9 tips for following the keto diet without going broke (2024)

FAQs

9 tips for following the keto diet without going broke? ›

Make sure your cheap keto grocery list includes affordable meat cuts and seafood such as ground beef, ground chicken, pork chops, chicken thighs, pork loin, tilapia, and sardines. For produce, options include broccoli, bagged spinach, green cabbage, and celery. Don't forget eggs!

Make sure your cheap keto grocery list includes affordable meat cuts and seafood such as ground beef, ground chicken, pork chops, chicken thighs, pork loin, tilapia, and sardines. For produce, options include broccoli, bagged spinach, green cabbage, and celery. Don't forget eggs!

As you move away from keto restrictions, steer clear of simple carbs. This includes sugar, soda, candy and other sweets, and highly processed foods. Instead, concentrate on a diet that is rich in lean proteins, healthy fats and complex carbs. A good model to follow is the Mediterranean diet.

The basic rules of keto are eating few carbohydrates and emphasizing fat with a moderate intake of protein. In order to be in a state of ketosis, you will likely have to track the amount of carbohydrates you eat by weighing out your food.

For the most part, legumes, nuts and seeds are foods to avoid on a keto diet. You may include small amounts of raw nuts, like almonds, cashews, walnuts and their associated flours, but be mindful of your intake.

Keto-friendly fruits include avocados, watermelon, strawberries, lemons, tomatoes, raspberries, peaches, cantaloupe, star fruit, and blackberries. If you're unsure whether the keto diet is right for you or how it may affect your health, consider speaking with a dietitian or your healthcare provider.

You can use tools that measure your body's ketone levels, such as ketone breath meters, blood ketone meters, and keto urine strips — which tend to be the cheapest and easiest method. If you've cheated on keto, you'll need to strictly adhere to the diet to reenter ketosis.

Following a ketogenic diet is the most effective way to enter ketosis. Generally, this involves limiting carb consumption to around 20 to 50 grams per day and filling up on fats, such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils ( 6 ). It's also important to moderate your protein consumption.

What foods can I eat unlimited on keto? ›

Foods you can eat on the keto diet include fish and seafood, meat and poultry, non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds, eggs, high-fat dairy products, olive oil and other oils, and high-cocoa chocolate.

Due to its major amounts of lactose (a.k.a. sugar, a.k.a., carbs), milk is not keto-friendly (one cup of whole milk has 11 grams of carbs). And that means all dairy milks—skim, one percent, two percent, you get the gist—are not keto-approved.

Having ketones in the blood is probably the most definitive sign that someone is in ketosis. Doctors may also use urine and breath tests to check for ketone levels, but these are less reliable than blood samples. A special home testing kit allows people to measure their own blood ketone levels.

Following the keto diet for an extended period of time can be difficult, and even some of its top proponents warn against sticking to its strict guidelines. This includes cutting back carbohydrates to 50 grams a day or less, for at least two to three weeks up to six to 12 months, per the National Library of Medicine.

Both white and brown rice are high in carbs, so in general, rice is *not* keto. Keto-friendly alternatives to rice include vegetable options with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and zucchini. There's evidence that following a keto diet may play a role in weight loss, and even managing diabetes.

To maximize weight loss on a ketogenic diet, get adequate sleep, reduce stress, be more active and consume whole, nutritious, low-carb foods whenever possible.

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that encourages the body to enter a state of ketosis. In this metabolic state, the body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose, which can lead to rapid weight loss.