Budget healthy...can it be done?

Options
13»

Replies

  • srpotts1212
    srpotts1212 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    mackau wrote: »
    Sure.

    Beef Mince. Chicken. Fish. Beans. Rice. Eggs. Onion. Potato. Tomato. Fill out meals with cheap frozen vegetables (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Peas, Corn). "Snacks" become apples, pears, oranges etc (cheap fruit).

    One point when on a "budget" healthy diet would be worry less about carb/protein/fat macros, and worry more about getting specific with your portions & weights, because the majority of a budget meal will be Beans, Potato or Rice. If those 3 are not the basis for most of the meals (and you aren't cheating) then you're unlikely to get enough calories, or you're going to be having large quantities of meat (which is expensive).

    Also get used to using different spices & herbs. It can be easier to take the same ingredients every day when day 1 is an Italian herb flavour, day 2 is an coriander & cumin Indian curry flavour, day 3 is a lemon pepper salt flavour, day 4 is a tex-mex cayenne pepper flavour, day 5 is a French onion & garlic parsley flavour and day 6 Asian five spice and day 7 is a middle eastern thyme/sumac/sesame mix.

    A final point would be what sort of online shopping places do you have around? Many people have the biggest problems with "budgeting" because they just go around a shop buying anything that catches the eye and not sticking to a list. If you have a shop that is online and is reputable you are completely taking yourself out of the environment that Grocery stores have spent millions upon millions researching the best ways to get people to buy stuff.

    Hence why the cooked chickens are in the far left corner, the frozen food is in the top right corner and the milk & bread at the back of the store and to get straight to them you're probably going to be walking past a chocolate aisle.

    It's much easier to stick to a list when you're just typing only the items you want into a search bar.

    We don't have much for online shopping, however living in a small community we drive to all 3 grocery places to find the best prices.
  • srpotts1212
    srpotts1212 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    J72FIT wrote: »
    IMO, eating healthy becomes budget friendly once you stop falling for the over-hyped and over-priced "health" foods...

    I don't eat health foods. I like fruits and vegetables and meats. A few carbs and potatoes but I don't eat anything fancy.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    I don't know about you, but bananas don't grow anywhere close to where I live (midwest US). I think they're very affordable considering how far they have to travel and how many people have to work to get them to me.

    I generally have no problem eating affordably and hitting my nutritional/calorie goals when I focus my diet on staple foods and foods that are in season.

Categories