How to stay Keto during the Holidays: 10 best tips!
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The holidays, for some Christmas are approaching and with it lots of questions:
How do you stay Keto or Low Carb for the year end holidays?
What Keto friendly meals would still make you feel like your endulging and celebrating?
What Keto dish could you bring if you're celebrating with others? and
Should you stay Keto for the Holidays?
This post will give you 10 Keto Tips for the Holidays / Christmas that will hopefully help with the questions and allow you to prepare and enjoy the holidays with your family and / or friends!
Without further ado, the Top 10 list - click the one you’re curious about or scroll through all. From recipe ideas, favorite products, best substitutions and a year end note from me.
Enjoy your cookies - in a Keto friendly way!
Keto friendly Stocking Stuffers and Gift Ideas
The menu - See Keto friendly alternatives rather than restrictions
Make your own thanks to Keto friendly products and show off!
Buy from Keto friendly stores or get ready-made meals
Watch the portions. Calories matter on Keto too!
Don’t forget to plan for Keto friendly drinks
No need to share that you eat Keto or Low Carb
Cut yourself some slack - it’s ONE day but BEWARE!
Happy Keto Christmas, Hanukkah, Holidays
1.Enjoy your cookies - in a Keto friendly way!
Are you starting to see your social media feeds fill up with cookies? Yes…me too.
Lucky for us we have 3 great options.
A) Buy a Keto friendly cookie baking mix or ready-made cookies
B) Order Cookies from a Keto friendly and Low Carb bakery - locally or if in the US one that ships.
C) Check out and replicate keto friendly Christmas cookie recipes from amazingly talented Keto Chefs
Let’s go through one by one!
A) For ready-made Keto friendly cookies you have a few options of brands:
Nush Foods - softer with tempting flavors like Salted Caramel or Snickerdoodle
Quest Nutrition - with classics like chocolate chip and peanut butter
Perfect Keto - Chocolate Chip are my current favorite as the texture is really cookie-ish lol
HighKey - From Lemon to Chocolate Chip! Save 15% with code KETOANYWHERE
Naturally Keto-Licious - AMAZING variety of flavors from Nutty Chocolate Chip to Key Lime Pie, Fall-in for Pumpkin Spice to Chocolate Chip or Gingerbread Dream. Only available online and so yummy. Plus you’re supporting a small business! Save 20% with code KETOANYWHERE20
For baking mixes, you have the following brands that offer keto friendly cookie baking mixes:
Kiss My Keto - Keto friendly Shortbread cookie mix - 10% off with code KETOANYWHERE10
Good Dee’s Keto friendly Baking Mixes - Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Plain, Double Chocolate, Butter Pecan and they come in bundles! - Save 15% with code KETOANYWHERE
Keto and Co - Shortbread Cookie Mix - 10% off with code KETOANYWHERE
Lakanto - Keto friendly Cookie Mix
Foodstirs - Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
For more discounts, check out the Keto Anywhere Discount collection with over 30 coupon codes.
Prefer to shop through Amazon? Find all the cookies and Baking Mixes in the Keto Anywhere Online Shop.
B) Order cookies from a Keto friendly bakery
If you’re in the US, you’re in luck because in the previously published blog post “Keto shipped! Order your favorite Keto friendly treats!” I collated a huge list of Keto bakeries that ship across the US and many have cookies!
Not in the US? Don’t give up hope! Check out the Keto Anywhere World Map of Keto friendly places to see if there’s a Keto friendly place close to you that you might not know of yet!
C) Replicate Keto Cookie Recipes from talented fellow Ketoers
Here are a few accounts I follow and whose Cookie recipes I’ve saved. I have not tried them myself (yet):
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies using Lupin Flour from Fat Kitchen
Keto Lace cookies from @BaconButterBourbor
More to come as I see it
2. Keto friendly Stocking Stuffers and Gift Ideas
With the holidays also come gifts! From small - as stocking stuffers - to big! Keto Anywhere compiled the ultimate Keto friendly Gift Idea list for you. From bucket list foods to must-have kitchen appliances, cookbooks to gag gifts like bacon scented floss.
Fill those stockings Keto style and pile up the presents under your Christmas tree or your friends one!
3. The menu - see Keto friendly alternatives rather than restrictions
Are you dreading the holidays? Maybe even more because you will be celebrating with carbi-vores? Yes, it’s definitely not easy to be surrounded by food that doesn’t fit your lifestyle. But how much food is there or could there be that does fit your way of eating? Christmas or the Holidays don’t have to be filled with potatoes or bread.
Now, I’ve come to see that there are no more typical Christmas or Holiday dinners. Every family is different. From doing take out to Ham, Geese, Fondue, Seafood or a bit of a Thanksgiving-reloaded with Turkey.
Rather than go through a semi useful traditional Christmas dinner I’ll instead give you a few alternatives for common foods you might have on your menu.
Some examples of Keto friendly alternatives:
Mashed potatoes —> Mashed cauliflower. Wait! Don’t roll your eyes! If you mash and cook your cauliflower with lots of butter, cream cheese and heavy whipped cream and mix it really well I promise that it will get close to mash potatoes. Add some cheddar on top with bacon bits and place it in the over until the cheese melts and you’ll have loaded mashed cauliflower that will come really close to mashed potatoes
Pigs in a blanket —> These are so easy to make with fathead dough. Grab your favorite recipe. Roll out the dough. Get some wieners. Spread mustard on your dough. Wrap up the wieners. Top off with egg yolk and off into the oven. Delicious!
Bacon wrapped asparagus —> No alternatives needed here. These are delicious and low in carbohydrates as is
Gravy —> You won’t believe it, but yes, there are people who have figured out how to make Gravy without starch and instead using for example almond flour. Google it!
Stuffing —> You might have noticed that in the past 12 months Keto friendly breads have gone mainstream. From being able to buy them at Aldi to Meijers to Costco. What does that mean? That means you can make stuffing with Keto friendly bread! Dry it out, cube it a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Sauté it in a pan with e.g. onion, celery and of course butter. Brown it, season it, add eggs, some chicken (bone) broth and off it goes into a baking dish and the oven to be ready for dinner.
Dessert —> Some of my favorites that are easy to make Keto friendly are: Mousse au chocolat, Panna Cotta, Key Lime Mousse, Chocolate Truffles and Chocolate Covered Almonds. Recipes to follow soon on Keto Anywhere’s TikTok and Youtube as well as Instagram TV and / or Reels .
4. Make your own thanks to Keto friendly products and show off!
This applied for Thanksgiving and also applies for Christmas, New Years and other year end holidays as well as to be honest every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..
Not the most talented Chef? Or no time to prepare a Keto friendly dish or any dish really?
You’re in luck. In the past years a TON of Keto friendly baking mixes and substitute products have come out.
First thing first: BISCUITS! Yes, you can have biscuits. I’ve been trying them for my Blog post series where I compare Keto friendly products and although the Biscuits post isn’t ready yet, I already have 2 winners.
If you want Keto friendly biscuits order yourself either the HighKey Biscuit Mix (15% off with code KETOANYWHERE) or the Livlo Biscuit Mix . Detailed review of these to follow soon but in the meantime, feel free to check out these quick ‘How to’ videos. HighKey and Livlo.
Thinking more of bringing a dessert? I would advocate for Brownies! My favorite Mixes so far: Livlo - again. Yes! and no, unfortunately they do not have an affiliate program and I do not have a discount code. The Keto & Co Brownie mix is amazing too. For that one I do have a discount code :D KETOANYWHERE will give you 10% off at checkout. Keto & Co has a cake and frosting mix too by the way if you prefer the cupcake route!
5. Buy from Keto friendly stores or get ready-made low carb meals
Yes, it is fine to delegate the cooking and baking altogether! You support small business, have less stress and are fairly guaranteed to have something AMAZING to put on the table.
More and more bakeries, stores and restaurants are popping up across the US that cater to Keto and Low Carb dieters.
Check out the Keto Anywhere map with close to 1000 recommended bakeries, restaurants and shops and see if there’s one near you where you could stop by and pick up some ready made baked goods or even whole meals!
Can’t find anything? If you plan ahead, you could also order from one of many Keto friendly bakeries across the US. Check out the list of bakeries that ship Keto goods that was compiled earlier this year and updated each month.
Doesn’t get easier than this and if you check reviews online or what’s been shared with Keto Anywhere you’re almost guaranteed to bring or serve a crowd pleaser at Christmas and other holidays.
6. Watch the portions. Calories matter on Keto too!
One big danger we might forget with Thanksgiving when we focus mostly on what we can and can not eat is portions. How much we eat! If you’re doing Keto or Low Carb for weightloss excessive calories might put you back as much as excessive carbs.
Digging in with Turkey will be great as the protein will fill you up and if you stick to white pieces, these tend to be lower in calories.
Also, take your time eating. Dinner is not a race. Try to be mindful when chewing - meaning you actually pay attention to what’s in your mouth. Texture, taste, level of salt and chew it thoroughly. These kind of habits will make you slow down which gives your body time to signal when it’s full and will usually lead to you not overeating.
7. Don't forget to plan for Keto friendly Drinks
Christmas, like many other holidays has a strong focus on food which can also lead to a bit (ok…or a lot) of drinking in families and circles of friends.
Best bet here is definitely to bring your own drink.
If you want to live it up, gift the host a bottle of Champagne - comes in at 3-4g carbs per glass - and mentioned how you cooled it already so that you could all drink to the occasion. Or if you prefer to keep it lower key you could bring some low carb beer like Miller Lite or a dry red wine that tends to also be lower in carbs.
Hard liquors are also Keto friendly but if it’s not customary in your family or with your friends to drink the hard stuff I would not bring that. And please! Don’t drink and drive!
8. You don't have to share that you eat Keto or Low Carb
Chances are your loved ones know that you changed your diet BUT if eating Keto or Low Carb is a recent choice and you’re not quite ready to share it with the wider world, don’t forget that you don’t have to talk about your way of eating. If you are fearing judgement from people remember that this is your choices and there is no need to ‘defend’ it,
Politely decline certain dishes and use little phrases like “that turkey looks so amazing that I want to make sure I enjoy as much from it as I can” or “ INSERT CARBY FOOD always makes me feel tired after which would be a shame if we want to celebrate some longer”.
If you bring a dish: Again, no need to mention it is low in carbs. It can actually be quite fun not to say anything to see how people react. Especially for desserts.
9. Cut yourself some slack
If you’ve been eating Keto for a while you’ve proven that you have the willpower to stick to it. And possibly also get back to it. One day out of 365 (or maybe 3-4 days if you also want to make exceptions on your birthday and Thanksgiving) will not break your progress as long as you get back to it right after.
From my own personal experience though, if you’ve been eating Keto for 6+ months I would not recommend going completely off it. Why? Because your body might rebel. In the moment you might be fine eating it all but it might come back with a vengence after a few hours with cramps and possibly more.
I made that painful mistake after about 4 months on Keto when I decided to order Ribs with sauce and enjoy some fries and bread and boy, did I pay for that. I was sick for 3 days and felt absolutely miserable. It was a great lesson to learn though to eat carbs in moderation once your body has gotten used to a low carb way of eating and digesting.
10. Happy Keto Christmas, Hanukkah, Holidays
First, if you made it this far: THANK YOU! Second, if you made it this far into 2020 working on your health and lifestyle by eating Keto or Low Carb you deserve a medal.
It’s been an incredibly rough year all over the world and here you are seeking tips and ideas on how to stay on track for your end. AMAZING!
From my side I wish you a wonderful year end. I hope you get to spend it with your loved ones and enjoy it in whichever shape or form it looks like this year.
The holidays aren’t just about eating and drinking. They are about enjoying each others company, reflecting, dreaming and enjoying the moment.
I personally always reflect in December. Make plans for the next year. Dream and envision things, but before I move to the future I want to take a moment to thank you for your supporting Keto Anywhere by reading this blog, buying through links, using discount codes, liking / commenting / following / sharing on Social Media, tagging Keto Anywhere in relevant content, watching videos until the end to increase watch time, joining and listening in to Lives, sending ideas via email, buying City Guides, looking into Personal and Business Coaching, using the map and so much more.
I appreciate it highly that you’re helping make the Keto Anywhere vision come true to:
Make the world a Keto friendlier place!
Take care of yourself and although things have been incredibly tough, focus on how you persevered and allow yourself to dream. Maybe 2021 won’t be as ‘normal’ as we’d like it to be but we’re resilient, we can do hard things and we can dream and act and drive change!
Happy happy Holidays and Keto on!
Céline Bucher
Founder of Keto Anywhere
Picture credits:
Header with Dinner Table: Photo by Niko Virtanen licenses CC BY 2.0.
1. Keto friendly Cookies: Photo by Anna Peipina on Unsplash
2. Keto friendly Stocking Stuffers and Gift ideas: Photo by Simona Sergi on Unsplash
3. The holiday menu - keto friendly alternatives rather than restrictions: Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash
4. Adjust your Mindset - Board with quote: Photo by Hello I'm Nik 🎞 on Unsplash
7. Keto friendly Drinks: Photo by Alexander Naglestad on Unsplash
8. You don’t have to share that you eat Keto: Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
9. Cut yourself some slack: Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash
10. Thank you: Photo by Daniel Andrade on Unsplash
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