NEWBIE HERE! Anyone else living with carb-lovers? + Cheap Keto meals? *LONG but TL;DR*

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ogmomma2012
ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
edited January 2015 in Social Groups
I am started a Ketogenic plan with a co-worker. I've adapted MFP to my requirements. I have googled and googled and looked at multiple blogs with very delicious recipes and the science behind Keto! I am on board with the general idea and ready to take action!

I do have a problem though: It seems that being Keto can be a little pricey, and my husband doesn't understand how people can lose weight on HFLC without dying from their arteries being clogged with tons of fat or getting heart disease. I can pretty much promise I won't be able to buy coconut or almond flour without getting told that I'm spending too much or being mocked for believing this will work. He's a smart *kitten* who likes being right.

A little background: I have successfully been losing weight with the help of calorie restriction and logging with MFP since July 2014. I'm 25, 5'1". Starting weight 262, current weight 225. I am currently taking cholesterol medicine because my triglycerides are very high, and so far everything I've been doing is successful. I haven't yet come across anything that conclusively says that Keto will help with cholesterol. My family has a history of diabetes, and my nutritionist put me on a diabetic diet (essentially, I am not diabetic but she mainly works with diabetics) but I haven't been avoiding carbs like I should, or understanding carb intake properly to begin with. (NET Carbs vs. what's on the package.)

Does anyone have advice living in a carb-laden home? I understand that my 2YO son needs all the food groups to function properly, and my husband and brother in law are steadfast rocks that pretty much purchase the same foods at Sams Club all the time. Beans, rice, tortillas, these fill my house. Biscuits, pancakes, french toasts and lately fried potatos, carbs grace every meal in my house!

We also love cheese and meat and eggs, so I know there is wiggle room without affecting the rest of the family's diet. We are also pretty low income, I make about 24-25K per year.

Does anyone have any advice how to do Keto successfully in my circumstance? Any cheap Keto recipes that you have created or found online?? Tips to stretch my dollar?

TL;DR: I'm on a very tight budget and live with carb-lovers. Any suggestions for cheap foods and clever recipes that won't involve Coconut or Almond flour, as they are pricy and I'd probably get a talk to for buying it.
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Replies

  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,413 Member
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    Eggs are the answer. Super cheap, perfect keto food. Also, bulk cheese and butter. Bulk fatty meat (bone in chicken thighs, 80/20 ground beef, pork shoulder/boston butt), bulk cheap fatty bacon. Frozen veg are cheap too.

    I'm easy, haven't bothered with keto baked goods. Mostly I eat eggs one meal per day, in a variety of ways, plus coffee with heavy cream and coconut oil, then one meal a day as a family (husband plus four kids). I make a meat, starch, veg. I stick to salad greens(buy the lettuce, not bagged salad) or spinach or fibrous veg (cauli/broc/brussel sprouts/green beans) with butter or cheese on it, use full fat dressings on my salads. The kids and husband eat varying degrees of the veg/starch depending on personal tastes (though the kids have to eat veg, can skip starch).

    Keto doesn't have to be expensive, especially if you go pretty basic. You don't "need" expensive/fancy items.

  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    Read my blog. It has a lot of info that you are requesting. I am losing weight and diabetic too. My blog is very short, about 12 pages. At the bottom of each page is the link for the next one.

    As far as the cholesterol, sit down with your hubby for 1 hour and 45 minutes and watch the youtube video called, "Fat Head". On my 5th page of my blog is the description of that video and a few other really good ones.

    Further on in my blog is a page with some links for keto resources.

    DittoDan's Keto Blog

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Michigan

  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    DittoDan wrote: »
    Read my blog. It has a lot of info that you are requesting. I am losing weight and diabetic too. My blog is very short, about 12 pages. At the bottom of each page is the link for the next one.

    As far as the cholesterol, sit down with your hubby for 1 hour and 45 minutes and watch the youtube video called, "Fat Head". On my 5th page of my blog is the description of that video and a few other really good ones.

    Further on in my blog is a page with some links for keto resources.

    DittoDan's Keto Blog

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Michigan

    Thanks so much! I will definitely check it out!! Happy New Years everyone!!!!
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    I live with a house full of carbivores. So far I've managed to keto for 7mo. I second the buying in bulk. And btw, there was a huge deal a while back when they ran an article in Time. We were lied to about the fat. They misrepresented studies. The government based policy on this without investigation.

    Listen to this lecture by Peter Attia about it.
    vimeo.com/45485034

    The Fat Head video is good, but it's a little hokie. Or maybe it's just that he gets on my nerves. But the guy is right. Attia goes through the "evidence," study by study, and shows that there really was none.

    Wishing you the best of luck.
    Happy New Year!
  • MessiGardener
    MessiGardener Posts: 37 Member
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    I'm fairly new to this diet too. I started 12/20/14 and so far have lost 7 lbs. I drink at least one cup of coffee with heavy cream, coconut oil and salt free butter. It's called Bulletproof coffee.
    Carbivores also usually like cream cheese, sour cream, heavy whipping cream, butter, etc...you might make your family envious of your diet, especially when you loose and they don't.
  • radiii
    radiii Posts: 422 Member
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    I live with two people who are not doing keto. Foods that I find tempting I ask them to hide and they do so. They were already used to this from a few years ago when I quit sodas, there was a time period where I asked for there to be no sodas in the house that I coudl find. After a year off sodas I no longer cared and they don't hide them anymore. Candy/chocolate is something that could be tempting for me, I know they have some around, but they keep it in their own rooms or something. It helps. With other things like chips or sodas or carb loaded microwave meals that might look tempting if you just don't feel like cooking, I have to exercise will power. I pick and choose what to make a big deal about.


    I can afford the almond flour, but honestly I just don't find myself making much with it. I went through a period where I really wanted to try all these substitute type meals... "oooo almond flour hamburger buns, yessss!", etc. But now that's just rarely appealing to me. Don't feel like you're missing out if you can't keep those kinds of things around on a regular basis.

    For eating as cheaply as possible, either check to see if there is an ALDI near you, or get a membership to a warehouse type store (BJ's/Costco/Sams Club). There is a BJ's near us, it cost $50 for a year long membership, but its 100% worth it. You can get eggs, meat, cheese, bacon, butter, coconut oil, cream cheese, sour cream, most spices, salsa/high fat salad dressings, nuts, all in bulk and at much better prices than you'll find at your local grocery store. The $50 membership fee will pay for itself in no time at all. I eat fairly cheaply because I'm lazy, I eat bacon and eggs every morning (would probably do sausage instead of bacon if I was on a tight budget), and I tend to rotate through chicken/beef/pork chops for dinner, just using different types of spices or sauce to change up the flavor a little, which is enough for me to not get bored.

    If you search the reddit keto forum (http://reddit.com/r/keto) for things like "keto on a budget" you will find tons of threads where that kind of thing has come up before and will be able to get tons of suggestions.

    Good luck, you can do it!
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    baconslave wrote: »
    I live with a house full of carbivores. So far I've managed to keto for 7mo. I second the buying in bulk. And btw, there was a huge deal a while back when they ran an article in Time. We were lied to about the fat. They misrepresented studies. The government based policy on this without investigation.

    Listen to this lecture by Peter Attia about it.
    vimeo.com/45485034

    The Fat Head video is good, but it's a little hokie. Or maybe it's just that he gets on my nerves. But the guy is right. Attia goes through the "evidence," study by study, and shows that there really was none.

    Wishing you the best of luck.
    Happy New Year!

    Bacon,

    I watched the video you suggested. Peter is the guy that initially converted me to Keto. I liked the video, but, he didn't have very many slides and I doubt a non-Keto person could sit through the almost "monotone" presentation he gave. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but that video would of been much better if it had some face shots of him in addition to the few PowerPoint slides he used.

    The Fat Head may sound hoaky to you, but I thought it very professionally made. it reminded me of a John Stoussel investigative report. It had at least 4+ doctors in it with a lot more statistics and, I think, a better history, with motives of why the government did what they did in regards to the low-fat diet. It also showed how insulin works in your body, much better than Peter did.

    I have watched it about five times (and with some friends), all really liking it.

    Dan the Man from Michigan


  • MessiGardener
    MessiGardener Posts: 37 Member
    Options
    I am started a Ketogenic plan with a co-worker. I've adapted MFP to my requirements. I have googled and googled and looked at multiple blogs with very delicious recipes and the science behind Keto! I am on board with the general idea and ready to take action!

    I do have a problem though: It seems that being Keto can be a little pricey, and my husband doesn't understand how people can lose weight on HFLC without dying from their arteries being clogged with tons of fat or getting heart disease. I can pretty much promise I won't be able to buy coconut or almond flour without getting told that I'm spending too much or being mocked for believing this will work. He's a smart *kitten* who likes being right.

    A little background: I have successfully been losing weight with the help of calorie restriction and logging with MFP since July 2014. I'm 25, 5'1". Starting weight 262, current weight 225. I am currently taking cholesterol medicine because my triglycerides are very high, and so far everything I've been doing is successful. I haven't yet come across anything that conclusively says that Keto will help with cholesterol. My family has a history of diabetes, and my nutritionist put me on a diabetic diet (essentially, I am not diabetic but she mainly works with diabetics) but I haven't been avoiding carbs like I should, or understanding carb intake properly to begin with. (NET Carbs vs. what's on the package.)

    Does anyone have advice living in a carb-laden home? I understand that my 2YO son needs all the food groups to function properly, and my husband and brother in law are steadfast rocks that pretty much purchase the same foods at Sams Club all the time. Beans, rice, tortillas, these fill my house. Biscuits, pancakes, french toasts and lately fried potatos, carbs grace every meal in my house!

    We also love cheese and meat and eggs, so I know there is wiggle room without affecting the rest of the family's diet. We are also pretty low income, I make about 24-25K per year.

    Does anyone have any advice how to do Keto successfully in my circumstance? Any cheap Keto recipes that you have created or found online?? Tips to stretch my dollar?

    TL;DR: I'm on a very tight budget and live with carb-lovers. Any suggestions for cheap foods and clever recipes that won't involve Coconut or Almond flour, as they are pricy and I'd probably get a talk to for buying it.

  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
    edited January 2015
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    <snip>

    Does anyone have any advice how to do Keto successfully in my circumstance? Any cheap Keto recipes that you have created or found online?? Tips to stretch my dollar?

    TL;DR: I'm on a very tight budget and live with carb-lovers. Any suggestions for cheap foods and clever recipes that won't involve Coconut or Almond flour, as they are pricy and I'd probably get a talk to for buying it.

    When you buy hamburger meat, look for the 27% fat variety. It is always the cheapest, because fat is a "undesirable" ingredient (to "low fat" people). If you don't have a problem with foods like: SPAM, Vienna sausages, bologna, lunch meats with cheese in them... they are cheap and have a lot of fat in them. I eat Vienna sausages for snacks.

    Ground up pork rinds (use blender) will bake good as a breading ~ instead of using Almond flour.

    Pork is cheap, ribs are fatty. Just read the labels, pork comes lean and fat, get the fat ones. If you can afford fish, sauté it in butter or refined coconut oil (LouAnnes @ Walmart is cheapest) or Ghee (clarified butter get at Trader Joe's).

    That's all I can think of now.

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Michigan




  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options
    I am started a Ketogenic plan with a co-worker. I've adapted MFP to my requirements. I have googled and googled and looked at multiple blogs with very delicious recipes and the science behind Keto! I am on board with the general idea and ready to take action!

    I do have a problem though: It seems that being Keto can be a little pricey, and my husband doesn't understand how people can lose weight on HFLC without dying from their arteries being clogged with tons of fat or getting heart disease. I can pretty much promise I won't be able to buy coconut or almond flour without getting told that I'm spending too much or being mocked for believing this will work. He's a smart *kitten* who likes being right.

    A little background: I have successfully been losing weight with the help of calorie restriction and logging with MFP since July 2014. I'm 25, 5'1". Starting weight 262, current weight 225. I am currently taking cholesterol medicine because my triglycerides are very high, and so far everything I've been doing is successful. I haven't yet come across anything that conclusively says that Keto will help with cholesterol. My family has a history of diabetes, and my nutritionist put me on a diabetic diet (essentially, I am not diabetic but she mainly works with diabetics) but I haven't been avoiding carbs like I should, or understanding carb intake properly to begin with. (NET Carbs vs. what's on the package.)

    Does anyone have advice living in a carb-laden home? I understand that my 2YO son needs all the food groups to function properly, and my husband and brother in law are steadfast rocks that pretty much purchase the same foods at Sams Club all the time. Beans, rice, tortillas, these fill my house. Biscuits, pancakes, french toasts and lately fried potatos, carbs grace every meal in my house!

    We also love cheese and meat and eggs, so I know there is wiggle room without affecting the rest of the family's diet. We are also pretty low income, I make about 24-25K per year.

    Does anyone have any advice how to do Keto successfully in my circumstance? Any cheap Keto recipes that you have created or found online?? Tips to stretch my dollar?

    TL;DR: I'm on a very tight budget and live with carb-lovers. Any suggestions for cheap foods and clever recipes that won't involve Coconut or Almond flour, as they are pricy and I'd probably get a talk to for buying it.

    Is there a reason you quoted me?
  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options
    DittoDan wrote: »
    <snip>

    Does anyone have any advice how to do Keto successfully in my circumstance? Any cheap Keto recipes that you have created or found online?? Tips to stretch my dollar?

    TL;DR: I'm on a very tight budget and live with carb-lovers. Any suggestions for cheap foods and clever recipes that won't involve Coconut or Almond flour, as they are pricy and I'd probably get a talk to for buying it.

    When you buy hamburger meat, look for the 27% fat variety. It is always the cheapest, because fat is a "undesirable" ingredient (to "low fat" people). If you don't have a problem with foods like: SPAM, Vienna sausages, bologna, lunch meats with cheese in them... they are cheap and have a lot of fat in them. I eat Vienna sausages for snacks.

    Ground up pork rinds (use blender) will bake good as a breading ~ instead of using Almond flour.

    Pork is cheap, ribs are fatty. Just read the labels, pork comes lean and fat, get the fat ones. If you can afford fish, sauté it in butter or refined coconut oil (LouAnnes @ Walmart is cheapest) or Ghee (clarified butter get at Trader Joe's).

    That's all I can think of now.

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Michigan




    Did you have any "know-it-all" people in your life that just thought you were bonkers? My husband is just like that and I doubt he will take research on it seriously. He'll just think that I'm apart of a new fad. :/
  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options
    radiii wrote: »
    I live with two people who are not doing keto. Foods that I find tempting I ask them to hide and they do so. They were already used to this from a few years ago when I quit sodas, there was a time period where I asked for there to be no sodas in the house that I coudl find. After a year off sodas I no longer cared and they don't hide them anymore. Candy/chocolate is something that could be tempting for me, I know they have some around, but they keep it in their own rooms or something. It helps. With other things like chips or sodas or carb loaded microwave meals that might look tempting if you just don't feel like cooking, I have to exercise will power. I pick and choose what to make a big deal about.


    I can afford the almond flour, but honestly I just don't find myself making much with it. I went through a period where I really wanted to try all these substitute type meals... "oooo almond flour hamburger buns, yessss!", etc. But now that's just rarely appealing to me. Don't feel like you're missing out if you can't keep those kinds of things around on a regular basis.

    For eating as cheaply as possible, either check to see if there is an ALDI near you, or get a membership to a warehouse type store (BJ's/Costco/Sams Club). There is a BJ's near us, it cost $50 for a year long membership, but its 100% worth it. You can get eggs, meat, cheese, bacon, butter, coconut oil, cream cheese, sour cream, most spices, salsa/high fat salad dressings, nuts, all in bulk and at much better prices than you'll find at your local grocery store. The $50 membership fee will pay for itself in no time at all. I eat fairly cheaply because I'm lazy, I eat bacon and eggs every morning (would probably do sausage instead of bacon if I was on a tight budget), and I tend to rotate through chicken/beef/pork chops for dinner, just using different types of spices or sauce to change up the flavor a little, which is enough for me to not get bored.

    If you search the reddit keto forum (http://reddit.com/r/keto) for things like "keto on a budget" you will find tons of threads where that kind of thing has come up before and will be able to get tons of suggestions.

    Good luck, you can do it!

    Living in AZ, I have no idea what an Aldi's is. :-p We have a Sams Club membership, I guess I'm not very opinionated on what we should buy. My husband asked me if I have special requests, maybe next time him and his brother in law make a Sams Club run I could request cheaper cuts of meat? I am hesitant to tell him that I am doing a LCHF because he is a know it all and I think he wouldn't take me seriously, or say that I'm endangering my health.
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    Living in AZ, I have no idea what an Aldi's is. :-p We have a Sams Club membership, I guess I'm not very opinionated on what we should buy. My husband asked me if I have special requests, maybe next time him and his brother in law make a Sams Club run I could request cheaper cuts of meat? I am hesitant to tell him that I am doing a LCHF because he is a know it all and I think he wouldn't take me seriously, or say that I'm endangering my health.

    "Know-it-alls" sometimes (note I said sometimes) suffer from Narcissist Personality Disorder (NPD). I married an NPD and the marriage was very short to say the least. At the time, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. About two years after our divorce, I got a new boss that was NPD. My co-worker told me about Narcissism and I googled it. My eyes were opened.

    Here is a link on the Mayo Clinic that details NPD.

    I am not saying your husband is NPD. But, it doesn't hurt to read about the disorder. Most people have met NPD people, they just didn't know about it's traits or how to deal with them.

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Michigan


  • hippygirl325
    hippygirl325 Posts: 223 Member
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    [/quote]

    Did you have any "know-it-all" people in your life that just thought you were bonkers? My husband is just like that and I doubt he will take research on it seriously. He'll just think that I'm apart of a new fad. :/[/quote]

    My boyfriend isn't really a "know it all" but he does think this diet is "crazy" and "extreme." He keeps telling me that all you need to do to lose weight is exercise and that by being too strict with my diet I will burn out. Well, last time I used MFP I wasn't "strict" at all about what I ate but I only stuck to it for 4 months, and this time I actually see a big difference in how I feel on a day to day basis without carbs. After FEELING the difference for myself, I don't think I could ever go back, honestly. Plus this diet has helped with some emotional and hormonal things as well, already after less than 2 weeks. I'm a believer for sure and there is a lot of stuff to support this.
  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    DittoDan wrote: »
    "Know-it-alls" sometimes (note I said sometimes) suffer from Narcissist Personality Disorder (NPD). I married an NPD and the marriage was very short to say the least. At the time, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. About two years after our divorce, I got a new boss that was NPD. My co-worker told me about Narcissism and I googled it. My eyes were opened.

    I have looked it up before. He exhibits only 2 of those characteristics and I can overcome his snotty attitude. I know what I married. He isn't abusive. Thank you for showing concern. :smile: His brother is waaaaay worse. ^^;;

  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options

    Did you have any "know-it-all" people in your life that just thought you were bonkers? My husband is just like that and I doubt he will take research on it seriously. He'll just think that I'm apart of a new fad. :/[/quote]

    My boyfriend isn't really a "know it all" but he does think this diet is "crazy" and "extreme." He keeps telling me that all you need to do to lose weight is exercise and that by being too strict with my diet I will burn out. Well, last time I used MFP I wasn't "strict" at all about what I ate but I only stuck to it for 4 months, and this time I actually see a big difference in how I feel on a day to day basis without carbs. After FEELING the difference for myself, I don't think I could ever go back, honestly. Plus this diet has helped with some emotional and hormonal things as well, already after less than 2 weeks. I'm a believer for sure and there is a lot of stuff to support this.
    [/quote]

    That's what my husband tells me, that all I need is to eat less and move more... just he is a creature of habit and finds ease in everyone eating the same thing.

    I'm on day 4 and I made cream cheese pancakes and he saw me making them. I didn't say that I'm on keto, just an experiment with coconut flour that was given to me. I just don't wanna deal with nonsense.
  • hippygirl325
    hippygirl325 Posts: 223 Member
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    I understand. I just keep telling my bf "You'll see." lol
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    I'm on day 4 and I made cream cheese pancakes and he saw me making them. I didn't say that I'm on keto, just an experiment with coconut flour that was given to me. I just don't wanna deal with nonsense.

    How did the experiment go? Any new discoveries?

    Dan the Man from Michigan

  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    DittoDan wrote: »

    I'm on day 4 and I made cream cheese pancakes and he saw me making them. I didn't say that I'm on keto, just an experiment with coconut flour that was given to me. I just don't wanna deal with nonsense.

    How did the experiment go? Any new discoveries?

    Dan the Man from Michigan

    It made for an okay savory pancake. Not enough sweetness because Truvia has 3carbs per tiny packet! Definitely need to find one of the sweeteners that has 0 carbs. It was pretty tasty with spinach and diced pork loin. :smile: With the coconut flour it works out to about 5 NET carbs per 2 pancakes.
  • truelove7
    truelove7 Posts: 79 Member
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    Honestly, I don't bother with trying to make imitations of carby foods so I don't buy coconut flour, almond flour or anything of the like. I buy 73/27 ground beef...it's the cheapest meat in the grocery store! One of my favorite keto recipes is a cream cheese stuffed meatloaf (recipe is somewhere in this group) made with fatty ground beef, onions, cream cheese (you can buy the generic store brand) and a handful of spinach. I also make a lot of pizza casseroles, cheeseburgers, bacon wrapped chicken and veggies sauteed in bacon grease or butter. Top round sirloin steaks, flank steaks and skirt steaks are super cheap and delicious. For the rest of the family, I just make a carby side like rice or potatoes and they're happy. I don't really spend any more on keto than I did before.

    I'm fortunate that my husband is supportive and loves that I'm on keto because he loves meat and fat. He loves it when I try new recipes, so that helps a lot. I don't know if you're on Pinterest, but you're welcome to follow my Low Carb Recipe board if you'd like. I have some pretty good things pinned, most of which I've tried before. :)