If you're just starting the Keto diet or you've been following it for a while and are struggling to stick to it, setting yourself up for success by having keto friendly resources at home will make following the ketogenic diet so much easier.
My sweet hubby has been following the keto diet and has already lost 30 pounds, it isn't always easy, but setting yourself up to succeed and taking time to make sure you have everything you need to do well, will help you in reaching your health and weight loss goals.
We wanted to share some of the tips and tools we've been using at home that have really helped the ketogenic diet be easier for us.
You probably have numerous of these at home already, so that makes things even easier! We've included our favorite keto "must-haves" and also some "helpful but not essential" items too.
Before You Start
✔️Check with your Dr to make sure there isn't a medical reason why the keto diet isn't right for you. If your Dr thinks it's a good idea, you might also consider getting baseline bloodwork done if it hasn't been done in a long time.
I've always been anemic prone but thankfully have that behind me after eating more protein, the past year, BUT I started feeling funky a couple months ago to only find out that my potassium was too low. Now that I'm aware of that, I can adjust my health program to make sure I'm not missing essential vitamins and minerals. And two years ago when I had my cholesterol checked, it was a little high, I honestly assumed when I recently had it checked again, it'd still be high from the increased fats, full fat dairy and increased protein, yet was truly surprised when the nurse not only said my cholesterol good, but that it was actually EXCELLENT!
✔️Remove all non-keto foods from your pantry, fridge and freezer. Setting yourself up for success and not tempting yourself with non-keto friendly foods and beverages will definitely help keep you on track!
You could donate the items you no longer need, give to a friend, or even box up and put shelf stable items for 1-2 months so you can make sure the ketogenic diet is a good fit for you.
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Ketogenic Education 101
Making sure you have resources at home to help you is very important. Whether it be to help you plan out your meals, have handy charts for low carb food swaps, to educate you about terms such macros, ketosis, supplements and keto flu, or to teach you all about the importance of fats, having a highly rated solid book you can read is invaluable!
I highly recommend you have one solid ketogenic diet resource at home you can refer back to as you're getting started and learning about all things keto.
✔️ The Keto Diet - This is our personal favorite!
What I love about Leanne's book is it doesn't have you obsessing over calories, macros or rigidly following any rules, her ketogenic program includes freedom and flexibly to listen to YOUR body and to adjust things based on your own health situation and how you're feeling.
If you have Amazon Audiobooks you can get The Keto Diet for free, or you can also get it for free with an Amazon audible trial. I still think having an in person book version resource is ideal, but for you that prefer Kindle versions or prefer audio versions and want a resource to listen to in the car when you're on the go, you have that option with this book.
✔️ The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners
✔️ Simply Keto: A Practical Approach to Health & Weight Loss
✔️ Dirty Lazy Keto- You can get this for free if you have a Kindle subscription or do a 30 day Amazon Kindle trial.
All of these books also come with over 100 keto recipes each to get you started!
Keto Recipes
Being able to figure out what to make to keep you on track with your ketogenic program is critical.
My favorite place to find keto recipes is definitely on Pinterest, watching recipe videos on Youtube is fun too! The beauty of the internet is that you have access to tons of free recipes at your fingertips.
✔️ Make sure to follow us on Pinterest while you're checking out amazing keto recipes! (And of course check out our website for recipes too 😉
Some of our favorite and easy keto recipes ideas we eat regularly include:
Recipes for all coming soon!
Chicken fajitas on a bed of lettuce
Roasted chicken sausages with roasted vegetables on a sheet pan (we look for sausages that have 1 carb each)
Burgers or turkey burgers on a bed of lettuce
Zoodles with shrimp and Alfredo sauce
Instant Pot Beer Brats (we used low carb beer!)
Keto Meal Plans
If you'd prefer to take the guesswork out of what to cook, counting carbs and calories, and figuring out what to buy at the grocery store, subscribing to keto meal plans is something to consider. If you'd prefer just to be told what to eat, one of my favorite low carb and keto home chefs just started offering keto meal plans that you can get delivered via email every week, plus it includes numerous awesome keto printables. You can even get a free 7 day sample.
✔️Check out the keto meal plans here
Keto Apps
✔️My FitnessPal- A great place to keep track of what you're eating, calories, carbs, fat and calculate macros
✔️Keto Diet App- A Keto specific phone app to make it easy to track all things keto right on your phone
Keto Pantry
I highly recommend when you're first starting the ketogenic diet to try and stick to whole foods and just focus on getting the proteins, fats and nutrition you need from simple and easy to prepare foods.
That being said, being able to bake keto cookies or cook a 1 minute keto mug cake will definitely help to stop food cravings and help you stick to your weight loss program long term.
Ketone test strips- to be able to check whether your body has reached ketosis
Coconut oil- The #1 best selling brand, we always keep this in the cupboard to make yummy morning bullet coffee.
Erythritol - Your new favorite keto sugar substitute, stevia is our favorite when we just need a sprinkle to sweeten something we're eating. If you're baking, then erythritol is the most similar to sugar.
Almond Flour- while almonds aren't carb free, this is a terrific flour substitute for low carb baking
Lily's Sugar Free Chocolate Chips- the most popular chocolate chip for keto baking
KETO SHOPPING TIP: Finding healthy foods like almond flour, erythritol, Lily's chips and keto snacks aren't easily at accessible at all grocery stores around the country or world. While Amazon is a great source for many staples if you're busy or can't buy them locally, Thrive Market is another popular healthy food delivery service that's known for selling healthy food for less than Amazon prices.
It's definitely worth it to compare prices before you purchase.
The Keto Kitchen
Having the right tools in your kitchen makes whipping up easy and healthy recipes in a snap. Here's some of our favorite keto kitchen helpers:
Instant Pot - I never knew we "needed" a pressure cooker until we became a low carb household, now I don't know how we ever went without it haha. This is the Instant Pot model we bought and love. For tender and quick meats, or for last minute meals, a pressure cooker is essential.
Spiralizer- For zoodles, enough said 😉 I don't know what we'd do without zoodles as a pasta substitute!
Meat Thermometer- Being able to see the meat temperature without opening the oven is beyond helpful. Don't use this for your outdoor grill, I learned the hard way haha.
Meal prep containers- Prepping food for lunches on the go makes it so much easier to stick to your ketogenic program. You can get them in either plastic or glass
Sheet pans- aka a jelly roll pan, sheet pans make it easy to roast meat and veggies all at the same time. Our favorite way to cook!
Silicone molds for making fat bombs and keto treats- This is the set we have, plus it's an Amazon best seller
Vacuum food sealer- Not an essential item, but if you're into buying meat in bulk or batch cooking for your freezer, being able to vacuum seal your food is super handy!
Good Vibes Only
What's going to help you more than anything with a ketogenic diet is staying positive and believing in yourself. Making a major health or fitness change takes time, did you know it takes 8 weeks to turn a big change into an automated habit?
It's important to have grace with yourself and surround yourself with people, foods and supplies that'll make sticking to a ketogenic diet easier.
Starting a new program can be very challenging, by setting yourself up for success, whether it be adding a few items to your kitchen, meal prepping on Sunday afternoons or joining a keto Facebook group,
A few ways to help you stick to your program:
✔️Join a low carb or keto Facebook group-a community of support is invaluable!
✔️Find a friend or relative to do daily keto check-ins
✔️Practice self care- Taking care of yourself and being happy in life, will help you to keep up your motivation and positive vibes
✔️Find a new activity you enjoy- Don't make working out a chore, if you hate going to the gym, why not try a dance class, yoga or tennis? Have fun!
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