A Low Carb Diet Meal Plan and Menu That Can Save Your Life

The low carb, real food based diet involves eating natural, unprocessed foods with a low carbohydrate content. For a detailed overview, read this.
There is a lot of scientific evidence that this type of diet is the best option for people who want to lose weight, optimize health and lower the risk of disease.

Photo by Adam Fields.

A Low Carb Diet Meal Plan

What foods you should eat depends on a few things, including how healthy you are, how much you exercise and how much weight you have to lose.
Consider all of this as a general guideline, not something written in stone.

The Basics

Eat: Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, high-fat dairy, fats, healthy oils and maybe even some tubers and non-gluten grains.
Don’t Eat: Sugar, HFCS, wheat, seed oils, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, “diet” and low-fat products and highly processed foods.

Foods to Avoid

You should avoid these 7 foods, in order of importance:

• Sugar: Soft drinks, fruit juices, agave, candy, ice cream and many others.
• Gluten Grains: Wheat, spelt, barley and rye. Includes breads and pastas.
• Trans Fats: “Hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils.
• High Omega-6 Seed- and Vegetable Oils: Cottonseed-, soybean-, sunflower-, grapeseed-, corn-, safflower and canola oils.
• Artificial Sweeteners: Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Cyclamates and Acesulfame Potassium. Use Stevia instead.
• “Diet” and “Low-Fat” Products: Many dairy products, cereals, crackers, etc.
• Highly Processed Foods: If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it.

You MUST read ingredients lists, even on foods labelled as “health foods.”

Low Carb Food List – Foods to Eat

You should base your diet on these real, unprocessed, low-carb foods.

• Meat: Beef, lamb, pork, chicken and others. Grass-fed is best.
• Fish: Salmon, trout, haddock and many others. Wild-caught fish is best.
• Eggs: Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.
• Vegetables: Spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and many others.
• Fruits: Apples, oranges, pears, blueberries, strawberries.
• Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
• High-Fat Dairy: Cheese, butter, heavy cream, yogurt.
• Fats and Oils: Coconut oil, butter, lard, olive oil and cod fish liver oil.

If you need to lose weight, be careful with the cheese and nuts because they’re easy to overeat on. Don’t eat more than one piece of fruit per day.

Maybe Eat

If you’re healthy, active and don’t need to lose weight then you can afford to eat a bit more carbs.

• Tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes and some others.
• Non-gluten grains: Rice, oats, quinoa and many others.
• Legumes: Lentils, black beans, pinto beans, etc. (If you can tolerate them).

You can have these in moderation if you want:

• Dark Chocolate: Choose organic brands with 70% cocoa or higher.
• Wine: Choose dry wines with no added sugar or carbs.

Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and may provide health benefits if you eat it in moderation. However, be aware that both dark chocolate and alcohol will hinder your progress if you eat/drink too much.

Drink