The most challenging thing for most people when starting on a ketogenic diet is what foods to buy at the grocery store.
What we buy while grocery shopping can become very habitual. If you’re like most North Americans, your grocery cart is likely pretty full of carb-rich foods by the time you get to the cash register.
This article is a QUICK START guide to a keto friendly grocery list.
If you’re brand new to the idea of a keto diet, the basic premise is you’re shifting your daily caloric intake from carb and sugar heavy to primary fats, lean protein and only 5-10% from carbs.
This article is broken down into the different areas of your diet you must monitor to be successful with Keto. They are:
- Healthy Fats, Oils, and non-starchy Vegetables
- Protein
- Carbs
I’ll provide some examples for each area to get you started so that on your next trip to the grocery store you can fill up your cart right!
Healthy Fats & Oils
The goal of a keto diet is to consume 60-75% of your daily calories from healthy fats.
What are healthy fats?
Think things like avocados, nuts & seeds, oils, creams cheeses and butter (grass fed & organic when possible).
Ideal grocery list items for this category are:
- Cheeses
- Avocado
- Chia seeds and Hemp Hearts
- Sunflower Seeds
- Walnuts and Cashews
- Nut and Seed butter (sugar-free of course)
- Eggs
- Fish (salmon, tuna, cod, halibut, trout etc.)
- Cooking oils (Avocado and Coconut)
Protein
On a ketogenic diet, your goal is to get 20-25% of your daily calories from protein.
A couple of the items listed above and healthy fats and oils also contain protein. For example, nuts, seeds and fish all generally are great sources of protein as well. Beyond fish, unless you’re vegan or vegetarian, you will want to include some or all of these protein items on your grocery list as well:
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Beef
- Pork
- Wildgame (if you’re up for it)
Full-fat dairy products, such as cottage cheese and greek yogurt, in lesser amounts, are great as well.
Carbohydrates
While the goal of Keto is to cut most carbohydrates and sugars, we still want to aim for 5% of our daily calories from some types of carbs.
Don’t think bread and muffins here though. Instead think legumes (beans, lentils) and fruit.
A few items to add to your keto grocery shopping list for carbohydrates are:
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Apples or pears
- Green peas or beans
Shifting away from carbohydrates is one of the hardest parts of going on a ketogenic diet.
The easiest way to stick to your goal with Keto is simply not to buy the junky carbs that we so often crave. When they’re not in the house, they’re a lot harder to eat!
Make Your List!
A grocery shopping trip is always more successful when you make a list rather than just “wing it”.
By taking a few minutes to think about what you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the next few days you can set yourself up for success, buying the foods you’ll need.
For a more in-depth explanation and guide to successfully following a Ketogenic diet check out my Keto Bootcamp Program. I also provide tips from my own personal grocery shopping list as well as some of my favourite recipes.