Reducing carbs and increasing healthy fat in our diet provides many benefits. A ketogenic diet accelerates weight loss, boosts energy, and is also known to promote mental clarity.
Keto is exciting for many reasons, and getting to eat once forbidden foods, based on the recommendations of a Standard American Diet that is, can feel liberating—while being so delicious and satiating.
But are all keto plans the same? Is there a universally applicable caloric target for everyone?
No. Although the framework of eating low carbs and high amounts of healthy fat is standard for all, how many calories to consume in a keto meal plan differs from person to person, so customization is best.
How Many Calories Should I Eat for Ketosis?
When starting a ketogenic diet, it's essential to focus on reducing carbs and eating an abundance of healthy fats. But the total amount of calories to eat will have a lot to do with your current lifestyle and health goals.
The number of calories eaten won't necessarily affect ketosis. However, the number of calories comprised of carbohydrates can compromise the ketone levels in your system—and may attribute to difficulty losing weight.
Rather than focusing on the number of calories consumed, it's vital to ensure that the ratio of calories is conducive to supporting ketosis.
Comprise about 5% of your calories with carbohydrates, 75% of calories from fat, and 20% of calories from protein when following a standard ketogenic diet.
Also, it may be helpful to adjust your overall caloric targets if you are very physically active, pregnant, or breastfeeding.
However, free sites like MyFitnessPal can help you establish a baseline caloric target, and then you can tweak it as you go based on your results.
As a general rule, women should aim for 1,200-1,400 calories a day for weight loss, and men should aim for 1,800-2,200.
Plus, it's vital to keep net carbs (r.e., net carbs = total carbs – fiber – sugar alcohols) under 20-30 grams to achieve the best results and maintain ketosis, as well as a steady loss of body fat.
How Many Calories Are in the Custom Keto Meal Plan?
Our personalized meal plans are customized for each person which is part of why they are so useful. We realize that each person has different nutritional needs and engages in varying levels of physical activity.
Fortunately, we're here to guide your meal plan on keto no matter what your situation.
We know a customized keto meal plan with calorie targets can make a huge difference in your success and are here to support our Konscious Keto community every step of the way.
We provide easy recipes and advice to make transitioning to keto a pleasure because of the built-in structure—it’s foolproof.
Please take a few moments and answer the questions in our brief quiz to receive access to your own personal keto meal plan, today.
Recipes Are Focused on Keto Weight Loss
There's clean keto with a meal plan filled with whole and organic foods, and then there's dirty keto, which consists of tons of packaged or highly-processed foods; it's essential to choose your food options wisely.
Thankfully, our tasty keto recipes like Bang Bang Shrimp or savory keto pie with zucchini are easy to make, and the recipes within our customized meal plans are focused on producing weight loss, in large part, through the power of metabolic ketosis.
Whether you prefer to enjoy meat on keto, do a pescatarian, or even a vegetarian version of the keto diet, we have recipes to share to make the experience amazing.
Our quiz takes less than a minute to complete and will provide you with a comprehensive, personalized meal plan to help you achieve your weight-loss goals using the ketogenic diet.
We Created the First Paleo Keto Weight Loss Plan
If you're a part of the Konscious Keto community, you know we're firm believers in the ketogenic diet and meal plans created to effectively and effortlessly promote weight loss.
We've also created the first paleo-keto weight loss meal plan that helps you harness the power of ketosis without dairy or too many high-glycemic carbohydrates.
Click here to read our full post that details the differences between keto and paleo, so you are equipped with as much information as possible before making a significant dietary change.
Also, click here for more on our groundbreaking paleo-keto weight loss meal plan to determine which version of the ketogenic diet best suits you.
Our Custom Keto Recipes Have Helped Thousands of People
Although we're always innovating to create or convert recipes, so they're keto-friendly, we are very familiar with how to help people successfully lose weight using our classic and delicious low-carb, high-fat staple recipes.
Our custom recipes have helped thousands of people lose weight and transform their lives for the better with ease.
We like to keep our recipes, simple, tasty, and irresistible, so you enjoy the dishes and actually have enough time to whip them up during meal prep or throughout the hectic workweek.
Connect with us via our private group page on Facebook to engage with others on their keto wellness journey or find inspiration from those who've shed the weight and can offer some sage wisdom to help you stay encouraged.
There's no need to overthink which recipes to make each week. We've curated a vast collection of recipes to help you lose weight easily and quickly; we’ve done all the work for you!
All you need to do is access the recipes best suited for your preferences, eat delectable food, and watch the weight melt away faster than you probably ever thought possible.
Please take the quiz to see what keto recipes we recommend for you.
How Many Calories Should I Eat if Exercising?
The ideal amount of calories to eat when exercising on keto is as unique as which meal plan or caloric target is best for each individual.
However, factors like gender, type of exercise (e.g., jogging versus powerlifting), and whether you're also pregnant or breastfeeding all contribute to the best caloric target for those who are regularly physically active.
Initially, use the caloric targets for weight loss mentioned above as a starting point and then adjust your macronutrient intake as needed. If you find yourself satiated, energized, and shedding weight, keep it up.
However, if you find your weight loss has stalled, you're gaining weight, or you feel too sluggish to keep up with your desired fitness regimen, consider increasing your caloric target slightly until your results improve.
Click here to read our quick tips for starting a keto exercise plan.
Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight on a Keto Diet
Eating a ketogenic diet is a fantastic and proven approach to lose weight. However, there are still considerations needed to achieve fat loss, mainly making sure to create a caloric deficit.
Here are some other common reasons why you may not be losing weight, even though you've eliminated carbs and refined sugars from your diet.
Eating Too Many Calories
Although cutting out the carbs and ramping up the fat is an excellent way to lose weight, eating more calories than your body needs can cause a weight-loss stall or cause you to gain weight.
Calculate your macros using a free online tool like that provided by MyFitnessPal to determine the number of calories needed to lose your desired amount of pounds per week and adjust your target if needed, based on your results.
Eating Too Many Carbs
You may have figured out the ideal caloric target to produce weight loss, in theory, but still may not see the scale moving in the desired direction. The culprit may be eating too many carbs throughout the week, which can definitely affect fat-loss progress.
If you notice you're keeping your calories in check but also realize that you're eating a bit more cauliflower or packaged foods than you may have before, consider reducing your carb intake a little until the pounds begin to shed again.
Not Eating Enough Protein
It's advised to eat a moderate amount of protein on a ketogenic diet, but skimping on protein can also prevent weight loss and may compromise muscle integrity as well as the ability to recover quickly.
Mix up your protein options to keep your meal plan exciting and to support muscle health and development. For instance, salmon, grass-fed beef, mackerel, or other seafood are all excellent animal-based protein options on keto.
Plus, plant-based sources of protein, like hemp seed, chlorella, or spirulina, are great low-glycemic options that can easily be blended up in a fatty and delicious Keto Shake for a tasty and full-spectrum source of nutrition.
Overeating Fat
Again, eating healthy fats and proteins with a limited amount of carbs is an excellent approach to release weight rapidly, but eating to create a caloric deficit remains essential.
Eating fat is a cornerstone principle of a keto diet, but eating so much fat that we consume a surplus of calories can prevent fat loss.
The correct make-up of macros is vital, and your results will dictate whether you've found that sweet spot or need to tweak your plan to achieve success.
Eating Too Many Processed Foods
Processed and packaged foods that are technically keto-friendly can be deceiving.
Although the numbers on the food label may work within a keto framework, it's easy to eat a bit more than planned—and the carb macros may add up quickly, which can prevent weight loss.
It's fine to incorporate some packaged foods into your keto meal plan for convenience, of course, choose those with the cleanest ingredients possible, but let the majority of your diet contain whole fresh foods.
Not Eating Enough Green Veggies
Although we suggest eating healthy fat and quality protein on keto, consuming dark leafy greens or other green veggies is essential to weight loss, as well.
Green veggies are packed with an abundance of nutrients and also contain a significant amount of fiber to help you feel fuller longer.
Here are some great green vegetables to enjoy on keto:
- Kale
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Bok Choy
- Green peppers
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Collard greens
The green veggies, fat, and protein mentioned above are fantastic food options on a ketogenic diet. Still, a personalized keto meal plan is the best tool to use as a helpful guide on your journey to ketosis and weight loss—a clear roadmap.
Don't go it alone, taking shots in the dark or enduring much trial and error when starting keto—it can lead to discouragement or quitting altogether.
In contrast, seeing fast results in those first weeks on the plan can contribute to an increased commitment to the new lifestyle and help you power through the initial transition from running on glucose to using fat and ketones as a premium source of fuel.
Get our free keto recipes on the blog, or take the custom keto quiz to eliminate the homework of getting started and get 28-days of complete keto meals.
Finding Your Sweet Spot
Some trial and error may come into play to discover your favorite keto meals—not at all a bad challenge to have—but a well-designed keto meal plan is ideal as it outlines specific mouth-watering recipes to make and enjoy that promote stunning results on the scale.
Besides, having a plan frees up time so you can focus on rewarding your quality choice to get healthy. Instead of pining over what to cook, you can scout out some new gear to fit your widdling frame—a little retail therapy is in order, you’ve earned it!
It takes less than a minute to personalize your keto meal plan and get started on the road to nutritional ketosis right away. Keto is a fantastic lifestyle and one that can work long-term with the aid of some sage guidance and the right recipes to keep you satisfied.
Fortunately, we're here to help provide you with the community support, general knowledge and proven meal plan that will lead you to continued success on the ketogenic diet.
How different will your life be in 28 days as we enter the new year and decade?
The answer is based on what you choose to commit to as we enter 2020. There’s never been an easier time to change your life with keto and your first step to lasting success is just a click away.
Sources
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- Hale, B. (2019). Keto for women over 50: understanding nutritional needs for effective weight loss on the keto diet. United States: B. G. Hale.
- Manning, D. (2019). Complete keto: a guide to transforming your body and your mind for life. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
- Zulpa, A. (2016). The Ketosis Diet: Ketogenic diet tips made simple. Newark, DE: Speedy Publishing.
- Clark, A. (2017). The Ketogenic diet: the ultimate guide to living the Ketogenic lifestyle. USA: Place of publication not identified.
- Kemp, D., & Daly, P. (2016). The ketogenic kitchen: low carb. High fat. Extraordinary health. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
- Baum, J. I., & Walker, S