100-125 g carbs
Low carb for big guys
Most people who think they want keto actually want this: carbohydrate low enough that appetite settles down, high enough that heavy training still works. Around 100 to 125 g a day, placed around your sessions, and protein pushed as high as it will comfortably go.
Keto is a cliff. This is a step.
How this one works
The rule that makes this work: carbohydrate goes where the training is. Rest days sit near 80 g, training days near 150, and the weekly average lands where you want it. That is the whole trick, and it is why this track outperforms keto for anyone who lifts three or four times a week.
Protein is the highest of the six tracks here, around 200 g, because there is room for it. Volume comes from vegetables and from the sheer quantity of lean meat, not from bread.
The two cook sessions
What you make, and when
The site-wide schedule is Sunday for the long cook and Wednesday for the top-up. On this track that means:
- CookChicken thigh and broccoli traybake — 6 portions
- CookBeef and cabbage skillet — 6 portions
- CookCrustless egg and sausage bake — 12 squares
- Cook3 lb roast potatoes or sweet potatoes, weighed into portions
- CookSecond traybake — pork chops or salmon, 4 portions
- CookFresh slaw and salad components
- CookOne pan of rice or potatoes for the training days
Timed run sheets for both sessions are on the prep schedule.
The actual week
Seven days, about 200 g of protein
This is the whole week rather than a teaser. Friday dinner is deliberately left open — a plan with no room in it is a plan you break once and abandon.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Egg and sausage bake, two squares | Chicken and broccoli, small potato portion | Beef and cabbage skillet, sour cream | Cottage cheese, berries |
| Tue | Four-egg scramble, spinach, cheese | Beef and cabbage, day two | Salmon, green beans, half a sweet potato | Greek yoghurt, almonds |
| Wed | Egg bake, avocado | Chicken thighs, big slaw | Pork chops, roast cauliflower, apple sauce | Protein shake, training day — add rice at dinner |
| Thu | Greek yoghurt, whey, walnuts | Chicken and broccoli, last portions | Turkey chili over cauliflower rice | Boiled eggs, cheese |
| Fri | Eggs, bacon, mushrooms, one slice toast | Tuna salad, olives, avocado | Whatever you like — keep the carbs at dinner | Cottage cheese if the day ran short |
| Sat | Big plate — eggs, sausage, tomatoes | Steak salad, blue cheese | Burgers, one bun or none, big salad | Yoghurt, berries, dark chocolate |
| Sun | Eggs and whatever meat is left | Cook day — eat as you go | Roast chicken, roast veg, potatoes | Portion out Monday to Wednesday |
Big-batch recipes
The three that do the work
Real quantities, a per-portion protein count, and how long each one actually keeps. Everything here scales to a full tray or a full pot on purpose.
Chicken thigh and broccoli traybake
What goes in
- 12 boneless chicken thighs
- 3 heads broccoli, cut into large florets
- 2 red onions, 3 peppers
- 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, chilli flakes
How
- Marinate the thighs in the oil, soy, honey and spices — twenty minutes is enough, overnight is better.
- Chicken and onions on the tray first, 425F for 15 minutes.
- Broccoli and peppers added, another 15 to 18 minutes, so the broccoli chars rather than steams.
- Two trays if you own two. Everything on this page gets worse crowded.
Keeping it: Fridge 4 days. The broccoli softens by day three; if that bothers you, roast half of it fresh on Wednesday.
Beef and cabbage skillet
What goes in
- 2.5 lb ground beef, 85/15
- 1 large head cabbage, shredded
- 2 onions, 6 cloves garlic, 2 carrots grated
- 3 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tbsp Worcestershire
- 1 tbsp caraway seed, 2 tsp paprika
- 1 cup beef stock
How
- Brown the beef hard in two batches and take it out. Grey mince is the difference between this being good and being sad.
- Onion, carrot and garlic in the fat, 8 minutes. Paste and spices, 90 seconds.
- Cabbage in with the stock, lid on, 10 minutes, then lid off until the liquid is gone.
- Beef back in, Worcestershire, taste for salt. It needs more than you think.
Keeping it: Fridge 4 days, freezer 2 months. This is the rare cabbage dish that is better on day two.
Crustless egg and sausage bake
What goes in
- 18 eggs
- 1.5 lb breakfast sausage meat
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 1.5 cups grated cheddar
- 1 lb spinach, wilted and squeezed dry
- 1 diced onion, 1 diced pepper
How
- Brown the sausage and onion, drain, spread over a greased 9x13 dish.
- Squeeze the spinach properly dry. Wet spinach is why egg bakes come out watery.
- Whisk eggs and cottage cheese, pour over, cheese on top.
- 350F for 40 minutes until the centre is set. Cool 15 minutes before cutting or it falls apart.
Keeping it: Fridge 4 days, freezer 2 months cut into squares. Reheats better than any other breakfast on this site.
Turkey meatballs with roasted zucchini and marinara
What goes in
- 3 lb ground turkey
- 1 cup grated parmesan, 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup almond flour, 4 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tsp dried oregano
- 6 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds
- 1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce, no added sugar
- Olive oil, basil
How
- Mix the turkey, parmesan, egg, almond flour, garlic and oregano gently — overworking it makes the meatballs dense.
- Roll into golf-ball sized meatballs, sear in olive oil in batches until browned on the outside, then set aside.
- Zucchini rounds tossed in oil and salt, roasted at 425F for 15 minutes on a separate tray while the meatballs finish.
- Meatballs simmered in the marinara for 15 minutes until cooked through. Serve over the roasted zucchini, basil on top.
Keeping it: Fridge 4 days, freezer 3 months for the meatballs and sauce. Roast the zucchini fresh on reheat days rather than freezing it — it goes watery from frozen.
Doing it cheaper
The budget version
This is the cheapest of the three meat-forward tracks, because it can lean on the two best-value proteins in the shop: eggs at about 35 g per dollar and whole chickens at $2.01 a pound. The carbohydrate that is left is potatoes and rice, which cost almost nothing.
Around $65–85 a week for one person at national average prices. Buying whole chickens instead of portions is worth roughly ten dollars of that on its own.
| Instead of | Use | Why it is worth it |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken thighs and breasts | Whole chickens, jointed at home | Chicken breast was $4.15 a pound in July 2026 against $2.01 for the whole bird. Ten minutes with a knife pays about twenty dollars an hour. |
| Ground beef | Ground turkey or pork, or 50/50 beef and lentils | Same skillet, lower cost, and nobody notices the lentils in a heavily spiced dish. |
| Fresh broccoli in winter | Frozen florets | For a traybake it chars fine, and it is roughly half the price. |
| Cauliflower rice in bags | A whole cauliflower and a box grater | The bagged version costs about three times as much for four minutes of work. |
The prices behind these swaps, with sources, are in the protein-per-dollar table.
Shopping list
One week, one person
Sized for a big guy eating the plan above with a little slack in it. Halve the fresh produce if you shop twice a week.
Protein
- 2 whole chickens or 12 thighs
- 2.5 lb ground beef 85/15
- 1.5 lb sausage meat
- 4 dozen eggs
- 2 large tubs cottage cheese
- 2 lb salmon or pork chops
Carbs
- 3 lb potatoes
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 2 lb rice
- Loaf of wholemeal bread
- Rolled oats
Plants
- 3 heads broccoli
- 1 large cabbage
- 1 head cauliflower
- 3 peppers, 2 onions
- 1 lb spinach
- Berries, apples
Pantry
- Olive oil
- Soy sauce, Worcestershire
- Tomato paste, beef stock
- Smoked paprika, caraway, garlic powder
- Block of cheddar
Nothing here is a medical claim about carbohydrate. Lower-carbohydrate eating helps a lot of people control appetite, and that is the reason it appears on this site. If you take medication for diabetes, changing your carbohydrate intake changes what that medication does, so make the change with your doctor rather than around them.
Nothing on this page is medical advice. It is a plan written for general strength training in healthy adults, and any condition or medication you are managing outranks it.
Not the right track?
Five others, same structure, all with a budget version.