The best Keto hacks if you’re contemplating a low-carb lifestyle

Ultimate Keto Hacks

I decided to try Keto at the start of the year as a way to kick off my fitness journey. While my ultimate goal was (and still is) to be strong, fit and healthy, I’d put on a solid 15 pounds during quarantine and just didn’t feel good in my own skin. I figured the accelerated weight loss promised by the keto diet would get me off to a good start.

When I first heard of keto, it sounded a bit scary. The idea of eating a ton of fats (yum, cheese! Not so sure about lots of butter and cream and well… fat?!), and very little carbohydrates (goodbye bread, cereal and oatmeal, and…. Fruits and vegetables?!) sounded a bit counterintuitive to me for someone trying to lose weight. But after reading a ton of studies and articles about the pros and cons of keto, my key takeaways were:

• it was actually considered to be a safe diet for most people (as always, major changes to lifestyle including diet and exercise should be run by a physician)
• it has reported upsides in addition to rapid weight loss, including increased energy, reduced brain fog, and the ability to eat copious amounts of CHEESE!!!
• because it hasn’t been around for a super long time, the jury is out on whether it’s okay to continue for a long time, but 3–6 months is generally seen as fine, and
• apparently, most people stop doing it because they find it unsustainable eating less than 20g of net carbs each day.

Not seeing a lot of downsides, I decided to take the plunge.

I have really enjoyed my keto journey, and while I’m slowly starting to incorporate carbs back into my diet (bc I LOVE fruits and vegetables way too much to give them up permanently or only eat in very strict moderation), I will continue to adhere to more of a low-carb lifestyle going forward.

So let’s get to the life-changing hacks:

Tips for Success

Keto Chow (www.ketochow.com) — it can be hard to get all your protein in, especially when you’re new to keto; and while it can be fun to eat a ton of meat-based protein at first, sometimes you just want to mix things up. Keto Chow is a protein-packed shake that comes in powder form in a ton of delicious flavours (my favourites are Caramel Macchiato and Banana) — they even have a couple of savoury options that can be turned into soups and other dishes. I’ve played around with incorporating Keto Chow into brunch items like pancakes and waffles and cannot recommend it enough.

Carb Manager (www.carbmanager.com) — I’ve found this app to be extremely helpful for tracking net carbs, and macros generally. Recipes on this site are typically accurate, and it’s fairly easy to add your own items. I find the circles representing each macro to be motivating and informative, and they also run net carb challenges and show you your net carb ‘streak’, for those who are into gamifying their nutrition!

Factor_ — This company knows what’s up. In fact, even as I start to slightly up my carb intake, I’m going to continue with their convenient meal plans. Previously known as Factor75, this is a meal subscription service that places a strong emphasis on ketogenic and low-carb offerings. They’re regularly making improvements to their existing recipes and introducing new ones, and it saves me so much time that I can spend with family and friends, working out, and writing articles like this! Click here for $40 off your first order (https://try.factor75.com/refer-a-friend?referral=4QQXW)

Thin Slim Foods (www.thinslimfoods.com) — you’re likely going to miss carbs, but this sneaky devil of a company makes amazing bagels, breads, corn chips and even pizza bases with literally ZERO (or very few, depending on the item) CARBS!!! Note: I could NOT get behind their pasta… texture is straight up weird, folks. So indulge and enjoy with no net carb guilt, mama!!!!

HighKey (www.highkey.com) — craving cereal? Enjoy banana bread? Get here!! This magical company produces amazing zero-carb cereals in flavours like Fruity, Cocoa, Cinnamon and breakfast muffins (Banana and Mixed Berry), and the most amazing maple brown sugar hot cereal. They continue to innovate (they have a savoury cracker option that just came out and I have yet to try), and I can’t wait to see what this company does next. 10/10 recommend!

Ultima Replenisher — one of the first things you’re going to want to do when you go on keto is get on top of your newly-found electrolytes needs. Through a process of trial and error, I found out that I LOVE the lemonade flavor and don’t really like any of the others. Zero net carbs and makes drinking water a treat. Thrive Market (www.thrivemarket.com) occasionally runs specials on keto items so if you’re a member, keep a look out. Otherwise, this product is easily found on Amazon.

Raspberries!! Just a general shout-out to raspberries, bc they’re one of the lowest-net carb fruits, meaning you can enjoy them in… perhaps not abundance, but you can still eat them on keto :)

I’ll continue to add to this list as I think of other things, but this is a good start for you if you’re trying to go keto in an enjoyable way. Cheers!