Hey guys. Been on the keto diet for about a month. Lost so much weight like 12kg, its actually so good.
But its been destroying my food budget.
Any tips on decent keto meals on a budget that use cheap ingredients?
Or where to buy ingredients cheap?
THanks guys
Lol, why would frozen contain more nutrients than fresh…
Something to do with the fact that they don't dry out/degrade. the nutrients get snapped in.
Yeah, that's what happens when it's not fresh… Kinda contradicting here?
"get those $1-2 FROZEN packets of spinach and blend it up with water"- make soup, do you mean?
Get all the fatty meat cuts.
Eggs, cheese, zucchini’s, cheap chocolate and peanuts
chocolate
Unless it’s sugar free, no.
well der
did i really need to specify that.
Yes, because there’s no such thing as cheap sugar free chocolate. They’re all expensive compared to regular chocolate.
@Pecan: https://www.lindt.com.au/shop/excellence-85-cocoa-aus
2 pieces of this a day is under 20g of sugar so not entirely sugar free but ok, this costs 2.25 at coles / woolies on alternate weeks.
or this
https://www.catch.com.au/product/16-x-well-naturally-no-suga…
and yes its not cheaper than normal chocolate but I dont think thats the goal, i think its trying to find the cheaper options.
Tofu and Tempe are good options also (stir fry with veggies and egg), usually pretty cheap on a $ per gram of protein too if you hit up the local Asian grocer.
Some other options in this guide:
https://www.ruled.me/comprehensive-guide-vegetarian-ketogeni…
Tempe
That's a suburb.
tofu is an interesting food, not sure whether i like it or not, is tasteless, but easy to cook and fills you up for cheap
stuffed peppers sub rice with mince meat
First of all. Well done! It's lifechanging. I'm over 2 years now and I'll never go back to eating carbs. Ketosis just feels so good, I'm convinced it's our natural state.
I did much the same, shocked at the initial cost trying to make all my normal meals "keto". Buying huge amounts of almond flour and fancy ingredients/sweeteners etc. It's generally true, that you'll be spending a bit more eating keto. You're never going to be able to feed yourself as cheaply on keto as you will trying to eat cheaply non-keto i.e. packets of indo-me noodles.
But you can save by keeping things simple. I buy the cheapest mince, which has a good high fat%, then spice that up in different ways, or make burger patties out of it (simply add salt & petter and shape into a patty). You can also do similar with lower-carb veggies. Try and cut down any sugar substitutes, they're expensive and addictive. You can eat much cheaper if you're not craving them. Takes about 3 weeks to get over the cravings and then you're free :)
Eating out? head to maccas and order from the "condiments" menu. You might get a confused look but eventually they'll find someone who knows where it is in the system. Order 2x eggs, 2x bacon, 2x cheese and 2x qtr ounder patties. Should work out ~$8 and it's a huge meal that will keep you full all day.
Good luck!
good tip on the maccas
i can vouch that my arthritis and sciatica has become less severe almost dont notice nowand i fart heaps less which my wife loves, but i miss doing.
get a sprializer to make zucchini noodles and you can have awesome bolognaises with the fat and cheap mince.
@ Chickentalon Would like to know more about this . Care to share , can you order this from the app ?
No. Unfortunately, you need to order at the counter
Regarding "condiments" menu, is it also available on app or self serve kiosk ?
Hi, Where do you recommend one buy almond flour ?
Are people still doing Keto?
What should they be doing instead?
I used to get cheap wings and do the oven baked keto buffalo wings using baking powder. delicious, probably not as cheap as just eating eggs all day but was awesome till i felt sick of them
One of my super cheap meals is tuna, cheese, broccoli and cauliflower bake. Takes about 5 mins to prepare. Cover with foil until the veges steamed and them remove to bake the cheese a little.
Another is a simple red curry with coconut milk/cream, chicken (breast if making this with coconut cream as is has sufficient fat) and serve it on riced broccoli and cauliflower.
I usually save the stems of broccoli and cauliflower for ricing as they are packed with nutrients and its a shame to waste them.
If you track your carbs you can make a lot of normal food fit. I use a lot of eggs, mince, sausages, chicken breast. I don't use much cheese anymore you should still count calories. Don't shop for veg in the big supermarkets find a cheap local.
My wife was doing it for a year and had excellent results plus felt amazing. So I decided to try it to make life easier for my wife as she does the shopping and most of the cooking. I didn’t think I’d like it but I’ve never felt better. Anyway if you do it right you shouldn’t have to look for many cheaper options. Reason being we eat less now as the fats fill us up. We’ve also been doing the 16 hour minimum fast for over a year and that also made a massive difference once we got used to it, which only took a couple of weeks at the most. You could try having a bulletproof coffee a day if you drink coffee of course as that helps to keep you fuller for longer.
peanut butter, you can make fudge with peanut butter and thickened cream, i am sure there are lot of things you can try with peanut butter. a bullet coffee with thickened cream will give you energy for hours. i would have this coffee with heaps of cream 3-4 times a day.
We stock up on a lot of keto friendly products when it goes on sale: peanut butter, Lindt dark chocolate, coconut oil, tuna, Slendier, almond milk.
We keep our pantry stocked with coconut cream/milk, almond flour/almond meal (buy these at your local grocers or Costco. We get ours from a fresh produce grocer or spice shop. Much cheaper than supermarkets and wholefoods stores).
Pad out meals with vegies - leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli etc.
replace the rice with bread. :) and more water. lettuce, egg, avocado, banana, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, pineapples.
less meat, chicken and fish would be good too! :)
I used to have thick cream 250g, Whey protein concentrate 250g and 25g cocoa. Add water mix in 2L jug, refrigerate overnight.
It gets the job done and it's not terrible. Not great but palatable.
I wish keto could compete with carbohydrates on price.
Cheese, add cheese to everything. Cheese provides fat, protein and calcium.
Eggs, eggs cheap protein and contains healthy fat.
Beef has a higher fat content than chicken or lamb, and is usually cheaper too, use beef.
For vegetables, get those $1-2 FROZEN packets of spinach and blend it up with water. Frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh, plus studies has shown they contain more nutrients as well.