want in the amount – I have no hard feelings! You can always download it for free and if you agree that the quality is worth paying for, come back and give a small donation to help me keep doing what I’m doing.
Shopping List for Your Plan
At the beginning of each week, you’ll get a shopping list to use to get all of the groceries you need for your keto meal plan. The shopping list is broken down into categories
- Protein
- Fats & Oils
- Produce
- Dairy
- Spices & Herbs
- Specialty Baking Items
- Other
Feel free to look through the shopping list and adjust to your needs. You may already have some of the spices and baking items in your home. You can usually cut back on cost as well if you are on a budget. Swap out different types of cheeses for 1 type of cheese; use an all-purpose seasoning instead of multiple different seasonings; use 1 type of vinegar instead of multiple.
To save a bit more money, you can usually combine some produce items as well. Instead of getting multi-colored peppers, stick to green. Instead of using fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs which are typically cheaper. If there are multiple types of lettuce, you can usually just get 1 type (spring mix is a favorite of mine for dark leafy greens).
FAQ & More Resources
Once you’ve followed through with the meal plan, you should have a good foundation on where to start and either create your own meal plan, or use a meal planning tool like our Keto Academy. Here are some of the most common questions we get and a few extra resources to help you stay on track:
How can I increase or decrease the calorie amounts in the plan?
If you find that’s you’re too hungry after eating the food, or not hungry enough, then you will likely need to adjust the plan to fit your body and activity level. Make sure to use our keto calculator to find your recommended set of macros.
Using those macros, you can adjust the plan as needed:
- To increase fat: Add additional oil, cream, cheese, or cream cheese to your plan. You can add slightly more vegetables into the plan (and use the additional fat to cook them) as well.
- To increase protein: With any lean meat in the plan, adjust the amount used until your needed protein levels are reached. Try to only increase the use of lean meat as fattier meats will significantly increase the calories as well.
- To decrease fat: Use less added oil, butter, cream, or cheese in a recipe until you get to your needed fat amount.
- To decrease protein: Reduce the use of lean meat in the plan. As an example, if the recipe calls for 8 oz. of shrimp, use 6 oz. instead. Adjust as needed until you get to your protein requirements.
I don’t like a recipe in the plan. Can I use a different one?
Of course! We have a library of over 700 keto recipes on the website. You can swap out any meal that has similar macros, or build upon a meal to get to the needed macros for that specific meal. While not every recipe is a complete meal, you can add low-carb vegetables in to supplement your micronutrient intake.
Can I snack while on this keto plan?
It’s best to not snack while following this plan. Your meals should satiate you and keep you full between the meals. Make sure that you’re drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated (and supplementing with electrolytes if needed).
If you find that you’re regularly hungry on the plan, you should consider checking your macros and adjusting the plan to fit your macros. Snacking will spike your insulin level and you want to have as few insulin spikes as possible while following the plan.
That said, it’s inevitable that some snacking may happen. If that do decide to grab a snack, you should be prepared for if it. We have some great examples of keto snacks to use during your progress.
I don’t eat dairy/nightshades/[insert excluded food]. Can I still use this meal plan?
You can still follow keto if you want to avoid certain foods or have allergies to certain foods. Make sure to search the website (or visit our full FAQ) for more information.
When cutting out dairy, it has shown to improve weight loss and typically help people get past a stall if they encounter while following their meal plan. This guide to dairy-free keto will help you cut out dairy and give some replacement ideas (+ a sample meal plan).
Can I drink alcohol on keto with this plan?
You can drink alcohol on keto, but you have to be mindful of the impact on macros it will have. Usually, every shot of liquor will contain ~100 calories (with no nutrition). If you are a frequent or heavy drinker, this will be very impactful on your overall calorie consumption.
Another thing to keep in mind is that alcohol does slow overall weight loss progress down. That said, it’s expected to have an occasional drink, and if you’d like some ideas you can read our guide to keto and alcohol >
I’m vegetarian/vegan, can I still follow this keto diet plan?
While it can be difficult, going vegetarian or vegan on keto is possible. Whether you’re doing it for improved health benefits, environmental concerns, or ethical reasons we have a few guides that should help.
- If you want to do vegetarian keto, this guide will help break down what you can and can’t eat alongside give some suggestions on meal ideas.
- If you’re wanting to go vegan keto, this guide will give you an overall scope of what to eat and a sample meal plan.
If you have any other questions or just want to learn more about keto in general, check out our other keto diet blog posts or make sure to visit our Full Keto FAQ List >
Create Your Own Keto Diet Plan!
You can use my meal plan as a guideline to help you create something that fits into your life and schedule. Keep in mind that hitting (or at least coming close to) your daily macros is the most important thing when it comes to your success. Modify or edit recipes as needed to make them fit within your macros.
You should usually never go above a 25% calorie deficit (to lose weight) or 15% surplus (to gain muscle). Use the keto calculator on the website to determine your macros as a starting point!
I just paid for the pdf version of the keto diet. Is this going to be emailed to me to I can print it?
Vicki,
I’m super grateful you donated for it! It’s free to download, so if you did not get the download link the first time around, just download it a second time and enter $0 as the price 🙂
Hi Craig,
I am starting your 30 day plan and it looks like the calculations aren’t adding up. It looks like they are 1501 not 1601, is that right or am I missing something?
Thanks!
Jess
Sorry on day 1 of week one
Jessica,
You may be missing the [Add 1 tbsp. Butter] which adds 100 more calories. I just went through my excel file I used to make this and it all works out to 1601 (1601.1 to be exact) 🙂
i’m thinking of donating for you 30 day plan but i was wondering if it would be worth it for me because i do not eat red meat or pork, (just chicken and fish). In addition I wanted to do carb up 1-2 days a week. I’m not look to lose weight just a few % of body fat. What do you think?
Hey Rose and sorry for the late reply. My meal plan does include red meat and pork, and these 2 meats are staples for me on keto. You can download the meal plan for free if you’d like to by entering $0 to download it. I do not suggest carbing up every week, especially if you are planning to use keto in the long term – you would just need to eat at maintenance calories to maintain your weight.
I just donated for the PDF version too! Looking forward to getting started!! Thank you for all your work, I really appreciate it!! are the same recipes in your book?
Della
Thank you so much Della! The recipes in the meal plan are just regular recipes from the website here. The recipes in the cookbook are not on the website, so they are completely different. Looking forward to you starting! I think you’ll find keto to be as awesome as I do 🙂
Hi Craig,
Do you have a paypal donate link? Just lost my job so I’m not using credit cards but I do have some change in my paypal account.
Kate, if you’re on a tight budget I’d rather you keep everything for yourself, seriously. I have a second job that allows me to throw some extra at the site – but I’d rather not but you in a tight spot just to donate. You can download the meal plan for free if you type in $0 as the amount to give 🙂
If you really do want to donate (and I really appreciate it) there is a donate button in the side bar on the website (if you’re on your phone/tablet it might be at the bottom). Thanks a bunch for showing your support!
Just saw the paypal link after I typed my comment and felt rather dumb, should have looked first. I made a small donation, not only for the book but I often use the recipes on the site. Thanks for your time and effort in keeping it going.
I saw – thanks so much! I’ll definitely keep going with this, I love the cooking aspect (always something new every day). Hope you keep coming back to enjoy more 🙂
Thank you so much for this great resource, Craig. Loved the stew.
I think the only way you could make it easier is if you added amount/quanity info to the shopping list. Going back between it, my current day, and the recipe is quite cumbersome with the pdf on a mac.
I agree Chris. This one is more of a free-preview of what the meal plans will look like in the future. Of course, the ones that I release in the future will have all the bells and whistles (proper formatting, proper amounts on shopping lists, a bit more organization per week, things like that). Thanks for the feedback!
Dumb question; I have a Kindle reader on my Toshiba tablet – which version should I download? Thanks in advance!
Norma, you can download the Kindle Version (but make sure you download the “Send to Kindle” program). You can use that program to send the file to your kindle app on your Toshiba tablet 🙂
If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me!
Hi I’m not very good with computers and stuff….. I bought the cookbook yesterday and not sue how to get it to my kindle and I also downloaded 30 days and can’t seem to find it on my kindle either. Sorry I’m sure this is so simple but I’ve been trying for 30 already,lol 🙂
Gabrielle,
Thanks for buying the cookbook! Here’s some instructions on how to get it onto your kindle:
Step 1. Download the e-book to your laptop (or desktop).
Step 2. Download Send to Kindle Program ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle ) to your laptop (or desktop).
Step 3. Install Sent to Kindle Program on your laptop (or desktop).
Step 4. Right click the e-book that you downloaded and select “Send to Kindle”. (See picture)
Step 5. Add check marks next to which device you want to send it to and click Send at the bottom.
If you have any questions or run into a problem just let me know and I’ll try to clarify further!
Great thanks SO much!
You’re welcome 🙂
Thanks again! I got it on my kindle:) one happy girl here.
The time you take to help all of us is GREATLY APPRECIATED!! If you ever have any doubt about what you are doing here, don’t because look at all the good that is created because of you, your knowledge, your dedication to answers our many repeated questions, your recipes! You are helping SO many of us find the way to health and opening our ears eyes and mouths….ha ha had throw that in there! You make it easy for us and thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Thank YOU for the kind words 🙂
Just happened upon your site, I wish I could donate for the info, because I know it will be very helpful for I plan to use it, unfortunately I cannot at this time. I will definitely keep you posted of my progress and I plan to donate in the very near future. Thanks soo much for your love and kindness.
Diva, no worries! I’m just happy to hear you found the site. Please do keep me updated, I love hearing success stories 🙂
I am a type 2 diabetic. Would fasting work for me? I wonder what that would do to my blood sugars. Any ideas, usually I have to eat to keep my liver from dumping sugar into my system.
Monica, you should be OK fasting on this diet as your blood sugars should lower. Keep an eye on your blood sugars and adjust the plan as needed. There were a few studies done on diabetics and fasting and they seemed to be fine – but the studies were done on a small pool of people, so I can’t really give any scientifically solid advice on that.
Thank you.
No problem at all!
Starting week 3 when intermittent fasting is introduced, you said to eat your breakfast instead of drinking it yet you recommend Bulletproof coffee? Can you explain?
David, it may just be the wording that’s confusing you. I say “I suggest eating (rather, drinking)” – try saying it out loud. That’s just how I write, but it may be (for you) a badly worded way of saying “I suggest drinking”. Hope that helps!
Just a quick tip… I did not have an immersion blender, so I stuck a wire whisk in my cup and put my hands together at the top and rubbed back and fourth like starting a fire. A couple of seconds and I had a beautiful cup of creamy whipped bullet proof. Awesome! Thank you for your recipes.
Thanks for the tip Susan 🙂
I will be buying your cook book (:
The keto recipes help me in the gym, and manage my boyfriend’s migraines. Thank you !!!
(PS do you frequent ketogains at all on /r/?)
Really appreciate it Gina! glad to hear it’s helping you guys out!
I don’t really go on ketogains much anymore, mostly just ketorecipes 😉
Oh ok (:
If you ever see “MissyScorpio”; that’s me (:
And bless you! BLESS YOU for catering toward women! You don’t see that too often!
Heh, will do!
I was just wondering about the serving sizes of the recipes in the 7 day keto “book”.
Barbie,
I’m not sure what you mean. Do you mind explaining? If your question is regarding the 7 day plan, I’d appreciate if you posted on that post. This post is for the 30 day meal plan. 🙂
Have you thought about accepting paypal?
Wendy, you can download this for free if you put $0 in the “amount to give” 🙂 You can donate to the website via paypal if you’d like (and THANK YOU if you do!). There is a donate button in the side bar on the website, near the top (top right).
Hope that helps Wendy!
WIN!!!!!
Can I have popcorn on this diet
No, you can’t. Check out the “Ketogenic Diet Foods” post 🙂
It want let me do the macros. I’m 140lbs. Around 35 percent body fat visual and walk around 1 to 2 hours a week. Can you help me figure this out pleaze . Thank you.
Shannon,
Visit the keto calculator to figure your macros out. http://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/
There, you can input all of the things you said to me, but leave the exercise portion out (it’s rather insignificant, calorie wise – but glad you are done some!)
Hi
I just purchased your e cook book
Is this the same as the 30 day plan?
If not can my purchase go towards the 30 day plan?
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce,
The cookbook is just a cookbook, it’s quite a number of recipes (that are not on the website) that will help you with your ketogenic journey. The meal plan uses recipes that are already on the site. They are 2 different things. If you’d like to get the meal plan for free, just enter “0” when it asks for what amount of money to give!
Thanks for purchasing the cookbook, I really appreciate it!
I was just wondering what you would suggest, as a replacement, for someone who doesn’t consume any dairy. Would the vegan butter; it’s non-dairy, gluten and soy free work just as well? Also, do you recommend buying the keto testing strips and if so, which ones? Thanks for the recipes and your help!
Georgia, you could use ghee or lard or tallow as a replacement for butter. You can also find other ways to get fats in such as avocado, oils, and the like.
You shouldn’t need to buy the test strips to be honest, they’re quite expensive – just track what you eat and stay strict and you will be fine 🙂
Do you have any advice on how to get through the keto/low-carb period-it’s awful. I’ve tried going low-carb in the past and while my hunger levels decrease, I often feel queasy but kinda hungry at the same time. I’m a serious carb addict (and it shows!) 🙁
Kelly, you can find information about all of that inside the 30 day plan.
I am just starting out on this journey and am so happy I stumbled upon this website. Thank you.
Glad to hear! Thank you for visiting 🙂
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the wonderful information. I’m starting tomorrow. Wish me luck. I do hope I can stick with it and achieve my goal.
I wish you the best Nina!
Hi,
I just bought your 30 day meal plan Kindle version, but I don’t understand how to get it onto my Kindle. I probably have most of the ingedients as I cook many of Maria Emmerich’s, but need a day to day plan so I don’t need to “think” about it too much. Thanks
Susan,
Download the file to your desktop computer, then install the “Send to Kindle” program from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle). Once you have the program installed, you can right-click the e-book file on your desktop computer and click “Send to Kindle”.
It’s as simple as that 🙂
Hi Craig,
No luck with the Kindle transfer. I’m no techie but my husband tried as well and still no luck. Can you send to my email some other version? Thanks.
Susan, you can download the PDF version by putting in $0 in the “amount to give” and then you will be able to use the PDF version just fine. The “Send to Kindle” program from Amazon has a large set of tutorials on the website so if you want to give a brief 10 minute read over them it may help you get this onto your kindle.
Okay, thanks. I will try that.
Sure thing
Hi, I’m very keen to get started on a keto lifestyle, but am allergic to eggs and nuts. Are there any good substitutes?
Kudos on an amazing site/product!
Cameron,
You don’t -have- to eat eggs and nuts on this diet, it just makes things a lot easier. You can find your fats in other ways like oils, sauces, and fatty meats. Hope that helps – and thanks!
Hi again,
The problem must have been with Amazon. I gave it another try and it went right through this time. Apparently The Send to Kindle wasn’t installing the way it should before, but went right through this time. Thanks for all of your patience. Now I need to get reading.
Glad to hear Susan! Happy that it’s all sorted now 🙂
I must have missed it somewhere – after week 4 do I continue to skip breakfast and lunch? My impression is I should begin to eat them again while staying in the diet. Thank you for your hard work and excellent information.
Cathy,
The introduction of the fasting is just for those purposes – to see if it works for you. Personally I find that people get a lot of success with fasting because they stop that “snacking” attitude. But if it’s something that isn’t easy for you (or convenient, which is the most important) then go back to eating regularly or how you used to in week 1 and 2 🙂
Ahhh, this is exactly the same question I had. Soooo, this is not meant to be a cyclic 30 day but more of a “build you up to week 4 guide” so that you may carry that on as your norm right? I’m in a position where I typically eat breakfast, very often end up skipping lunch because of my work load and often don’t end up eating dinner till about 9pm anyway so I think that I could easily get accustomed to this only needing to tweak the types of foods I’m ingesting. That sound about right? Thanks in advance for all the great info!
Yes, it does Moe. This is more of a guideline – if you want to incorporate different eating habits into it, or change your eating habits to conform to it, then that’s up to you. I mainly added fasting in to show people how it works and what to do to build up to it. You can continue fasting, or you can continue eating 3-5 meals a day. Pretty much whatever you feel comfortable with.
Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for this , I am a diabetic and have been told this will be great, I am on a fixed income but will be getting your cookbook asap, again thank you so much
Sure thing Donna! I wish you the best in controlling your blood sugars 🙂
Just happened onto your site and am excited to get started. Do you have ‘success stories’ on here? That would be wonderful.
Dee, you can check inside the “Health and Fitness” section for success stories. There’s not too many on here because not many people are willing to post their photos online. I have asked my facebook group of almost 8,000 people and only a few would share. Sorry there’s not more!
Can you tell me how I get all the info and meal plan for this?
Colleen,
There is a link to download each version of the meal plan at the bottom of the article.
Excited to get started! Ive tried several recipes from your site and all have been winners! Question…can I sub bulletproof coffee for week 1 instead of the meals listed? I’d rather drink my breakfast, it’s just easier.
Thank you Monica! Of course you can. This is just an idea/outline of what you could eat – feel free to change it to suit you better 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply. I love the almond crusted quiche. I’ve got to figure out where to plug that in ;-). Love this site!
Sorry for the late reply, I must have missed this one! You can plug them into MFP (MyFitnessPal) or Fatsecret. Those are 2 biggest apps used for tracking. Thanks for giving feedback!
My friend is doing keto/IF & tracked her blood sugars with the diabetic machine. Do u suggest buying one of those?
Elaina, I don’t think it’s 100% necessary to track blood sugars, but sometimes it can help 🙂
Hi Craig, I’m just about to hit download on the meal plan and the cookbook but first would like to ask your opinion re eggs! Eggs and I are not good friends! I can have a small amount when mixed through as an ingredient but unable to eat them straight or in larger quantities in recipes. Am I going to survive on a keto diet with such a low tolerance for eggs? Thanks!
Clare,
Is it because of the taste or do you actually have an allergy? Either way, you can find things to sub out for eggs (flax seed + water can make a faux egg, baking powder can be used instead of eggs, or a combination of different things). You’ll be able to survive without eggs – most of the eggs I use are just mixed into stuff. In the meal plan, there are eggs for breakfast, but you can replace that with an avocado or something of the sort 🙂
Thanks so much for your reply! I get quite ill when I eat anything with eggs in larger amounts (frittata, zucchini fritters, egg pasta/noodles, etc) but if its just one or two mixed through say a cake mix, then all is usually ok…so maybe an allergy or maybe just an intolerance !
I’ll defrinitelly check out your suggestions for egg substitutes …and avocado and I are best of friends 😀
Thanks again, Craig … I am now proceeding with purchasing the meal-plan and the cookbook 🙂 Is it ok to download the plan twice, one for my PC and one for my tablet? (of course, I’ll donate for both …hopefully Aussie dollars are still worth something over there 😉
Clare, a lot of people report problems when they download straight to their tablet so I suggest just downloading it to your desktop first and then transferring it (through USB/iTunes if you have iPad/Send to Kindle program for Kindle). If you have questions feel free to let me know! I’m usually around 🙂
Hi Craig!
I’m 2 1/2 years out from RNY gastric bypass surgery. I’m going very well, and have been below goal weight for 11/2 years, maintaining effortlessly. My issue is that now I’ve become much more active, resistance/muscle building training with a trainer and “greenway” biking. I hit the wall on the bike within 15 minutes after a 10 mile ride. Because of the surgery, I eat low carb and as clean as possible. Do you have any recommendations for me? I absorb about 1/2 of what I eat, including the supplements I take.
Bobbie, congrats on your weight loss! It’s hard to me to give good feedback based on people with RNY Gastric Bypass. How low carb are you eating, and are you maintaining ketosis? Normally if you’re just low carb and don’t become fat adapted, you will hit performance walls. If you’re in ketosis and become fat adapted, this will help with performance issues especially in endurance training. Normally it takes around 4-6 weeks for this to happen. If you could give some more information, I’ll try to shed some more light 🙂
I need help. Ive been trying this for about two weeks and I don’t see a loss . There is something I am doing wrong, something I am not eating the right way. Can you please help me figure it out?? I dont eat steak and pork or beef. Mainly only chicken and fish and eggs.
Cosmo,
Judging by what you are saying, your protein ratios might be high to the fat ratios. Excess protein can be turned into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis, and that will not help you out on this diet. Do you track your food? If not, then start. You need to keep a high fat diet and a moderate to low protein diet. All while keeping an eye on your carb intake.
I highly suggest reading through the website to fully understand the diet, using the keto calculator to figure your macros (how much fat/protein/carbs you should eat), and tracking your food for at least 2-3 weeks to make sure you are doing it correctly.
Good morning, Craig! A good girlfriend and I are going to begin this 30 day plan after a couple of weeks of floundering with excess cheese and nuts while trying to achieve ketosis. I really appreciate the time and effort you’ve put into compiling this book!
My question is, on week 1’s shopping list, which type of chicken sausage would you recommend? I live in San Francisco, so I have access to many health food stores. Also, under the sauces list, do you mean red wine vinegar or red wine the delicious beverage?
Thank you for everything you do!
Brittany,
Pretty much any chicken sausage with cheddar and bacon inside it will do. If you can’t find that, then you could just add the bacon and cheddar yourself according to macros (over the top of the dish). There’s a few ingredients I left out on the first weeks shopping list, so I apologize about that – but I am going to be updating the plan soon to correct anything I left out, or anything that can be misinterpreted. Glad you enjoy it and thanks for the positive feedback!
Hey Craig, just a quick question. I have 18% body fat, and I want to reduce this amount to 13%. For how long should I do this diet for? and are their any negative side effects that I should watch out for? Thank you
Monty,
I can’t really tell you how long it will take you to lose 5% body fat. Weight loss is totally different for different people. Making sure you drink enough water is important because it can lead to some negative side effects, but other than that all I think you’ll have it positive side effects. Make sure you read through some of the other information on the site to get an understanding of everything before you start, though.
Hi, I tried to buy cooking by the ruled book via your buy now button but it just keep scrolling back to the top of the page, I then went on Amazon to get it but they only have a kindle version, I like to hold cookbooks and look at the recipes on paper!! Do you have a paper or hard back version on cooking by the ruled book or is it just kindle??
I’m in England!
I love your site, came across it on google after starting the diet today and you’ve made everything clearer!! I was basically cutting out carbs and sugar!!
Kim x
Hey Kim,
I’m happy that you’ve learned a lot from the website – that gives me a smile 🙂
Right now (and for the foreseeable future), I only sell digital copies of the book. The hard copy is too expensive for my to justify printing a lot of copies out (since not too many sell), so I just can’t afford to do it. The only thing I can recommend is to print it out via your computer, but the first cookbook is some 500 pages long. I will soon be working on it to get everything into a more print friendly version.
Hope that helps!
Craig
Hi Craig,
I downloaded your 30 day meal plan. I was just wondering – this plan makes you eat keto every day for 3 weeks. would this be considered TKD/SKD or CKD? If my goal is to lose fat, will following this meal plan be appropriate or should I follow the meal plan for weekdays and carb up to follow the CKD?
Thanks,
Joyce
Joyce,
This plan follows SKD. I don’t think carbs are necessary (even with working out) in most cases. If you need to lose fat, then I don’t suggest doing CKD – become fat adapted and stick with SKD.
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your fast response! I will stick to a SKD diet in that case. However, I was just wondering – is it still possible to drink alcohol on the weekends while following the 3 week plan? I know alcohol should be restricted, but it’s hard to completely cut myself from the social life. (I just started the keto diet for 2 weeks)
Just to add – I plan to do this only once a week and maybe only every 2 weeks or so
Joyce,
You can do this, but make sure you calculate it into your macros. Try to keep the alcohol limited because it will be burnt up before anything else you put into your body.
Hi Craig,
First I have to say a big thank you for not only this 30 day Keto diet but also for all the great info that you continually share! It makes doing this so much easier and pleasant! It is nice to see others going through and doing what I am. I started keto just a week ago, but have been a clean eater no carb/ no sugar for quite some time. I was looking through the 30 days and was wondering if it is ok to start on week 2? Week one is kinda what I have been doing already. Also I see that you use spinach A LOT and although I quite like it, it does not like me! It is a goitrogen food that my stomach can not take unless it is cooked/steamed. In the salads is there something else that I can replace it with? Like mixed greens or other lettuce? Thanks for your time! Keep up the amazing work! Nancy
Yeah, you can replace spinach with whatever you’d like. It’s more of a filler food to help you feel like you’re eating a substantial quantity because fats often is small quantity. You can start wherever you want – this is just a guideline for people, especially new. So I think you’ve done great so far! Thanks for all the kind words and feedback 🙂
Hi Craig,
Just found out about your Keto diet from a Nurse Practitioner! This is hard to believe but we still have dial-up connection to the internet (no high-speed available in our little pocket of our town)!!!! So to download anything takes hours if not days!!! Is there any other way to get the the 30 day diet plan? My husband suffered a stroke back in October and we are trying to get his body back to a good health state. He’s lost 50 pounds already just by my cutting out sugar & carbs! I am interested in your diet because it will give us a better guideline. Thank you so much for whatever you could do for us! Karen.
Sorry to hear Karen, I hope he’s doing better now! I don’t have any other way you can download the 30 day plan. It’s a relatively small file, so even on dial up it should take around 30 minutes or less. On my internet it would take about 5 seconds to download, so I am sure on dial up it’s still quite possible to get within 1 hours timeframe. If it’s for the health of you and your husband, I don’t think that would even compare to wait time in a hospital room 😉
Hi Craig, thanks for responding….knowing that the diet plan is a small file, I’ll give it a try. We are going to hear the Nurse Practitioner speak tonight and we are super excited! Thank you for all of your help and encouragement.
Sure thing – I hope it all turns out for the best. Good luck!
Hey Craig,
Just one more question,
I live in Canada and it is hard yo find grassfed butter. Can I substitute it for organic butter or regular butter??
Thanks Nancy
It’s not a massive deal, but grassfed butter does have more nutritional qualities to it.
I downloaded your plan today and am excited to get started. I’ve struggled for two years to lose weight after having two babies back to back. I workout for 2 hours a day 4x a week and tried the Paleo diet for a couple months here and there. My husband has been successful but not myself. I really like that your recipes are simple, minimal ingredients and foods I would actually eat. I’m building up the courage to take 360 degree before photos. My only goal right now is to be a better version of myself in 30 days. If I am, I will definitely be purchasing your cookbook. Thanks for all your hard work and sharing your knowledge. Wish me luck!!
You should definitely take before photos so you can compare them in 30 days. Some people don’t always lose pounds, but do lose inches and it’s noticeable in pictures. Good luck with your journey and thanks for the kind words!
Craig…
I’ve been having some minor health issues and been trying to learn how to eat a more keto inspired diet. Your site has been a huge help. I haven’t been dropping any weight, so far, and I *really* need to, so I downloaded your 30 day plan. The amazon/kindle option flaked out on me, unfortunately. I don’t know if you have any way to tell, but I hope you got the donation. I went ahead and snagged the pdf version and hope to get started tomorrow. Thanks for all you do. Truly appreciate it!
Asia, thanks for the donation! You can enter “0” in the “amount to give” and try to download the kindle files again. If you download the “Send to Kindle” program from Amazon, you should be able to install it quite easily.
Once you have that program installed, find the Kindle file you downloaded and right click it. When you right-click it, it should give you the option “Send to Kindle”. From there, you just wait and it’s done 🙂
Wow, thank you so much for this resource! I am so pleased with the amount of work that you put into this and for making it freely available. LOVE the bulletproof coffee!
Thank you Alina!
I have to tell you the site is amazing! I love the recipe for the chicken thighs! My husband and I started the 30 day plan but I wanted to know if there was an alternative to the bulletproof coffee. I have tried it with black tea because I get sick when I drink coffee. I didn’t like the mixture it was too buttery. So the last two days I have just had plain tea with a few slices of cheddar cheese to give me some fat. Is there another alternative to the bulletproof coffee? I am approaching the third week and wanted to know what else I can try before the fasting week comes along where we have to drink double the bulletproof coffee. Any suggestions?
There’s not really an option of getting that much fat with as little protein/carbs as bulletproof broth/tea/coffee offers. You could stick with eggs and butter as it says in the plan, but you’d have to adjust out some protein in the other meal later that day.
Hi Craig,
Thank you so much for your response! So I tried it again today but added the cinnamon and a slash of vanilla. I got it down without gagging. After about 20 min I had to lay down since I was feeling a bit nauseous. I tried my best to keep it down but it eventually all came right back up. I sipped it slowly just like I did the first time but it made me so sick. I am not sure if I missed something in the reading but what is bulletproof broth? I am trying my best to stick with this and I am not happy that I am hitting this road block.
Nellie,
I’ve heard of people having bad reactions like that to a lot of coconut oil at once, so maybe you should start with just a little bit of coconut oil and work your way up. The broth is just regular bone broth with butter and coconut oil in (instead of coffee or tea). Hopefully it works out, if not – I am sure you can figure some other ways to get the fat content of your meals up 🙂
Thank you so much. I will keep trying even if I have to eat eggs and modify proteins. One more question are there any other dressings that are low carb other than ranch that you could recommend. I love the ranch but I do not want to get tired of it.
Sure, there’s vinaigrettes, caesar, plain oil, thousand island, all kinds – you can check out the condiments section under recipes for some ideas, too 🙂
Having trouble hooking up
I’m not sure what you mean, Evelyn.
I would happily send you $10 through Pay Pal for your recipes but don’t want to put down my credit card info. If you want to send me a PayPal invoice that would work. Thank you.
Hey Bonnie,
Thank you! If you’d like to, there is a “Donate” button on the sidebar of the website you can use to donate money. It would be really appreciated!
Unfortunately not in a financial situation to be able to donate, but shared this article with everyone I know! Thanks so much!!
Not a big deal Ashley, I’d rather you not donate if you don’t have the financial means to do so. I’m just happy to hear you shared the website 🙂
Hi i bought everything for week one and want to start but it says by the first recipe for lunch that one must see the day-by-day meats but i cant find that and i dont know which meat to use for the first recipe canned chicken and spinach sald.
Hey Puna,
So on Day 1 it will tell you this for lunch:
[ 2 Cups Spinach, 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil & 1/3 Cup Canned Chicken ]
You can add seasonings of your choice to salads – just be weary of
onion and garlic powder. Most other spices have negligable amount
of carbs when seasoning in small amounts.
That means that you follow the recipe in the brackets, which is: 2 Cups Spinach, 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil & 1/3 Cup Canned Chicken
Some days the meat changes depending on the day and leftovers from the night before. I hope that makes sense!
Thanks so much for your fast reply.
I don’t know what canned chicken is and something like that is not available in Germany .
Can I use normal chicken breast fried in olive oil ?
Yeah, of course you could 🙂 Canned chicken is just pre-cooked chicken in a container.