Health, Taken Seriously

A friend of mine recently asked for suggestions on how to diet on a budget.  I thought it was a great question and worthy of a post.  So here are a few tips for how to eat well without spending too much.  If you have any additional ideas, please feel free to comment!

• Drink only water. Don’t bother with low-calorie drinks or diet sodas.  They’re not good for you and a total waste of money.  If you don’t enjoy drinking water, add ice and a squeeze of lemon or brew tea.
• Shop the bulk section of your grocery store. Load up on healthy legumes and whole grains in the bulk section of your grocery store.  Dried beans, peas, and lentils are super cheap.  Brown rice, quinoa, barley, steel-cut oats, and other whole grains are also very inexpensive.  Cook quinoa and add chopped veggies (red onion, bell pepper, tomato) for a low-calorie, healthy lunch.  Mix brown rice and black beans with salsa for an easy, cheap dinner.
• Buy your fruit and veggies in large quantities. Let’s face it, produce tends to be expensive.  And eating 5-9 servings each day can really add up.  Try buying bags/boxes of apples, clementines, carrots, onions, salad greens, and potatoes.  It’s cheaper and you’ll be more likely to eat the produce if you have more of it in your home.  When it’s seasonal, you can do this at your local farmer’s markets (look into buying seconds–slightly smaller or bruised produce that is discounted).  Or in the dead of winter, try a store like Costco.  Also consider frozen produce, which can be more economical than fresh.
• Save half for tomorrow. When you make dinner each night, before you eat, take half of the meal and put it into containers for tomorrow’s lunch.  Portion control is imperative to weight loss and this way, not only are you eating less for dinner, you’ll have a healthy lunch for tomorrow.
• Make it yourself. You can make a lot of your own food for much less than you can buy it in the store.  And you can make it healthier.  For example, a tub of humus costs $3-5 premade, but the cost of making your own with dried garbanzo beans and tahini is much, much less.  We make our own yogurt for much less than the stuff at the store, and it tastes way better too.  Consider making your own trail mix–buying the individual ingredients and mixing them yourself costs way less than the $5-9/lb our local grocery store charges (and you can avoid the higher fat ingredients you don’t want).  For dieters, making your own snack-packs can be helpful.  On Sunday, prepare healthy snacks that can be bagged or put in tuperware to consume throughout the week (think sliced veggies with a healthy dip, smoothies frozen into popsicles, edemame with a touch of salt).  This can be much cheaper than buying low-calorie bars or snacks.  Of course, making it all yourself is time consuming but if you’re willing to spend a little time, you can save quite a bit.
• Don’t eat out. Don’t take-out or drive-through either.  Restaurant food is notoriously higher in calories (and cost!) than the food most people eat at home.  A lunch you prepare may only have 500 calories while that burito from Chipotle can be over 1000.  And if you make it a point to only stock your home with sensible, healthy foods, then eating at home will mean eating fewer calories.
• Eat cheap protein. It’s important to eat protein when you’re trying to loose weight as it doesn’t contain many calories but keeps you satiated for longer.  But eating chicken, fish, and meat on a regular basis is expensive.  Don’t skimp on protein, but rather, consume more economical protein.  Try tofu (try finding meat for $2/lb!) or eggs.  Keep hard-boiled eggs in your fridge for quick, convenient protein.  Try snacking on edemame (soy beans) sprinkled with salt.  Toss beans on your salad.