How do people get calories on a budget on keto?

[Shiznown]

I was thinking of trying keto, but I'm concerned even in a calorie deficit that I won't get enough calories. I'd like to hold on to as much muscle as possible and my guess would be starting out around 2,200 calories. If you search anything about keto, no one talks about this. So what am I supposed to just eat 2 pounds of cheese a day? For reference I'm a little over 6 foot and 255 pounds.

 

[Hyde]

Assuming hunger is a non-issue but health and money are, buy olive oil or avocado oil in bulk and drink up.

Cheese really isn’t a health conscious way to get the macros in, unless you are natural and also have lower than average cholesterol levels or just find high cholesterol intake doesn’t move your lipids much.

 

[Hyde]

It was definitely bad for my lipids, but intermittent fasting combined with a big fatty steak cooked with love every night does hit the spot and can be semi-affordable (assuming you can spend $15 a day or so). Add some nut butter and a cheaper protein meal earlier on like some chicken thighs, 80/20 ground beef burgers or a plate of eggs and it kind of works out. But this is genuinely bad for my arterial health I’ve found.

I think to keep keto heart healthy, it probably shouldn’t be carnivore-esque. It should be heavy on healthy fats like avocado, olives, maybe coconut, nuts, a few leafy or cruciferous greens, fatty fish, and lean animal protein like chicken breast to dial in the last bits of protein. And this isn’t really a true keto 90/10, more like a bodybuilder 70/30 macro split.

 

[Kronic]

some of the cheapest foods are eggs and milk. I believe fish is cheaper than mammal meats. liver is fairly cheap too. look for a local butcher or farm for possible bulk prices

 

[natureman4]

I was on keto and carnivore for long periods without any serious consequences for my lipids. May be a matter of individual difference or how closely to stick with it and may be even less the case if you're on anabolics. Advice would depend on what precisely the issue is but I like Hyde's above, and bulk local meat can also help if you have lots of freezer space. You can get a lot of calories in cheap vegetarian side dishes too- my favorite used to be kale sauteed in sesame oil with tons of spices, lemon juice, avocado and chopped walnuts.

 

[Shiznown]

It was definitely bad for my lipids, but intermittent fasting combined with a big fatty steak cooked with love every night does hit the spot and can be semi-affordable (assuming you can spend $15 a day or so). Add some nut butter and a cheaper protein meal earlier on like some chicken thighs, 80/20 ground beef burgers or a plate of eggs and it kind of works out. But this is genuinely bad for my arterial health I’ve found.

I think to keep keto heart healthy, it probably shouldn’t be carnivore-esque. It should be heavy on healthy fats like avocado, olives, maybe coconut, nuts, a few leafy or cruciferous greens, fatty fish, and lean animal protein like chicken breast to dial in the last bits of protein. And this isn’t really a true keto 90/10, more like a bodybuilder 70/30 macro split.

Cholesterol has never been an issue. It's always fine, but sodium is a different story.

 

[Shiznown]

Well I have obstructive sleep apnea and I want to loose fat as fast as possible. I've tried dieting before, but I've never tried something like keto, I've only ever lowered calories with limited success. I think I may just be very carb sensitive. I pretty much am not worried about building anymore muscle, as I think I'm at my limit, or close to it naturally. I am just afraid of loosing strength and muscle mass.

 

[Hyde]

Cholesterol has never been an issue. It's always fine, but sodium is a different story.

They’re not cheap like they once were, and will probably be going up, but like Kronic mentioned eggs are still a terrific source of calories and nutrition if you don’t believe dietary cholesterol will be an issue. Even a dozen a day is still extremely affordable.

For me they are a definite no-go based on bloodwork, but that’s genetics and steroid use responsible for that.

NuSalt or a comparable granulated potassium product can help balance out sodium if you can’t get enough in from vegetables and such without overdoing net carbs to stay keto. V8 low sodium tomato juice can be a trick to drink a large amount of net granulated potassium (which otherwise doesn’t taste very good).

That being said, you generally need radically more sodium when eating keto, so I strongly urge you not to add potassium initially and don’t shy away from salt until you see what your hydration & bloating actually does in the absence of carbs. It’s common for keto folks to need over 5g of salt daily, and definitely less potassium, to maintain balanced hydration.

Well I have obstructive sleep apnea and I want to loose fat as fast as possible. I've tried dieting before, but I've never tried something like keto, I've only ever lowered calories with limited success. I think I may just be very carb sensitive. I pretty much am not worried about building anymore muscle, as I think I'm at my limit, or close to it naturally. I am just afraid of loosing strength and muscle mass.

I’ve heard bodybuilding/diet coach Skip Hill say it best: you are not “carb sensitive”. You are calorie sensitive. You don’t need as many calories as you prefer to consume and you find it easy to gain weight and tougher to lose it. Carbs offer relatively little satiety, comparatively, as a macro.

 

[Smont]

First let's learn what keto really is because it's a terrible diet for maintaining or building muscle. A real keto diet is low protein, very low to no carbs and very high fat.

A true keto diet macro split is 5% carbs, 20-25%protein and 70-75% fat.

Don't do it.

Moderate to high protein, moderate fat and very low carbs is going to do you a lot more justice for maintaining muscle and your health.

There's no way In hell getting 75% of your calories from fat is going to be healthy.

Anyway, here's a list of cheap foods that will be good for a low carb diet.

Whole eggs, chicken leg quarters, ground beef, cheese, protein powder, Greek yogurt, heavy cream, nut butters.

Quality Fish and beef are expensive, but canned fish and pork chops on the bone are fairly cheap replacement foods.

Then of course you have vegetables, there's plenty of low carb veggies.

Keto breads are pretty gross in my opinion but there are some ok keto wraps that you can use as a pizza crust to make some fire flatbread pizzas.

Also, go to YouTube. There are plenty of ketotards who have gone to the extrema to find keto meal ideas.

Remington James is about as ketarded as it gets. This guy spent like 2 years on a keto kick

 

[Smont]

Also, I like to throw this out there to ppl because I'm not a keto fan but I do like low carb diets.

Eliminate processed garbage and soft drinks and eat......

Meat, fruit and vegetables. It's as simple as that. If you only allow yourself lean meat, fruit and vegetables you will loose weight.

No1 has ever gotten fat from eating chicken and broccoli, ground turkey and asparagus with a few pieces of fruit to snack on.



I've never thought to myself..... Man I shouldn't have ate that seccond chicken breast, or I really over did the apples yesterday lol

 

[Shiznown]

So what would you suggest on macros? Truth is a lot of bread actually upsets my stomach, but this doesn't seem to be a gluten issue as I have no issue with pasta, or noodles and I love Chinese food and that never gives me issues. It's just always grocery store bread. I did try to have not keto, but a diet with very simple carbs like brown rice and potatoes. I wonder if I stick longer to that if it'll help.

 

[Hyde]

So what would you suggest on macros? Truth is a lot of bread actually upsets my stomach, but this doesn't seem to be a gluten issue as I have no issue with pasta, or noodles and I love Chinese food and that never gives me issues. It's just always grocery store bread. I did try to have not keto, but a diet with very simple carbs like brown rice and potatoes. I wonder if I stick longer to that if it'll help.

You will have to stick to this or any diet for it to work. You spent a lot of time getting your weight up; it’s not going to fall off overnight.

 

[Kronic]

So what would you suggest on macros? Truth is a lot of bread actually upsets my stomach, but this doesn't seem to be a gluten issue as I have no issue with pasta, or noodles and I love Chinese food and that never gives me issues. It's just always grocery store bread. I did try to have not keto, but a diet with very simple carbs like brown rice and potatoes. I wonder if I stick longer to that if it'll help.

probably glyphosate. I noticed this too. but if I make pancakes with my own flour it's fine. sometimes I even get itchy after eating a bunch of bread. gonna try some more brands