Keto on a budget
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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 
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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 -
If I were going to plan my food around this chart, I would eat way more potatoes since they are apparently super satisfying.1
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tcunbeliever wrote: »If I were going to plan my food around this chart, I would eat way more potatoes since they are apparently super satisfying.
Key points here before you make that statement is those with glucose intolerance were not included in the study, and these are plain potatoes - as in no salt, no butter, no cheese, no bacon, etc. They were just plain potatoes. It may have been less about satiety and more fear they were going to be forced to eat more of something so bland.2 -
Soaringrose wrote: »That’s great! Should I google grocery outlet or do u know of names of stores?
I just googled grocery outlets near me.
If you have an Aldis or a Trader Joe's... Those are the best cheap groceries in my opinion. Both owned by the same company.
Unfortunately, I have neither. I drive two hours to get to Trader Joe's in Olympia, WA once a month and stock up. I don't think there's Aldis within a two hour drive.0 -
cstehansen wrote: »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.pdf
Thank you for this. I guess I am just really frustrated. I am the only person in the house trying to eat this way and when mac and cheese is the cheapest meal for 6 people, there's not much option for me to cook separate meals for myself.
I really do appreciate your help. I will have to put a lot of thought into meals that will fit the budget and the macros1 -
Versicolour wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »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.pdf
Thank you for this. I guess I am just really frustrated. I am the only person in the house trying to eat this way and when mac and cheese is the cheapest meal for 6 people, there's not much option for me to cook separate meals for myself.
I really do appreciate your help. I will have to put a lot of thought into meals that will fit the budget and the macros
I really do feel your pain. My wife is a vegetarian (not vegan as she does eat dairy and eggs) and if my daughter had her way, she would live solely on mac & cheese, cheese quesadillas and grilled cheese. I have had good enough health improvements over the last 4+ years that I have at least gotten the bread and pasta consumption dramatically reduced in my household and made some inroads in getting my wife to actually be a vegetarian and not a pasta-tarian.
The best way to get them to change is for you to change and demonstrate the health benefits. Good luck. It is not easy, but then again, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it and we wouldn't have a world wide epidemic of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.3 -
Jumping up and down for the kangaroo mince.
It's close to the same price as gr. beef and I live in Western Canada. It's better tasting than beef and more tender even when well done. 2 -
Thanks for the OP video. I really liked it. She has some great ideas.0
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I think eggs are my quickest and cheapest go-to when doing a pasta meal for the rest of the family...granted, if we are having meat in the pasta, then I can usually set aside some for me, but sometimes when I'm trying to stretch the meat and put it all in the pasta, then there's always eggs for me.
Omelettes with veggies and cheese, or lunchmeat and cheese.
Fried eggs with a sprinkling of old bay.
Fried eggs with some cheese on top either shredded or just plain sliced american.
Eggs can be paired with whatever is laying around that needs to be used from the refrigerator. Have a portion of leftover broccoli that no one is eating...scramble it in eggs...have a half piece of chicken laying around...chop it for an omelette...have some random hot dog leftover...slice and mix in some eggs.
Plus, they don't take long to cook up, so it's not a huge amount of effort.7 -
I'm always surprised in the price difference for items that are exactly the same at various grocery stores. It really does pay to shop around. The problem with that is the ability to "shop around" is time and transportation dependent. There are many people frankly, that don't have the access to the transportation required, and/or don't have the means to make the time required to visit multiple stores/markets.
I get in serious food ruts, but I usually don't mind them. LOL However, when I'm trying to break out of one I'll scout out the sale meats. You know, the stuff that needs to be used or frozen by tomorrow. I've found some things I wouldn't normally buy and found that I like them!3 -
I'm always surprised in the price difference for items that are exactly the same at various grocery stores. It really does pay to shop around. The problem with that is the ability to "shop around" is time and transportation dependent. There are many people frankly, that don't have the access to the transportation required, and/or don't have the means to make the time required to visit multiple stores/markets.
I get in serious food ruts, but I usually don't mind them. LOL However, when I'm trying to break out of one I'll scout out the sale meats. You know, the stuff that needs to be used or frozen by tomorrow. I've found some things I wouldn't normally buy and found that I like them!
Agree, it's a pain to shop around and compare prices.
But I do it, I hate grocery shopping and having to hit three different stores every outing gets old.
But half and half at local grocery store is $8.00 for a little quart. Walmart is $5.00 for half gallon, and the chain grocer is $3.00 for half gallon, local brand.
Cheese 1 3/4 cup shredded cheddar at local grocer $6.00. $4.99 for the big bag at chain grocer for local brand.
But have memorized the price differences and have shopping list for each store separated.
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