What do you eat with keto?
When you start exploring a keto lifestyle, you often come across many things you are no longer ‘allowed’ to eat. Things that probably make up the majority of your daily diet. But what do you eat then? What can you still eat when you ‘can’t’ eat so many things anymore? Let me start by reassuring you, there are really a lot of delicious things you can eat. In this article, I will help you get started.
But first, an important piece about the right mindset
It’s advisable to change your mindset when making a lifestyle adjustment. Things are bound to change, so the way you perceive things should also evolve. I’m talking about the mindset many people have regarding a meal. We are so accustomed to a main meal consisting of potatoes, meat, and vegetables. If you remove the potatoes, the first question I often get is, “But what do I eat instead of potatoes?”
It’s essential to ensure you get enough food because you’re not eating less, just differently. But does there always have to be a similar replacement for the item you’re removing? Not necessarily, right?
Instead of potatoes, you can simply have more vegetables or a bit of extra meat, and so on… And yes, you might have only two different things on your plate instead of three, but isn’t that okay? If you still want three different items on your plate, consider adding a boiled or fried egg, or choose an extra type of vegetable to go with it.
Another mindset aspect is that people are so used to eating bread for breakfast and lunch. For many, the idea of a breakfast or lunch without bread or crackers seems strange. This, too, is a matter of adjusting your mindset; breakfast or lunch can also consist of different foods. However, for those who don’t want to miss out on bread or crackers, there are indeed delicious keto alternatives. Take a look here.
There’s So Much Variety Possible
Are you afraid it will be monotonous and dull when you eliminate a significant portion of your usual food items? Don’t worry; even with just one simple ingredient, you can have so much variety! Take an egg, for example. When people think of eggs, most of them imagine a fried egg, boiled egg, or a stuffed omelet. But there’s so much more you can do. Here’s a selection of (keto-friendly) possibilities of what you can make with an egg:
- A delicious pizza crust
- Scrambled Eggs
- Pancakes
- Cookies
- Waffles
- A well-stuffed vegetable omelet
- “Pasta” Carbonara sauce
- Deviled eggs
- Cream puffs
- Meringues
- Cake
- Custard
- Pudding
- Boiled egg
- Keto-friendly pasta
- A keto-friendly wrap
- Fried egg (sunny side up or over-easy, whole or broken yolk)
As you can see, with just one simple ingredient, you can create so many different variations ๐
What You No Longer Eat
Let’s start with all the things you won’t be eating anymore. You’re going to eliminate carb-rich products from your diet. This includes items like bread, pasta, rice, oats, spelt, but also sugar-rich products like many fruits, high-carb vegetables, potatoes, and of course, refined sugars.
You might be thinking, “But what’s left to eat?” Trust me, there’s more than enough! Plus, there are plenty of ways to keep your meals varied, so it doesn’t have to be monotonous at all.
With the Help of These Lists, You’ll Probably Zoom Through the Supermarket from Now On!
Does everything you come across seem too high in carbs? Here are some handy lists of products commonly used in a ketogenic lifestyle. Grocery shopping doesn’t have to be much more time-consuming or complicated. On the contrary, with the help of these lists, you’ll probably zoom through the supermarket from now on! ๐
Table of Contents:
Bring on Those Vitamins, Fiber, and Minerals!
In a ketogenic lifestyle, it is important to consume an adequate amount of vegetables. The reason for this is that vegetables are your main source of essential vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Many vegetables are low in carbohydrates, but there are also certain vegetables that are less suitable because they are higher in carbohydrates.
Since many vegetables do not have packaging with nutritional information, it can be challenging to determine their carbohydrate content. You can, of course, look up the information online on the spot, but this can be a time-consuming process. Additionally, the internet connection in the supermarket is often not great, which can further prolong the process. This is something you definitely don’t want when you’re looking to quickly grab some groceries for dinner, for example.
Below you will find the most common types of vegetables suitable for keto. They are categorized into handy groups: Low in carbohydrates, moderate in carbohydrates, high in carbohydrates.
Ketoproof fruit
Mmm, delicious! Many people believe that you can’t eat any fruit on a keto lifestyle. Fortunately, this is not true! It is true that most types of fruit are too high in carbohydrates, which rules out many options. However, there are various types of fruit that you can enjoy (in limited quantities).
And there are even exceptions!
For most fruit, the advice is not to consume more than 25 to a maximum of 50 grams per day. There are exceptions to this rule: coconut, olives, and avocado. These fruits contain much fewer fruit sugars (carbohydrates) and are also higher in fats. For this reason, you can consume a larger quantity of them.
Herbs & Spices
Of course, it’s so nice to be able to season your food with more than just salt and pepper. Herbs and spices are perfectly fine to use in a ketogenic diet.
When you look at the nutritional values, you might be shocked and think it’s not suitable. But on the contrary! These flavor enhancers contain a lot of carbohydrates because they are a concentrated form of vegetables. The nutritional values are given per 100 grams, but you only use a very small amount when preparing a dish.
All herbs and spices are suitable in limited quantities, so be sure to use them to flavor your dishes. How about a delicious curry, for example? You can easily make it by using full-fat coconut milk as a base, which you then season with spices like curry powder.
Important note: Be cautious with ready-made mixes. Ready-made spice mixes often contain additional additives like sugar and starch (which you want to avoid).
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Shellfish
In general, all types of unprocessed meat, fish, and shellfish are highly suitable. Just be cautious with processed varieties (such as burgers or marinated meats) to ensure they do not contain additives like sugar or starch. Also, never opt for breaded meat (breadcrumbs are too high in carbohydrates as they are made from grains). However, you can certainly bread meat yourself in a completely keto-friendly way, as explained in this article.
Important!
- Surimi is not suitable, as it’s not real crab but imitation crab. Surimi is made from white fish, which is then ground with various types of starches and flavorings. This process is used to mimic the taste and texture of real crab.
- Pay close attention to sandwich spreads as well, as they often contain added sugar and starch
Nuts, Seeds, and Seeds
Many types of nuts are perfect for a ketogenic lifestyle, preferably choosing unroasted and unsalted nuts. The reason for this is that they contain more healthy fats. During the roasting process, many fats and nutrients are lost, which is a waste, as you want to get healthy fats. However, there are a few exceptions of nuts that are not suitable. These exceptions include cashews, pistachios, and peanuts. Peanuts are technically legumes, but I mention them here because many people think of them as nuts. ๐ In this article, you can read more information about the best nuts to choose.
Seeds and seeds are also a good source of healthy fats, and they are also delicious to use regularly! How about a tasty chia pudding, like this recipe.
Nuts, seeds, and seeds that are suitable for keto:
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Brazil nuts
- Macadamia nuts
- Pecans
- Hazelnuts (note that these are somewhat higher in carbohydrates)
- Sunflower seeds (note that these are somewhat higher in carbohydrates)
- Pumpkin seeds
- Flaxseed
- Chia seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Sesame seeds (note that these are somewhat higher in carbohydrates)
- Poppy seeds
Dairy Products
In the keto diet, dairy products are commonly used. They are a significant source of fats, taste delicious, and offer a lot of variety in your meals.
However, keep in mind that most dairy products can contain relatively high levels of lactose, which is a milk sugar. Consuming too much lactose can potentially kick you out of ketosis. You can read more about lactose in this article.
Suitable dairy products:
- All types of cheese (preferably in block form, grated cheese often contains added starch)
- Liquid, unsweetened heavy cream
- Greek yogurt (10% fat)
- Cottage cheese (choose the highest-fat variant available)
- Creme fraiche
- Sour cream
- Cream cheese
- Mascarpone
- Heavy cream
Fats
Since fats make up 70% of your diet on a ketogenic diet, it’s important to choose the right fats. After all, you’re eating keto to be as healthy as possible, right?
Do you want to learn more about healthy fats versus unhealthy fats? You can read about it in this article.
Healthy Fats
- Avocado oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Olive oil
- Coconut oil
- Walnut oil
- Hazelnut oil
- Ghee
- Butter (preferably grass-fed butter, made from the milk of cows that have only eaten grass, no grains)
- Lard
Wat do you drink
- Water (with a bit of lemon juice or infused with fresh red fruits, cucumber, mint, etc.)
- Green tea, herbal tea, black tea (be sure to use pure tea, as many tea bags contain added sugar)
- Sparkling water
- Coffee
- Unsweetened almond milk/unsweetened soy milk
Debatable drinks due to artificial sweeteners (not clean keto)
- Sugar-free lemonade syrup
- Light or zero soft drinks
Does that sound boring? Look at the examples below for various delicious drinks that you can also make completely ketogenic. How about a “Bounty” hot chocolate? Or a delicious iced coffee?
The recipes for all the above-mentioned drinks are in the ketogenic candy special. ๐ Click here to view this book.
Other Products
In addition to all the products mentioned earlier in this article, there are, of course, many more things that regularly appear on my shopping list, such as various low-carb flours, cacao nibs, cocoa powder, keto chocolate, etc. Do you want to know more about where to buy everything and what my most used and favorite products are? Click here.