For any athlete to succeed, the right meal plan is as important as the right trainer. The popularity of this very low-carb and high-fat diet plan is increasing, and more people than ever are staying on it for months or even years. Then, they find they are leaner, healthier, and more mentally focused than ever before when they switch from carbs to fat and ketones.
“When I was playing [football], I was always looking for that next [diet], the best thing. I tried a lot of different diets, and then in 2012 — really before most people knew about keto — I started it….I tried It. I love It.”
The above statement comes from Timbo Tebow, who is a professional athlete, media icon, author, speaker, businessman, philanthropist, philanthropist, believer, and a NY Times Best Seller. He is one of the inspirational keto athletes and has been on a keto diet for two years.
Here we will discuss ideal meal plans and recipes, you can enjoy while on the keto diet.
Here we will discuss an ideal and energy-boosting meal plan(breakfast, lunch, dinner) for athletes while on the keto diet.
Savory And Healthy Keto Breakfast Meals
Enjoy these creative keto breakfast ideas for a healthy diet. Your diet will become a little more diverse, and you will have something to look forward to each day.
You don’t have to sacrifice flavor to meet your macros if you’re on a keto diet.
1: Eat Keto Bread But carefully
Though regular bread is not considered a keto meal, there are some well-made keto-friendly slices of bread, like BASE CULTURE bread, Dave’s Killer Bread®, Franze bread, Carbonaut bread, etc. So you can add 1 to 2 loaves of such keto bread to your breakfast.
2: Enjoy Eggs As highly keto-friendly
There are 78 calories in a typical large egg, 5 grams of healthy fats, 6 grams of protein, and only 1 gram of carbohydrate. In addition to providing us with essential amino acids, eggs are a good source of protein.
Getting pastured eggs or omega-3 enriched eggs is even better because it provides a higher level of Vitamins A and E.
The best breakfast tip is to have an omelet with cheese, which is considered to be the best keto-friendly and appetizing dish. In addition, adding avocado or fresh spinach can enhance its health benefits.
3: Why not Strawberry Vanilla Shake recipe.
Strawberry contains 7.68 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of fiber, and a net amount of 5.68 g carbohydrates per 100 g.
Pure vanilla extract has approximately 0.50 net carbs per teaspoon. There is almost nothing to worry about if you add just a few drops or a splash of vanilla extract to your coffee or smoothie.
Making a shake using vanilla and strawberry doesn’t take long. Since both digest quickly, athletes can start the day feeling energized. Vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients are in a shake like this that keeps you at your best.
4: Keto loves Avocado Scramble with Egg
The keto-friendly nature of avocados is a given. A variety of recipes are available for low-carb Avocado and Egg dishes. It is ideal for preparing avocado toast as a snack or for breakfast.
Eggs and avocado are a winning combination at the table and not just because it tastes great. Combining different nutritional benefits in the right way will ensure long-term wellness.
Furthermore, you can eat bacon and sautéed spinach, sugar-free sausage, roasted bell pepper, pepper jack cheese in the morning.
Lunch Meal Plan For Athletes to keep energy on the go
1: Taco salad of ground beef:
Tim Tebow, one of the greatest football players of all time, highly recommends and enjoys it. This lunchtime meal comes with beef, tomatoes, and vegetables, cheese, and salsa.
2: cherry tomatoes:
Cherry tomatoes have 2g of net carbs per half-cup, making them a great addition to your keto diet. Must add it in salads.
Plus, try it with noodles. A low carb, quick and easy recipe is there called Cherry Tomato Zucchini Noodles
There are only a few ingredients in these Cherry Tomato Zucchini Noodles, and they only take 10 minutes to prep, roast, and infuse with olive oil and garlic. Toss the tomatoes and zucchini together and enjoy a healthy lunch.
3: keto grilled chicken salad
With only 3g carbs, this recipe can make your lunchtime more exciting. 2 medium chicken thighs, romaine lettuce, Mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and lemon juice are a few main ingredients.
4: cheddar cheese
Cheese recipes are loved by many, including athletes. Cheese has a distinct taste and aroma.
Cheddar is one of the hundred types of cheese. Luckily most types are low in carbs and high in fat, making them ideal for a ketogenic diet. Cheddar cheese has one gram of carbs, 6.5 grams of protein, and a good amount of calcium per ounce (28 grams).
The minimally processed cheese is made without harmful ingredients, like highly refined oils, non-keto sweeteners, and additives. In short, adding it or making cheddar cheese recipes for lunch is quite an appealing option.
Other meal options include sour cream with taco seasoning and lettuce wraps stuffed with bacon, Jack cheese, and mayonnaise.
Dinner And a Winner meal plan
1: Easy eggless salmon patties
High Fats meals are necessary for athletes to maintain their energy levels. These salmon patties offer a healthy dose of fat without too much heaviness, particularly if you’re tired of beef burgers. The almond meal and flax seeds, along with lime juice and parsley, make each serving satisfying but full of fresh flavor.
2: steamed asparagus.
Like other green vegetables, asparagus is an excellent addition to your ketogenic diet. The carbs and fiber in one cup of cooked asparagus are 8 and 4, respectively. Net carbs are 4g, making it a highly recommended food.
3: Tim Tebow loves Chicken Piccata at dinner
Athletes, searching for a simple, easy, and quick dinner recipe? Try this. Key ingredients are, boneless chicken, olive oil, heavy cream, and brined capers. Enjoy this recipe contains only 3g net carbs and 39g fats.
Other options for dinner are, bacon and cheddar cheese, baked salmon with mashed cauliflower.
Considerations when following a Keto diet plan
Here are some tips for creating a successful meal plan.
Keep an eye out for hidden carbohydrates and nutrients
Many of your favorite foods are high in carbohydrates and sugar.
Be sure to read every nutritional label for the first few weeks. Carb Counter is KetoLogic’s tool for estimating carbs in foods that don’t have nutritional labels.
A daily maximum of 50 grams of net carbs (carb plus fiber) is recommended (5% to 10%). You can reduce this to 30 grams.
An athlete weighing 190 pounds and having 15% body fat will require 96.9 to 161.5 grams of protein daily.
For weight gain, increase calories by 500 or add 55 grams of fat. And If you aim to lose weight, reduce your calories by 200 to 500 or 22 to 55 grams of fat.
Several quality fats, such as nuts, seeds, and avocados, may seem to have high carb counts at first glance, but when you subtract the fiber, their total net carb counts are reasonable.
Buy Keto Must-Haves Items
Diet, in general, is a very different experience for every individual. As far as the keto diet is concerned, the food intake must be monitored, so that the body reaches the state of ketosis, which leads your body to lose weight.
Furthermore, measuring out ingredients or food to prep meals ahead of time saves a lot of effort beforehand. Therefore doing meal prep by hands and assumptions can kick you way out of your initial body needs. It makes the measuring tools and scales more critical in the keto diet.
Your refrigerator and kitchen should look keto-friendly
Before you go shopping, remember to dispose of high-carb stashes (such as fruits or underground vegetables). For the next few days, you are going to crave them. Fill your shopping basket with;
- Dairy keto foods: Greek Yogurt, Munster, Mozzarella, Full-fat cheese, cheddar, and cream cheese, Burrata, Camembert, Whole eggs, Beef, bacon, chicken thigh & broth, fatty fish
- Nuts and seeds like cashew., almond, pumpkin seed, peanuts, macadamia, Brazil nuts, Chia seeds, Walnuts, sunflower seeds Pistachios
- Low-carb vegetables: Broccoli, Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms, Zucchini, Cauliflower, etc
- Low carb fruits: Avocado, berries, Watermelon, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe, Strawberry, Lemon
- some others are Olive oil, heavy cream, salted butter, sour cream
Can a ketogenic diet improve mental focus?
A ketogenic diet has been reported to improve focus and mental clarity by many people. This is because ketones are great brain fuel. You can improve your focus and concentration by eating a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet to avoid blood sugar spikes. A study showed that consuming more fat can benefit the brain’s function. With products like keto pills, ketone levels can be boosted and mental clarity is improved.