For some people, the Keto diet can be expensive unless you know a few tricks to do Keto on a tight budget!
Whether you're gathering facts as a Keto diet beginner or have been on it a while, it's important to know some ways to keep your grocery budget low. We've been on the diet ourselves for almost a year and absolutely love the impact it has made on our health.
Keto is short for ketogenic and refers to a low carb diet used to force the body into ketosis. Ketosis is just a fancy way of saying "fat-burning phase."
Most diets focus on caloric intake. In contrast, Keto is more like a fast than a traditional diet. Instead of focusing on how much you're eating, you focus more on what you're eating by trying to consume no more than 20 net carbs per day.
On a Keto diet, you focus on low carb food categories like proteins and leafy greens, as well as foods rich in good fats and oils like tuna, nuts, and avocados. Eating foods that are low in carbohydrates and high in good fats help you to feel full and burn fat.
Our bodies prefer to gain energy from foods rich in carbohydrates and sugar. But, when you deprive your body of foods it prefers you're essentially forcing your body to tap into stored energy in the form of fat.
The short answer is: it can be! Since the diet focuses on foods like meats, cheeses, and nuts, things can get pretty expensive fast. Luckily, you'll probably see a reduction in appetite which means you'll eat less food overall. Not to mention, you'll probably be going out to eat a lot less than before.
To help make Keto more affordable, we've put together some of our favorite tips for doing Keto on a tight budget. It worked for us, so we know it'll work for you too!
Buying in bulk is a great way to save money on groceries overall, but it's especially great for Keto. You can buy just about anything in bulk and save yourself time and money by doing so.
Some common Keto foods to buy in bulk would be: meat, nuts, butter, cream, oils, peanut butter, seasonings, and cheese. These food items have a long shelf life, and you'll definitely use them on Keto in a variety of ways.
A few of these items, such as meats and cheeses, can be separated into serving sizes and stored in the freezer for future meals!
This is perhaps the most important tip for doing keto on a tight budget. Let's face it, "Keto" is a buzz word right now. That means that a lot of companies are trying to cash in on the trend.
There is some major sticker shock when it comes to seeing how expensive foods labeled as, "Keto" can be! Most Keto beginners usually go out and buy all the "Keto" foods, double their typical grocery budget, and convince themselves that they can't afford to stay on Keto because of how expensive it is.
Stick to the basics which are whole, unprocessed foods! And if you want to explore tasty new Keto friendly foods, go to Pinterest for inspiration, and make your own yummy recipes.
Like we mentioned before, Keto is really best thought of as a fast rather than a diet. And, like a fast, cheating on Keto has consequences. The whole point is to get your body into a state of ketosis and keep it there so that you burn fat throughout the day.
But, if you cheat, even for a little bit, you can press the pause button on fat-burning. If you do that, it can mess up your results! When you're in a state of ketosis, you are naturally less hungry and become full with smaller portions.
Cheating can throw off your results by increasing your appetite which increases the amount of food you need to buy. So, stay the course and don't be tempted to cheat!
One of the easiest ways to save money on meals is to skip one! Intermittent fasting on a Keto diet is a great way to speed up results and save a bit of money too.
The simplest way to jump into intermittent fasting is to just skip breakfast. Once you get used to dropping a meal, you won't miss it one bit. It's a great way to shed those pounds and reduce your grocery budget by not having to stock up on food for an extra meal.
Weekly meal prepping is a great way to make sure that you use up any ingredients you have on hand. In addition, it keeps you on track by reducing your prep time which is especially helpful on days that you're too tired to cook a full-course meal.
One of our favorite Keto meal prep recipes is a homemade bento box meal! Think of it as an adult Lunchable. Grab some containers and fill them with meat, cheese, pickles, nuts, olives, etc. You can easily prep an entire week of lunches in an hour or less.
Amazon is our go-to place for online shopping. Not only do they have everything from A to Z, you can also find some amazing deals, including deals on Keto essentials like coconut oil, nuts, and more.
One way to save on Keto supplies on Amazon is to snag "Lightning Deals," located under the Today's Deals section. The other way to save using Amazon is to be on the lookout for Keto items that are eligible for Subscribe & Save which can save up to an additional 15% off the listed price.
For more information about saving money on Amazon.com, check out our article 15 Legit Ways to Save Money on Amazon.
We hope these 6 tricks for doing Keto on a tight budget has inspired you to save money!
Keto is a great way to slim down and break bad eating habits. Even though it can be a bit expensive, it doesn't have to break the bank.
Let us know in the comments below if you're currently on Keto or if you're getting ready to start!
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