A 1,800-calorie keto meal plan can be a convenient way to lose weight for some people (men) or for those to maintain their weight (women).
A meal plan can help give you guidance when starting a keto diet. If 1,800 calories are what you need for your keto goals, then this guide is ideal for you.
A 1,800-calorie plan is an organized way to make sure you have 1,800 calories per day. For a woman, this might mean maintenance calories. On average, women on keto might need 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily for maintenance. By consuming this amount, it would mean you are most likely going to maintain your current weight.
On the other hand, men on keto have a higher energy requirement. On average, a man could have a daily intake of 2,500-2,800 calories for maintenance. This means that a 1,800 kcal can be beneficial for some men to achieve a caloric deficit (eating fewer calories than your body needs), leading to weight loss.
This plan follows the traditional macros for a keto diet:
Make sure to calculate how many calories you need per day to determine if you need to follow a 1,800 kcal plan.
Following a 1,800-calorie plan can have a lot of benefits.
Remember that you need to be in a caloric deficit for weight loss. Thus if you are a woman, you might not experience weight loss with this amount of calories, but you can experience the other benefits.
Here are some benefits you might experience when following a 1,800-calorie keto meal plan.
Keep in mind that in order to reap the most benefits, you should ensure that you eat healthy foods (vegetables, low-carb fruits, nuts, seeds) and avoid unhealthy options (ultra processed foods, saturated fats) in addition to keeping carbs low for keto.
For women who have PCOS who are on keto but don’t want to lose weight, this could be a good plan to follow to decrease their symptoms. However, always consult your healthcare provider to check if it’s the right approach for your case.
Even though there are several benefits related to a 1,800-calorie plan, there are also several drawbacks.
While it can be effective initially, aggressive weight loss is not the ideal strategy. This can affect your metabolism and the risk of losing muscle mass instead of fat mass.
To avoid this, ensure that your caloric restriction is no more than 20% less calories than your total energy expenditure. For example, if you are a man with a maintenance caloric intake of 2,500 kcal, the best approach would be to consume 2,000 kcal. Thus, a 1,800 kcal plan would be too aggressive for you.
On the other hand, if you have a maintenance caloric intake of 2,300 kcal, with a 20% restriction, you would fit into the 1,800 kcal plan.
Other possible drawbacks of this type of plan are:
If you are thinking of switching your current diet to this meal plan, you might be wondering how to start.
Here are the steps for you to start applying this plan.
Before shopping and creating a menu, knowing which foods you need to eat and which ones to avoid on a keto diet is essential.
First, we will talk about those foods you want to avoid, which are high-carb foods.
Foods like sugars, honey, refined flour (pastries, cookies, cakes), and ice cream must be avoided. Since you want to stay low on your carb intake to be in ketosis, consuming these high-carb foods can affect your ketosis levels.
Healthy high-carb foods like beans, lentils, edamame, chickpeas, and sweet potato can be consumed in a keto plan if you carefully control the portion size. As long as you stay within your daily carb intake, you might be able to add them.
Now, let’s talk about those foods you want to consume in higher quantities.
Protein plays a crucial role since it helps maintain your muscle mass and it makes you feel fuller. However, you still want to consume it in moderation since large quantities of protein can be created into glucose, decreasing your ketosis state.
Include high-protein foods like chicken, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, protein shakes, meat, and seafood to achieve your total protein intake.
Vegetables will prevent you from getting constipation and nutrient deficiency. Make sure to get as many different colored vegetables as possible (eat the rainbow!). You can include any non-starchy vegetables of your choice, like leafy greens, mushrooms, zucchini, or eggplant.
Finally, another important food group to consider is fats. These are the ones that are going to give you the energy you need to avoid feeling fatigued and prevent your body from using your muscle mass as an energy source.
Choose unsaturated fats (vegetable sources) rather than saturated fats (animal/processed sources) because replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats has been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease. Add fats like nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, olives, and coconut (while this last one is high in saturated fats, they are different from those found in animal sources).
Finally, it’s time to go grocery shopping for your keto diet. Here you can find a 1,800-calorie shopping list to help you the next time you go out for your groceries. As a tip, remember never to go shopping when you’re hungry since this can increase the chances of buying more than you need.
Vegetables
Fruits
Protein
Fats
If you are looking for something sweet, you can buy stevia or monk fruit to make keto pastries at home using coconut or almond flour. You can buy any sugar-free beverage of your choice like tea or coffee.
If you don’t know what a 1,800-calorie ketogenic meal plan looks like, here is an example to help you out. You can modify the foods or ingredients to suit your tastes.
1,850 calories | Total Macros: 34 g net carbs – 82 g protein – 144 g fats
If you still have questions related to this type of plan on a ketogenic diet, here are the most frequently asked questions.
Yes, some people can, but it depends on your individual calorie needs (based on things like your gender, weight, and level of activity). To lose weight, you must be in a caloric deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than your body needs.
For example, if you have an energy requirement of 1,800 kcal, you won’t lose weight with this plan. On the other hand, if you have an energy requirement of 2,000 kcal, you will lose weight since you are in a caloric deficit.
It means that you are not in a caloric deficit. You need to either consume fewer calories or exercise more.
If you are still not losing weight, consult with a professional so they can study your case and give you specific feedback.
Yes, up to a point. You still need to consume fewer calories than your body needs. However, water can help increase your fullness levels, meaning if you feel fuller during the day, you are less likely to eat more.
Yes, it’s ok to have 1,800 kcal in one meal. However, it is not advised.
Reaching 1,800 kcal in one meal means having either a whole lot of food (which might be challenging) or eating high-calorie foods, which in most cases are processed, unhealthy foods.
It depends on your hunger levels. If you are maintaining your body weight, it might be easier to make 3-4 meals during the day to avoid feeling too full.
On the other hand, if you are on a weight loss journey, you might want to have more meals throughout the day to avoid feeling hungry.
It all depends on your hunger levels and eating habits. You can divide your 1,800 calories into however many meals and snacks you want.
To avoid affecting your ketosis, you’ll want around 20% of your calories coming from protein. This means consuming around 90 g of protein per day.
