Welcome to my cooking channel, just kidding! I felt I wanted to be a food blogger for a second. Before we dive into why the keto diet is a must-try let’s cover some basics.
Defining The Ketogenic Diet:
According to Healthline.com, “The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits. In fact, many studies show that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve your health. Ketogenic diets may even have benefits against diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. The ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat diet that shares many similarities with the Atkins and low carb diets. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain. Ketogenic diets can cause significant reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has some health benefits.”
Why I decided to go on Keto:
My new year’s “healthy” mindset resolution started a little bit late this year by deciding to be healthier and avoid getting diabetes because it runs in my family. At the beginning of July, I decided to shift my food lifestyle gradually to Keto. YES! I said lifestyle because it’s tough to feel obligated and follow a restrictive diet that will eventually drain you later. Every other diet I tried was always boring and the food was booo! The Keto diet gave me the freedom of healthy food choice and understanding nutrition facts a little bit better. For me, it is so much more enjoyable.
Items Meals for Keto:
I thought that all diets are expensive, and I needed to get the fanciest fruits and veggies to start eating healthier and begin my carb-conscious journey. However, that isn’t true. Aldi has many hidden gems for Keto that need a whole different article, literally.
Let’s find together some money-saving and grocery items you will need. Everything on the grocery list below can be jazzed up the way you want. Just be careful of the carb count.
Grocery List:
Protein:
Boneless chicken tends to be on the expensive side of chicken, but any type and/or cut of chicken should work.
With ground beef, turkey, and/or pork, you can make many things like burger patties, tacos, salad and so much more.
Eggs: I can think of a thousand recipes that can be used with eggs, and eggs are one of the most affordable food items you can get. Recipes include keto-baked eggs with cheese and crushed tomatoes, classic bacon and eggs, spinach and feta breakfast scramble with heavy whipping cream and feta (my oh my, that is good, I’m telling you), and so many more recipes to try.
I use hot dogs with frozen stirfry mix and frozen colored peppers.
Frozen Foods (Veggies):
For veggies, I buy mixed veggies, cauliflower rice, broccoli florets, zucchini blend, stir fry blend and, I no longer buy fresh veggies (except for onion, avocados, cucumber, cilantro, and things you basically can’t freeze).
To learn more about nutrients intake from fresh versus frozen you can check out “Fresh vs Frozen Fruit and Vegetables — Which Are Healthier?“ Article on the Healthline.com.
Dairy:
There are TONS of cheese options you can choose from, from string cheese to shredded cheese to slices blocks. Cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, onion dip (cheap, low carb/low-calorie dip that I use as a sauce for salad), and my beloved light yogurt.
Beverage:
Water (obviously, you need to stay hydrated), Brewed tea with stevia, coffee and low sugar creamer, coconut water, almond milk, and the best thing I ever discovered is (drum rolls please) water/drink enhancer!
At the end of the day, I felt better about my body doing this diet and will probably continue doing it for a while. The primary goal for me is not to lose weight but rather make it a lifestyle and eventually try to lose weight. According to Healthline, “Some people reduce their daily carb intake with the aim of losing weight, cutting down to around 50–150 grams per day.”
I understand that there are people out there that have tried many different diets that worked or failed miserably, just like me. This diet worked for me doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. I am just happy that I feel better about the food I eat and that I have more energy and mental clarity.
Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor or nutritionist for an appropriate diet plan to make sure you are having the right calorie intake and essential nutrients. Also, the ketogenic diet may be planned differently for patients with diabetes or other conditions and disease, so please consult your doctor first!
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