If you’ve been eating the same foods over and over trying to stick with a low-carb, keto-friendly diet, it won’t take long before boredom sets in, increasing the odds of getting off track. In 2020, according to Bolst Global, “keto” was the world’s most Googled food-related topic with more than 25 million searchers.
While the benefits of the diet can include everything from weight loss to energy boosts, if you’ve been on it, you’ll need to switch things up now and again so that you can stick with it without going insane, or driving everyone else around you insane.
Here’s how you can jazz up that diet and stay motivated to reach whatever goals you might have.
Visit a Farmer’s Market
One of the best ways to find some new keto-friendly foods is to visit a farmer’s market. Visit your local market or one in a town nearby to browse the low-carb fruits and veggies grown by farmers in the area. Many will be happy to provide ideas as to how to prepare them and various ways to use them. You’ll often find all sorts of poultry and meats, including grass-fed bison and beef, free-range chicken, and eggs. If you live on or near the coast, perhaps some wild-caught fish and seafood too.
Try More Unique Condiments
The right condiment can take almost any dish from blah to exciting, especially bacon jam. Bacon is such a common ingredient in keto diets as it’s high in protein and fat yet low in carbs, and while it might sound a little odd the first time you hear about it, it’s absolutely mouthwatering. Plus, it’s made using ingredients most people following a low-carb diet would already have in their kitchen. Make your own or buy it, it’s available in online gourmet food shops as well as some brick-and-mortar stores.
You can use bacon jam on a burger or even on top of a juicy steak. It’s amazing on eggs, added to a charcuterie board, or as a dip for just about anything.
Walk on the Wild Side
How about some exotic meats you don’t normally eat? Something other than your standard beef or leg of lamb. Think everything from venison and bison to elk, antelope, wild boar, ostrich, yak, or even frog legs. By visiting your local butcher shops, you might find some rather interesting cuts of meat to jazz things up.
Discover New Recipes via Pinterest
In addition to buying a new keto cookbook, use Pinterest. You can find all sorts of keto recipes on the site and even create a Pinterest board for those who want to try. You might want to make two, one for those you’ve already tried and love and another for those you’d like to try in the future so you don’t have to sort through a ton of them to find what you’re craving.
Try Carbing Up Occasionally
While a keto diet is all about low carbs, doing a keto carb-up refers to intentionally eating more carbs for a meal (or a day) once a week or a few times each month. It helps to prevent boredom so that you don’t feel deprived, making it easier to stick to the diet for the long haul. It also allows you to stay in ketosis while still enjoying carbs, improving sleeping, immune function, and boosting levels of that feel-good hormone, serotonin.
