Low-Carb Diet Plan Templates for Atkins Induction and OWL

This Atkins Menu Planner
Makes Keto Menu Planning Quick and Easy

Today, I'm going to give you a keto menu template that I used myself when I was doing the Atkins Diet. Templates make ketogenic diets much more simple to follow.

I have an Atkins menu planner for:

• Atkins Induction, also called Phase 1
• Ongoing Weight Loss Phase (OWL), also called Phase 2

Since I'm not very fond of the current Atkins diets, these templates are designed to work with the Atkins 2002 version of the diet, which was much easier to follow and lower in carbs. However, this Atkins menu planner can easily be adapted to fit any Atkins or Keto diet plan.

I find templates much easier to work with than a specific menu, as they give you lots of room to use up whatever you have in the house. They also allow you to purchase meats and vegetables that are marked down or on sale that week.

This can be extremely helpful when trying to reduce your low-carb costs.

A Low-Carb Meals Template Makes Induction Easy

Creating a low-carb meal plan isn't difficult, even for Atkins Induction. I have always found it best to keep things simple for the first couple of weeks while adjusting to this new way of eating.

Since Induction isn't the Atkins Diet itself, I have never really gotten into the Induction recipes thing very deeply, but since my carbohydrate tolerance has fallen, that might be changing soon.

When doing Atkins Induction, I have always turned to plain:

• meats
• eggs
• cheese
• vegetables
• salad

Atkins Induction is an introductory phase of the diet designed to get you into the state of ketosis. It is a very-low carb diet, sometimes referred to as a ketogenic diet, that severely limits the carbohydrates you eat each day to 20-net carbs, or less.

In 1972, Induction was a very strict, very low-carb diet that mostly consisted of:

• meat
• eggs
• hard cheese
• 2 cups of salad

Little else.

Over the years, the Induction plan has evolved into including additional vegetables, and when Atkins Nutritionals purchased the Atkins name, even more vegetables were added to the menu.

Atkins Induction is lower in carbs than other phases of the diet, and the foods allowed are quite restrictive compared to other meal plans for weight loss.

For that reason, creating a menu template for your keto meals can make the process easier.

Keto Diet Meal Plan Template (Atkins 2002 Plan)

Doing the Atkins Diet Induction Phase correctly is essential to get into ketosis, and using this keto meal planner to create your own ketogenic diet menu can greatly cut down on the amount of work it takes to stay on plan.

By using the following menu template, you won't have to stand in front of the refrigerator and wonder, "What's for dinner?" You'll already have a rough idea of how to create a great ketogenic meal.

Breakfast:

• 3 to 6 ounces of protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese) or a protein shake that offers 20 grams of protein
• 1/2 cup vegetables (optional)
• 1-minute muffin made with flaxmeal or 1972 Revolution roll
• coffee with heavy cream and sugar substitute, tea, or broth

Lunch:

• 4 to 6 ounces of protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese) or a protein shake that offers at least 20 grams of protein
• 1 or 2 1972 Revolution rolls (if having a sandwich or burger)
• 2 cups salad or salad vegetables
• 2 tablespoons of salad dressing, mayonnaise, or butter
• diet soda, coffee, tea, broth, sugar-free soft drink, or water

Dinner:

• 6 to 8 ounces of protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese) or a protein shake that offers at least 20 grams of protein
• 1 cup vegetables (1/2 cup if vegetables were eaten at breakfast)
• 1 tablespoons of mayonnaise or butter
• diet soda, coffee, tea, broth, sugar-free soft drink, or water

Snacks: meats, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, vegetables or salad that you didn't eat for meals, pork rinds with a sour cream dip or salsa, pepperoni chips or cheese chips you make yourself, diet gelatin

Adjust the Atkins Meal Planner to Fit Your Tastes and Lifestyle

Keep in mind that this is just a template that fits the Atkins 2002 diet plan. I've tried to keep it simple, so you don't have to think about what to eat. It can be adjusted to fit your tastes and lifestyle.

For example, if you have a microwave at work and can heat up meat and vegetables easily, you might want to switch the vegetables I have listed at dinner and the salad I listed at lunchtime around. You could also have a chef salad for lunch and a burger made with Revolution rolls for dinner.

Daily portions of salad and vegetables allowed on Induction are:

1 cup cooked vegetables and 2 cups salad

If you skip the cooked vegetables, you can have 3 cups of salad.

There is no limit to the amount of meat and eggs you can eat. The purpose of Atkins Induction isn't weight loss. The aim is to get you into the state of ketosis. Therefore, the 1972 Revolution rolls are also unlimited, in reasonable amounts, but cheese is restricted to 4 ounces per day.

Heavy cream and sour cream come with a 2 to 3 tablespoon limit. Sugar substitute is limited to 2 or 3 packets, or equivalent to a maximum of 2 tablespoons of sugar. Flaxmeal is limited to 1 muffin a day.

Example of How to Use the Planner

Breakfast:

• 3 scrambled eggs with 2 ounces chopped ham and a sliced green onion folded into the eggs when scrambling them
• 1 minute muffin with butter
• Coffee with 1 tbsp heavy cream and sugar substitute

Snack: 2 ounces hard cheese

Lunch:

• 2 cups salad made with left-over grilled chicken, chopped eggs, celery, cucumbers, and radishes
• 2 tablespoons full-fat no-sugar added salad dressing
• diet soda

Snack: pork rinds with sour cream

Dinner:

• 8-ounce cheeseburger topped with bacon slices and mustard (no bun)
• 1 cup steamed broccoli with 1 tbsp butter
• hot chicken broth with a scrambled egg drizzled into it, and chives

Snack: Diet gelatin with whipped cream

Low-Carb Meals Template for Phase 2 (Ongoing Weight Loss Phase: OWL)

Converting the above Atkins menu planner to the first level of the Ongoing Weight Loss phase for the 2002 version of the Atkins Diet is a much easier template to follow than the one for Induction:

Breakfast:

• 4 to 6 ounces of protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese) or a protein shake that offers 20 grams of protein
• 1/2 cup vegetables (optional)
• 1-minute muffin made with flaxmeal or 1972 Revolution roll
• coffee with heavy cream and sugar substitute, tea or broth

Lunch and Dinner:

• 4 to 8 ounces of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, or a protein shake that offers at least 20 grams of protein
• 1 cup vegetables or 2 cups of salad (could do half and half of each)
• 2 tablespoons of salad dressing, mayonnaise, or butter
• Revolution rolls, as needed
• diet soda, coffee, tea, broth, sugar-free soft drink, or water

Snacks: meats, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, vegetables or salad that you didn't eat for meals, pork rinds with a sour cream dip or salsa, pepperoni chips or cheese chips you make yourself, diet gelatin

Adjust the Menu Template as You Return
Additional Carbs to Your Diet

As you slowly return carbs to your diet, just plug them into the planner where they fit into your current lifestyle the best -- meals or snacks, it doesn't matter.

For example, once you're up to 30 to 35-net carbs per day, you can have both a 2-cup salad and 1 cup vegetables for lunch and dinner. You can also have more than 4-ounces of cheese if you aren't sensitive to dairy. That makes meal planning super easy and quick.

Adapting the Atkins menu planner is simple too.

I always enjoy sliced strawberries with whipped cream after dinner, rather than with lunch, so they are easy to slip into the template. If I want them chopped into some low-carb yogurt (Kroger's CarbMaster yogurt is our favorite) or cottage cheese for breakfast, I simply have diet gelatin, pork rinds with dip, or some other carb-free snack, such as leftover hot wings, that night instead.

Dr. Atkins Ideas for Low-Carb Meals

In the 2002 version of the Atkins Diet, Dr. Atkins offered a few suggestions for planning your low-carb menus. In his opinion, meal planning was easy due to his acceptable food lists.

Breakfast:

• ham, cheese, and mushroom omellete
• bacon and eggs
• smoked salmon wrapped around cream cheese

Lunch:

• cheeseburger without the bun
• chicken Caesar salad
• tuna salad or chicken salad
• chef salad with chicken, ham, cheese, hard-boiled eggs sitting on greens with a creamy garlic dressing

Dinner:

• shrimp cocktail with a mustard-mayonnaise sauce
• favorite protein source: lamb chops, poached salmon, roast chicken, filet mignon, buttered lobster tails, seafood mixed grill -- whatever you fancy -- plus a salad.

Dessert:

• assorted cheeses
• diet gelatin with real whipped cream

Dr. Atkins' ideas are more expensive than I can afford, but hopefully, you get the idea. Eating low carb takes a bit of creativity, imagination, and thought, but you aren't on your own. Many have walked this keto path before you and are willing to share what they have learned along the way.

Additional Menu and Food Articles You Might Find Helpful:

3-Day Ketosis Diet (less than 10 carbs)
7-Day Ketogenic Diet for Induction (20 net carbs)
7-Day Atkins 72 Induction Menu (less than 10 carbs)
What Can I Eat on Atkins Induction?
What I Actually Ate When Doing Very Low Carb
12 Low-Carb Breakfast Ideas to Make Mornings Easier