It’s a Keto Christmas, Charlie Brown!
It’s a Keto Christmas, Charlie Brown
If you celebrate Christmas, then you know it is practically right around the corner. In fact, we can almost smell the honey ham, apple cider, and gingerbread cooking in the kitchen. Christmas is perhaps one of the best times for coming together with your friends, family, and the ones you love to celebrate each other along with this beautiful holiday. Of course, a large part of holiday celebrations such as Christmas is food. Family functions and friendly Christmas get-togethers often involve a good deal of food.
If you were to travel from home to home during Christmas – much like Santa does – you would likely discover different types of celebrations. These different festivities ultimately involve a very different looking dinner table as well. Depending on your diet or personal preferences, no two dinner tables are going to look the same. If you happen to be the host of your own Christmas get-together and you are on a diet you are not going to want to be tempted by the food you cannot have. For instance, if you are following the keto diet, then you are going to want to plan your menu accordingly.
Planning a Keto Christmas Menu
We know what you are thinking, and no, it is not impossible to plan an entire keto Christmas menu for dinner, believe it or not. Challenging? Perhaps. Undoable? Absolutely not!
All you need is to perform some research and you will find numerous options that will both suit your diet and please your guests’ taste buds as well. Let’s dive in and take a peek at what to avoid as well as what is totally acceptable and welcomed in regard to food. With advanced planning and preparation, you can even enlist friends and family members to bring a keto-approved dish.
Approved keto-friendly Christmas dishes and ketosis
When many of us think about diets we often think about restrictions and what we cannot have. This is only natural due to the fact that dieting does in fact involve cutting out foods that are bad for you. The keto diet stands apart from other diets as it allows you to have a lot of the things you can’t have on other diets. One gleaming difference you will notice when you adopt the keto lifestyle is that you CAN have a lot of different fats, while other diets advise you to stay away from fat entirely.
The ultimate goal here is to remain in ketosis. Ketosis is the state your body enters when you successfully follow the keto diet. Ketosis allows your body to burn fat for fuel and energy instead of glucose as is typical for the human body. Ketosis has a whole slew of health benefits, most notably it enables easier weight loss. You might also experience improved eyesight, reduced insulin levels, improved cholesterol and beyond. The keto diet is truly a life-changing way of living that benefits we as humans greatly.
While perusing the internet for keto-friendly Christmas dishes, you might be surprised at just how many options you truly have. The following are some delicious, keto approved dishes that will not only satisfy your guests but keep you in ketosis as well!
Pecans are another one of those holiday flavors that we just cannot seem to get enough of. This dish includes the use of toasted sesame seeds, roasted pecans, a variety of spices like cinnamon and a sweetener, molasses, sea salt, and an egg white. The end result will fill your home with the scent of candied nuts and holiday spirit. This is an appetizer everyone can enjoy.
This warming, hearty stew has to be one of the best wintertime treats. Chocked full of delicious beef and tasty keto-friendly vegetables, this makes for a wonderful side, appetizer, or even for your main course. Just add your choice of herbs and spices and your guests will be elated at how tasty and healthy it turns out to be.
Foods to avoid on the keto diet
Unfortunately, most of the more common holiday dishes are not keto-friendly. That is why we suggest planning ahead and making the necessary preparations to both avoid temptation and provide your guests with a delicious holiday meal. Below are the foods you should avoid this Christmas season.
- Sugar
- Starch
- Bad Fats
- Sugar replacements/artificial sweeteners (Stevia and erythritol approved)
If you are following the keto diet than most of the food you should avoid this holiday season are probably common knowledge to you by now. If not, then hopefully this guide can be of some assistance.
Celebrating a Keto Christmas
With Christmas on the horizon, many of us are racing around trying to plan out meals if you are indeed hosting. Of course, we are also running from store to store to complete our Christmas shopping. With so much on our plates, the last thing we want to worry about is what we can and cannot eat. After all, Christmas is all about positivity, love, and family. And with enough future planning and preparation, it becomes much easier to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of the ones you love.
If this is your first time hosting a keto Christmas; relax. It is far from being the impossible task you imagine it to be. In fact, with our guidance and a little know-how in the realm of the keto do’s and don’ts, your holiday should go off without a hitch. And who knows… you might just convince a few people to take care of themselves and hop on the keto diet!