DIET ON A TIGHT BUDGET

buttabeen
buttabeen Posts: 10 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi ya'll :flowerforyou: ,

So I'm by no means NEW to dieting BUT I'm new to dieting with financial restrictions.

If there anyone is in the same situation (unemployed, receiving unemploument etc :blushing: ) but still have a burning passion for fitness, diet working out

What do you eat on a weekly basis to reach YOUR nutritional (macros) goals and ultimately FAT LOSS. I'm not so much interested in the numbers on the scale but more so what the visual look like :tongue: (examples of food,meal plan, etc)

I'm just finding it hard to stay motivated when I can't get my nutrion 100% right.....:noway:

Replies

  • Jewel0124
    Jewel0124 Posts: 119 Member
    I was unemployed for a little over three years (I recently celebrated my 90 days of emplacement). My budget was and continues to be tight. During my last year of unemployment, I lost 27 pounds. I make a lot of soups and stews using lots of veggies, lean meats and dried beans. I couldn't afford to eat out much so I made my own pizza (veggie) and burgers where I could control the amount of fat that I was consuming. I also used a protein powder when I knew there would be long periods of time in between meals. (On road trips or out for interviews) There were times when I didn't eat healthy but I would try to balance the day or week out with a few good days of healthy meals.
  • betoarango
    betoarango Posts: 222 Member
    For dieting on a tight budget i can't think of anything cheaper than IF, ( intermittent fasting). It comes in a variety of flavors, leangains, ESE, fast5 and many others i dont know about. The idea is that you fast for a series of hours and then eat. It works well and is hassle free. There is even a group you can join. It certainly isn't for everyone, but it might be worth it for you to give it a try, or read more about it.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting

    Good luck.
  • jerbear1962
    jerbear1962 Posts: 1,157 Member
    I'm not sure what stores you have around you but what I do is watch the ads. I visit a store here called Aldis for can goods and fresh veggies and fruit. I watch every stores prices and do my best...also look for Farmer's Markets...good luck
  • Belliny
    Belliny Posts: 66
    I'm not sure what stores you have around you but what I do is watch the ads. I visit a store here called Aldis for can goods and fresh veggies and fruit. I watch every stores prices and do my best...also look for Farmer's Markets...good luck


    I agree with him here I hope you have an Aldis near by it's super cheap and has great product. but to be honest i buy food for 3 for a whole week for around $40 at walmart. you just got to know what to get I look for the cheap stuff and lots of veggies and fruits that are the cheapest of all!
  • buttabeen
    buttabeen Posts: 10 Member
    That sound great! ;)
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
    I've never got the whole eating better costs more thing. What's money got to do with it? Aren't you eating LESS, and in particular less Pre-prepared/junk food/takeaways, so therefore spending less? since when was it expensive to buy a bag of apples, a bag of carrots, a couple of ice berg lettuce, some plain pack yoghurt, eggs and a bag of oatmeal? Chicken is cheap, so is turkey even
    canned fish and even fresh salmon .
  • buttabeen
    buttabeen Posts: 10 Member
    Hi,
    thank you so much for the advice and encouragement. I did try intermittent fasting a couple of months ago and although it did work, I felt like it wasnt for me. I did 8:16 version
  • nailasmomma
    nailasmomma Posts: 16 Member
    Agree with all the others above. EATING OUT COSTS MONEY haha, and eating at home can save big bucks. In terms of produce, it can add up though, so I like to visit local produce markets (asian supermarket, indian market, etc) over chain places, because I can buy a butt load of groceries and it comes to like 20-30 bucks. That's pretty good vs going to Safeway/Lucky's/Albertsons/etc.
  • buttabeen
    buttabeen Posts: 10 Member
    Agree with all the others above. EATING OUT COSTS MONEY haha, and eating at home can save big bucks. In terms of produce, it can add up though, so I like to visit local produce markets (asian supermarket, indian market, etc) over chain places, because I can buy a butt load of groceries and it comes to like 20-30 bucks. That's pretty good vs going to Safeway/Lucky's/Albertsons/etc.

    ABSOLUTELY! ! ;) There's an asian food market where I live that I go to and buy a ridiculous amount of groceries for dirt cheap
  • ellen_kay
    ellen_kay Posts: 304 Member
    I eat a lot of eggs-filling and full of protein.
  • rachaelbarton
    rachaelbarton Posts: 57 Member
    Lots of sweet potatoes!
  • crispiecat
    crispiecat Posts: 3 Member
    My typical weekly meals consist of frozen vegetables (green peas, broccoli, spinnach, carrots, bell peppers, etc.) that I steam and eat plain. One 2lb bag of veggies can last me for 5-6 meals and costs me $1.75. I also eat whole grain pasta with tomato sauce, which is higher in calories, but it's filling and all together it costs $6. I can get 7 meals out of a 1lb box of pasta and one jar of sauce. I usually have Cherri-Os mixed with reduced fat yogurt for breakfast, both of which I buy in bulk. The one food group I splurge on is fruit--I spend most of my money on fresh fruit and its such a treat for me. I also buy semi-sweet chocolate chips in bulk for when I need two or three chips to satisfy a craving. It helps keep me from binge eating. I live by myself without any dependents and typically spend $20-$30 a week for groceries, which for me is a tight budget, but I never go hungry. So far I've lost about 11lbs since starting MFP 2 months ago. :) Hope this helps!
  • sassabella
    sassabella Posts: 98
    Yeah I use a lot of basic ingredients like vegetables and eggs. I make a lot of zucchini slice which is really filling and great as its the kind of thing you can just put whatever you want in it (like spinach and mushrooms and things as well if you want). I also eat a lot of fritattas because again you can put whatever you want in it and I find that its obviously very nutritious and doesn't contain anything other than eggs and vegetables (and meat if you want that in there).

    For me the main thing is just having vegetables (normally the farmers market near me is a cheap and good way to buy enough veges for 1-2 weeks) and basic ingredients for meals like stir-fry or vermicelli salads or wraps.
  • AleciaG724
    AleciaG724 Posts: 705 Member
    Check out "plant-based-on-a-budget" on facebook. They have meal plans for 1, 2 or 4 people for less than $25/week per person. You can always add whatever meat you can find on sale if you eat meat. There are really good, easy meals. And you can make the bigger batches for 4 and just eat for multiple days.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    For dieting on a tight budget i can't think of anything cheaper than IF, ( intermittent fasting). It comes in a variety of flavors, leangains, ESE, fast5 and many others i dont know about. The idea is that you fast for a series of hours and then eat. It works well and is hassle free. There is even a group you can join. It certainly isn't for everyone, but it might be worth it for you to give it a try, or read more about it.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting

    Good luck.
    I'm a fan of IF, but I'm curious as to how this works out cheaper?
  • teamAmelia
    teamAmelia Posts: 1,247 Member
    I have a poor diet. I don't eat veggies, rarely eat dairy. My doctor told me to take supplements bc of this. I take a multi-vitamin daily. A 120-day supply was about $10, I think. You can pick these up at Walmart. I'm not really sure why you're getting links to these different types of diets and fasting, but you can eat normal food at any time of day and lose weight. I eat allll day, every few hours. Trust me, I don't eat anything "healthy." I just eat normal food, and at a deficit. For the past week, for instance, I've eaten cookies and hot dogs each day (among other "unhealthy" food), but I lost a lot of weight and I only burned about 600 calories through exercise over two workouts for the wk. I ran one day and I did little workouts like jumping jacks, squats, plyometrics, stuff that you can do at home. Again, the cost is free. So, in summary, just eat at a deficit and add a little exercise if you want. You should also Google sites like nerdfitness.com, which has at-home workouts. Good luck. :happy:

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