Opinion needed

sandeegriffin
sandeegriffin Posts: 54 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
What's the best budget friendly diet to do?

Replies

  • KyleGrace8
    KyleGrace8 Posts: 2,205 Member
    I eat a lot of canned and frozen stuff. Buy bulk brown rice and other items. Just get down to the basics to start with and it's as cheap as it gets. Canned tuna, steam-able veggies, rice, chicken. You don't need a fad diet, just portion control and count the calories. Or do like the others said and just keep eating what you do already just smaller portions that fit into your allotted calories.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,155 Member
    Eat foods you like that fit your budget. Eat portion sizes that fit your calorie budget. It doesn't have to be expensive. I lost weight eating the same things I ate before just less.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Eating your normal food in smaller amounts is most sustainable. Stick to your calorie goal and eat what you like.

    I save money by buying chicken thighs, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables in season, frozen vegetables, dry beans, lentils, pasta, rice, potatoes, onion, garlic, peanut butter, tuna, powdered milk, bread, larger containers of yogurt, store brand/generic items.
    I save money by planning meals and eating food prepared at home mostly.

    My calorie goal is 1200 calories without exercise. This is how I typically eat:
    Breakfast- things like Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, cottage cheese (about 200-300 calories)
    Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers (about 300-500 calories)
    Dinner- something different every night of the month. (about 500-600 calories) I have soup once a week usually and that is very budget friendly.
    Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese (about 100-300 calories)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Don't do a diet. What you eat is your diet. Eat what you like in the quantities you need. Plan your shopping so that you get everything you need but don't buy more than you need, and plan your meals so you eat up everything you buy. Food costs, but cooking from scratch, using simple, basic real food ingredients, is value for money. Learn to cook, not just to follow recipes.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Eat less move more.
  • sandeegriffin
    sandeegriffin Posts: 54 Member
    I like everyones suggestions but the food I eat is fried, starchy, and sugary. I'm just looking for a change and have heard about the Mediterranean diet and Adkins(not sure about spelling) diet. I just wanna know opinions about those is all.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    I like everyones suggestions but the food I eat is fried, starchy, and sugary. I'm just looking for a change and have heard about the Mediterranean diet and Adkins(not sure about spelling) diet. I just wanna know opinions about those is all.

    If you want to change the way you eat, you don't need an organized diet plan. Just began swapping out some of the foods you eat often for some new things. If you never eat beans, try a bean dish. If you never eat green vegetables, look up some recipes and try a new vegetable each week (Pinterest is a great recipe resource). If you don't want to eat fried food as often, try cooking methods like sauteing or roasting.

    There's nothing *wrong* with either the Mediterranean diet or the Adkins diet, but you can switch the way you eat without a specific plan. And the wonderful thing about avoiding a plan is that it can be super-budget friendly. You can look around the produce section at your grocery store, notice what is on sale, and plan to try those things.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    MFP is free, and you can keep eating all the foods you love.
  • Unknown
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  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    What's the best budget friendly diet to do?

    IIFYM. If It Fits Your Macros. Simply eat food that fits within your calorie allotment, which means eating food you already would consume, just in reasonable portions.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    I like everyones suggestions but the food I eat is fried, starchy, and sugary. I'm just looking for a change and have heard about the Mediterranean diet and Adkins(not sure about spelling) diet. I just wanna know opinions about those is all.
    My opinion is that I hate named diets. You don't have to follow any named diet to not eat fried, starchy, and sugary foods. There's nothing wrong with fried, starchy, and sugary food as long as that's not all you eat. I suspect that you are looking for a 180 degree turn. Stop that. That usually ends really bad. Instead, look at what you are unhappy with with your current diet, and tweak that to make it more in line with your needs and preferences. Take it in increments. What to do depends on what you are doing now and what you want to do instead.

    For instance, implement one new habit per week. First week - have a piece of fresh fruit with breakfast every day. Second week - make dinner from scratch three times. Third week - bring lunch to work. And so on. Browse the produce section in your grocery store. Try a new vegetable every week, and google recipes for ideas. Learn to cook. Don't think that you have to eat perfectly, because there are no perfect diets and a goal like that is just going to make you exhausted.
  • jlsjenni1992
    jlsjenni1992 Posts: 38 Member
    I'm working on losing weight myself but I try to get advice from people but my aunt said allot about losing weight is eating the same meals over again and not making a big deal out of each meal... so if u had to make this fancy healthy meal every night it would be almost impossible to do every night just stick to eating things that aren't artificial but filling or eat egAt u want in very small amounts .. I get really hungry easily and it affects my mood so most days I have simple things like Greek yogurt , beans and cheese , soup and things that aren't hard to make and keep me full but u could easily eat fast food but eat very little of it ... I tried this tho but it doesn't really fill me up but keep things simple and try to not make it too complicated
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Count calories on MFP, eat things you like that fit within your calorie and financial budget.

    This. Also, not cutting out foods that you enjoy will go a long way in making this whole thing sustainable for the long term. Weight loss means nothing, if you can sustain the loss, so don't make it any harder than it needs to be. Just eat at the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals and you'll lose the weight, and then adjust your calories up a bit when it's time to maintain :)
  • sandeegriffin
    sandeegriffin Posts: 54 Member
    So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?

    Do you prefer the taste? I don't see a reason to but I also don't see a reason to call it "bad sugar".
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,210 Member
    Honey isn't a sugar alternative, it's sugar.

    Really, it's about the calories. You don't need to pick a named diet or make sweeping changes. Up your veggie intake, pick lean meat cuts, still enjoy treats you like but within your calorie goal and being minded to get adequate nutrients.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?
    Sugar is sugar and neither good nor bad. Honey is 99.9% sugar. You can't just (not usually) swap 1-to-1, you need to see your meal/diet as a whole. Eat fruit. Add reasonable amounts of sugar or honey when it's needed. Try to eat more meals that doesn't need a sweetener.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited December 2016
    You don't need a special diet plan, but it sounds like you need ideas on what to eat given the foods you currently consume

    Try looking over the recipes on this website:

    http://www.budgetbytes.com/

    She has a wide selection of healthier foods to choose from than what you're currently eating. Read over the recipes, select a few that look promising, and use MFP's recipe builder function when you make them to calculate the calories for your meals.

    ETA: This is another good website. A lot of her recipes are affordable:

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?

    Sugar is sugar. You can gain weight eating 'good' sugar the same as you can gain weight eating 'bad' sugar-by eating at a calorie surplus. The only thing that matters for weight loss/gain/maintenance is calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    sandeegriffin wrote: »
    I like everyones suggestions but the food I eat is fried, starchy, and sugary. I'm just looking for a change and have heard about the Mediterranean diet and Adkins(not sure about spelling) diet. I just wanna know opinions about those is all.

    If you want to change the way you eat, you don't need an organized diet plan. Just began swapping out some of the foods you eat often for some new things. If you never eat beans, try a bean dish. If you never eat green vegetables, look up some recipes and try a new vegetable each week (Pinterest is a great recipe resource). If you don't want to eat fried food as often, try cooking methods like sauteing or roasting.

    There's nothing *wrong* with either the Mediterranean diet or the Adkins diet, but you can switch the way you eat without a specific plan. And the wonderful thing about avoiding a plan is that it can be super-budget friendly. You can look around the produce section at your grocery store, notice what is on sale, and plan to try those things.

    This. Exactly this.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    jlsjenni1992 wrote: »
    I'm working on losing weight myself but I try to get advice from people but my aunt said allot about losing weight is eating the same meals over again and not making a big deal out of each meal... so if u had to make this fancy healthy meal every night it would be almost impossible to do every night just stick to eating things that aren't artificial but filling or eat egAt u want in very small amounts .. I get really hungry easily and it affects my mood so most days I have simple things like Greek yogurt , beans and cheese , soup and things that aren't hard to make and keep me full but u could easily eat fast food but eat very little of it ... I tried this tho but it doesn't really fill me up but keep things simple and try to not make it too complicated
    No.
    You don't have to eat the same boring foods every day.
    Weight loss is ALL about eating less calories than you need to maintain your current weight.

    What is 'artificial' food?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    These are my favorite "diets"

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    While I sit firmly on Team Moderation, I will say this: when I first started out, I loosely followed the Mediterranean diet. I looked up a whole bunch of recipes with the word "Mediterranean" in the name and cooked those. I ate a lot of lean meat (chicken is cheap) and seafood (not so cheap). I increased my veggie intake. I swapped out bread and pasta for beans (cheap), grains like quinoa (not cheap), and brown rice (cheap, but not really better for you white rice). It gave me some structure while I got used to calorie counting, and it gave me a chance to get comfortable in the kitchen. Now I eat whatever I want within my calorie limit, but if the idea of "Eat all the things, just eat less of them" is overwhelming to you, the Mediterranean diet isn't a bad place to start. I think it's pretty flexible, both from a budget standpoint and for allowing you to eat "off-plan" things from time to time.
  • CrabbyCancerMama
    CrabbyCancerMama Posts: 95 Member
    I've lost 75lbs this year and I don't "diet" I eat healthy 90% of the time and exercise 5x a week. I still eat pizza, pie, Cookies whatever. I don't do it everyday but depriving yourself of the foods you love will only back fire. never think that you "can't" eat a certain foods. moderation and balance is the key
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