Struggling Keto Newbie

#1

Hello all!

I’m here mostly because I have absolutely zero support network in my life, and I’m wanting to make a significant life change by eating healthier and eating Keto.

A little about me, I’m a full time working, full time college attending mother of a lovely 4 year old. I am 5’ 3", and I used to be barely 110lbs…until I tore the muscles in my lower back that put me in a week of bed rest and was diagnosed with bursitis in my hips when I was 15 years old. Since, even getting up to go to the bathroom is a painful endeavor, and I am now floating around 230lbs+pre type 2 diabetic. Hence, Keto.

I’ve done a ton of research, and I know everything I need to about my own personal macros. My main issue is other dietary, budget, and time restrictions that make Keto near impossible, so I’m here praying for some guidance.

Allergies:
Seafood, all fish and shellfish
Almonds, most nuts
Coconut
And tofu makes me gag.

Nearly every Keto recipe I find includes one of those items.

Also, I’m on a huge time crunch with all my responsibilities. I can do meal prep on sundays for the week, that’s perfectly fine. What I can’t do however is spend a couple hours at the store stocking up on fresh veggies every week (I do biweeklytrips with my paydays, and most veggies don’t last two weeks) AND doing the meal prep. I simply don’t have the time, and lord knows my completely unhelpful and unsupportive husband wouldn’t assist in any shape or fashion.

So, what I really need help with, are Keto lunches I can take to the office with me (microwave available) that don’t include my allergies, and isn’t salad every single day, meal prepped lunches are fine like freezable things as long as I’m not eating the same thing every day for the rest of my life, as well as Keto friendly dinners that don’t include any seafood, coconut/nuts, and tofu. Dinners have minimal time restrictions as my husband gets home 2 hours before me, and the one thing he is good for is if I leave a recipe on the stove that morning, he will have dinner ready when I’m home.

PS - a caring and supportive community is fantastic! :slight_smile:

(Carpe salata!) #2

He will have dinner ready!? You really struck gold.

I was doing this for lunches for quite a while: fine chopped celery+cucumber+ bell pepper. I used a mandolin slicer. Douse with apple cider vinegar and lots of mayo. Dish into glass bowls with lid and store in fridge - take one to work each day. They seemed to keep forever maybe it was the vinegar. It was like eating a bowl of milky cereal for lunch yum. You could add any keto stuff … salami, cheese, nuts … whatever - I only had it plain.

Now I am just one meal a day - oh the convenience :slight_smile:

(Deb) #3

A lot of people use leftovers from dinner the night before for lunch the next day…just make more. Or if you’re a LOT lazier like me, make a whole crockpot of something and make it last all week! Just change it up a little from day to day.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

Frozen vegetables will last until you use them. Perhaps not quite as good as fresh, but in your circumstances they might be a great help.

(Ellen) #5

Chilli without the beans, curry, stews, all things you can make a big batch of and freeze for later. Frozen veg sounds like the way forward for you. Hope this helps you a bit :grinning:

#6

Make large sausage patties (1/4lb) grab some spinach leaves and mozzarella and scrunch into a ball in your hand. Put in middle of Pattie and form into a large meatball. Fry until brown and cooked. Can be stored in fridge and microwaved, or frozen raw and defrosted. Make a little sauce with some chopped onion/garlic and 2 tablespoons of chopped can tomatoes to go over the top.

(Ellen) #7

Oh my that sounds lush, I’ll have to try that at the weekend :yum:

#8

You have lots of options. I do not eat pork, will not voluntarily eat most fish (if I am stuck at a dinner where the only thing served is fish I will eat it but otherwise no) and cannot stand the gristle on meat and I have been Keto for 5 months. It is easy. As for flour, you can try soy flour instead and I am sure there are other substitutes.

Avocados, avocado oil for higher heat cooking and small low carb prepared quacamole tubs are excellent
I eat some salad but not much at all

#9

Get Aldi sausage in a chub for $1.99. Contains only pork and fat, no fillers.

(Ellen) #10

Not sure they do that in the UK but will have a look, thanks.

(Cailyn Mc Cauley) #11

I’m new at this too. My husband also cooks dinner every night.

I’d go with crockpot / instant pot prepped meals on sundays for the week. I give him the recipes and he makes dinner during the week for us. But I am only eating a small protein with lots of butter for dinner.

I make tzikiti (not sure of the spelling ) sauce and toss in cucumber, peppers and place in a snack sized ziploc bag. I baggie spinach or kale with a paper towel into a second, larger ziploc bag.

I put my crockpot/instant pot meal in a glass dish, put in my two baggies (1 tzikiti and 1 greens) and close up. Each day during the week I grab a dish depending on what suits my mood.

I decided to have my salad at lunch to give my body time to process the raw veg. I leave the steaks and bacon for my other meal. Because after 6 weeks, I’m down to a good breakfast, light lunch and snack dinner. Usually a piece of steak smothered in seasoned butter.

You can do this!

(Crippie) #12

My go to lunch has become salami and cheese.

I buy a nice block of smoked Gouda and chop off some squares about 3oz, and 6-10 slices of salami. munch on that when i get hungry at work.

Bulltetproof coffee is also a lifesaver for me. I bring a LARGE mug of that and drink it until about 11am and don’t get hungry until late afternoon.

Once you get more fat adapted down the line you may even find that you start IFing and don’t even need to bring a lunch anymore, thats what happened to me, I used to eat lunch religiously, but it go to the point where I wasn’t hungry at that time so I skipped it. Now I just bring my coffee, and then the “snack pack” of salami and cheese in case I get hungry.

But for now you probably need lunch so here are some lunches I did in the beginning:

  1. Pickle Rolls - Slice of ham(or other lunch meat), put on a spoonful of cream cheese, a dash of mustard, throw a small pickle on it and roll it up.

  2. Tuna Salad or chicken salad - Just a can of tun mixed with some sour cream, mayo, mustard, bacon bits, pickle, season, hot sauce, anything keto really.

  3. Regular salad - lots of fatty dressing on top. And bacon bits!

  4. Bacon!: - I have even just made a couple packs of bacon before on a Sunday and then take half a dozen slices for lunch.

  5. Side Dishes - I would take any of the above, and maybe a hard boiled egg or two, maybe some string cheese or cheese sticks. Sometime i would take almonds, but that doesn’t help you :-/

I am sure there are more, but they are not coming to me at the moment. If i think of them I will post them. Those were my go-to’s though

#13

UK still has REAL Butchers? Ground pork and ask them to add the fat. Season to taste and make recipe.

(Ellen) #14

Not as many as we used to unfortunately, but good thinking Batman! I’ll google my nearest (I hesitate to say local).

(bulkbiker) #15

You can get 97% sausages in most UK supermarkets… Heck,or Waitrose own brand or M&S all do them and I imagine most others do as well… just ditch the skins and you have sausage meat.

(Sarah) #16

Now that it’s soup season I made chicken bone broth soup. I took a whole chicken cooked over night. When I got home from work I deboned it and the bones were so soft from the 2 Table spoons of brags vinegar I added to the water. Then I added the meat back with coconut oil l, the low carb noodles that are make from tubers. A bag of frozen low carb veggies and a couple scoops of bone broth powder I got from the health food store. I also cooked the chicken with a chopped onion and two bay leaves. It’s delicious and my husband has no idea they were tubers and not real pasta.

(Richard Hanson) #17

Hi Telkari,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations for making the bold, even courageous move to move to a ketogenic diet. You will, if like almost everyone, be just amazed at how much better you are going to feel.

One of the best suggestions was leftovers from dinner the night before. Making an extra portion each night should involve almost no extra effort, even for your husband. :wink:

You don’t need huge piles of vegetables. Two cups of green leafy vegetables and one cup of a low carb veg will work great. At least for the first few days after a shopping trip you can have a fresh salad. When I do that I will add some cheese, olive oil, vinegar, and I like the bold flavors in pepperoni.

Other days, cheese, fatty cold cuts, frozen veg with butter steamed in a microwave, lots of options and keto leftovers.

For myself, I eat lots of items for lunch, monotonously, that are on your do not eat list. I tend to just have a keto coffee in the morning and then mostly fats at lunch and I save almost all of my protein intake for dinner with my family. I think it is important to make sure you don’t let your food choices isolate you from the social aspects of eating with those you love.

Keto for Life!

Warmest Regards,
Richard

(Vicki Stroud) #18

My Go To, I hard boil a bunch of eggs and either heat them up and add 1 T of Butter or mash before I would need to take them somewhere, and add the butter put in a container. Salt and pepper of course.
Egg and 1 T of Butter is 180 Cal, 17 g Fat, 1 ish g Carb, 6 g protein. 85% fat, 2% Carb, 13% protein

(VLC.MD) #19

Fantastic

(Consensus is Politics) #20

And if you are in a rush in the morning, just forgo the syrup.