trying!

mandylanerocks

i'm fairly new to the site. i joined last month & have been trying to post regularly my eating habits. its really opened my eyes as to how badly i eat, even though i know i want to lose weight. the thing i find most challenging right now is that it seems like healthier food cost more! money's tight right now for me, so i just eat whatever i have in my house. normally, this isn't healthy items!

but i do want to get back on track & i definitely know i just need some motivation & support!!
so any healthy food ideas, send them my way!

ashleyh3156

I usually eat around what is on sale for the week at the grocery store, I also go to all 3 of my local stores to get the biggest deals, it actually will save you money. Also, if you have a deep freeze that is a great investment. I have a quite large one and can store boneless skinless chicken breast and such if it's on sale for 1.50 a lbs or whatever. Frozen veggies are also a great way to get them in your diet without robbing your wallet.

Dippydog

Hi there.

What you are finding is exactly what I found when I started, too. Plus....I had no idea what a portion really was.

I find a lot of really cheap recipies in the community section. Check them out.

Good Luck

KAYoala

I know EXACTLY what you mean. Or sometimes I am just tired from work and kids and all that and i just dont waaaant to take the time to cook something good for me when the drive thu is so much faster. The good news is stores are becoming a lot more health conscious now too. A lot of fast food places have healthier options (watch out for hidden badness like adding cheese or salad dressing) and there are a lot of healthier options in the freezer section too. Good luck. If you ever need support hit me up. i am new on here too and just starting out.

-K

hlrogers0804

Im in the same type of situation as u are... I have a hard time finding the money to eat healthy, but Iv managed to somewhat find some inexpensive things to eat and stay within my calorie limit. I ussually eat something simple for breakfast like a strawberry parfiet ( $1 at Mcdonalds or $2.99 at 711 - 196Calories) or a banana (100 cal) then for lunch I eat some type of soup such as; tomatoe soup or chicken noodle (for one can roughly between 200 and 250 Calories and only $1 at the grocery store) Then for dinner I have veggies, like broccoli, mixed vegetable or carrots (super low calories under 100 and $3 for a bag of them frozen at the grocery store). Hopefully this helps!

mandylanerocks

thanks for the ideas guys! its good to know people are in the same situation that i am! i guess i need to take a second look at some things!!

dragonflydi

I just joined not too long ago myself ... but I'm willing to jump in because I've been doing some research on this myself

Big thing I noticed about the healthy stuff being more expensive: Watch the packaging. You may be able to buy the 'regular' version, make slight adjustments and still be healthy. While you may pick up something that says low fat and be spendy, while the "per serving" is low fat, a package you think is a serving may actually be holding 3-4 servings when you can get the regular, eat a few less than what is considered a serving and be at the same place calorically and with fat content.

For example, 'reduced fat' triscuits vs 'original'. I'm going from memory here, so I may be off, but I just researched this not too long ago, so it's going to be close. If I remember right, the box of 'reduced fat' truiscuits were more expensive on a regular basis (and then the original were on sale on top of that) and the box of reduced fat was smaller overall by about 4-5 ounces (8 vs 13 I think). When I compared the nutritional panels, a serving size was the same for both (7 crackers I think), and the calories were the same as well (120 per serving). The fat in the reduced was 3g per serving while original was 4.5g per serving. With only that little bit of difference between the two, I bought the original and just ate a few less than the normal 'serving size'. I got more for my money b/c for everyone one of "my" servings, I almost added another whole serving to the box with the 3 crackers I didn't eat since I was only eating 4 as a serving

Assuming I have the serving size right at 7 crackers, one serving of reduced fat was 3 grams of fat and 120 calories. When you divide out the calories and fat per cracker on the reduced fat, it comes to 17 calories and .43 grams of fat per cracker. I bought the cheaper, larger original box, but ate only 4 crackers per serving. If you divide the calories and fat out in the original version, it comes to 17 calories and .64g/fat per cracker. Since I only ate 4 as a serving, I consumed a total of 68 calories and only 2.56 grams of fat, BOTH of which are both lower than the calories and fat per serving in that smaller, more expensive box of 'reduced fat' crackers and I had more servings to enjoy on top of it, streching my money just a little bit further. (I have to say, I felt so smart when I figured this out! LOL ...)

Another thing I changed - if you drink high calorie drinks (soda, fruit juice, flavored waters (unless they are 0 calorie waters)), etc., watch those. Those are truly empty calories and added sugar. For less than the price of a 12 pack of soda, you can use your own water and get a container of crystal light in any variety of flavors, and make 8 quarts to drink.

Cans of soda are 12 ounces, so a 12 pack is 144 ounces of drink and unless you get a screamin' deal, even store brands cost $2.50-$3 for a 12 pack. Crystal Light can be purchased in containers that will allow you to make 8 quarts and I just bought a container last week on sale for $3. That is 256 ounces to drink for the same cost as that 12 pack of soda that only gives you 144 ounces costs ... and the crystal light has no sugar and most of them are less than 15 calories per serving ... while Coke (just as an example) has 140 calories and 39g of sugar in *each* can.

It takes a little time to sit and really look at what you are getting and how these little adjustments can be made to still get healthy nutrition but not necessarily break the bank.

Hope that helps a little and gives you some ideas for the future??