Keto Diet - 10 Tips To Get You Going - Part 2

Starting the Keto Diet or just starting over? This post will help you get things going 🙂 This is Part Two. Missed Part One? Click here!

Like I said in the previous post, the new year always feels like a clean slate and the keto diet is a wonderful thing to mark on the fresh, clean you.

If you're skipping out on Part One. I wanted to make sure to include some background info, just in case you're completely new to the Keto Diet:

Keto is short for the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet allows the body to fuel itself without the use of glucose or high levels of carbohydrates. When the body is in short supply of glucose,  ketones are made in the liver from the breakdown of fats.  This is achieved through a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet.

Here's part two of my 10 tips for jumpstarting your new lifestyle:

1. Avoid the "low carb friendly/sugar free" foods at the grocery store

   Just for a while. It's easy to start shopping and get excited when we see these foods but sometimes they aren't as good as they seem with a look closer at the labels. Personally, I don't like foods that have 20+ total carbs and then a load of fiber to bring them down to the 1-5 net carb range. I've found these increase my cravings and although they taste good steer me away from the goal of eating mostly whole foods. As always, it's important to experiment and see what works for you.

2. Redo the pantry

   Whether your entire family is making the change or just you, it's always helpful to get those unhealthy things out of sight. I have a toddler so of course we have lots of tempting tasty treats like crackers and brownie bites. Organizing the pantry with those things in bins where they're out of sight really makes a difference when I go in there looking for snacks. As for the other stuff, I created boxes for non low carb baking that I keep on the very top shelf and out of sight. If you have a larger family or older children, creating designated "snack" boxes will not only help keep things organized but keep the healthier snacks like nuts, front and center for everyone.

3. Prepare healthy snacks/drinks

   I'm terrible at remembering to drink water. I tend to get multiple cups of water and forget to drink them but I realized keeping water bottles in the fridge makes a BIG difference. If I'm in there looking for a snack, I'm much more likely to grab some water while I'm in there too. I also reorganized our fridge with some baskets and bins from a dollar store. We have an older fridge with no fancy compartments so this really helped me keep our salad mixes, hard boiled eggs and string cheese/deli meats front and center. Prepping serving sizes of almonds in small bags on the counter was also a big help too. It's easy to grab a bag of pre-measured nuts and string cheese as a snack on the way out to run errands.

4. Read labels closely

   Fillers and sugars are everywhere. If you're like us you buy meats and cheese in a variety of qualities. Sometimes we like to get the nice fancy block cheeses from the health food store and other times we just need a bag of shredded cheese. Meats such as brats and hot dogs often contain fillers (and more carbs) if they're not 100% whatever meat they are. Cheese, sour cream, heavy cream and the likeness can also have varying amounts of hidden carbs from various processing. Buy within your budget but be sure to check against other brands to be sure you're getting the purest form. A tip: if your meat has carbs in it, it's not 100% meat.

5. Browse cookbooks

   The internet is amazing because there's so much information but at the same time there is so.much.information. It can really be overwhelming with meal plans, food pyramids and ideas everywhere. Head to the library or book store and check out some low carb cook books. I tend to process information better when it's in my hands so being able to flip through this finite amount of recipes helped me focus on what I really wanted to try and not feel overwhelmed by all the great ideas online.

Well that's all I've got! What's the best Keto advice you can offer? Let me know in the comments!