POOR GIRLS CAN GET FIT!

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  • Blitz_40
    Blitz_40 Posts: 110 Member
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    And no, fresh produce is NOT cheap, especially in some places where it's hard to get. I can get a frozen Healthy Choice meal for $2.50 when it's on sale. Banquet meals are usually $1 a piece. Tell me how that's expensive?

    There is poor and then there is POOR. I have a friend on a very fixed income and there is literally NO wiggle room, none, nada.....
    She tries so hard to stretch & manipulate every dollar & it flat out amazes me what she can do with so little, but buying healthier food for her family is simply out of her reach. There are no "treats" for her kids, no McDonalds except at birthday's because frankly, that involves using the gas in her car.
  • gampsm824
    gampsm824 Posts: 37 Member
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    I agree with the thought but everyone's journey to fitness is different.
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
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    Why don't you skip McBurger Hut *

    Wait, there's a McBurger Hut? ........must.......find.....this........HUT

    [img]http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv102/cheesegirl33/GIF/GIF LOST/what.gif[/img]
  • choijanro
    choijanro Posts: 754 Member
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    you don't need money for your diet,supplements and go to the gym to become fit or to achieve your body type goal,,


    you can do bodyweight exercise at your home and do hiit or liss cardio outdoor like jogging,walking,sprinting,biking,etc


    about the diet and supplements just tell your mom or dad or ur family about that to sponsor you hehe
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    definition of poor is relative.
  • Sunshine_Kubes
    Sunshine_Kubes Posts: 37 Member
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    ALL OF THAT FOOD YOU MENTIONED IS EXPENSIVE! CHICKEN! ANY MEAT! FRESH PRODUCE! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? It's ALL EXPENSIVE..

    I have been managing to eat healthy for $30 a week.. I'm on an extremely low budget.. I don't eat meats because I can' afford it.. I buy eggs, greek yogurt, and canned soup.. that's the staple of my diet.. I also buy one bunch of bananas or berries and a pack of whole grain crackers for my soup.. POOR GIRLS like myself CAN eat healthy.. BUT NOT THE WAY YOU ARE IMPLYING..
  • jacobhrobertson
    jacobhrobertson Posts: 3
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    2 bags of mixed berries-- $8.
    30 Servings of Oatmeal-- $4.

    Looky there, breakfast for 2 weeks for 12 bucks.

    Chicken Breast
    3 bucks a pound (being generous there).
    Assuming 4 ounces per meal, and if you eat it for lunch and dinner, that's 2 days of chicken.

    Broccoli is all kinds of cheap. I think I pay 2 bucks for a steamer bag, which is easily enough for 3 meals. Buying bigger bags gives bigger savings.

    Frozen veggies are cheap as all heck. Frozen fruit isn't much worse.

    I've lost 100 lbs on a college student budget, and I eat enough food for 1800-2200 calories a day.
  • rieann84
    rieann84 Posts: 511 Member
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    Too long, didn't read...

    I just wanted to toss in that I live in a studio apartment and I make the space to workout in here. I just push the couch and tables to the edges of the room.

    Also, considering "real" food.... If you shop the sales, you can do pretty good. I like broccoli, but I'm not paying 2.49 a lb for it. When it goes on sale for .79-.99/lb that is when I get it fresh. Otherwise, I shop the sales for the frozen veggie bags in the meantime. Look all around the store. I recently bought some raw nuts and I really shopped hard to find the best price per pound. I agree with buying store brands and no frills stuff! I buy shoprite almond milk, tastes delish. When the other stuff goes on sale, I buy that. Being thrifty at the grocery store is all about being flexible.
  • jacobhrobertson
    jacobhrobertson Posts: 3
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    I would also like to add that I have fed 20 mouths on less than 40 bucks, and it was all healthy, homemade food. You just need to buy bulk and budget wisely.
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    Spent 40$ today on:

    1lb Thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
    3 pack of low sodium Starkist tuna
    Dannon Greek Yogurt (4 cups) - but store brand is cheaper
    Blackberry Preserves - again, store brand is cheaper
    1 dozen eggs
    Bread
    1/2 Gallon skim milk
    Breakfast sausage links
    3 red delicious apples
    Sour cream
    1 can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti (for my son)
    1 regular sized package of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies (for my husband)
    24 rolls of Angel Soft toilet paper

    Some of this food goes towards family meals - like the chicken was tonight and sausage will be breakfast for dinner tomorrow - while most of these things are just staples for every day use, but this 40$ should hopefully last until we go do more regular grocery shopping over the weekend. Already have pancake mix, luncheon meat, and cereal - basic stuff is here. But I'm just pointing out you can eat healthy foods if you choose what you buy wisely and pick the cheapest brand you can without sacrificing a lot of quality. I could have spent even less if I'd brought coupons and / or only purchased store brand items. I did okay though - I went to the store with only 40$ to spend and managed to get everything I needed.
  • nighthawk327
    nighthawk327 Posts: 79
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    I haven't read through all 4 pages of comments, so forgive me if I repeat anything ;)

    I think what we need to take away from this is that if there's something that you really, really want (such as to lose weight), you will find a way to do it. I definitely agree with the OP in that some people think there is no path to fitness other than through a gym/personal trainer or diet plan. Those cost so much money and really aren't necessary. What IS needed is to educate yourself on what is healthy. I had to do a LOT of research on what to eat, how to eat, the best ways to put on muscle/gain stamina again, etc (like I'm sure many MFPers have!). (I too have found lots of free, helpful fitness videos on YouTube!)

    Then educate yourself on prices at all of your local stores to find the best options. Sometimes it will take a LOT of dollar-stretching, depending on your finances. We're mostly a 1 income family at the moment (with my work being very sporadic). We sometimes have to do the "healthy" frozen dinner options as they're cheaper and easier to just grab and take to work. We are fortunate to have a Sprouts, Trader Joes, and Costco all nearby as well so we have some options for bulk foods. I can only speak from a big-city experience, though, I don't know how it is in smaller towns. Many times I will hoof it a few miles to the grocery store with a LARGE backpack when I'm getting any bulk items from Sprouts. I get my exercise in, save gas, and get food all at once. :)

    (Note: I did have to save up money for GOOD walking/running shoes - the hand-me-downs I had before weren't cutting it and actually making my knees hurt much more in the end.)
  • daftthoughts
    daftthoughts Posts: 88
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    Some people are so touchy. Sheesh.

    I think everyone who has difficulty financially has their own difficulty financially. For example, all of these suggestions for farmers markets ... farmersmarkets would ruin my family if we did our shopping there. Here they are so overpriced the smaller ones never last. $4 a pound for peaches? $14/lb ground beef? You can't be serious. I try to keep our dinners to$10, obviously that isn't going to happen with$14 ground beef. We haven't even bothered the last two summers.

    Fortunately, we are a military family and shopping on base is usually much less expensive. We go once a month, stock our storage freezer with meat, some frozen veg, buy our shelf stable and longer shelf life items then supplement with small shops for fresh veg, bread etc. With a family of 5 plus two big dogs and two cats we s spend about $1,000 a month on grocery alone (including dog food, laundry soap etc).

    On an income of $3,400 a month with $1,000 in groceries, $1,000 mortgage, $1,000 in bills you can see there isn't a lot for shopping. If my family divides the "extra" $400 5 ways we have less than $100 each discretionary spending, never mind the monthly emergencies, the doctor visits, the dentists, the glasses, the contacts, ignore birthdays, ignore Christmases.

    My family makes more than that, but the mentioned expenses and unexpected expenses eat up everything. In July we replaced both our washer and dryer (washer backed up and estimated repair was comparable to replace, dryer had two frightening explosions then died), our garbage disposal went out and cables for our a/c were cut. That ate most of our tax refund.

    Just being devil's advocate. My family is poor but find it much more affordable to eat real food. Considering, however, that the suggestions often made on MFP are not helpful to us, I don't pretend to know the food cost v. average income situation in Wyoming or Florida or condemn those who say they can't afford it as just not being frugal enough or shopaholics.

    Poor? I don't even make a $1,000 a month from a fixed income and have to pay everything, including rent, mandatory health insurance, student loan, all my other bills and then have maybe 100-150 bucks a month to buy all my groceries with. This includes necessary things like toilet paper, detergents, cat food, cat litter etc. I have to plan clothes and shoe shopping 3-4 months in advance so that I can spend 30 bucks on a new shirt, new pants and new shoes.The only thing I have going for me is low rent and utilities, but other than that I'm turning over every penny I have.

    I already had a hard time buying cheap junk food. When I changed my eating habits my fridge has never been emptier. I'm thankful that oatmeal isn't expensive and I have a farmers market down the road every Saturday that allows me to buy fruits and vegetables in bulk for relatively cheap. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't be able to live healthier. I'd be stuck eating the cheap processed meat of frozen burgers, eating cheap fries from my oven every night or having to make due with 1 sandwich and a bowl of rice all day long.

    This sort of topic and some of the replies really upset me. I'm managing, but not without the greatest effort. It's far from easy and some days I just want to give up because I don't know how I'm going to make it to the end of the month with the remaining $40 I have left. My freezer only stocks so much. I can only buy so much chicken and fish before I run out.

    Not everyone can have 'sponsors' to pay for your food. Not everyone can just magically work more hours and earn more. I'm busting my butt to make a few extra bucks here and there by working for my friend just to be able to feed myself.

    You can do a lot of exercises at home, but even then you need clothes on your back, shoes on your feet and a working internet connection to find information. I'm lucky my neighbors allow me to leech off their internet for a couple of bucks a month as opposed to the $65 I'd have to pay myself (and couldn't afford), otherwise I wouldn't even be able to workout from Youtube videos.

    So yes, money IS required to make this work. Junk food is cheaper than fresh produce if you buy the cheap junk from a big supermarket. And every day clothes and shoes have priority over sports outfits.

    I gave up buying regular clothes last month as planned to get a workout outfit so I could move more freely and do my workouts better, and now my only pair of pants is starting to fall apart and I won't have money until 2 months from now to get a replacement. That's what poverty is like.
  • VeggieKidMandy
    VeggieKidMandy Posts: 575 Member
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    This is my usual shopping list , partially because i am vegan and partially because I dont have tons of money $$

    $.99 for two bushells of kale
    2.00 on Squah and Zucchini
    1.00 on Mustard Greens and Collard Greens
    3.00 on Bags Of Lentils and Kidney Beans
    about 5$ on other assorted fruits and vegetables
    3.00 for lb of chicken or ground beef ( for my husband )
    3.86 on Almond milk
    1.00 on Tuna
    4.00 on cheese for 1 lb.
    3.00 on Rye Bread
    and sometimes I spend a little bit extra for Salsa and Avacados and Peanut Butter
    there are other things i pick up through out the month, but for the most part those are my staple foods.
  • Chickychick18
    Chickychick18 Posts: 16
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    Thankyou!! You are so right and I feel like I need to keep telling people that too.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I wonder if we could start a group on MFP to give away clothes that don't fit us any more.
  • CandelLife
    CandelLife Posts: 127 Member
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    Question.... when buying healthy for one can be reasonable, how do you manage it when you're shopping for five people every week and the money has to stretch?

    Sad truth is pasta is the cheapest food and yet the worst thing for my diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the best but cost more than canned. I can get some of the good foods in there, but not for every day of the week and months on end, it adds up too much.

    Honest truth is, the best idea is to eat healthy and do what you can to get it there, but it truly is not easy to do when you are strapped for cash and have a family to feed. I do find that shopping at Aldi's and Save-A-Lot helps as well as the "Buy one Get one free" meats at Winn Dixie.

    Overall, like I saw someone else say "poor is a matter of perspective"....
  • wannabeadancer27
    wannabeadancer27 Posts: 44
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    what's the definition of "poor" here? because I remember being 13 and my mother only having 20 dollars for groceries for the week. and guess what we bought? rice and potatoes. and guess who became overweight and whose health went to ****?
  • zornig
    zornig Posts: 336 Member
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    I wonder if we could start a group on MFP to give away clothes that don't fit us any more.

    I think this is a great idea. I've dropped two pants sizes since I started tracking my food again--and now I have several practically brand new trousers that I was just going to give to the local Goodwill. The only problem with clothing donation through MFP is paying for postage :(
  • MzPix
    MzPix Posts: 177 Member
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    I wonder if we could start a group on MFP to give away clothes that don't fit us any more.

    You might also want to check out freecycle.org. It is designed for people to give and receive free used items from one another. It also breaks down into local areas. Sometimes people will be giving away clothing, exercise items, shoes, etc. You can post what you need on there as well.
    It's a great resource.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    This is my usual shopping list , partially because i am vegan and partially because I dont have tons of money $$

    $.99 for two bushells of kale
    2.00 on Squah and Zucchini
    1.00 on Mustard Greens and Collard Greens
    3.00 on Bags Of Lentils and Kidney Beans
    about 5$ on other assorted fruits and vegetables
    3.00 for lb of chicken or ground beef ( for my husband )
    3.86 on Almond milk
    1.00 on Tuna
    4.00 on cheese for 1 lb.
    3.00 on Rye Bread
    and sometimes I spend a little bit extra for Salsa and Avacados and Peanut Butter
    there are other things i pick up through out the month, but for the most part those are my staple foods.

    $.99 for two bushels of kale??!! I'm jealous. Where do you live?? It's $2.99 per bushel, $2.50 if it's on sale/in season where I live... I love kale but it's a luxury item for me these days.

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