Can you keto and not cook

(Scott) #21

Make the first point of attack to switch from sodas to water. Yes you will hate it at first but you will start losing weight and save some money too. After you are fat adapted you could switch to one or two meals a day and save more. Check out the podcast with Yoggi the trucker for some ideas cooking without a kitchen. Eating out can be expensive and with a little effort you will be a healthier you and have some money put away to show for it.

(Karim Wassef) #22

I travel for work. Before I started fasting, I would do dirty keto and back then, it worked.

When you’re starting, small changes make a huge difference until your body adapts.

You can buy any meat based food (even junk food) and throw away all the plant or sugar based matter.

Get a cheeseburger and only eat the meat and cheese. Throw away everything else.

At a pizza party, peel off the meats and cheeses and throw away the crust.

Chinese - usually the meat is separate from noodles and rice. Throw away the noodles and rice or ask them not to put any.

Convenience stores - I would buy hotdogs and throw away the buns… they still have starchy fillers but it’s still better. Try to get the ones that say all beef.

KFC - grilled dark meat only bucket. Ask for the meat only no sides. Eat it with the skin. No original or crispy. No dipping unless you bring your own that you know is low carb.

Chicken strips - I would peel off the crust and just eat the chicken.

Diners - eggs and bacon to go

Long John’s seafood -: fish or shrimp but peel away and throw the crust.

Sandwich (subways, Quiznos) - take out the meats and throw away the rest.

Cheese and meats - ham, turkey, roast beef, cheeses… make your own cold rolls with mayo… no cooking

Canned fish - tuna, sardines, anchovies, smoked oysters - add mayo and a lime.

Canned meat - spam, even just sliced and microwaved with cheese.

I realize this is wasteful and it’s not a healthy diet long term but it’s where I started.

I eventually got a cheap sous-vide machine and I can cook anything anywhere now.

#23

For the last few months I ate precooked bacon and cream cheese from Costco. It can be done.

(Karim Wassef) #24

I did lettuce, mayo, bacon and ham wraps.

Then I added egg and avocado… and sriracha and lime salt…

It got complicatedly delicious

(mole person) #25

There is plenty you can get from McDonald’s alone. They will do anything bunless, or even in a lettuce wrap at some locations. They also have really nice grilled chicken salads. Add an extra piece or two of the chicken to increase the protein if you like.

(Janet) #26

Also since this thread started, more fast food and restaurants actually have “keto” menu items. Chipotle now has Keto bowls…you could always custom one before this year, now it is one button on the on-line ordering form. Depending on how urban your location, DoorDash, GrubHub etc have menus from restaurants adding “keto”. A nearby Mediterranean restaurant has a new “Keto Menu” (think kebabs with various salads, no pita). Many times the portions are huge so with a mini-fridge, two meals halfs your cost.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #28

Freudian slip :joy:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #29

It’s a good thing because that will kill you eventually, and the beer definitely has to stop as well. You’re going to have to make more changes than most of us did starting out, but it will be worth it if you give it a go. Take the beer out of your fridge, give it to someone you don’t really like much and fill your fridge with good food. Use your hob to scramble eggs (eggs don’t need refrigeration when in the shell uncooked), make soup, stew meats, stir fry vegetables, and give the burgers another go. If they fall apart you can still eat them right? Get canned tuna, sardines and salmon. Make tuna salad, salmon patties whatever you like. But unless you’re happy eating out of cans and pre cooked foods cooking something is going to be a long term keto reality. Get some pickles, olives, sauerkraut and other ready to eat healthy foods and if you go forward with this I promise you’ll see massive improvements in how you feel and that sick feeling that you describe when you look in the mirror will turn to a feeling of pride in your accomplishment. Best luck on this journey my friend. :cowboy_hat_face:

#30

I cook on one ring, an induction thingy from John Lewis which has a timer facility. I don’t have a microwave.

I have a frying pan, a couple of saucepans, and a pressure cooker. I also have a stick bender.

I can make anything: anything fried, stews and braises, steamed and boiled stuff, pates and mayonnaise.

I can cook for two or twenty. I’ve been doing this for about two years: it’s perfect and simple and I almost dread having a ‘proper’ kitchen.

So I’d say, don’t waste your money on something someone else has cooked, spend a hundred quid on a tiny, simple kitchen. x

(Karim Wassef) #31

There are lots of videos on crock pot keto…

(Karim Wassef) #32

I struggled with this when I started. I had so much “bad” food and I was brought up never to waste food.

But giving it to friends or family would be like pushing bad drugs on them. But throwing it away felt wrong too. Never thought of giving it to people I don’t like… don’t really keep track of those :joy:

In the end, I decided that throwing that food away was preferable to throwing my health away.

(Jamie) #33

Following as I’m looking for ideas when bikepacking. I go cookless to not carry kitchen stuff, but the new keto addition in my life has complicated this a bit.

Even better i hope to be riding through areas where i will be days between towns so spoil-free, no-cook, meals for days that pack light is the challenge. Lol

:sunglasses:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #34

I have a friend who’s an elder in the Mormon church. They run a food bank for families in crisis. I gave him 7 giant boxes of canned foods, pasta and rice noodles, about 30 lbs of rice and beans, a bunch of stuff from my freezer and fridge. I felt a little troubled by giving what I had decided was poison to people that were desperate for food. But after thinking about it I realized full kids are better off than hungry ones and those people would get more benefit from having that food than the landfill would. So it made me feel good because I did something good for myself and some people in need at the same time. :cowboy_hat_face:

(mole person) #35

It’s not that hard actually. I find nice high fat salamis, and cheeses that don’t need any refrigeration at my larger grocery stores, also pack a bunch of hard boiled eggs. As long as the shells stay on they are safe for days. Finally, pack some nuts. Normally I’m the last person to recommend nuts because I can binge eat them and gain weight easily, but I make exceptions for when I’m doing a ton of exercise like a big hiking or canoeing camping trip.

(Running from stupidity) #36

It’s more important at this point to be making the required lifestyle changes than imposing LONG fasts when people are not necessarily fat adapted, IMHO. I know this place is very often completely freaky about fasting being the solution to everything for everyone all the time, but it’s NOT the priority here, IMHO. Baby steps are fine.

(MooBoom) #37

I really couldn’t agree more. Fasting right off the bat is much more difficult when not fat adapted, and I worry it’ll lead to disordered thinking about food. Fasting is awesome when your body naturally tells you to do it. Otherwise, why torture yourself? Especially if you’re a newbie. It’s a big enough deal just to learn how to DO keto without being hungry to boot.

(Alec) #38

I reckon it is quite possible to do keto with no cooking. Here’s my menu:

  1. Cold cut cooked meats (eg ham, chicken, pork, beef, salami) with mayo
  2. Pate with butter
  3. Cheese with seed crackers
  4. Coffee with cream
  5. Cooked meats in cans eg spam with butter or mayo
  6. Avacados
  7. Pork rinds
  8. Smoked salmon with cream cheese
  9. Sushi
  10. Keto burgers (pic below): ask any decent cafe, and they should be able to do one for you?

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(Karim Wassef) #39

Avocado and smoked salmon… yup!!

(Robert C) #40

I wasn’t recommending fasting over Keto for the general case - it is not usually the best solution (and is more difficult if not fat-adapted).

I was just adding an alternative considering the situation here - work schedule, inability to cook, money is an issue, high starting weight etc. I think those are all factors that work against compliance on a burgers-throw-away-the-bun, ketofied subway, spam etc. Keto plan because it would be too easy to run off the rails with hyper-palatable foods (regularly going in to fast food places and throwing away half the order for months would be difficult for some I think).

For fasting to be a viable alternative, the poster would have to decide if they are able to comply better with a non-cooking snacky and best-of-fast-food-throw-away-the-bun foods or whether they are more an “all or nothing” person that would have trouble with compliance eating those foods each night vs. simple fasting.

Just as with carbs - those kinds of foods (and food establishments) are a slippery slope for some people.

(Kieran Paget) #41

I pretty much fast everyday anyway, I’ve been in the same routine for years, don’t normally have meal till around 3pm and after that just a load of drinks, fasting won’t be a issue however 5 day fast I don’t think I have the stomach for that not just yet. Appreciate the suggestion.