A helpful guide featuring information, tips, and advice on how to do keto in the Philippines

Me on December 2017 and May 2019

I lost weight with keto. After gaining more than 70lbs, I’m proud to say I’m more than halfway to losing all of it, although my target is a bit less than what I’ve gained. I thought I’d share what I’ve learned and my own experience so far. And since there’s probably millions of articles about keto already, I’m going to stick to keto tips for those living in the Philippines.

What Filipino food can you eat on keto?

This is obvious, but a lot of Filipino food is keto-friendly. Like adobo? Use an artificial sweetener instead of sugar (if you use a sweetener at all), and you’re good to go. Like sinigang? It’s perfectly keto — instant mix usually has 1g net carbs. Like kare-kare? Just check that the peanut butter you use is within your macros. And so on.

Just do your research (read: due diligence) regarding the food you eat and be creative (e.g. I use coconut flour on my “fried chicken”) and you’ll be in ketosis in no time.

Should I try a keto delivery service?

I would NOT recommend a keto food delivery service. Not only is it expensive (unless of course you are swimming in pesos), you can cook better food at home. I tried a popular one and the food was one big meh. It actually discouraged me from keto. When I started to learn how to cook (I didn’t really learn until I started keto), that’s when I started to love keto. You get to choose the menu, you can customize the food to your liking, and best of all, you save money when you make your own keto food.

That said, it’s good to try one especially at the beginning just to get a feel of keto. You might also be the kind of person who is too busy to make their own food, let alone source out ingredients, etc etc.

How can I eat sweets on keto?

Some would say you shouldn’t eat sweets on keto, but I do because I have a sweet tooth and I wouldn’t manage to stick to keto if I couldn’t eat sweets. I use erythritol, and I eat keto desserts almost every meal without being kicked out of ketosis as long as I stick to my macros. Erythritol is pretty expensive (about PHP750–850 per kg), but for me it’s worth it rather than being tempted to cheat. You can buy erythritol from Shopee.

Where can I buy keto products and ingredients?

Speaking of Shopee, a ton of keto food is on Shopee. (Or Lazada of course, but Shopee usually has these free shipping promos that make you save on shipping). Shirataki noodles, other kinds of keto-friendly sweeteners, even water drops are on Shopee. Shopee is basically your best friend for buying keto food not available in the supermarket, and there are a ton of those.

How can I stick to keto when eating out?

As for going out, you’re pretty much f*cked. I eat out on a weekly basis and it’s a struggle to find keto-friendly food because everywhere it’s carbs, carbs, carbs (or maybe my family and friends just like to choose carb-heavy restaurants, I really don’t know). It is, however, possible to stay in ketosis. For example, salads — depending on the ingredients of course — are usually keto-friendly (just don’t eat croutons or other carb-heavy ingredients). Or you can get rice meals with a keto-friendly viand and just give your companion the rice, then order a side of vegetables. There’s also great restaurants like The Wholesome Table that offer keto options like cauliflower rice and veggie noodles.

What Filipino snacks can you eat on keto?

For snacks, chicharon is your best bet. It usually has ZERO carbs and what I would say the holy grail of keto snacks in the Philippines. Of course, since we can’t eat chicharon all day everyday, there’s tons of other alternatives like nuts and meat with cheese.

What’s the best way to treat yourself on keto?

Treating yourself is essential in any diet. And since there’s a keto alternative of practically every kind of food out there (from pizza to ice cream to even my favorite Japanese food, okonomiyaki), just research recipes online.

If you feel like indulging and want to have a professional make the food done for you, here’s a list of keto-friendly shops in the Philippines I have tried which I would recommend (I will update this as I try more):

And then of course there’s imported food that only big companies with resources can make. Here’s a list of keto-friendly food available in select Healthy Options stores which I would recommend:

Halo Top — healthy AND delicious, there are no words to describe this heavenly ice cream;

Lily’s Chocolate Bars — again, healthy AND delicious, I can’t get enough of these;

Moon Cheese — tasty cheese for your savory cravings;

Zevia — soda with all the goodness and without all the sugar; and

Quest Protein Chips — will satisfy your potato chips craving.

How can I do keto on a budget?

If you’re on a budget like me, my best advice is to eat at home all the time and make your own food. You save money and there’s the added benefit that you always know what’s in your food because you made it, therefore the chances of eating carbs beyond your macros is smaller.

It would also really help if your housemates are on keto since you get to encourage each other and increase your motivation contagion, aside from the obvious fact that you do not have to buy both keto and non-keto food.

How can I cope with doing keto?

Let me end by saying that a lot of times, you will be discouraged and want to quit keto. I encourage you to just STICK TO IT. Just trust that keto works and that it will make your life better in more ways than just losing weight.

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