The ketogenic diet, more commonly known as the keto, has become popular in the health and fitness world recently.
It focuses on promoting your body’s state of ketosis, which essentially means rewiring your body to use fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates.
The regimen entails significantly reducing your carb intake.
Instead, you should opt for more fat and protein.
The standard ketogenic diet (SKD) follows the ratio of consuming 70 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and 10 percent carbs for each meal.
The ideal carb consumption would be around 20 to 50 grams per day only.
Most people go on a keto diet to lose weight. Meanwhile, others pursue it to lower risk factors for chronic illnesses, like diabetes.
Regardless of your reason for choosing this diet, here are some tips to help you save time and money while on this regimen:
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1. Give Yourself Time to Learn
Most cuisines rely on some form of carb to make mealtime filling and satisfying. Asians are widely known for their love of rice. Westerners, on the other hand, like Italians, have carb-loaded meals like pasta and pizza. Don’t forget French fries and its sinfully delectable Canadian cousin, Poutine.
These foods have become a staple in fast-food chains, which makes it more challenging to follow a keto lifestyle.
Fortunately, you can find restaurants that offer keto dishes.
You can even order from meal delivery services, which is valuable with today’s coronavirus crisis. Visit here to read a review on Keto Fridge, a specialized meal delivery service that ships anywhere in the US.
Of course, it isn’t sustainable to order your meals every time.
Nonetheless, you can try this service a few times and learn the portions.
This information can help you create keto-friendly meals at home, too.
Going on this diet requires a learning curve since you have to determine what works for your body. If you want to learn more, head to a site like https://www.drberg.com/blog, and just be patient with yourself and enjoy the journey.
2. Look For Sales and Promos
Once you have an idea of which foods satisfy your tummy and palate, you can scour the grocery aisles to find meats and other keto essentials.
To save money, you can check the sales and promos that the store has for that week or day.
You can also maximize coupons to purchase food in bulk.
Before you head to the grocery or supermarket, take stock of the items that you have in your fridge and pantry.
This way, you avoid wasting good food and consume everything before their best-by dates.
Another tip to remember is to determine the staples that you need to stock up on.
For instance, every keto kitchen needs a lot of vegetables, like kale, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, turnips, and cucumbers, among others.
Of course, meat is a non-negotiable must-have.
For chicken, the breasts, thighs, and drumsticks parts are versatile. Pork chops, tenderloin, and the ground variant are also used frequently in keto recipes.
Purchase beef and seafood as well for a more balanced rotation.
Knowing what to buy can help you get the best deal for your budget. Supplement this with promos that reduce the price of an item as you’ll likely be buying for its regular value anyway.
3. Maximize Your Freezer
Buying in bulk can save you time and money, especially if the grocery or supermarket is having a sale.
However, the next issue you’ll have to deal with is how to store several weeks’ worth of food without them going bad.
Your freezer is your friend whenever you buy in bulk. Make sure to cut up your meats and portion them per serving.
This way, you won’t have to thaw a whole part if you just need a fourth of it for one dish. It also helps you promote food safety in your kitchen.
If you have limited space, you can opt to invest in a small chest freezer that you can keep in your basement or garage.
Another option is to buy a food vacuum sealer. This preserves the freshness and flavor of your food as well as maximizes the space in your freezer.
Practice the first-in-first-out (FIFO) system in your kitchen.
This simply means keeping track of the best-by dates and consuming the ones that are nearer to the expiration first.
Keep them on top or in front of the pile in your freezer so that you won’t forget.
4. Create a Meal Plan
A meal plan is a strategy that can help you make the most of your weekly food budget.
This serves as a guide on what you need to buy for the week.
Plus, it takes the load off your mind as you go through busy workdays.
Technically, you’ll need to think of 28 meals for a weekly meal plan.
This involves seven days a week each with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Of course, you can opt to leave the latter and just munch on whatever you feel like on a particular day.
However, meal plans can help you stay on track with your diet.
Knowing this, you can see that the time and effort you spend on planning can push you toward achieving your health and fitness goals.
A few tips to help you create a keto meal plan:
- Find Practical Recipes – Look for recipes that you’re confident to cook at home. The best ones are those that use keto staples.
- Avoid those that call for rare ingredients since you might not be able to utilize them for other recipes. You can even follow a theme to spice things up in the kitchen.
- Check Your Kitchen – Another way to find inspiration on the meals that you can include in your weekly plan is to do a
- n inventory of your kitchen items. As mentioned above, doing this can prevent you from wasting time and money.
- Plan for Leftovers – You can also recycle dishes from the other days and add them to another meal. This way, you can get two different types of food for the same ingredients.
5. Make Your Meals Ahead
While you can definitely recreate Korean BBQ at home, you might not have the luxury of cooking from scratch for every single meal. Elevate your meal plan game by making them ahead to save you time during weeknights when you’re drained from work.
The best thing about preparing food in batches is that you don’t have to think of a unique dish for each meal. This means that you don’t have to come up with 28 meals for the week.
Additionally, this method allows you to listen to your body and what it’s craving at a particular moment. This way, you won’t have to rigidly stick to the plan, but you also won’t have to steer off-track on your keto diet.
You can even freeze these meals and extend their lifespan. Just make sure to let them cool completely before placing the containers in the freezer.
These are the factors that you have to consider when prepping for your meals:
- Schedule – Remember that you’ll be lumping your cooking time for an entire week into one day.
- Make sure that you clear your schedule and set aside time to prepare your weekly meals, including shopping for the ingredients, preparing them, cooking, and cleaning up.
- Ingredients – While meats are relatively stable in supply for all seasons, you should check the fresh produce that’s available in your neighborhood grocer or supermarket.
- For instance, if it’s avocado season, find recipes that allow you to incorporate them into your meals.
- Variety – Even if you’re on a keto diet, you should still consume carbs. If you eliminate this food group entirely, your body might become deficient in vitamins and minerals that can only be found in carbohydrates.
- Occasions – The coronavirus pandemic has definitely closed off people’s social calendars.
- Nonetheless, there are still special events where you might need to cook something special for yourself and your loved ones. Consider these when making your meals ahead to avoid waste.
6. Check Online Sites for Keto Essentials
You can also save money on keto essentials by checking online stores.
You can find them on giant retailers like Amazon as well as specialized shops that focus on the keto lifestyle.
Be on the lookout for promos and discounts offered by these e-commerce websites.
This way, you can save even more bucks while getting more products.
Some keto essentials that you should have in your pantry and kitchen are:
- Almond flour
- Peanut butter
- Sweeteners
- Coconut oil
- Spices
- Protein powder
- Master the Basics
When browsing for keto essentials online, you may be bombarded with products that promote this diet.
However, don’t feel pressured to purchase them, especially if you can’t afford them.
You just need to stick to the basics of consuming fats, proteins, and veggies. Anything else is just a bonus in your keto journey.
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Going on a keto diet doesn’t have to be expensive.
It just takes strategic planning to stick to your health regimen and budget,
Be patient with yourself as you learn and master the basics. Soon, you’ll be more confident in preparing and cooking your meals.