Table of contents
Home Screen
Your Home Screen is the default start page and provides an overview of your day and access to the most frequently used features:
- View your daily macros and how far you are from your daily targets or limits.
- Edit your day by tapping on your macros (add a meal, update your activity level, water intake, etc.)
- Quickly access your macros and targets by tapping on Targets.
- Keep track of the data that matters to you most. (weight change, body fat, measurements, blood glucose, ketones, etc. - tap on Configure to customise)
- Quick access to recipes you have added to your Planner for today.
- Shortcuts for most common actions: creating a meal, scanning a product, and learning about the ketogenic diet.
- Quick access to our Facebook Support Group where you can ask any diet related questions and share your progress.
- Overview of recent articles and recipes delivered to the KetoDiet app on a daily basis!
Set up Your Profile & Macros
In Profile > Macros & Targets you can specify your Essential Data (age, weight, height, etc) and Goals (weight loss, weight gain, etc). KetoDiet can then calculate your optimal macronutrients (macros). As your weight, body fat etc change, KetoDiet will automatically recalculate your optimal macros.
To setup your profile tap on the main tab bar and select Profile. Tap on Macros & Targets, and then Edit and fill in your Essential Data (Gender, Age, Height, Weight, Body Fat, Activity Level, Net Carbs and your Goal). Finally, tap Done.
The Goal you select determines how your target macros are calculated. If you prefer to specify your target macros manually, then select Custom Targets under Goal.
Diet Plans
Diet plans allow you to quickly plan your days while meeting your target macros. You can create diet plans based on your dietary preferences or simply by copying existing days on your Planner as a diet plan.
You can access Diet Plans from:
- Shortcuts section on the Home Screen
- Planner top lever overview
- Planner day detail view
Weekly diet plan wizard
You can use the diet plan wizard to create a diet plan based on your dietary preferences. Here is how the wizard works:
Step 1 - Dietary options
The initial step is to provide your dietary preferences so we can narrow down the type of meals that are suitable for your custom diet plan. You can specify the following options:
- How often you like to cook
How many meals you want to have daily
Based on the settings above we'll adjust the number & type of recipes needed to build your diet plan. For example, for minimal cooking we'll prioritize easy & quick recipes.
If you're new to the keto diet we'll include an electrolyte drink to ensure you get enough electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium)
Ingredients to include & avoid allow you to fine-tune the selection of meals to include recipes you'll enjoy. Note that Favorite ingredients are not guaranteed to be included if your macro targets or other preferences cannot be met.
Dietary & allergy preferences will enable you to filter out any recipes that are unsuitable for your lifestyle. Note that many recipes include allergy friendly alternatives and you should always check the recipe details for more info.
Make ahead breakfasts is a convenience option that will select breakfasts which can be prepared in advance and require less cooking for the week.
Salads for lunch or dinner will be prioritized when the respective option is selected.
Recipes with fewer servings are ideal for people only cooking for themselves and want to minimize leftovers.
You can select to avoid adding any snacks to your diet plan. Please note that doing so may make it less likely to meet your target macros. Typically, snacks are used to optimize protein and fat intake.
You can exclude desserts used for breakfast meals, such as mug cakes, coffee cakes, muffins, etc. Please note that sweet breakfasts such as granola, pancakes, waffles or smoothies may still be included. If you wish to avoid all sweet recipes, simple add 'Sweetener' in your Ingredients to avoid list.
Step 2 - Auto-Selected meals
In this step the wizard generates a list of meals that will be used in your diet plan. If needed you can customize the selection by replacing individual meals (mains, or sides), or by re-creating a fresh meal selection using the Find new meals function.
When replacing individual mains, we'll offer a list a suggested alternatives with similar nutritional profile. You can pick from the list or search for you favorite meal.
When replacing sides, we'll offer a list of sides suitable for the selected meal.
Step 3 - Save & optionally add to Planner
In the last step your diet plan is built and the average macros for the week are calculated. You can save your diet plan use it later or you can save and add it to your Planner.
In the bottom section we include a brief report to reflect what choices the wizard has made to optimize your diet plan. For example, if portions of certain recipes have been reduced or increased the report will include that.
Copy from existing planner days
To create a diet plan using an existing date range, simply pick a start and an end date and we'll extract all planned meals and create a diet plan based on them.
You can optionally re-arrange or delete any of your copied days before saving your diet plan.
Removing diet plans from the Planner
To remove complete diet plans from your Planner, you can either:
Navigate to any day that includes recipes from the diet plan, scroll down and select Review to remove individual days or the complete diet plan. Note that any foods you may have added on top of the diet plan meals will not be affected.
Open Diet Plans and tap on diet plan you want to remove from the Planner. Tap on History and you'll get a list of instances where you have used the diet plan in the Planner. You can again tap on Review to remove individual days or the full plan.
Replacing & merging with existing meals
When you add a diet plan to the Planner, we'll check if there are existing meals. If we detect that the days affected include other meals we'll offer an option to either Merge, Replace or Cancel. Marge will keep your existing meals and add the diet plan meals on top. Replace will remove any existing meals and add the diet plan meals only.
The importance of snacks in meeting your macros
Snacks are mainly used to balance your macros so you meet your targets. They are only added to your day if the meals themselves cannot be used to meet your macros. Sometimes, for people in weight loss mode getting enough protein without exceeding fat & calorie intake requires adding snacks. Similarly, for very active individuals looking to gain weight snacks high in fat may be required. The weekly diet plan wizards allows you to disable adding snacks assuming that you want to fine tune your days manually.
Track Your Measurements
Optionally, you can track your measurements under Profile > Body stats. Tap on the measurement you want to set and tap Add. Set the measurement and set the date if different from today. Then tap Save.
You can Delete or Edit any measurement at any time. To add a new measurement, tap on Add.
Note: You can also access and track your measurements within the Planner & Progress sections.
Recipe Options
You can set your preferences for recipes under Profile > Recipe Options. You can specify any allergies, preferences and even exclude ingredients you don't like. All recipes that do not satisfy your criteria will be hidden in the Recipes & Planner sections.
Hint: You can quickly disable/enable your preferences by tapping on the button on top.
Note: You can also access your recipe options under Recipes & Planner sections.
Account & Sync
To add your name and profile photo, go to Profile > Account & Sync.
If you are using the app on multiple devices, you can sync between them by creating an online account & signing in under Account & Sync. All devices using the same online account will be kept in sync.
Note: Syncing is available across iOS and Android devices.
Quick Add
You can quickly add a meal to your Planner from anywhere in the app by tapping on the large red plus icon in the tab bar. You can either search for foods or scan an product.
Understanding Macros - How to Read the Macro Rings
Your macros can be found in the Home screen and the Planner sections. Below we'll highlight some basic principles for understanding how macros work on a keto diet.
The macro rings in KetoDiet change colour to help you meet your macros. Your aim should be for your rings to be green or orange on average. Don't worry if you occasionally end up in the red zone, but it shouldn't happen consistently.
Some macros are limits while others are targets. That distinction is important to under how macros work on a keto diet.
Net Carbs are a Limit
Net carbs are total carbs with fibre deducted. You can find more information about net carbs and why it's best to track net carbs rather than total carbs in this post.
Net Carbs are a limit which means that you should be eating no more than the limit you set under Profile > Macros & Targets. Our recommended limit to begin with is 20 to 25 grams of net carbs.
You don't have to change anything as long as your Net Carbs are in the green or orange zones. If your net carbs get in the red zone, you can reduce them by cutting foods high in carbs or reducing portions.
Common sources of carbs are: vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sweeteners, condiments, and dairy. Some foods like liver, seafood and processed meat are common sources of hidden carbs.
Protein is a Target
Unlike net carbs, your protein intake is a target. When your protein intake is in the orange zone, it means you are either under your target or slightly over. Your protein intake may turn red if you significantly exceed your intake.
Here are some tips to reduce your protein intake:
- Reduce your consumption of leaner meats and fish and instead increase your consumption of fatty fish and meat. You can do that by eating more fatty pork, lamb, beef, salmon, mackerel, herring or sardines, and less chicken, turkey, tuna or cod.
- Egg whites are a common source of protein. If you're making an omelet with 3 eggs, try swapping one of the eggs with just egg yolk.
- Certain types of cheese such as mozzarella, are high in protein. Try replacing mozzarella with cheddar.
Here are some tips to increase your protein intake:
- Same tips, just reverse, apply to increasing your protein intake.
- Other sources of protein include almonds, broccoli pumpkin seeds, peanut butter and yogurt.
- You can add whey protein powder isolate or egg white protein powder, plant-based protein powders or collagen.
Fat and Calories
Fat should be eaten to satiety. Calories are determined by your fat intake, as fat is essentially the "filler" in terms of calories, while protein and carbs remain fixed. If you consistently exceed your calorie limit, you should reduce your fat intake.
Depending on your target, your fat (and calorie) intake can either be a limit or a target.
- If your goal is to lose weight, your fat (and calorie) intake is a limit.
- If your goal is to maintain your weight, your fat (and calorie) intake are a target, although you can generally be more relaxed about meeting your target on maintenance.
- If your goal is to gain weight, your fat intake is a target.
- As long as your fat (and calorie) intake are in the green or orange zones, you don't have to change anything.
If you need to reduce or increase your fat intake, focus on these sources of fat:
- Added fats such as olive oil, ghee, butter or mayonnaise are easily adjustable in most recipes.
- Other high-fat foods: nuts (especially macadamias), avocados, cheese, whipping cream, coconut cream and coconut milk, fatty meats such as pork belly, lamb ribs, beef ribeye, etc.
- If you need to reduce your fat (and calorie) intake, avoid fat bombs, "bulletproof coffee" and other beverages with added fats.
Note: If your calorie intake is over your limit while carbs, protein and fat remain below your limit, it may be down to alcohol consumption. Alcohol contributes 7 kcal (Calories) per gram.
Recipes in the KetoDiet App
All our recipes are trialed and tested by our team for best results. We never include any random recipes scraped off the Internet and all nutritional data for our recipes is reliable.
There are 10 sample recipes in the free version, and over 1,900 fully customisable recipes are available to our subscribers. This includes over 1,600 blog recipes, and 350 exclusive recipes. Subscribers can add any of our recipes to the Planner, clone and modify recipes.
Additionally, all of our users (including non subscribers) can access all recipes shared on our blog via Blog.
To favorite recipes that you like, tap on the heart icon. This will enable you to find and add the recipes you like under Recipes > Favorites.
Recipe Sorting and Filtering
Use the filtering tool to view recipes that match your preferences based on categories and allergies. You can also exclude recipes by specific ingredients that you may want to avoid.
You can sort recipes by net carbs, protein, fat, calories, overall time, etc.
Recipe View
Once you tap on a meal, you can view the full recipe including ingredients, serving size, time to prepare, number of servings, recipe instructions and allergy information.
To change the number of servings for any Recipe, tap on the plates icon at the top of the screen and change to the desired number of servings. All ingredient amounts will update automatically.
To print a recipe, tap on the print icon at the top of any recipe. To add any recipe to the Planner, tap on the plus icon at the top right.
Once you choose the recipe you want to cook, you can select some or all of the ingredients and add them to your Basket. This will make shopping for ingredients easier, and you can quickly print or export the shopping list.
Some recipes use homemade ingredients (e.g. pesto, mayonnaise, or ghee) which themselves are recipes. You can tap on them to see the full recipe for such ingredients.
You can view step-by-step photos or hide them with a single tap for a compact view.
Exclusive Recipes vs KetoDiet Blog Recipes
Exclusive recipes are recipes that are only available in our app and never shared on our blog. The KetoDiet app includes 350 exclusive recipes. You can find them under Recipes > Exclusive. All Exclusive recipes include allergy friendly suggestions where possible.
Additionally, we enable all users to access hundreds of recipes shared directly via our blog. You can find all the recipes under Recipes > From Our Blog and also under Blog.
When you use our filtering tool, all recipes that do not match your preferences will be hidden. You can quickly disable the filtering under Recipes > tap on the filtering icon on top right.
Note that while non-subscribers can view all of our Blog recipes via Blog, only premium subscribers can use all of the recipes to plan & track their diet, clone any of the recipes, and use other premium features.
Important: The vast majority of recipes we share via our integrated KetoDiet Blog include allergy-friendly options and swaps. To find all allergy options and recipe tips, make sure to tap on the green button below the list of ingredients to view the associated blog post. It is generally recommended that when you follow a blog recipe, always view the associated blog post for extra tips and clarifications.
Hint: You can find the latest recipes under Home section or under Recipes > New.
My meals
You can find all of the meals you have created under My meals. Your meals are also accessible via the Planner section when you add a meal to your day.
Creating a Custom Meal
Custom Meals can either be defined by Ingredients, or by specifying Nutrition Data.
Note: Please keep in mind that we can't guarantee that recipes you find online have accurate nutrition facts. It's always better if you let KetoDiet calculate them for you by adding individual ingredients.
Custom Meal Defined by Ingredients
When you create a Custom Meal based on ingredients, it's important that you specify the correct number of servings for the amount of ingredients you define. In this mode you'll find three tabs when editing a custom meal:
1 - Overview: Specify the name and add a photo.
2 - Ingredients: Specify the number of servings and ingredients to create your meal. You can add ingredients by searching through our extensive food database. if you cannot find the ingredient you are looking for, tap on Create to create a Custom Ingredient, or tap on the barcode icon at the top to use the barcode scanning feature. To remove an ingredient, swipe left. To change the amount needed, tap on the ingredient.
3 - Instructions: Add any notes and recipe steps. Note that this is a subscription only feature.
Custom Meal Defined by Nutritional Data
You can select this option when adding a ready-made meals that include nutrition facts on the label. Simply select a serving size and values per which the nutrition facts are listed. Then enter the nutrition facts. If you get any errors, it means that you have entered incorrect values. Here are a few tips:
- Carbs + protein + fat in grams cannot be more than "Values per"
- Fiber cannot be higher than total carbs
Once you have entered all the required values, you can tap to save your custom meal. Values with exclamation marks are essential and have to be entered.
Cloning, Editing or Deleting a Custom Meal
To clone a custom meal, switch to My meals, tap on the custom meal and then on the clone icon at the top right. This will enable you to create a copy of your meal.
To delete or edit a custom meal, switch to My meals, tap on the custom meal you want to delete or edit and then tap on the pencil tool at top right. After you make the edits, tap Save at the top right. To delete, tap on the Delete button at the top right.
You can also delete a custom meal quickly by swiping left on it.
To create a custom meal, go to My meals and tap on Create.
Ingredients
You can search through our extensive food database to find keto-friendly ingredients. Each ingredient can be added directly to the Planner by tapping on the plus icon on the right of each ingredient.
If you want to see full nutrition facts, simply tap on the name of the ingredient.
Creating, Editing or Deleting a Custom Ingredient
Can't find what you are looking for? KetoDiet enables you to create your own Custom Ingredients similar to the way you create Custom Meals.
Enter the name of the ingredient and select the food group (Beef, Dairy & Eggs, etc.). Selecting the food group will help you organise your shopping basket as the ingredient will be grouped with similar foods. Follow the same steps as when creating a custom meal based on nutritional data above.
To edit or delete a Custom Ingredient, switch to Ingredients and tap on the custom ingredient you want to delete or edit and then tap on the pencil tool at top right. After you make the edits, tap Save at the top right. To delete, tap on the Delete button at the top right.
You can also delete a custom ingredient quickly by swiping left on it.
Generic Foods vs Barcode Scanning
When using ingredients for planning and tracking, try to always select generic foods rather than branded products. Nutritional data for generic foods are far more accurate and complete than for branded products.
Unlike branded products, generic foods are independently tested and verified so the accuracy is not disputed. Additionally, food databases such as the USDA food database keep updating and improving their entries on a regular basis.
To make this easy for you, we display Trust Levels in the form of badges to reflect the accuracy & quality of the data for each food.
Note: This doesn't mean that you shouldn't be using any of the foods with lower trust level, but you should be cautious when using such foods. If you find any discrepancies, you can easily correct them in the app.
Restaurants
KetoDiet will help you make the right choices when eating out. You can browse through restaurants and meals which are sorted by their net carb content. Any restaurant meal can be added to the Planner by tapping on the plus icon.
Can't find the restaurant you are looking for? Let us know by tapping on Add My Favorite Restaurant. We keep adding new restaurant chains with every update. Please, keep in mind that we can only add nutrition facts for restaurant chains that publish nutrition data on their websites. We don't publish "estimated values" crowdsourced from used data.
Planning & Tracking Your Diet
Once you set your Macros and Targets in the Profile section, you can start using the Planner to plan and track your diet.
On the top level of the Planner section you can browse through your daily overviews. You can scroll up and down or use the date control at the top right to jump to a specific day.
You can add ingredients to your Basket directly from the Planner. To add ingredients for any given period to the basket, simply tap on the basket icon, set the Start Date and the End Date, and then tap on the basket icon.
Adding Meals & Editing a Day
To view and edit a day simply tap on it. When editing a day the following tabs are available:
1 - Meals: Add your meals for the day
2 - Macros: Overview of daily macros
3 - Water: Add your water intake for the day
4 - Activity: Optionally, specify your daily activity
5 - Body Stats: Optionally, update your weight, measurements, etc
6 - Readings: Optionally, add your glucose, ketones or blood lipids
7 - More: Track your energy, mood and add a note for the day
Meals is the section where you'll be spending most of your time when adding foods to your day. At the top of the Meals section you will find a quick overview of your daily macros. This is to help you plan your meals quickly. You can switch between total and remaining macros by swiping left or right on the macro rings.
Note: Please see the section on macro rings for more info.
You can jump to the next/previous day by tapping on the arrows at the top right or you can pick a day directly by tapping on the date button.
To delete a meal from a day, swipe left. To move a meal between breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, tap on the right edge to drag & drop.
You can edit any of your planned meals by tapping on them.
To add meals for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Snack, tap on the corresponding Add button. You can choose from:
- Ingredients - To add individual ingredients such as avocado, eggs, or nuts. This option is best used for adding quick snacks.
- Recipes - These are all the meals that can be found in the Recipes & My meals section.
- Scanning Barcodes - Foods can be added by scanning a barcode.
- Restaurant Meals - Add low-carb meals from hundreds of restaurants.
- Recently Added - All your recently added foods are listed here so you can quickly add them again.
- Create - You can create a new meal directly in the Planner by tapping on Create.
Daily Macro Overview
You can view your daily stats and how close you are to your daily targets under Macros. You can view for the full day or for individual meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack).
Note: Please see the section on macro rings for more info.
Tracking Glucose, Ketones & Blood Lipids
You can track your Glucose, Ketones & Blood Lipids under Planner > Readings.
Tracking Water, Mood & Energy
You can track your water intake under Planner > tap on any day > Water.
You can track your mood & energy under Planner > tap on any day > More.
Tracking Daily Activity
Daily activity tracking lets you track days where you are either more or less active than your baseline long term activity level.
Here is how it works:
- Under Profile > Macros & Targets you calculate your target macros based on your long term activity level. Your long term activity level captures how active you are on an average day.
- For days that you are significantly more or less active, you can specify your Daily Activity Level in the Planner. This will override your Long Term Activity and recalculate your daily target macros.
To enter your Daily Activity, Use the slider to specify your approximate activity level from sedentary to extremely active. As long as you have your Profile set up, KetoDiet will calculate your new daily macro targets.
To learn why we don't we use an exercise database and track "calories burnt", read this post.
Tracking Your Progress
KetoDiet enables you to monitor your progress over time. You can quickly switch between Net Carbs, Macros, Weight, etc.
To change the period for the charts, tap on the date range button at the top right.
Shopping Basket
KetoDiet allows you to arrange your basket by Ingredient, Food group, Meal or Time added by tapping on the Arrange button at the top-left.
You can print or export (share) your shopping basket. To do so, tap on the print or share icons on the top right. To delete any entries from your basket, swipe left.
To edit your basket, tap on the pencil tool at the top. When you have finished editing, tap Done.
Guide
KetoDiet includes a complete and comprehensive guide to the keto diet. Browse through chapters or search for keywords to quickly find what you are looking for.
KetoDiet Blog
Discover thousands of low-carb recipes, expert articles, video tutorials and more!
All recipes shared via our blog are fully integrated in the KetoDiet app. This means you can easily add them to the Planner, clone them, add ingredients to the basket etc. All blog meals can also be found under Recipes > From Our Blog.
To favorite any Blog posts (recipes, articles, etc), tap on the heart icon on the bottom right corner of any post, or top right if you are inside the post.
To print or export any Blog post, tap on the print or export icons at the top right.
Changing Units
To change the units (Metric, US Customary or Imperial), tap on Settings > Measurement Units.
Restoring Purchases
KetoDiet offers a subscription to enable premium features. You can check your subscription status under Settings > Premium Features. On rare occasions, you may have to restore purchases to restore access to premium features. You can do by tapping on Restore Purchases found in serveral sections including Settings > Premium Features.