Stay Motivated to Eat Keto During Covid-19 Outbreak

Well, I finally ventured out into the panic.

While I'd been hearing about a run at the stores on toilet paper and paper towels, across the nation, I hadn't really gotten into the heart of what was going on.

I'd more or less just been spending my time observing the consequences for the Covid-19 outbreak from the sidelines.

The irony is that I've been working hard on getting rid of my Last-Days mindset, which most people would consider hording, so we are not stocked up as well as we could be.

I did have 5 individual rolls of toilet paper and a couple rolls of paper towels on hand, that day, but I needed to stock up on meat, eggs, and vegetables.

Stepping into Walmart was a bit overwhelming.

It definitely wasn't what I was expecting to see.

People were nice to each other, yes. They backed up when necessary to stay their distance, and did not have overflowing carts of groceries.

But the grocery shelves didn't reflect that.

It was 9:00 o'clock on a Friday morning and many of the shelves were already completely cleaned out.

Just for the heck of it, I took a peek at the paper-goods aisles, and just as people on Facebook and the Low Carb Neighborhood forum had been saying, there was absolutely no packages of toilet paper or paper towels available – at any price.

However, paper goods were not the only things that people had been buying in bulk.

There was no frozen french fries or hash browns.

Dried beans and rice? Completely wiped out!

The cereal aisle was also eerily empty.

There was only 2 dozen organic, cage-free eggs left, and no chicken quarters in the 10 pound bag.

None!

There was no hard cheeses in the 2 pound or 4 pound size. No canned green beans. Only two 8-ounce boxes cream cheese, and two 4-packs of Ivory bar soap.

There was plenty of gluten-free stuff, like hubby's bread, tortillas, and pizza crust, but the price was higher than usual.

Despite the overwhelming nature of all of those empty shelves, it honestly wasn't as bad as I initially thought it would be. I was easily able to get us food for the week; but, maybe, that's because we don't eat what other people eat.

Most of what people in our area have been hoarding is loaded with carbs.

We also have a stay-at-home order in our county and city, which has frightened more than a few folks into buying more than they need. So if you're thinking about ditching Keto until the pandemic is over, you might want to reconsider.

Keto doesn't cost more than the standard American diet.

It really doesn't.

Here are some tips to help you stick to your ketogenic diet throughout this Covid-19 outbreak.

Thinking About Ditching Keto or Atkins?

Fear is contagious.

But so is empty grocery shelves.

People see the toilet paper, paper towels, eggs, and cereal disappearing and their knee-jerk reaction is to buy up what's dwindling away.

In this case, that's dried and canned beans, rice, cereal, peanut butter, eggs, chicken, hamburger, and whatever else you're afraid won't be there when you need it.

If you're on Keto, Atkins, or a low-carb diet of your own and see the grocery shelves being emptied as fast as they're being stocked, you might begin to question if it's practical to continue eating low carb.

So let's be realistic here, for just a moment.

Just because others are stocking up on rice and beans, that doesn't mean you have to do the same thing. In every store I've been in since that first shopping day, there's been plenty of fresh produce to keep a Keto dieter happy.

Frozen is a little bit harder to come by, but I still managed to get a family-sized bag of broccoli.

While poultry, fish, and meat can be a little more difficult to find, and we have to store hop to get what we need, the key to making it through the coronavirus scare is to adapt to what's available in your area.

You don't have to stop doing low carb until the pandemic is over. Even if you're out of work, right now, don't use that as an excuse to go back to an unhealthy diet.

Just take it one day at a time.

Going back to a high-carb diet, even for a few weeks, is going to backfire on you.

You're better off going back to low-carb basics and thinking in terms of a maintenance number of carbs and fat, rather than weight loss.

Don't let Covid-19 rob you of the work you've already done.

Just buy what you can and substitute when you can't.

Chuck the Store Loyalty – For Now

It quickly became obvious to us that if we want to maintain some sort of normalcy, during this Covid-19 outbreak, we are going to have to shop at more than one grocery store.

For example, even though I had already done most of the shopping at Walmart, hubby found toilet paper, kitchen trash bags, and 3 dozen eggs at the Kroger across the street from the hospital where he had been working.

We also managed to pick up those chicken leg quarters in the 10 pound bag at Winco.

If you can't store hop, I completely understand.

I don't drive in traffic, unless I have to, so the local Walmart is as far as I will drive by myself.

Costco, Kroger, and Albertson's are weekend trips with hubby.

But even that depends on the situation.

While getting gas at Costco last weekend, we noticed that a few people were coming out with toilet paper, so we decided to check and see if they had restocked.

However, there was a very long line to get into the store. So long, that it wrapped around the building. Store greeters were letting people in one at a time, after wiping down their cart for them, which was slowing everything down.

People in line were not practicing social distancing. They were standing an inch or two away from each other.

Hubby took one look at that bulging line, and turned around. There was nothing at Costco that we needed that badly.

So don't let your store loyalties or favorites put you in harm's way. Groceries are essential, but keep it practical. Follow the rules of social distancing to keep yourself safe.

Buy What You Can and Substitute What You Can't

At my Walmart trip, I picked up a package of chicken breasts for $1.79 a pound. I also got a package of chicken thighs instead of the 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters.

I'm really glad I did that because when hubby took us to Costco that weekend, there was no hamburger or chicken at all.

We did find the chicken leg quarters at Winco, but the hamburger was overpriced – and you had to buy a 10 pound roll. Except for burgers, everything I make with hamburger can be made with chicken or shredded pork instead, so we skipped the ground meat for now.

Buy what you can get, but don't stress out if you can't find what you're used to buying. It's okay to eat baked chicken, soup, or salad for breakfast. You don't have to eat eggs.

Plus, if you get sick, you're not going to want to eat beans and rice anyway. Think soup and mild protein dishes. I made a tasty soup last night with smoked shredded pork and vegetables.

(And no, we're not sick. It was raining and I felt like making soup.)

Out of Work? Go Maintenance!

The average low-carb weight-loss diet contains 20 to 40 carbs.

And for a lot of people, that is less than you need to maintain your current weight. This is why Atkins has you add back additional carbs once you reach Phase 3, the Pre-Maintenance phase.

Keto, on the other hand, has you up your fats.

Whichever low-carb plan you're on, if money is tight, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Try adding a few starchy carbs or up your fats and lower your protein a bit to help make ends meet.

Now is not the time to test your willpower.

Now is the time to create a sensible, yet nutrient-dense, diet that will get you through the stress and physical consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak without gaining the weight back.