Keto on a budget
cstehansen
Posts: 1,984 Member
I know I have seen some posts about trying to keep costs costs down as there is a misperception that it expensive. Here is video that could be helpful. There is some extraneous stuff at the beginning, so you can skip forward to about the 8 minute mark where she actually starts talking about this topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDk0p6uJHeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDk0p6uJHeM 5
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I think of these same points a lot!!
I constantly see people insulting keto as a weight loss scam and industry. And how they're not going to pay for a weight loss system
I think the general public is simply misinformed.
I think keto is fairly affordable, because I'm not buying boxes of cereal, bags of rice, cookies, ice creams, breads, pastries, chips, fruit, etc.
I do buy most of my produce frozen from Trader Joe's, except fresh heirloom tomatoes, onions, and avocados.
We stock up on butter, eggs, cheeses, and meats usually at Trader Joe's, or when on sale at supermarket!
I miss Sprouts. It was a lot of the same brands sold at Whole Foods but half the cost.
Love eating keto so far!!!4 -
I agree. Eggs, cheese, butter. All things you’d buy anyway and not expensive. I buy organic unrefined coconut oil in a HUGE container from Walmart. It’s their brand! I eat the chicken breasts and ground turkey I feed the kids and look for closeout sales and freeze the meat. I ate all this prior to keto. I just don’t eat potatoes or grains or any bread now with it. I buy fresh vegetables, but was doing that before. And frozen because they are cheaper. I might even be saving money now that I think about it
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This thread from the Open Threads might have a couple ideas, too.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10511502/lower-carb-on-a-shoestring/p12 -
FYI, she stops chatting and begins to get to the meat of the matter
at 8 min, if you want to get right to the topic. 3 -
baconslave wrote: »FYI, she stops chatting and begins to get to the meat of the matter at 8 min, if you want to get right to the topic.
And one can skip the last 22 minutes where all she does is peruse a couple weeks of Aldi, Sprouts and Food Lion weekly ads.
I generally like Amy Berger but found her to be particularly insensitive and arrogant in this video. She likely needs to spend less time in Sprouts and more time perhaps delivering food for the North Carolina Food Bank of Durham. She'll find that a food dollar goes much further on rice and beans than "on sale" pork ribs.
Her "Come on people, this is 4th grade math" comment was especially insensitive. If she also steps outside her little world she may also learn here are many hard working folks who can't afford to "stock up" because they also have to pay their electric bill out of that pay check. Or save funds for a bus ride to work.
If she doesn't want to go to a food bank maybe she could spend a little time at select Durham County Public Libraries a rub shoulders with some of the folks who can't afford a computer or afford to get their computer repaired so use those at the public library to watch her videos or read her blog...I digress.15 -
I haven’t watched yet. So I will. But the truth is I feel the same way as the “misinformed” people. I have a huge household. And to me low carb is expensive. I’m used to filling everyone up with pasta, rice, bread. That is filling. I keep trying to do low carb then bomb it. It’s the only think that satisfies me. I am hungry ALL the time trying to eat lower calorie. I hate it! I have major lack of energy and I get lots of salt & take my vitamins, magnesium etc. I do not understand. As bad as I want it to work I don’t know how. I don’t know how to feed my family full without all the “fillers”. And I hate to feel so deprived so I get all into with cheesecake etc which is pricey. I honestly need help. I can’t keep going back & Forth. Now I have high cholesterol. I don’t know if it’s cause I go back and forth. They told me to eat only 2 eggs a week. I mean really?! That just doesn’t sound right. I’ll likely post a separate post too later. But I’m really torn!1
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Eating mostly meats and vegetables is going to be more expensive than eating pasta and other grain-based foods. There are ways to make keto more affordable (eggs, coupons, inexpensive cuts of meat, frozen veggies on sale). But, if you’re really struggling with food costs, low carb diets are difficult things to maintain.
My diet is keto, but my family doesn’t. Usually we make a meat, veggie, starch and I just leave the starch off my plate. I’ve been doing it long enough that I don’t struggle with feeling left out as much as I used to, but it can be hard.5 -
booksnbrains wrote: »Eating mostly meats and vegetables is going to be more expensive than eating pasta and other grain-based foods. There are ways to make keto more affordable (eggs, coupons, inexpensive cuts of meat, frozen veggies on sale). But, if you’re really struggling with food costs, low carb diets are difficult things to maintain.
My diet is keto, but my family doesn’t. Usually we make a meat, veggie, starch and I just leave the starch off my plate. I’ve been doing it long enough that I don’t struggle with feeling left out as much as I used to, but it can be hard.
That is great advice. I think I’m making it too complicated. Thank you!3 -
Just adding here. Excited! Anyone addicted to coconut oil - Sam’s has a giant not expensive jar of Virgin Unrefined COLD pressed coconut oil.2
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I eat frozen veggies. They are cheaper. Check the price per ounce and make sure locally. Can also rice the frozen cauliflower to not pay the premium per ounce for the smaller prepped bags.2
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Also. Look for specials at stores for meats. When they are marked down to sell in a few days I grab and freeze. Ground turkey 1/2 price. Chicken cuts SO cheap too when you do that.1
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@Soaringrose
I always added potatoes, rice, and pasta to meals thinking we wouldn't get full without these things.
I'm finding adding oils to even small portions of meats and veggies, makes the meal extremely filling.
I add two to four tablespoons of coconut oil and/or olive oil to cook meats, veggies, and eggs in.
I quit leaving the oil and drippings in the pans and started pouring them over our entrees (as long as not disgustingly burnt).
If it was just me getting stuffed from this new way of eating, I wouldn't put much stock into it, but my boyfriend and daughter are also getting stuffed this way. And the boyfriend was a BIG eater with a HUGE appetite.
These are other tips to feel fuller faster.
1. Serve food on smaller plates and smaller bowls, psychological, but it works.
2. Take small bites. We eat with the little forks and little spoons.
3. Chew each bite slower and more thoroughly. Make meal last longer and eat past the 15 minute food window.
Hope any of this helps!!
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Soaringrose wrote: »I haven’t watched yet. So I will. But the truth is I feel the same way as the “misinformed” people. I have a huge household. And to me low carb is expensive. I’m used to filling everyone up with pasta, rice, bread. That is filling. I keep trying to do low carb then bomb it. It’s the only think that satisfies me. I am hungry ALL the time trying to eat lower calorie. I hate it! I have major lack of energy and I get lots of salt & take my vitamins, magnesium etc. I do not understand. As bad as I want it to work I don’t know how. I don’t know how to feed my family full without all the “fillers”. And I hate to feel so deprived so I get all into with cheesecake etc which is pricey. I honestly need help. I can’t keep going back & Forth. Now I have high cholesterol. I don’t know if it’s cause I go back and forth. They told me to eat only 2 eggs a week. I mean really?! That just doesn’t sound right. I’ll likely post a separate post too later. But I’m really torn!
Simplicity is key for me. As for being inexpensive, the best thing invention for low carb is the crock pot. You can take the cheapest piece of meat (beef or pork) that is in the markdown section at the grocery store because the use by date is impending. Put it in the crock pot with some salt pork/butter/or other good fat option. After 6-8 hours on low, you have tender juicy meat. Use whatever seasonings you like. For the last hour, I will sometimes add something to give it a bit more volume like sliced zucchini, shirataki noodles (i.e. Miracle Rice or Miracle Noodles).
After going low carb and then keto because of blood sugar issues back in 2015, I have done a boatload of research on nutrition as well as done countless self-experimentation. One result is that I am no longer following the standard keto because there is no reason to have fat that high unless you have a neurological disorder.
Second, protein + fiber (naturally occurring, not supplements) generally equal higher nutrient density and higher satiety. When I used cronometer to track food and specifically tried to get all my micronutrients, I found about 50% of my carbs were fiber from foods like spinach, zucchini, jalapeños, broccoli, etc. Protein went up because foods like fish and meat are very high in many important nutrients.
During that tracking, I was NOT trying to lose weight. I was only trying to keep my BG under control. However, I did lose just over 15 lbs in about 2 months despite TRYING to eat more. I was just too full. I am 6'1" and dropped from just under 188 to 172. I graduated high school in 1989 at 188, so I have been happy maintaining that for the last few years.
I did increase consumption of chicken livers and beef liver. I know liver is not the favorite taste of many people. Again, this is where the crock pot came in handy. Putting in 4 oz of beef liver with 2 lbs of other meat along with seasonings gave me the nutrients in a way where I couldn't taste them.
Chicken liver is much more palatable and got mixed in with many things. It is also super cheap at around $1 per pound.
The biggest hindrance for me was prep time in terms of cleaning fresh veggies. Again, doing meal prep with the crock pot was hugely helpful by saving me time with the main dish.
Just some ideas that hopefully help.9 -
Very wonderful great ideas thank you! I’ve begun again & am doing better. Thx everyone!3
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Maybe it's where I live, but eggs, cheese, butter, meat of all kinds and vegetables are all expensive. The cheaper food is all the carbs. Fruit is not as expensive as veg, but not berries. Those are just ridiculous! Lettuce is not too bad, but I can't live on lettuce2
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I can usually find meats for around $1 a pound, assuming I'm not picky about what animal I get...there is always some sale chicken or pork...and I can deconstruct my own chicken if need be and the non-sale price for a whole chicken is a pretty steady $0.89/lb so that's my backup if I can't find other cheap things...ground beef usually runs $2.50-$3/lb, and steaks are more unless I get the about-to-go-bad ones. Eggs are cheap, 50 to 75 cents a dozen on sale and I will buy 3-4 dozen when on sale. I will also get canned meats when they are on sale, though the price per pound on those is higher, they are convenient quick lunches, so I try to keep at least some in the house.
I think a lot of it is planning. Knowing what day your local grocers mark down the meats and dropping in to check the prices on mark-down day is a big help, sometimes it's a jackpot, sometimes it's not enough of a mark-down to be worth it or they just look inedible, but it's usually worth checking at least. Most groceries run the same sales every 4-6 weeks. I usually make my menu weekly based on what is already in the house, and just put on the shopping list the bare minimum that I need to get through the week.
When I shop, I try to shop with about $20-$40 of "stock up" money...where I can buy the things that are the best prices on sale and use them for future weeks while still being able to purchase the minimum I need to get through the week. You definitely pay about 3x more when things are not on sale, so building up a freezer/pantry of supplies when things are on sale is a big overall money saver, but it requires planning.
Tuesday nights one of my Food Lions marks down their meats, if possible, I try to stop by and see what's on sale...ditto for the other Food Lion on Thursday nights...Saturday morning when I do my normal shopping I always hit Lidl first because they inevitably have the best meat sales and they frequently sell out of those items...then I go to Costco, it's more bulk spending there so I'm limited to one or two things, but the prices are good per pound and I can break them into smaller portions with freezer bags...then I will go to Food Lion, but usually by then it's just small things that I can't get elsewhere, and I almost never pay full price for meats. Vacation is about the only time I am OK with buying full price meats.3 -
Versicolour wrote: »Maybe it's where I live, but eggs, cheese, butter, meat of all kinds and vegetables are all expensive. The cheaper food is all the carbs. Fruit is not as expensive as veg, but not berries. Those are just ridiculous! Lettuce is not too bad, but I can't live on lettuce
I think the pricing is deceiving. That $2 bag of chips may seem cheap, but if I eat that, I will be hungry in 30 minutes. A box of corn flakes - same thing.
My wife used to eat a bowl of Special K every morning. I got her to switch to an omelet with a bit of mozzarella cheese. Instead of needing a mid morning snack every day, she now frequently has a later lunch. This is despite the fact the omelet she makes actually has fewer calories than the bowl of cereal did.
When we compare the cost of the eggs and cheese with just the cereal, it looks more expensive. When we add in the cost of that mid morning snack that was eliminated, it is easily less expensive even when buying the pasture raised eggs. I am a proponent of eating the best you can afford. We started with the cheap eggs, but realized we could move up and still spend less than the Special K and milk was costing us.
Steak is expensive. Pork is generally cheaper and chicken (if you are willing to buy the unprocessed) is the cheapest. I don't generally get a whole chicken, but getting the big pack of leg quarters is frequently cheap. They are great for lots of things like the pork rind "breaded" ones here:
Don't discount canned meat. Cans of tuna were even occasionally on the menu back in college when I was dirt poor.
I have to come back to the eggs though. If you get standard eggs - not the pasture raised - they are always less $4 for a dozen. As @tcunbeliever mentioned, they frequently go on sale for far less than that. Eating 6 eggs at a time is only $2 if they are expensive. If you get them for closer to $2 per dozen which should be possible just about everywhere, then a meal of 6 eggs is only $1. Add in some cheese and spinach, and you have a filling meal for most people for under $2. I have all kinds of variations of this with different add ins that I eat multiple times a week.
This is one of the reasons I average eating close to 3 dozen eggs a week. I eat far more than most here as I am in maintenance in terms of weight and am very active so my average intake is over 3000 calories a day.
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I buy free range eggs, they're only a little bit more expensive than caged eggs.I buy cheaper cut of meats, vegetables in season and tinned foods and frozen foods. I also buy meats that on special including free range chicken, kangaroo mince and half price duck too.Again, they're still cheap and affordable for me.I grow some herbs, chilies and limes too but I'm too lazy to grow veggies. x 🍋🌿🌶3
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I think some of the most expensive things were trying to keep HWC, cream cheese, cheese in stock for me here. U can make so many great soups, cheesecakes ect that I just WANT those things. However they really aren’t needed. I’ve been keeping it more simple here like has been suggested & it’s working out so much better. It truly hasn’t been too expensive.
While I’ve never found eggs for .50 or can’t ever imagine going to the store for kangaroo 🦘 mince (poor sweet things) ha, there is always chicken & pork. I live in the us. So I know it’s different all over. And we eat deer 🦌 here. There r still options.
I had forgotten what a friend told me one time when starting her journey & struggling financially. She could walk in the kitchen & say ok, I am eating healthy today if all I have is olives for breakfast (in the kitchen) then that’s what she’ll have.
So. How bad do we want to eat healthy? If it’s chicken & eggs & green beans (really cheap here) then sobeit. It’s not gonna be like that every day.5 -
Soaringrose wrote: »
So. How bad do we want to eat healthy? If it’s chicken & eggs & green beans (really cheap here) then sobeit. It’s not gonna be like that every day.
I live in Appalachia, so I see what poverty looks like. I've also the benefit in seeing people's health deteriorate over time, and they die too soon due to complications from their weight, heart health, or diabetes. I've seen the lack of quality of life. If it costs a little more on the front-end to get healthy, that's annoying but it will pay you dividend upon dividend later in life when you haven't paid and paid out your nose on health care to mop up the decades long mess. I can say for certain that my parents wouldn't have struggled nearly as much financially if they didn't have to shell out $3000 on diabetic meds for Mom. That was in addition to other dr bills for her back problems, which she wouldn't have had if she weren't so heavy.
Hubby and I have only 1 income so I can stay home and school the kids. Hubby and I do without a lot as we invest in their future and put away funds for ours. If it's not a good price, we don't buy it. We are frequenters of Goodwill and every discount grocery. But there are still lots of options. Our normal procedure is what Amy described. If we end up eating some variation of pork all week, it may be boring, but it keeps 7 people fed and our bills all paid up, and our health sitting pretty too. We've been paycheck to paycheck about 10 years ago, and it was hard. We were even on Food Stamps, but we still made healthy choices and were able to afford frozen veggies and cheap meats.
I can understand how hard it is when you don't get enough benefits and need to use a food bank. In that situation, well, you might not be able to do keto. You definitely won't be able to "stock up." To here are still affordable choices, but it's going to be a lot harder to swing it.
My husband is a bit paranoid. Which is understandable as he was poor growing up and didn't always have enough to eat. I was poor too, maybe not AS poor, but I didn't know it until I was a teen. But now we do have, in addition to 3 stuffed freezers of veggies and meat, a stockpile of rice, peas, green beans, beans, and pasta and canned mackerel in case something happens to the food supply.
Armageddon, you won't bother us.
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That’s a good way to look at it. Pork all week, chicken & eggs all week. I agree. It might b boring but it is healthier ❤️. Healthier then later suffering for health issues. Very good point2
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I moved to a US west coast city about a year ago, and just two days ago discovered a grocery outlet. omg I was in food heaven. I got an entire cart of meats, cheeses, peanuts and peanut butters, some other dairy and stuff for $80.00.
Which is awesome, because groceries at the regular stores, even at Walmart, are way overpriced here.1 -
That’s great! Should I google grocery outlet or do u know of names of stores?1
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@Soaringrose I agree with you! I don’t buy the fancy premade stuff except for treats occasionally. I didn’t eat ice cream all the time before now, it is still a treat. If for no other reason because Rebel ice cream was $6 a pint
And Lily’s chocolate is $3.50 a bar. So I trick my mind into only having these or fat bombs (home made or otherwise) as treats. So then I think about them and stay keto lol. If I ate those all the time instead of my normal routine stuff it wouldn’t be special and I’d be more tempted to cheat for real. Also don’t make fake keto meals. Just Whole Foods. It’s easier and I think cheaper. Fathead pizza or mock anything are treats. I’m planning on making a pizza casserole that looks awesome next weekend and have been waiting two weeks to do it since that is when a friend and her kids are coming over with pizza 2 -
I am USA west coast and I too enjoy Grocery Outlet. They are so hit and miss with their foods, but I often get great finds there; esp nuts, lunch meat, frozen foods and real food items. I usually just shop there and make a meal plan around what I find. I have been pretty solid Keto since the beginning of March, and this time around I am not making up those extra keto dessert type goodies. If I feel I need them in the future, I will... but for now it has been nice to just stick with real foods.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences. Oh, I do use HWC (expensive but worth it for me.)4 -
My problem is I never ate the cereals in the first place. Egg and toast was my standard breakfast. Two slices of bread is still cheaper than an egg.
Plus I think my body is broken. I am never not hungry. It takes daily force of will to not snack, regardless of what I am eating. I was eating 40gr carbs per day max for three months and I was a miserable dragon I was so hangry1 -
Soaringrose wrote: »I think some of the most expensive things were trying to keep HWC, cream cheese, cheese in stock for me here. U can make so many great soups, cheesecakes ect that I just WANT those things. However they really aren’t needed. I’ve been keeping it more simple here like has been suggested & it’s working out so much better. It truly hasn’t been too expensive.
While I’ve never found eggs for .50 or can’t ever imagine going to the store for kangaroo 🦘 mince (poor sweet things) ha, there is always chicken & pork. I live in the us. So I know it’s different all over. And we eat deer 🦌 here. There r still options.
I had forgotten what a friend told me one time when starting her journey & struggling financially. She could walk in the kitchen & say ok, I am eating healthy today if all I have is olives for breakfast (in the kitchen) then that’s what she’ll have.
So. How bad do we want to eat healthy? If it’s chicken & eggs & green beans (really cheap here) then sobeit. It’s not gonna be like that every day.
Yesterday for the 1st time ever, found eggs for .49@ Aldi!! I bought 2 cartons. Will be baking egg muffins for next week.3 -
I hit Lidl to stock up pre-vacation the other day...eggs were 0.59/dozen - I grabbed 2...hamburger in 3 lb packages was $2.20/lb - I grabbed 3 packages...pork was 0.79/lb for half loin - I grabbed one which I then cut up into 3 packs of chops before freezing...split chicken breast was 1.29/lb - I grabbed 2 packs of 3 each...chicken legs quarters were 0.79/lb - I grabbed 2 packs of 3 each which I will cut into legs/thighs when I cook...all in all it was a great trip and I have a nice variety of meat available when I return from vacation.4
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They had frozen shrimp on sale 5.99 for 12 oz, but since I'm headed to the beach I wasn't sure if I would be wanting more seafood and my freezer space is limited so I passed on that one.0
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Versicolour wrote: »My problem is I never ate the cereals in the first place. Egg and toast was my standard breakfast. Two slices of bread is still cheaper than an egg.
Plus I think my body is broken. I am never not hungry. It takes daily force of will to not snack, regardless of what I am eating. I was eating 40gr carbs per day max for three months and I was a miserable dragon I was so hangry
I understand the "always hungry" thing. My wife knew to ask "how hungry are you?" rather than "are you hungry?" when trying to start dinner.
Please take my comments as I intend which is to be helpful. Everyone here has had struggles. I was just talking to someone this morning about how I am like the food version of an alcoholic. It is easier for me to not eat than to have portion control. Back in the day, if a restaurant had a buffet, they did not like seeing me walk through the door because they were going to lose money on me. Now that I am at goal weight and have my BG under control, I will occasionally visit a restaurant that has all you can eat, but what I eat is very different, and I make plans around timing it.
You mention capping at 40 g of carbs a day, but that is only a partial story. For me, I might have 60 a day, but because of what I eat, half or more may be fiber and, given there is about 0.6 g of carbs in an egg, I could have about 6 of those from eggs since I can easily eat 10 in a day. I also eat 3500 calories a day, so many of those carbs could be in very small amounts in other foods. However, if I were to eat 40 g of carbs with almost none of them being fiber and it was on a 1200 calorie a day diet, that would be much different.
I know many claim that fat is satiating, but research shows protein is the most satiating macronutrient and fiber helps as well. When I say protein, I am not talking about highly refined protein like protein powders. I mean real protein. I can't imagine trying to eat even eat close to 1200 calories of tuna for instance where it is almost entirely protein. This is why body builders will eat super lean protein and a little non-starchy veggies (i.e. broccoli, spinach, etc.) when they are cutting weight for a show. It is the only way they can cut and not be super hungry given how hard they are pushing it at the gym.
If constant hunger is an issue, I would suggest increasing the protein and not eating any carbs (outside of the minimal tag along carbs like in eggs) that are not at least 50% fiber.
As for bread, white bread was used in a study measuring satiety of numerous foods as the baseline. Basically, everything except other bakery items and snacks/confectionery items had better satiety than white bread.
Here is a link to the study. You can scroll to page 8 to see the chart.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Petocz/publication/15701207_A_Satiety_Index_of_common_foods/links/00b495189da413c16d000000/A-Satiety-Index-of-common-foods.pdf2
