Fast food all the time?

jenniferm09

Me and some other people I'm associated with are either slightly or moderately overweight, and we all have the same bad habit. Every day we'll eat anywhere between 3-6 cheeseburgers or chicken sandwiches from Wendy's or McDonald's, etc. All in the name of buying "cheap food", because, honestly, we don't have a lot of money.
So my question it, what good, healthy, low-cal food can we buy that is at least ALMOST as cheap as buying cheeseburgers EVERYDAY? It's making us fatter and constipated and we need some help.

steinbergshal

Some of the cheapest foods on earth are rice and beans, especially if you get dried beans. Just soak the beans in cold water over night, and then boil them in a pot with some salt and pepper (garlic if you are adventurous) until they are tender to bite. I do a good sized pot, then freeze 1 cup portions. Make rice, add your beans, maybe some cheese and whatever veggies are cheap that day (broccoli, bell peppers, anything you like) and you have instant rice bowl. This is very filling, and should only cost you a couple of dollars for several filling meals.

If you have to eat fast food, get some apples or a parfait instead of one cheeseburger. Switch off with tacotime and get a tostada or taco with veggies on it. Order a small side salad with a grilled chicken breast added. You can eat healthier and feel ALOT better, while still not spending to much. I changed my pizza and burger diet, and have never been happier! Good Luck

nehtaeh

Even just changing to the small chili is much better than the burger at Wendy's.

There are many things you can get at the supermarket that would equal out to less than $1 each serving.

$3-$6/day adds up to a lot. That's $90-$180/month or so. For one person, you can buy a bunch of stuff, make meals and freeze portions sizes. Then, you can rotate and pull out what you want to eat through the month. I wouldn't think that would be too bad. Way healthier than fast food for sure.

CasperO

Eating healthier does require a little more planning sometimes, but it doesn't have to be expensive.

Try this:

3 pound package frozen boneless skinless chix breast at supermarket = $7
2 - 6packs of regular old hamburger buns,,, wheat it ya' like 'em. $3

So you take this stuff home, thaw the chicken, cut your 3 pounds of chicken up into a dozen nice juicy cuts of 4ounces each. Now, pan cook 'em - not too hot, little salt & pepper, some garlic, I like to sprinkle on some parsley flakes. It's all good.

Now, put the chix on the buns, poke 'em in sandwich baggies & fridge or freeze. You just made 12 good little sandwiches for $10,,, and that beat McD's any day.

So here are the numbers:

My sandwich:
Great Value - Jumbo Hamburger Buns, 1 bun 140 4 3 27 0 1 remove
Purdue - Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, 100cal, 22g Protein, 4 oz 100 22 1 0 0 0 remove
Add Food Remember Meal 240 26 4 27 0 1

240 calories, 4 grams fat

Mcdonald's - Double Cheese Burger, 5.8 oz 440 25 23 34 80 2

440 calories, 23 grams fat.

Any questions :laugh:

jenniferm09

Wow, thanks for all your good advice guys. :happy:

CasperO

It's easy,,, the trick is - cook it yourself out of real food. Nothing too packaged/processed/altered. My chicken sandwich and an apple and a glass of iced tea is a pretty decent lunch, for about $2, about 320 calories.

Something else - when you home cook dinner, make too much. You're cooking anyway, so make extra of all that good healthy stuff. Put the leftovers away in Gladware or baggies or whatever and there's your lunch. Cheap and good and you know what's in it 'cause you made it.

Love the pic BTW.

MissKim

My and boyfriend practically live off of chicken breasts and steamed veggies(steamfresh brand) and i make this concoction of 1 cup brown rice, 1 can low sodium red kidney beans(or black beans, we like both) and 1 lb ground turkey or lean ground beef and one can of rotel. cook it all, mix it all together and you have your own little version of red beans and rice. it is yummy and cheap

LittleEva44

You CAN go to Mickey D's & Burger King get a Hamburger Happy Meal, sub the French fries for apple dippers.

You CAN go to a Chinese restaurant: start w/your soup as it fills you up. Stay away from the egg rolls and "fried" rice. Go for the steamed white rice, veggies to your heart's content, and stay w/the the "healthy" fruits for dessert.

You CAN go to an all you can eat salad bar: again, start w/the soup (dilute it in hot water since it's high in sodium), go for leafy greens like spinach salad, NO dressing (use olive oil instead), grab some Melba toast or wheat crackers, kidney beans, etc. You MAY want to stay away from their famous ice cream bar...again, going for "healthy" fruits for dessert.

You CAN go to a pizza joint. Ask them to make you a veggie personal pizza using whole wheat dough. If they cannot accommodate you, then ask them to use extra virgin olive oil to your pizza.

You CAN go to Applebee's and/or Chilis restaurant. Ask for their grilled chicken salad and use the above "tips" I gave you. Ask for extra virgin olive oil INSTEAD of salad dressing...and stay away from their bread sticks

Blessings!

Eva

stephcheers

I'll throw in $5 footlongs for you and your friend to split from Subway. I love a good ham on whole wheat (hold the cheese) but add lots of fresh veggies.

Advengirl

PB&J when you're in a big hurry and don't have time to prepare anything!
Make sure it's good, fiber rich bread (I like Oroweat Double Fiber)....try to grab some decent peanut butter (I love Trader Joe's crunchy w/ flaxseed oil) and shoot for the lower sugar jams/preserves. OR- skip those all together and slice on a banana. Really yummy....and quick...and CHEAP.
You'd be surprised how quickly you'll fill up on one of these.

(pb is easy to over do on...I wouldn't recommend eating PB&J all the time, but it's good when you need a solution)

Also-
I used to make my own terriyaki rice bowls...
(Pack in ziplock containers or tupperware for re-use)
Pre-cook brown rice, sautee onions/broccoli/whatever you like, bake or sautee chicken...
assemble into individual portions, pour on a decent terriyaki sauce (my sis loves bbq sauce on hers, odd by tasty!) and shove in the fridge.
They don't take long to heat up and are full of everything you need for a good/healthy, quick & cheap lunch

KendalBeee

bump

courtney_love2001

You eat 3-6 cheeseburgers/mcchickens a day?? Seriously????

jaxterbom

Subway turkey on wheat w/lot/o'/veggies. No cheese. Fills you up without the chub.

Hank

39 down
28 to go

CasperO

6" - Subway Black forest ham w/cheese & tons of veggies. No mayo. (and no olives, I'm not sure they're really veggies ). 340 calories. Get the 12 inch and save the other half for tomorrow - lunch for $2.50.

BamaRose0107

I like to get the 5 piece nugget and side salad with lite ranch or ceasar at wendy's if I have to eat out. I break the nuggets up in the salad. And don't eat the croutons.

Poison5119

You eat 3-6 cheeseburgers/mcchickens a day?? Seriously????

That's what I was thinking..... WOW... I'm feeling :sick: just thinking about it!

Because I am POOR, I have survived lunchtime, eaten very healthy and lost weight eating pre-frozen leftovers, which have varied from hamburger helper meals (:sick: high in fat) with frozen veggies thown in,spaghetti and meat sauce, to 4oz of deli meat or PBJ on Aunt Millies bread (one slice is enough!).

Eating out is very expensive and BAD for you..... try to stop!

Advengirl

You eat 3-6 cheeseburgers/mcchickens a day?? Seriously????

hey now- support here. Maybe she meant that the group gets that many...or maybe that's all she eats during the day...or maybe neither! It doesn't matter. She wants to change and make a difference in her diet.

She's asking for help, not sarcasm/ridicule.

Mindful_Trent

You can definitely save money by buying & cooking your own meals, but you have to be careful...it's easy to spend too much at the grocery store!

Stay away from pre-made meals and "kits" - they tend to be bad for you and more expensive. A good rule of thumb is to only shop from the edges of the store - this would be the dairy, bakery (whole grain breads are best), deli and then the fresh produce section. Exceptions to this would be for canned items like beans, tuna, etc. Buy fresh veggies rather than canned if you can - much cheaper and usually less sodium. Make sure you only buy enough fresh veggies/fruit for a week at the most - they can go bad quickly and there's nothing worse than having to throw out a bunch of produce.

Usually there are specials on one type of meat or another - I usually save money by buying the "store" brands of meat or the meat that is close to the sell by date - it is good as long as you use or freeze it right away. Someone else mentioned buying the frozen bulk bags of chicken breasts - these end up being pretty cheap (and healthy) when you buy it like that.

One great substitute for pasta is spaghetti squash - I found it on sale for $1 per pound - while you pay maybe $3-$5 for the squash, it will seriously make enough for 5-6 servings (or more, depending on your appetite and the size of the squash - it's very filling!).

Basically - take your time when you are shopping and you will be able to find plenty of good deals and cheap, healthy food to eat , and the preparation time really isn't that bad. (I've learned this lesson 1st hand over the last month.)

iplayoutside19

I think one of the biggest contributing factors to myself getting as big as I did was eating out a lot.

Now, I rarely go out, and if I do it's not to McD's or Wendy's. Now Taco Bell..that's a different story.

Not mention the money saved, by not eating out.

courtney_love2001

I wasn't trying to ridicule, I was just confused that one person who is slightly/moderately overweight could eat 3-6 cheeseburgers a day. Seemed surprising that's all.

blessedtobefit

It is quick, easy and taste great (we think), but fast food is killing us. One of the first things I changed was to STOP going through the drive thru and start planning my meals in advance so when I am hungry I can make a smart choice. I carry a small cooler with me when I am out with the children running errands or at work. It is full of quick hands on snacks that help curve the cravings while I am away from home. Once a week take a day to plan out your meals/snacks for the week and have it all ready for when you walk through the door tired and hungry. It does take time, but in the long run it is so worth it and is much cheaper than grabbing a meal in a sack everyday. I know one of the big reasons I got so heavy was because I ate out so much and didn't cook like I should when I was at home. You can make a change to eat food that gives your body life instead of dead food that does nothing for you except shorten your life.

Making lifestyle changes are not easy, but YOU CAN DO IT!you can do it. I had no idea that anyone noticed the cooler I was carrying with me everyday to work.