Losing weight with children

prncesschic

I have a skinny husband (5'11 and 125lbs) and three little boys. It's really hard to shop smart enough for my family and have lots of healthy stuff too. (We can barely scrape by now) what do I do?

vivmom2014

Cooking for your family is a great start to nutrition. Do you have an Aldi nearby? Their prices are rock bottom.

You can always google "feeding the family on a budget" and get a ton of suggestions/blogs.

It's not that you need to be overly concerned with buying "healthy stuff." Just buy an assortment of foods and prepare meals that your family loves. Add a salad. Crock-pot meals are economical and filling. Soups, casseroles, etc. MyFitnessPal has a great recipe builder function where you input the recipe you're making and then can log calories & macros accurately.

mkakids

Frozen veggies are just as nutritous as fresh...sometimes more!

Stock up when you see a sale, and freeze meats, veggies, cheese, milk, and lots more.

Use 'filler' to stretch meals. Lentils can be added to ground beef (hardly noticeable in meatloafs, sloppy joes, tacos, etc...). Rice and pasta a good cheap fillers too.

Make a list of meatless meals you enjoy and try yo serve at least 2 a week.

Save EVERYTHING. Freeze food before it spoils. Save bones for stock. Save veggie scraps in a bag in the freezer (with the bones), and once its full, make stock. Just dump it in a crockpot and cover with water - cook for 18hrs. Or dump in a pan, cover with water and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Bread scraps and stale bread becomes bread crumbs.

Fresh fruit thats over ripe gets frozen for smoothies

zoeysasha37

Op- don't get caught up in the thinking that you must by all the expensive "healthy" foods.

You can make a well balanced healthy meal on a budget for sure! Things like rice, pasta, frozen veggies,beans are budget friendly and can 100% fit into a healthy diet.

mkakids

Another thing i do to save money is to try using HALF. For everything. If you usually use a full cap of laundry detergent, try a load with a half full cap. If that works well, try 1/4 cap next. If it doesnt work well, increase it to 3/4 cap. Usually use a half dollar sized glob of shampoo/lotion/soap? Try half and see how it works.

Eliminate paper goods (plates, cups, cutlery) if you use them. Switch to rags instead of paper towels....you can cut up old cotton clothes or buy a $4 pack of 12 washcloths at walmart.

Keep the heat down in winter and the air up (or off) in summer.

Turn everything off when its not in use.

Line dry clothes if you can.

Plan errands in the car to save on gas costs. Dont drive 30minutes one day to get to a store and then 2 days later drive to the same area to go to a different store. Try to go to both stores on the same day to save gas.

Eliminate inpulse buys. Before you go to the store, make a list and STICK to it.

Lounmoun

To lose weight you just need to eat the right calories for you to have a deficit. That is it. You don't have to eat the same amount of food as your husband or children. They will always have different calorie needs from you by being male and different heights, ages, weights, and activity levels. You can eat most of the same foods and still lose weight though.
Weigh and measure your food and drink. Log as accurately as you can.
Fill your plate with more vegetables and have a smaller portion of the higher calorie main dish. Watch things like oils, cheese, dressings, sauces and condiments that can add a bunch of calories. Have these things so you can each individually add them.
In terms of healthy food you want certain nutrients. Some foods have more nutrients than others. You will probably want several servings a day of protein, vegetables/fruits, whole grains.
Protein foods are things like eggs, meat, fish, dairy products, nuts/nut butters, beans, lentils.

Meal planning is pretty important when your budget is tight. If you are not planning meals do that.
Learn to cook more from scratch to control calories more by using less oil or butter.
Look at cost per serving. Sometimes homemade from ingredients vs. cheap pre-made food is actually cheaper per serving. Sometimes a larger container is cheaper than single serving containers.
Eat smaller portions of higher calorie foods and increase portions of lower calorie foods.
Buy store brand/generic items.
Learn to cook dry beans and lentils.
http://www.lentils.ca/recipes-cooking/recipes/
http://www.usdrybeans.com/recipes/
Buy fresh produce in season. Buy frozen vegetables and fruits to reduce waste. Canned fruits and vegetables have nutrients but watch added sugar and sodium if that is a concern.
Eggs, dry beans, lentils, tuna, potatoes, carrots, canned tomato, onions, oatmeal, flour, rice, pasta, bread, peanut butter, popcorn, whole chicken or chicken thighs are good staples that won't break your budget.
Make a big pot of soup at least once a week. Soup usually reheats and freezes well so you can have leftovers for other meals.
Drink mostly water. Save money and calories for food.
For snacks- try things like hard boiled eggs, carrots, celery, hummus, popcorn, nuts, yogurt, cheese, fruit, homemade granola bars

http://www.budgetbytes.com/ has recipes that my family has enjoyed.

veganbaum

mkakids wrote: »

Another thing i do to save money is to try using HALF. For everything. If you usually use a full cap of laundry detergent, try a load with a half full cap. If that works well, try 1/4 cap next. If it doesnt work well, increase it to 3/4 cap. Usually use a half dollar sized glob of shampoo/lotion/soap? Try half and see how it works.

Eliminate paper goods (plates, cups, cutlery) if you use them. Switch to rags instead of paper towels....you can cut up old cotton clothes or buy a $4 pack of 12 washcloths at walmart.

Keep the heat down in winter and the air up (or off) in summer.

Turn everything off when its not in use.

Line dry clothes if you can.

Plan errands in the car to save on gas costs. Dont drive 30minutes one day to get to a store and then 2 days later drive to the same area to go to a different store. Try to go to both stores on the same day to save gas.

Eliminate inpulse buys. Before you go to the store, make a list and STICK to it.

Excellent advice.

Especially the half thing (and especially with three younger kids). For both cost and environmental reasons, I stopped using full amounts of laundry detergent years and years ago. I also line dry when possible. Even during the winter, I'll hang my work clothes on hangers on my shower curtain rod, and just use the dryer for certain other clothing (pajamas, underwear, socks). I use paper towels for some things, but also use rags (and just use old socks or clothes). I keep the heat down as much as possible and wear a fleece robe around the house.

Buy things in bulk to stretch your meals, as PP also advised. Beans and rice. They can be added to anything to bulk it up. You and your family don't need to eat differently, but you didn't say if that's what you're doing. If so, why? How are you shopping for your family that makes it difficult to buy "healthy" stuff? What do you define as "healthy"? Typical things you can buy in bulk are things that can be part of any nutritionally sound diet (again - beans, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, frozen veggies) and can be helpful when shopping on a budget.