This week’s low carb meal plan #ketodiet

I have completed my first week’s low carb meal plan and I feel great! As I said in last week’s meal planning post, I have started the keto diet. So far, it is going really well.

There are several reasons that I wanted to give this type of diet a try. Firstly, although I had lost around a stone on Slimming World last year, the weight had started to creep back on around my waistline. This was mainly due to slipping back into my old white wine and snacking habit over Christmas!

Secondly, I was struggling a bit with fibromyalgia symptoms and have been looking into what to eat to ease the fatigue, mental fogginess and achiness I often experience. An anti-inflammatory diet, cutting out sugar, wheat and processed foods, came up a lot when I was researching it.

As well as eliminating those foods, the keto diet is said to increase energy and make you mentally more alert. It also helps you to lose weight. You can see why I decided to give it a whirl.

The keto story so far

I was a bit worried that eating more meat, fish and dairy would increase the cost of our grocery shopping. However, any increase has been negligible so far.

What I have found is that not buying wine, crisps, crackers, cakes and other unhealthy things that were slipping into my shopping trolley is saving money. Yes, I am buying more expensive proteins and eating less vegetarian food, but it seems to be evening itself out.

Mr S isn’t doing keto, but he is happy to cut out all the unhealthy stuff (although not his beer!).

We ate a lot of fruit before. Now we are eating salads and vegetables instead.

How do I feel?

Honestly? I am amazed at how much more energy I have had from day one. My sleep is better and I do feel more on the ball and less ditsy.

I was hoping for these benefits, but wasn’t entirely confident that it wasn’t all hype. I haven’t lost much weight yet though! I am hoping this will come in week two, when I am properly in ketosis. This is when you begin to use the fat in your body for energy instead of burning carbs.

I haven’t had the dreaded keto flu, although I did wake up on the third night feeling sick. I had a properly upset stomach, but by the morning I was fine.

Another thing I have really enjoyed about the keto diet is that it has made me try new recipes. They tend to be fairly uncomplicated as well, so don’t take hours to prep. The food is very filling and I haven’t felt hungry at all.

So – what to eat this week? Here is  my new low carb meal plan.

This week’s low carb meal plan

Saturday

Salmon and cod fried in butter and served with lemon cream sauce, spinach and broccoli. Mr S will have some air fried potatoes with his.

The lemon cream sauce is really easy to make. It is made from 225 ml of single cream (I use lactose free), 2 beaten egg yolks, 2 table spoons of lemon juice and salt and pepper.  You just warm it all together.

Sunday

We had leftovers instead of the cheesy pork chops that I had planned last week. So we shall have those on Sunday with kale and more broccoli.

We have barely wanted a dessert, but tend to have one on a Sunday. If we fancy it, we will have blueberries, strawberries and Greek yogurt.

Monday

Something easy tonight. As we have a lot of salad leaves I will use some lettuce, spinach and rocket with some tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, canned tuna and mayonnaise.

It’s amazing how filling a low carb salad can be if you have plenty of protein.

Tuesday

I loved having courgette strips instead of pasta with my bolognese sauce last week, so I will make this again. Mr S will have proper pasta with his, although he loved the courgettes too. I just fried them in a little butter.

Another hit last week was the keto garlic bread. Yummy! It was straightforward to make as well, so we will have that again. This made more than we could eat, which meant I could eat the leftovers for lunch the next day with a salad.

I can see this being a regular feature of my low carb meal plan.

Wednesday

I think this cheesy chicken bake looks delicious, so I am going to try it. This will be nice with some sauteed green beans.

I never thought to combine cheese and chicken before I did the keto regime, but they go together really well!

Thursday

I anticipate leftovers from the cheesy chicken bake, so that will be tonight’s dinner again, with whatever veg needs using most.

Friday

A big omelette, with cheese, spinach and some bacon if we have some left. This will be eaten with a large salad. As it’s the end of the week, everything will go in.

I have been making my own dressings for salads, as all the shop bought ones contain so much sugar! Lots of olive oil, a bit of vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper does the trick. Full fat mayo is good too.

Breakfasts, lunches and snacks

I have been surprised at how little I have wanted to eat for breakfast. In fact, I couldn’t face the eggs and bacon I thought I would be eating.

Instead, I have been making breakfast smoothies out of thawed frozen berries and full fat Greek yogurt. I add a tiny bit of stevia to take the tartness off the berries and it makes a delicious light breakfast.

Lunches have been salads with eggs, tuna, mackeral or cheese. I also made a really nice broccoli and blue cheese soup.

I have been snacking very little, but if I have been feeling peckish I have had nuts or the pork scratchings I bought last week. A bullet proof coffee made with MCT  oil and cream is also good for taking the edge of my appetite.

So far so good. Let’s hope this week’s low carb meal plan is as successful and tasty as last week’s!

I am still very happy to hear your hints and tints, recipe ideas, etc on low carb/keto eating. Let me know in the comments below.

As usual, I am linking up with Katy Kicker for her meal planning linky. For more of my frugal food ideas see here.