Is Keto Chow expensive? It’s such a seemingly direct question people expect a “yes” or “no” answer.
I think if we said, “yes,” they’d be satisfied with that simple response. But, because our answer is, “no,” most people want us to expound on our thoughts.
The case for Keto Chow is an uphill battle. While other keto-friendly foods can stroll into the ketospace unquestioned, Keto Chow has to constantly justify its existence to the keto community. That’s because there are some formidable odds against it.
First of all, it’s not a snack. We allow a pretty wide birth for all keto-on-the-go items classified at snacks or desserts. Instead of scrutinizing cost or ingredients, we allow taste to govern acceptance in those categories. Even with lofty total carbs and a high price tag, if it tastes good and fits our macros, it’s unlikely to be bounced from the keto club. Many keto snacks aren’t even on the keto police BOLO (be on the lookout) radar, because by definition they are already classified as, “not for me.” But, Keto Chow has the audacity to exist as a keto meal replacement option. That puts a giant target on the product’s back by folks insistent on cleansing the keto landscape of anything processed.
We feel so betrayed by the food industry’s lab-created Franken-foods, a certain amount of skepticism is justified. Still, it’s important for us to understand what the term, processed, really means and understand every keto product that makes its way to your doorstep didn’t take the same route to get there.By definition the word, processed, means “a systematic series of mechanized or chemical operations that are performed in order to produce or manufacture something.” Ribeye steak is processed. The butter I cook my eggs in is processed. The heavy cream I purchase in the carton at Publix is processed. It’s just the trust we have for the integrity of those processing procedures is at a level where most people find it acceptable to purchase those items. Of course, some folks won’t trust an egg that doesn’t come from one of their own, farm-raised chickens. But, for the majority of consumers, a certain level of food processing is acceptable.
Once we’ve made peace with food processing, we can comfortably turn our attention to resourcing. We accept and expect a ribeye to cost more at an anniversary-worthy, fancy steakhouse than it does at an all-you-can eat, fast-dining kiosk. And, it’s not just because of the cook preparing it. The quality is different. Both establishments may have ribeye on the menu, but those two cows weren’t raised on the same farm. It’s the same for the vitamins and minerals in Keto Chow. Other keto-friendly meal replacement products may boast ingredients like calcium and potassium, but they weren’t resourced as responsibly. Keto Chow has curated the nutrients your body can actually utilize, not just a bunch of rocks your body can’t break down.
Keto Chow also bares the burden of marketing itself to a fat-fueled community without it’s own fat source. There are so many keto-approved meal replacement shakes on the market that are ready-to-drink. The fat source is already built-in, so the consumer only needs to pop the top or add water. But the very characteristic which makes Keto Chow seem lazy is actually what makes it optimal. Unlike other meal replacement options, Keto Chow isn’t binding a fat to questionable ingredients and they aren’t suggesting one-size-fits-all. Joe and I, for instance, have different fat macros based on our height, weight, age and gender. We also have different tastes. Keto Chow allows us to determine what fat we want to add as fuel and also gives us control of our personal levers.
Many people feel Keto Chow is expensive because they see the price tag of $70 per large bag or $4.75 cents for a sample bag and to be honest we felt the same way. When we were first introduced to Keto Chow we made a video and said we understood the need but the product wasn’t for us because we felt it was too expensive and the carbs were a little high. Now to be fair, when we did that review, we were unaware you can use butter as the fat source. Once we learned that, we decided to take another look. You see, we felt Keto Chow was expensive because the instructions said to use heavy whipping cream, which has a lot of carbs, or avocado oil, which is expensive. Butter on the other hand, is cheap and almost zero carb. In addition, we had a little sticker shock when we saw the price of the large bags.
While we consume our food one meal at a time, we purchase it one grocery trip at a time. If I said my food cost $155, it would probably raise a few eyebrows. But, if I told you my food costs $5 a meal, most people would find that reasonable
Add the fact that I can be certain of perfect macros and a proper electrolyte balance and suddenly $5 per meal seems like a bargain for the peace of mind alone. It cannot be overstated what a pain macro tracking can be when you’re trying to budget time for work and family. I don’t have mornings and evenings free every day to plan my meals, and even less time to plan them in perfect ratio.
Even if we have time to plan our meals, we don’t always have time to cook them and that can lead to some unhealthy choices.
One of the things we really like about Keto Chow is it’s a great grab and go option. Having a couple Keto Chow’s prepped in the fridge helps us to not run to the drive through or even worse, snack on things like nuts and deserts. Since many of us live busy lives we decided to compare Keto Chow with some fast food options as well as three different keto-approved meals, comprised of whole ingredients.
We started off by making 6 keto chows, which we make 3 at a time in a blender. That took us just under 7 minutes which included melting the butter and cleaning the blender. Yes, in just seven minutes, we had all ours meals for the day made.
Next, we decided to compare to three of the most popular keto fast food options.
First up was the Egg McMuffin from McDonald’s. Since we haven’t been through a drive though in over 2 years, we were shocked when the cashier said it was $8.32 for 2 Egg McMuffins with no english muffin. What was even more shocking was the size of the meal we got for that eight dollars.
Let’s face it, two eggs, 2 slices of Canadian bacon and 2 slices of American cheese isn’t going to fill most people up. Making matters even worse is two egg McMuffins with no muffin is only 350 calories so to equal the calories of one of our keto chow shakes, we would need to order a third one.
Next on the fast food comparison was the Wendy’s single baconator. Now to be fair, we never go to fast food places anymore so we didn’t even know you can get a single, double or triple baconator. In hindsight, we should have ordered the double, since that’s what the nutrition on the website shows, but that would have increased the price by $2.00.
It took eight minutes from the time we ordered our single baconator until we handed over the ridiculous amount of $5.99. For that six dollars we received 2 half strips of bacon on a 1/4 pound patty with a piece of cheese. There was no lettuce, no pickles and no taste. This meal was roughly 350 calories and we would have needed at least 3 to feel full.
Our final fast food comparison was Five Guys. Now I will say this. The Five Guys burger was a decent size, it tasted delicious and was comparable to Keto Chow in nutrition with 754 calories. With that being said, it took 16 minutes to get it and cost us $10.45
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “of course eating fast food is expensive but I can cook at home for less than a Keto Chow.” And that may be true but remember, we use Keto Chow for the grab and go times so you also have to compare the time to shop for food, prepping, cooking and cleaning the pans.
We decided to time the preparation of three different keto-approved meals, comprised of whole ingredients. We spent about 30 minutes going to the grocery store to get all the ingredients we needed and then started cooking.
The first meal was a keto staple, bacon and eggs. Since we only eat pasture raised eggs and that’s what we recommend to people, we purchased some on sale. Even using pasture raised eggs and store bought bacon, the cost for 3 eggs and 4 strips of bacon was only $3.00. That price is about $1 cheaper than Keto Chow and roughly the same nutrition. Here’s the thing though, it took us 14 minutes to make the bacon and eggs and that doesn’t include the shopping trip or cleaning the pan.
Next on the home cooked front was something we always suggest people keep in the house, frozen hamburger patties. Frozen burgers are great for those times when you forgot to thaw something out or just want a quick meal. You can pull a couple out, through them in a pan frozen with some bacon grease or butter and you get a delicious meal.
Our favorite frozen burgers are the cheddar and bacon beef patties from Sams club. The cost about $1.33 a burger and when you top it with an egg, which is how we like to eat it, you get a 520 calorie meal for half the price of one Keto Chow shake. If you’re going by cost alone, this is definitely the best option but for us, one burger and egg isn’t very filling. In addition, it took 13 minutes to cook a burger we had in the freezer using a pan that was already hot from making the eggs.
Since many people use Keto Chow as a meal replacement for breakfast or lunch and then eat a regular keto meal for dinner, we decided to make our favorite recipe, Meat Layer Lasagna.
It took 1 hour to prepare and cook the most delicious keto meal you’ll every eat and at roughly 630 calories per slice, its very comparable to Keto Chow when it comes to nutrition. Although it cost $36 to make the dish, it’s also the closest to Keto Chow in price at just $4.50 a serving.
So is Keto Chow expensive? You can see, even frying up some bacon and eggs took more time and effort than making a Keto Chow. (Actually it took less time to make 6 Keto Chows, enough to feed both of us for the entire day.) When we tried to save cook time by purchasing our meals through fast food drive throughs or sit-down restaurants, we either sacrificed home-cooked taste, macros and quality, or faced a hefty price tag.
Whether we threw time, energy, price or nutrient balance at the meal replacement option, Keto Chow always emerged a good value. It’s not something we would use to replace every meal from now on simply because we enjoy a variety of foods like chicken wings, bacon, and brisket.
But, based on the facts that Keto Chow is perfectly balanced, ready with very little prep and able to be individually customized – all while being under $5 per meal – we were able to settle on an answer for ourselves to the question, “Is Keto Chow expensive?”
Our answer is no.
If you’re interested in purchasing Keto Chow, you can click on this link to receive 10% off your order.
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