At this point, most everyone has heard about Keto and the amazing health benefits that come from this way of eating. But for a lot of people making such a lifestyle change can be very difficult and sticking to it is even harder.

Keto Programs

There are so many Keto programs available, a few of them I have bought myself. They all claim to be the best way to Keto but typically i feel sort of like I was tricked into buying before I was able to see what is inside their program. Once I get inside the program I am a little disappointed. 

They all include complicated recipes and weird ingredients. I am all for having an example menu to guide me but, who wants to have to refer to a recipe for every single meal that you make?

I know I don’t! 

Now some of these recipes may be great and there are probably some people that really enjoy them but for me, I need to keep it simple.

A Better Way to Keto

As you probably know, the Keto diet basically consists of healthy fats, meats, and vegetables. There is no need to complicate that! If you do a macro calculator for yourself, you can get a good idea of how much of each you need each day and then build from that. 

Important Note: Listen to your body. Pay attention to how you feel before and after you eat. Notice the times when you feel hungry and what your brain is telling you to do because everyone is different and no meal plan is going to be perfect for everyone. 

When I first started Keto I was very overwhelmed by the amount of information available. The programs, recipes, and advice. At first, I was not very successful because I was trying to do too much and I was making the process so much more difficult than it needed to be so I learned some simple things that helped me to stay on track and make small, lasting changes.

How to Keep Keto Simple:

1. Stick to real foods

I try to stay away from the packaged foods as much as possible even if they are supposed to be Keto or low carb. I do this because there are so many products on the market lately that it becomes overwhelming and you think you need to have it all or you won’t be successful in losing weight.

I also try to stay away from options like those because they are far more expensive than non-packaged products and I don’t think that eating Keto should break the bank. 

Your meals don’t need to be some grand event. 

Think simple like meats and vegetables that you can prepare in different ways.

For example, When I do my grocery shopping, I always get:

• chicken breast
• steak 
• broccoli and cauliflower
• salad ingredients (romaine, baby greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes) 

You can grill the meat and vegetables, or saute them, or bake them. Whatever you choose! And if you are feeling like you do need to change things up then you can get creative with your seasonings or try a new vegetable. 

Have a salad! Instead of having just meat and vegetables, grill your meat and put it on a salad. You can change your salads up by adding different ingredients and trying different dressings (I love to put pickles on my salads). 

2. Find something that works and stick to it

I like to keep a list of meals and snacks that I know I like so I always have a go-to when I don’t feel like meal planning. 

For example:

1. Hard-boiled eggs
2. bacon
3. lunch meat and cheese (yummy tip: roll up a pickle and some cream cheese in a piece of lunch meat for a snack or even lunch!)
4. salads
5. avocados
6. chicken fajitas (I use a low card tortilla but you could even go without a tortilla and it still simple and yummy)

So even if I don’t take the time to meal plan, I still go to the store and buy my normal things and use what I have.

Like I said before, it does not need to be a grand event. You just need to get the nutrition in that you need to keep going and maybe by the time your next meal rolls around you will feel like putting more effort in. 

3. Meal prepping

Since we are keeping it simple, the meal prep should be simple too. Here some things that I always do to prep:

• Hard-boil 6 eggs (you can do more or less depending on how much you like them)
• Cook a pound of bacon (you can store it cooked in the fridge and warm what you need in the microwave or skillet)
• Wash and pre-slice your veggies depending on how you plan to use them

I always buy nuts and keep them handy for when I need something crunchy or when I get really hungry and am not in a position to have a meal. Just a couple of nuts can really help the hunger feeling subside. 

If I know it is going to be a busy week then I will make ahead a couple of the meals that I have planned so that I can just grab them and warm them up when I am ready. If you are tracking your macros, measure everything out and store it in the individual sizes so you don’t have to guess.

I read this book called Bright Line Eating by Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D. This is not a Keto diet book but it does talk about the things that happen in our brains when we are trying to change our lifestyle habits. One of the key points that I gleaned from the book was having my meals planned out a day before. By doing this, you take the guesswork out of it. You also feel accountable to yourself to stick to what you have already planned out and in some cases already prepared. This makes you less likely to fall off the wagon when someone asks you, “hey, what are you doing for lunch?”  

4. No complicated recipes with weird ingredients

Not all recipes are bad. I could spend hours on Pinterest looking for new recipes but if you do decide to use recipes, first of all, make sure that you are not using them too much. If you start using recipes all the time then sticking to keto starts to feel like a chore. It becomes much more challenging and honestly a little overwhelming.

Look for recipes that have 5 ingredients or less and try to use things that you already have on hand so that you don’t end up with a grocery list that is a mile long (which is also overwhelming)

Save those really cool recipes for special occasions!

5. Snacks

For me, if I wait to eat until I am super hungry, I am more likely to grab the worst thing I can find. At that hunger point, I feel like I need something greasy and terrible not to mention that I want to eat everything in sight! So it is really important for me to not let myself get to that point. 

So I like to keep some snacky things with me at all times. 

• nuts 
• protein bars
• nut butter pouches
• cheese snacks like Moon Cheese or Just the Cheese.
• pork rinds
• beef jerky or cooked bacon

Having these things around really helps me to stay on track when I am not at home or don’t have a meal prepared. Especially when I am traveling because it is so difficult to find healthy snacks at gas stations or at the airport.

6. Have something prepared

Sometimes I do great, I plan my meals, I get the groceries, I prep ahead as much as possible and everything runs smoothly. 

Sometimes not so much. 

Sometimes I have an exhausting week and the very last thing I want to do is think about shopping or cooking. In that instance, I turn to my freezer. 

Every time I make a meal, I try to freeze one portion of it so that when I am in a bind or don’t feel like cooking, there is something available that will keep me on track.

Also, when I have extra time and money, I make extra meals and portion them out and then put them in the freezer for when life gets a little crazy.

Change is Hard 

Making any type of lifestyle change is difficult but changing the way you eat is super difficult because you can’t just cut food out of your life! You have to continue this love-hate relationship because you need food to survive! 

You have to remember that you are not just going to wake up tomorrow and your life will be completely different because you want to start a new eating program. You have to find ways to make it easy for you. And go easy on yourself because you can’t change everything at once. Start small and once you have made a few changes successfully then make a couple more changes. 

Don’t watch all of these people in these programs and on social media and think “ok, I am going to do exactly what they do” no, you have to set it up to fit your life and your lifestyle or you will never be able to make real changes and stick to them. 

So try something out and if it works, great then stick to it, and if it doesn’t work, then really assess the issue and see why it doesn’t and what needs to change!

Good luck to you and Keto on!