Following a keto diet plan doesn't mean that you can't enjoy food. In fact, following this type of diet plan should mean that you get to experiment with some fun new recipes. You will be surprised at the wide variety of foods that you can eat following keto. While you may have to give you a few things, like your favorite dessert, you will be able to eat very well. Plus, you have the benefit of feeling better and losing that unwanted weight.
At its core, a keto diet eliminates almost all of the carbohydrates from your diet. You replace these carbs with fats, fruits and vegetables. Keto helps re-train your body by burning fat for energy. By starving your body of carbs, your body will turn to stored fat for energy. This is where the weight loss comes from, plus the added health benefits that come from reduced weight.
You Can Eat Well On A Keto Diet
The biggest failing of most diet plans is that they are boring. The meals are bland and it seems like you are eating the same foods every day. Keto is different in that it allows you to eat a wide variety of foods. If you can change up your meals, you will stay more interested in your diet plan. Staying interested will keep you focused on your goal-long term weight loss.
Here are three keto diet cookbooks that we really like. Each is different but all three have easy to follow recipes. Plus, the meals are really good tasting!
Keto Diet CookBook For Beginners
This is a great cookbook for someone looking to get started on a keto diet. Yes, it has 550 recipes, which is probably more than one person needs. However, it has a huge variety of recipes. There are tons of well written and easy to follow recipes for almost every kind of cooking. The Keto Diet Cookbook For Beginners is a great keto book.
Southern Keto Cooking
Keto cooking with a regional take. We had a lot of fun with this cookbook. Southern cooking is one of our favorites and we were thrilled when this book was published. There are over 100 recipes to work with and all of them are very well written. The author even includes a shopping list, helping to take some of the mystery out of buying ingredients. Your family will love Southern Keto Cooking.
Keto Comfort Foods
Comfort foods are called comfort foods for a reason. We want them, we love them, we enjoy eating them. Too often, these types of foods are restricted on a diet and people crave them. Luckily, this cookbook shows you how to make your favorite comfort while staying true to your keto diet. Great recipes with great photos, this is a fun cookbook. Keto Comfort Foods should be on your bookshelf.
There are hundreds of cookbooks available that focus on the keto diet plan. These are three that we really like, but you can find others that are just as good. The goal is to find recipes that are keto friendly, that taste good and will help you stay focused on your weight loss goal.
We love our desserts. Giving up desserts can be the worse part of any diet, we are so used to having a sweet course to finish off a meal. Some diet plans offer desserts that are basically ricotta cheese with an artificial sweetener added. Sure, it's sweet, but not very satisfying. You are trying to follow a smart diet plan but you would like a treat once in a while.
One great feature of a keto diet is that there are options for desserts, real desserts. Desserts that feature chocolate and brownies and some of our other dessert favorites. The secret is substituting high carb items, such as all purpose flour, with low carb alternatives that work very well. Consider a favorite cake recipes. Instead of 2 1/2 cups of all purpose or cake flour, a keto friendly recipe will call for 1 1/2 cups almond flour, 3/4 cup coconut flour and 1/4 cup flaxseed meal. All three substitutes are zero carbs, work like flour and are found in almost every grocery store. The other key ingredients, chocolate, eggs and butter are already approved for a keto diet. One substitution and you have a delicious, rich chocolate cake that looks and tastes like a cake.
Instead of having to cut out desserts completely, a keto diet allows you to have desserts as long as they are not make with flour (or any other high carbohydrate ingredient) and sugar. Most sugar substitutes are exchangeable in recipes in the same portions as regular sugar, you don't have to pull out a conversion chart to figure out how much to use.
There are quite a few dessert cookbooks on the market that feature keto friendly recipes. Here are some of our favorites.
The Best Keto Friendly Dessert Cookbooks
Easy Keto Desserts is a fun cookbook with over 50 delicious keto friendly dessert recipes. The book is very well written, the recipes are easy to follow and the photography is really well done. Most of the recipes use standard baking ingredients and don't requires special purchases.
Pros
-Very well written. The recipes are detailed but easy to follow.
-Well photographed. You usually only get a photo of the finished product but the images are stunning.
-Excellent recipes. We have tried most of the recipes and the results have been wonderful.
-A wide variety of desserts. There is a nice assortment of cakes, cookies, freezer desserts, ices and pan bars. You may be on a diet but this cookbook allows you to enjoy some fun desserts.
Cons
-A few of the recipes have a lot of ingredients. Granted, you are substituting high carb ingredients for low carb, but some of the recipes are overly complicated.
-While the author is very helpful with her advice about sweeteners, there are a few sugar substitutes that can taste harsh in some recipes.
Keto Fat Bombs, Sweets and Treats pulls no punches. This cookbook is about sweets and other comfort foods and how to have them while on a keto diet. With over 100 recipes you can easily find a keto friendly dish to help satisfy almost every craving. Not only are there dessert recipes but you will also find great recipes for pancakes, muffins and breads.
Pros
-A wonderful assortment of recipes, over 100 in total. Not only are there dessert recipes, there are keto friendly recipes for breads, muffins, crackers and pancakes.
-Very well written. None of the recipes assume anything, the directions are very clear. The author does a very good job of explaining what an ingredient does and why your are using it.
-The author explains how a keto diet works and what you should do to follow a healthy keto plan.
Cons
-Many recipes use peanuts, peanut butter or chocolate. Anyone with food allergies will want to pay attention to the recipes.
-A few recipes use some hard to find ingredients such as xantham gum or psyllium husk powder.
Everyday Keto Baking gives you some fun options for keto friendly baking. Here you will find great recipes for desserts such as Streusel cake, cookies, cobblers and cupcakes. Along with these excellent desserts you will find recipes for bagels (finally a keto bagel!), breads ticks and quiche.
Pros
-Most of the recipes are built around almond flour and coconut flour. Both of these are very common ingredients, not expensive and found in most supermarkets.
-There are a few recipes for savory bites. While these aren't baked, they are low carb and delicious.
-Pie recipes. Yes, pies can be keto friendly.
-Very well written recipes with excellent photography.
Cons
-Some of the recipes use a lot of ingredients. This is not necessary a bad thing, but it does mean you may need to do some special shopping.
-There is not much guidance on the use of sweeteners, especially when using dairy. Many people don't like sweeteners such as Splenda with dairy rich dishes but the recipes often don't offer advice about your options.
A Few Final Thoughts....
Having desserts, whether you are on a diet or not, usually means that you are adding something to your diet, such as fats (cream, butter) or sugars. Just because the recipes is keto friendly doesn't mean that there are no consequences if you eat the whole dessert. Portion control is still important.
Any dessert recipe that is allowed on a keto or low carb diet will use a sweetener other than sugar. Some are good, some less so. Pay attention to what the recipe calls for until you have decided which sweetener you like best.
Alternatives to wheat flour, such as almond flour and coconut flour, will usually react to other ingredients in the same manner that wheat flour does. However, these alternatives can absorb liquids slower and may require a mixture of two or three different types of flour to achieve the same consistency as wheat flour.
Almond flour and coconut flour will generally be about twice the cost of wheat flour. They are usually found in the organic sections of supermarkets as well in the baking aisle. Not all alternative flours are organic, be sure to check the labels. Keep them dry and awake from high heats. Your freezer can be a great storage space for coconut flour.
You may have heard about a keto diet. Quite often TV and movie stars have gone on a talk show and praised the benefits of a keto diet when it comes to weight loss. Some restaurants have gone so far as to label certain dishes as keto friendly in an effort to bring dieters into their cafes. There is a lot of noise being made about keto diets.
What Is A Keto Diet?
A keto diet is not a brand name (such as Atkins) but a type of diet plan called ketogenic. A ketogenic diet will be low in carbohydrates and high in fat, similar to the type of diet plan found with Atkins or other low carb diets. The goal of the plan is to train your body to burn fat, not carbohydrates, by having your body go into a state called ketosis.
Once your body is in ketosis it becomes very efficient at burning excess fat for energy. One other benefit is that your liver also starts to turn fat into ketones. Studies have shown that this improves brain function.
By shifting your body away from carbohydrates a ketogenic diet reduces the blood sugar and insulin levels. Adding the benefit of the increase of ketones will help you lose weight, feel better overall and improve your general health.
Does A Keto Diet Work
Keto diets have been shown to work for both short term and long term weight loss. Some long term studies have also shown that this type of diet can help with diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure problems.
The two kinds of keto diets that have been studied the most and show the best results are the standard ketogenic diet (SKD) and the high protein ketogenic diet. While other versions of keto diets have shown some promising results, they don't have long term studies to back up those claims.
A standard keto diet (SKD) can help you lose weight quickly. This diet will contain 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrates. At first glance the high fat level seems frightening but a careful plan will help you to add proper nutrients. As you lose weight your overall health will improve and you will have no problem with the increased fat intake.
Starting out with a standard keto diet causes you to be a bit drastic for the first few weeks. You can eat a lot, you shouldn't have the problem of always feeling hungry. The problem that many people have is the loss of certain comfort foods. You can't eat bread, rice, potatoes or other starchy foods. There are no familiar desserts and you have to change your beverages. During the first 3 weeks you will try to keep your carb intake down to 10 carbs a day. That may sound easy but read a few food labels and you soon realize that it will take some planning.
A high protein version of a keto diet follows some of the same guidelines for carbs but adds more protein. The usual breakdown is 60% fat, 35% protein and 5 % carbs.
Never Having To Count Calories
Ask any dieter that has had to count calories how that worked for them and you will generally get a negative reply. It can be almost impossible to count calories accurately, size portions always vary and some ingredients don't even have calorie counts listed.
Ketogenic diets avoid that pitfall, you can usually eat as much as want of the approved foods. There are some vegetables and fruits that are acceptable to this diet, so you can keep your vitamin intake at comfortable levels. You can also eat meat and eggs often, helping you to add texture and flavor to your menu. You also can avoid that "I'm always hungry" feeling that can attack someone on a diet.
Health Benefits
Besides that obvious benefit of losing weight, the type of weight loss that comes from a keto diet can assist in improving other health conditions.
People who are diabetic or pre-diabetic have reports huge drops in insulin sensitivity. No one is going to say that a ketogenic diet cures diabetes but studies have shown that it can help reduce the causes and and lower the needs for some medications.
Following a smart keto diet can help to reduce the risk of heart failure and disease. Lowering the blood sugar level, reducing bad cholesterol and lowering blood pressure are all results of a good keto diet. Your heart can benefit greatly from all three results.
Many doctors will recommend a keto diet to cancer patients. While it won't stop or cure cancer it does help your body fight off infections and improve heart function.
Ask any teenager who has suffered from acne what seems to cause a breakout and they will tell you it's sugar. Anyone suffering from acne can see an improvement with their complexion after a few weeks on a keto diet. No need for creams, the reduction in blood sugar will help reduce acne breakouts.
What Can I Eat On A Keto Diet?
You may be surprised an the wide variety of foods that work with a keto diet. You can eat almost any type of meat, including beef. Bacon and sausage are allowed, as is chicken and turkey. These types of meat add both fat and protein, plus all of them will help you feel full. You can also eat fatty fish such as salmon and tuna.
Eggs, cream and cheese are also big parts of a keto diet. The cheese needs to be unprocessed (sorry, no Velveta) but there is no limit to the amount you consume. This lets you have cheese as a snack, a great way to kill some of those urges during the day.
Nuts and seeds are used in a lot of keto recipes. Almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds are the most popular but other nuts and seeds are fine. Keep in mind that peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes.
Avocados and low carb vegetables are approved for this diet. Onions, peppers and tomatoes are great foods to add to your diet. Most fruits are not part of this diet, at least for the first month. While they are considered healthy foods they have high levels of sugar that will raise your blood sugar levels.
There are many great cookbooks and other sources for planning and preparing meals for a keto diet. You may want to look at the Atkins diet. While it's not a true keto diet, it is a low carb diet and there have been great results from followers of the plan.
We really like The Essential Keto Diet cookbook. It not only has over 125 recipes, it has some meal plans that can be great tools to help you get started. Another good starting place is Simply Keto, another well written and usual guide to help you start your keto diet.
Following a keto diet plan doesn't mean that you can't enjoy food. In fact, following this type of diet plan should mean that you get to experiment with some fun new recipes. You will be surprised at the wide variety of foods that you can eat following keto. While you may have to give you a few things, like your favorite dessert, you will be able to eat very well. Plus, you have the benefit of feeling better and losing that unwanted weight.
At its core, a keto diet eliminates almost all of the carbohydrates from your diet. You replace these carbs with fats, fruits and vegetables. Keto helps re-train your body by burning fat for energy. By starving your body of carbs, your body will turn to stored fat for energy. This is where the weight loss comes from, plus the added health benefits that come from reduced weight.
This is a great cookbook for someone looking to get started on a keto diet. Yes, it has 550 recipes, which is probably more than one person needs. However, it has a huge variety of recipes. There are tons of well written and easy to follow recipes for almost every kind of cooking. The Keto Diet Cookbook For Beginners is a great keto book.
Keto cooking with a regional take. We had a lot of fun with this cookbook. Southern cooking is one of our favorites and we were thrilled when this book was published. There are over 100 recipes to work with and all of them are very well written. The author even includes a shopping list, helping to take some of the mystery out of buying ingredients. Your family will love Southern Keto Cooking.
Comfort foods are called comfort foods for a reason. We want them, we love them, we enjoy eating them. Too often, these types of foods are restricted on a diet and people crave them. Luckily, this cookbook shows you how to make your favorite comfort while staying true to your keto diet. Great recipes with great photos, this is a fun cookbook. Keto Comfort Foods should be on your bookshelf.
There are hundreds of cookbooks available that focus on the keto diet plan. These are three that we really like, but you can find others that are just as good. The goal is to find recipes that are keto friendly, that taste good and will help you stay focused on your weight loss goal.
We love our desserts. Giving up desserts can be the worse part of any diet, we are so used to having a sweet course to finish off a meal. Some diet plans offer desserts that are basically ricotta cheese with an artificial sweetener added. Sure, it's sweet, but not very satisfying. You are trying to follow a 
You may have heard about a keto diet. Quite often TV and movie stars have gone on a talk show and praised the benefits of a keto diet when it comes to weight loss. Some restaurants have gone so far as to label certain dishes as keto friendly in an effort to bring dieters into their cafes. There is a lot of noise being made about keto diets.
