Your secret weapon for starting the Banting & Keto Diet with the Real Meal Revolution? Our amazing Banting & Keto Food Lists! These fantastic lists are designed to guide each member on what to eat and when, making it super easy to navigate the stages of Banting for health and weight loss.
Created by Jonno Proudfoot, alongside his talented co-authors from the original bestselling book, these food lists have evolved to be not just more comprehensive but also more visually appealing.
Ready to kickstart your journey? Here’s your go-to guide for getting started with our food lists. Download the lists here!
The Five Lists of Banting & Keto Foods
Explore the Banting Lists! Our Banting & Keto programme features five distinct coloured lists, each with its own unique rules tailored for every phase of your journey.
Banting & Keto Green List: This list is packed with real, whole foods that are low in carbohydrates and nutrient-dense. If you’re on the Keto & Banting diet, feel free to enjoy these foods to your heart’s content, as they’re likely to help you reach ketosis and shed those extra pounds.
Banting & Keto Orange List: Here, you’ll find mostly real, whole foods with moderate carbohydrate levels, like starchy vegetables, fruits, and pulses. While many of these options are nutrient-rich and contribute to a balanced diet, it’s best to stick to the portion guidelines for optimal ketosis and weight loss. If you’re not aiming to lose weight, these foods can still fit beautifully into a healthy, whole-foods diet.
Banting & Keto Light Red List: This list includes foods that are typically high in carbohydrates but free from gluten and refined cane sugar. While they don’t belong to a strict Keto or Banting regimen, these can make great additions to your ‘Cheat Meal’ or ‘Celebration Meal’ categories. Enjoy these sparingly or as your body allows, especially if you’re looking to reverse Type 2 Diabetes or lose weight—limiting these to once a week or less is recommended.
Banting & Keto Red List: Foods in this category are packed with refined sugars, gluten, or are heavily processed to mess with your appetite. These are best avoided for a successful journey on Keto and Banting.
How to Use the Banting & Keto Food Lists
Embarking on a journey for lasting weight loss is much like a Hero’s Adventure. The path is full of twists and turns, and every hero encounters unforeseen challenges along the way. While some may thrive on a strict ketogenic diet, it’s essential to understand that there isn’t a universal solution for reaching your health goals. Think of this as a toolkit rather than a religion; Keto and Banting can be powerful tools in your arsenal for weight loss and health transformation.
As you navigate your quest, you’ll likely go through various stages, each serving as guideposts to help you identify your personal sweet spot among the myriad dietary options available. Embrace the journey, learn from your experiences, and find what truly works for you!
1. Observation:
Before you start Banting or Keto, we recommend spending a week, even a month, getting to know the Banting & Keto Food Lists and then paying attention to what you are currently eating. Pay attention to when you eat, where you eat, who you eat with and which of the Banting & Keto Food Lists you mostly eat off. Track this in a journal or an app for at least a week. If you are an emotional eater, journal how you feel when you eat too. You know you want to lose weight, but weight loss is a result of behavior change. Now you have a snapshot of your behavior, so you’re ready to change behavior.
2. Restoration:
Before diving into all those exciting new foods and supplements, remember that real results come from cutting out the bad stuff first, and then focusing on the good. If binge drinking leads you to overeat, that’s a great starting point for change. For those who are gluten intolerant, simply going gluten-free could lead to weight loss without the need to cut carbs right away.
When starting out, it’s more important to build consistent habits rather than aiming for perfection. Begin by eliminating a few key items from your diet. Once you prove to yourself that you can maintain these changes for two to four weeks, you can gradually cut out more. Typically, this means focusing on avoiding items from the Really Red and Light Red Lists, without stressing over portion control or carb restrictions just yet.
If you’re really struggling, try cutting out just one or two items from the Real Red List, like bread and sugary sodas, and see how that impacts your journey. Remember, small steps can lead to big changes!
3. Transformation:
Once you’ve mastered being gluten and sugar-free by cutting out the Light Red and Really Red Lists, it’s time to tackle those carbs! This means sticking to the portion guidelines on the Orange List or, for a more significant impact, cutting the Orange List entirely.
This stage can be the trickiest to adjust to, but it’s also where the magic happens! You’ll start to notice weight loss occurring more rapidly, and you’ll likely enter ketosis—a state where your cravings diminish and your appetite starts to drop. Eating will feel more intuitive, allowing you to enjoy meals only when hunger strikes. This is what we call strict Keto or strict Banting. So, buckle up and enjoy the journey!
4. Preservation:
For some individuals, staying in ‘Transformation,’ ‘Strict Keto,’ or ‘Strict Banting’ is essential for medical reasons, such as managing Type 2 Diabetes or other metabolic disorders. Others may find a rhythm and make it their own.
We refer to the phase of weight fluctuations—losing some, gaining a bit back, and then losing again—as “Preservation.” This stage is crucial for understanding what your body can handle and the appropriate portions to maintain both health and weight.
Let’s be real: behaviour change is tough, and this period can be particularly challenging. If you’re aiming to be part of the elite 2% who lose weight and keep it off for more than two years, investing time in this stage is vital. It’s all about navigating the ups and downs to find what works for you long-term!
5. Exception to Stages:
Jumping straight into ‘Transformation,’ ‘Strict Keto,’ or ‘Strict Banting’ might get you quick results, but they often aren’t sustainable. In fact, only 2% of people who start a weight loss journey manage to reach their goal weight and maintain it for two years or more. Based on our experience and scientific insights, the most effective approach is to build small, sustainable habits that lead to lasting change over time.
Instead of rushing into ‘Transformation’ or any strict regimen, focus on developing self-awareness and habit-building. This way, you’ll enhance your ability to make the right choices more consistently. And that’s the essence of lasting change: the capacity to make better decisions more often.
A quick note on stages: In Real Meal Revolution 2.0 (Banting 2.0), we previously presented a structured guide that combined dietary phases with specific Banting & Keto Food Lists. This is now a simpler and more flexible way to navigate your journey.
Now that you’re all set to begin, download your Banting & Keto Food Lists here.
Then, don’t miss out on our free Banting 7-Day Meal Plan here.
