keto diet grocery list

The Ultimate Keto Diet Guide & Grocery List For Beginners

keto diet guide for beginners

Congrats on making the decision to lose weight fast with a keto diet. It’s a decision that will make a big impact on your lifestyle, food, your overall health.

The keto diet, while very beneficial, is also a serious commitment. It will take some time to get used to the different restrictions and portions but with the right guides and keto hacks, you’ll be glad you started.

This keto diet grocery list also starts with some general keto diet tips that you will find very useful as you start this journey. Keep reading and be prepared to start the keto diet the right way.

Here’s what included in this article:

-How To Calculate Macros On Keto

-Keto Cookbooks

-Keto Weekly Meal Plans

-How To Know When You’re In Ketosis

-Keto Diet Grocery List

Keto Diet 101: How To Make The keto Diet Easy To Stick To

When you first start a keto diet, it’s very easy to get too excited and go overboard on purchases. However, you don’t need to purchase every keto-related item on the internet because you just don’t need them in the beginning.

Keto is simple.

The ingredients, recipes, and process are easy to grasp and the lifestyle is adaptable if you embrace it.

High-quality meats, fats, and a variety of low carb veggies will get you started. Everything else is optional.

You’ll soon discover that there are many complicated keto recipes; some of which may seek to duplicate everything that you’ve had before you started a low carb diet.

The more advanced keto-ers will be able to appreciate the flavour in these foods but as a beginner on the keto diet, it’s a great idea to give yourself some time to get used to the new foods and keto substitutes. 

A simple collection of easy and delicious recipes like the ones in these keto cookbooks are enough to get you on the right track.

Using a Keto Calculator to Calculate Macros

The right keto calculator will help you to determine the right macronutrient portions to stick to so that you can lose weight fast on keto.

While the standard keto diet macro ranges are very helpful for beginners, having a specific figure will get you quicker results and remove the guesswork.

The keto calculator that I use is from Tasteaholics. It is completely free and can help you to determine your calorie intake and macro ranges for keto.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE KETO CALCULATOR

Ketogenic Cookbooks

As mentioned above, using keto cookbooks are a great way to maximize your ingredients and master the keto diet quickly.

Our favorite keto cookbooks are the Keto in Five cookbook bundle that contain 120 keto recipes in total. All meals contain less than 5g carbs, which eliminates the guesswork for you.

There are 4 Keto in Five books and they are broken down by the type of meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. You can read a full review on the keto cookbooks here.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE KETO IN 5 COOKBOOKS

Keto Weekly Meal Plan

Planning is your friend on a keto diet.

Now that you have your macros and recipes, you’re ready to explore the keto meal plans that will make your life so much easier.

When you have a set plan of what you’re going to eat and a strategy in place for curbing any sugar cravings that may pop up, you can get into ketosis faster and find the keto diet easier to follow.

I’ve created a sample 7 day keto meal plan and curated lists of the best keto breakfasts, dinners, and desserts. You can explore these to add to your meal plan.

You can also go the easier route and get your weekly keto meal plan delivered to your inbox. This provides more structure and includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks with all the carbs and calories worked out for you.

CLICK HERE FOR KETO MEAL PLAN FREE TRIAL

keto diet guide and grocery list for beginners free pdf

How to Know When You’re in Ketosis

When you are in ketosis, your body is effectively using fat for energy instead of carbs.

Because your body is new to this metabolic shift, you may experience some side effects in the first couple of days. These are commonly referred to as the keto flu.

These are the likely symptoms of the keto flu:

  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Muscle cramps
  • Runny nose/sneezing
  • Mild insomnia
  • Constipation
  • Sluggishness

Experiencing these will signal that you are entering into ketosis but the only way to know for sure is to by using ketone strips to measure the level of ketones in your urine.


Because it’s not fun to have keto flu symptoms, it’s best to take steps to avoid keto flu. If you’re already having keto flu, then these tips will help to minimize and help you to feel better.

1- Add pink Himalayan salt to your food and beverages

Because if the high mineral content in this salt, you can reap a wide range of benefits that will help you through keto. It helps to balance your blood sugar levels, is rich in magnesium, and also helps to regulate your sleep.

–> Get Pink Himalayan Salt

2- Get electrolytes and supplements

The best way to get electrolytes into your body is to get the right supplements. Hi-Lyte is a great option that can help to alleviate or prevent dehydration and insomnia.

It’s a high combination of minerals including potassium, zinc and magnesium. It also contains no carbs and no calories.

–> Get Hi-Lyte Electrolyte Concentrate here

3- Stay as hydrated as possible

This is where good ol’ water comes in. Try to drink your recommended daily water intake because this will prevent dehydration and promote more clarity.

Keto Diet Grocery List

what to buy for a ketogenic diet

Now, this is where the magic happens- the keto diet grocery list. It’s a refreshing blend of whole foods, high quality proteins, and healthy fats.

When purchasing food on any kind of low carb diet, you want to be extra careful with packaged products because they have a lot of sneaky ingredients.

Because of the many brands that are available, the best thing is to read the ingredient labels carefully to ensure that you don’t use products that have sugar lurking under weird names.

Added sugar is in 74% of packaged foods, even the ones you didn’t think would have added sugar.

As a matter of fact, let’s look at some of those alternative sugar names so that you can avoid them.

Alternative Names For Sugar on Food Labels

The most common alternative names for sugar are:

  • Sucrose
  • Fructose
  • Maltos
  • Dextrose
  • Dextrin
  • Glucose
  • Honey
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Cane juice
  • Cane juice crystals
  • Barley malt
  • Caramel
  • Coconut palm sugar
  • Corn sweetener
  • Corn syrup
  • Malt syrup
  • Rice syrup
  • Maltol
  • Maltodextrin

Whew!

That’s a long list but just the top alternative sugar names to look out for if you purchase packaged foods.

If you would like to use sugar substitutes while on the keto diet, you can read this article because it will explain the types of keto sweeteners and how you can use them for baking and cooking.

Keto Diet Grocery List For Beginners

These are just some of the foods that are easily available and that low carb dieters eat the most on the keto diet. You don’t have to get all the substitutes because they are quite expensive and can add up.

These keto foods are enough for you to get started and start reaping the benefits of the keto diet.

 

RELATED: 101 No Carb Foods For Weight Loss

Protein

  • Chicken
  • Minced chicken
  • Beef Steak
  • Minced beef
  • Bacon
  • Pork Chops
  • Salmon
  • Tuna
  • Sardines
  • Eggs

Fats

  • Grass-Fed butter
  • Avocado oil
  • Olive Oil
  • Avocado
  • Nuts
  • Coconut Oil
  • MCT-Oil
  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Full fat milk
  • Full fat cheese

Carbs

  • Zucchini
  • Squash
  • Artichokes
  • Mushrooms
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Mushrooms
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Raspberries
  • Melon
  • Cucumber

RELATED: 7 Ways to Enjoy Fruits on the Keto Diet While Staying in Ketosis

Here’s a full list of 101 keto diet foods that you can read for waayyyy more keto food options. You can download the picture below or download the full free keto diet grocery list PDF from our resource library.

keto diet grocery list printable pdf

So there you have it!

The ultimate keto diet grocery list plus some keto tips that will make it a lot more fun and easy to stick with. If you’re ready to lose weight on the keto diet, you can read this quick and simple guide to lose up to 50 pounds on keto.

Also, find out about how to transition off the keto diet when you’ve reached your weight loss goals.

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