Weekly Menus

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One of the best habits I learned to do during my weight loss journey is meal planning. Each Sunday I plan out a new menu for the week. I’ve had lots of requests for my menus. So each Sunday I’ll post the upcoming week’s menu at my house. Below are a few to hold you over until then!

*I have to fix my menu template saying “low carb high fat” — just a typo, please ignore that line. I’ll get to it….

Each menu includes the:

  • Net carb count for each meal;
  • Some measurements for veggies and protein (protein is always between 4-6 ounces for me);
  • Total daily net carbs;
  • Since 2016 my menus include fasting days. Most days I do intermittent fasting (16-18 hours).

I’m no longer including Weight Watcher point values.

2018 Dot’s 30-Day Keto Reset Challenge

2017 Menus

2016 Menus

2015 Menus

*Corrected error indicating the menus were Low Fat, High Carb. The menus are Low Carb, High Fat.

2015 Lent Menus

Menu Consistency
You’ll also notice that my meals are that not exciting and very repetitive.

Yep, when it comes to weight loss, food variety isn’t the spice of life. Consistency helps you lose weight. Think about it. If you take the guess-work out of what you’re making for breakfast, you’ll get out the door quicker and not be tempted to grab something on the way to the job. I speak from experience as I packed on the pounds eating those little egg sandwiches from Micky D’s.

2014 Menus

 

 

28 thoughts on “Weekly Menus”

  1. Pingback: Keto Reset Day 1: Dot By The Numbers | Dot2Trot

  2. linda Mcneely

    Dot I checked out marks menue site and he has some that sound very good but why do we have to buy everything from his site. can’t we substitute for things in the store? like the shitaki noodles can those be found locally.?

    Reply
  3. Ms. G

    I came across one of your receipe videos on youtubethe for the keto diet. You have inspired me to start my own journey. I will be starting on February 25th. I have planned my meals for the week and even made your fat bombs “Reeses”. I am ready and have never been so excited to change my eating habits. I weigh 172 pds and my goal is to get down to 125 pds. I was wondering if it is ok to do BPCoffee every day? I don’t really care to eat breakfast only on Saturday’s when i get to sleep in. I currently have issues with both my feet to where i can’t stand for more than 15 minutes and can’t walk much either, i know it has to do with my weight. I looking forward to taking long walks again. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Dot2Trot

      First up, thank you and glad you enjoy the videos. As for doing BP Coffees daily, I just don’t know about that. There are no studies on this yet. I typically do them no more than 1 time a week. But that is a personal decision. I would say this, if you don’t like eating breakfast on Saturday mornings, then I suggest you might enjoy intermittent fasting. I do this everyday. I eat at twice a day (noon and 6:00 p.m.) and don’t eat again until noon the next day. Intermittent fasting and Keto improve your health and weight loss. This is something you might try on Saturday and see how you like it. Cheers and welcome to Keto!

      Reply
      • Dot2Trot

        Bulletproof coffee. It is a cup of coffee with coconut oil and butter blended in (need to use a blender to mix it into the coffee). It’s high in healthy fats to that cup of coffee keeps you full for a several hours. Plus the coconut oil has 50% MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides) which can help your body get into a state known as Ketosis — where you burn ketones for fuel instead of relying on glucose. That just means your body is using it’s own fat for energy, resulting in weight loss.

  4. EMarie

    I am so happy and grateful to find your site. I was so overwhelmed with all kind of Keto meal plans and recipes. Your weekly plan seems so simple I will start tomorrow! You are such an inspiration… Thank you

    Reply
  5. jtingle2

    I am trying to figure all of this out, but am confused. Looking at your meals from a few years ago, I see you ate breakfast. Now you don’t? I hear so many conflicting views – “bfast is best meal of the day” vs. “No. Don’t eat before lunch,” etc. How do I decide for my body what is right? I am all that you said – on H BP meds, more than 35 lbs overweight, pre-diabetic, and just overall miserable. I have really bad knees, which makes it almost impossible to exercise except swimming, and I have a really hard time getting to the gym. I need your help, please! Help me understand why no bfast and how to get on this plan and stick to it. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Dot2Trot

      A few years ago I had a nasty plateau — we’re talking several months. I found a series of lectures by Dr. Jason Fung (he treats obese and diabetic patients) about the therapeutic benefits of intermittent fasting with a low carb diet. I suggest you take a look at some of his videos on YouTube.

      The only reason why “breakfast” is called that is because that is when we break our fast (meaning the 8 hours we sleep at night — no eating involved!).

      The idea of fasting when you are overweight is about keeping insulin levels in check. Insulin is the hormone responsible for storing fat. Basically, everytime we eat, the amount of sugar in our blood goes up. Insulin removes excess sugar and it gets stored in our cells (where it is turned to fat) to be used later for energy. Some foods trigger spikes in insulin — carbs and sugars (think bread, pasta, candy, grains, soft drinks, juice, processed foods, etc.). Those foods are quickly absorbed by our bodies, spike insulin and we end up feeling hungry 2 hours later where we eat again, triggering insulin again.

      When insulin is doing its job, your cells cannot release the fat being stored for energy. So we end up getting heavier.

      Other foods — protein & fats — don’t trigger that much of an insulin response (fat far less than protein) and it takes a long time for our bodies to absorb them.

      So with a low carb/high fat diet, you are minimizing insulin, allowing fat burning to happen.

      Now here is where fasting comes in. Low carb diets are only have the solution. Most people gain weight year after year. The result is that our bodies become insulin resistant as we pack on the pounds. In other words, when we eat a lot of carbs (5-6 meals/snacks a day) Insulin never subsides. The cells that store fat start refusing insulin’s signal to store fat. So our body responds by pumping out even more insulin until the cells respond. That means it takes your body even longer for insulin levels to drop and most likely they don’t get to normal levels when you eat again.

      All food triggers an insulin response, but protein and fat, not as much. But they still do trigger insulin.

      The only way to reverse insulin resistance is with intermittent fasting — 12, 18, 24, or even 36 hours of not eating.

      Here is a video by Dr. Fung explaining it: https://youtu.be/tIuj-oMN-Fk

      But to help you get started, try doing this for starters: Eat normally for one day, but make sure your last meal (dinner) ends at 7:00 p.m. No snacking and limit drinks to water or tea (no sweeteners) for the rest of the evening. let’s say you wake up at 6:30 a.m. and break your fast at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast, then that is a 12 hour fast. It’s the best way to get you use to the idea of fasting, where you use your 8 hours of sleep as part of the fast (we actually burn most of our fat when we sleep). Once you get use to it, you can expand the amount of fasting. I now eat just 2 meals a day (but I still eat all my calories for the day). So my first meal is normally around Noon and dinner is at 6:00 p.m. So I go from 7:00 pm to Noon the next day — about a 17 hour fast. Some days I do 24 hours (last meal at 6:00 pm and eat the next day at 6:00 pm). It just takes practice. If you are on meds you do need to be careful as far as length of fast, but I’d say try a 12 hour fast and see how you feel. It is about getting use to it.

      Don’t worry about “messing up.” I couldn’t do 12 hours when I first started. It really is about getting use to the idea and coming up with strategies to help you (staying busy is the key!). Also eating right before going into a fast is the top priority.

      The longest I’ve gone is 7 days (I do that to help make sure my cancer doesn’t come back so don’t think you need to do that!!!).

      I do recommend you check with your doctor since you are taking meds for blood pressure. I did 14 hour fasts for lent a few years ago when I was taking my BP meds and I was OK. But I cleared it with my doc first.

      Good Luck!

      Reply
      • Jo Anne Tingle

        Thank you so much!!!! I have had no trouble with the fast, but I am probably messing up by having the BPCoffee before the 14 hours is up, right?

        I am not sure I understand the concept of getting all of the fats, too. For instance, if I have the correct amounts of fats all day, does it matter that THE meal (i.e., lunch) has 70% calories from fat?

        Are you on myfitnesspal? I was wondering if I could friend you and you look at my food and see if I am messing up? Thanks so much for your time and responses.

      • Dot2Trot

        You are not messing up. If you are fasting to fight insulin resistance (which if you are overweight you might be), then it is ok to do a bullet proof coffee in the morning while you are fasting. The fat from the drink doesn’t raise insulin and it will keep you full longer. But if you can go without the coffee then do so. As far as your macros, I look at the day and not the individual meal. There are some meals were you might have a little more protein than fat because you had a lean meat. To me it’s more important to look at the full day. And even then, it’s a guide. Life happens and you may not hit 70% fat everyday. As for My Fitness Pal, I’m actually looking at tracking apps right now. I hope to start using one the beginning of February. Once I do I’ll open it for anyone who’d like to connect.

  6. Louann Rose

    You are such an inspiration…My starting weight was 288 and I now weigh 254 all because of low carbs..I ran across your channel while looking for low carb recipes…Thank you for all you do…

    Reply

  9. Pingback: Cutting Dairy, Fasting Lead to 5+ Lbs. Drop | Dot to Trot

  10. amber

    Good day, I recently came across you weekly menu and found it so simple to follow. I want to start right away. I do have a question though. Some of your days are so easy to follow. . But when you do something like veggie stew days. Do you have recipes I can follow. Where do you find the healthiest ones?

    Reply
    • Dot2Trot

      Hi Amber,

      Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I’ve been busy helping my mother move into her new digs. For some recipes, I do a couple of things.

      1. I play in the kitchen. So something like a veggie soup, I’ll come up with a list of low carb veggies that I’ll dice up. Make some bone broth, toss it in a pot and add seasonings. Or I might have an old recipe and I work on converting it to a high fat/low carb meal. I use My Fitness Pal to track quantities, how much it makes, size of serving, foods and seasonings I use (specific to brand names). That’s how I track my carbs/protein/fat numbers.

      2. There are lots of great low carb/paleo sites out there with fun recipes that are healthy and tasty. Here are a few of my favorites:

      All Day I Dream About Food (alldayidreamaboutfood.com)
      I Breath I’m Hungry (Ibreathimhungry.com)
      Nom Nom Paleo (nomnompaleo.com)
      Wicked Stuffed Keto Blog (wickedstuffed.com)
      Peace Love and Low Carb (peaceloveandlowcarb.com)
      The Low Carb Diet (the-lowcarb-diet.com)

      I usually post recipes or links to recipes. Clearly I missed that one 🙂

      Let me know if you have any other questions. Cheers!

      Reply

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  16. carol

    I am liking your menus because of the simplicity. I have a question about your shakes. What protein powder do you use and how is the shake made. I am confused about the protein powders. Also do you follow macros? I am having difficulty with this and was wondering if it is necessary. I see also from your site, when you are well you exercise alot. Do you worry about calories? Last question. What do you think about the bullet proof coffee and fat bombs. Do you think the high fat is good or bad. I do not see either in your menus so I am assuming this is something you do not do but would like your input. Thanks

    Reply
    • Dot2Trot

      For my shakes, I use ISOPure (dutch chocolate or cookies & creme). Depending on the flavor it’s either 0 or 1 net carbs. I use them before or after an intense muscle workout primarily. If I want a lite lunch, I might do the shake with 1/4 C strawberries. Still keeps it a low carb meal.

      I do keep track of my net carb count (eating 20g of carbs/day — all from veggies). Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols. Sometimes I up my daily carb count to ensure my body doesn’t adjust to what I’m doing. I never go above 75g on those days. But I also do heavy muscle workouts on those days and eat those extra carbs right after that workout (think eating a small baked sweet potato with some protein).

      My caloric intake is broken down like this: 65% fats; 30% Protein; 5% carbs. I don’t track my fats or protein by the grams. I use the MyFitnessPal app and that gives me a general idea of the breakdown between fats/protein/carbs when I log my food. I ONLY count carbs. I don’t track calories anymore, but MyFitnessPal does show how much you consume and how much you gain via exercise. I don’t pay much attention to it.

      As for fat bombs [I’m talking a Fat Fast here, not the fat bomb treats all over the web], I just started researching those. I’ve never done one. But from what I can tell so far it seems extreme and mainly for people who can’t lose any weight regardless of their chosen diet. It’s not for people who lost weight but are in a plateau. I think the calorie restriction (1,000/day) is insane. There’s no way I could do my workout routine for the 3-5 days of the fat bomb. Just not enough fuel for my body. It seems like people do lose weight but once they go back to normal (healthy) eating, a chuck is gained back. I know people love them, but I’m not convinced yet. Like I said I’m still researching it so I could change my mind.

      I find that most plateaus end by making slight changes — tracking your food more closely, changing workout routine, adjusting your fat/protain/carb ratio.

      UPDATE: I made an error when writing about fat bombs. I was researching fat fasts and that’s what I’m talking about in my comment. As for fat bombs, I haven’t tried them yet, but am looking up recipes for some breakfast shakes and snacks to add into my menus or for those days where I do struggle to get to my 65% fat/day.
      Hopes this helps.

      Reply

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