Broke and trying to eat healthy.. Help!

It keeps eating at me, so I'm gonna reply again, and I mean this in the most supportive way, I truly do. That being said, based only on the few messages in this post:

Your weight is not your parents fault, it's not your husband's fault. You're choosing to put particular amounts of food in your mouth to the point where you can't fit into amusement rides. You're choosing to live 40 miles from work for a $350/week (net? gross?) job. You chose to buy a car. You're choosing to not take out student loans (you took out a loan for your car? why not take out a loan for something that is NOT a depreciating asset?). You are making choice after choice that have landed you in a bit of a Catch-22 of you're own making.

I feel like you have a tendency of making excuses and blaming others for your own choices. You're still young, you have an entire lifetime ahead of you where you can either (1) continue to blame others and feel helpless to change the things you don't like or (2) recognize that you have control over your own destiny.

Bacchants wrote: »

I think you need to check your privilege.

If she was that poor, she'd get grants for school and food assistance.

Bacchants wrote: »

Then if she has bad credit she might not be able to get a student loan.

Then she couldn't have gotten a loan for the car.

Edit to add: I realize I don't know the whole story. I really do feel a lot of sympathy having been in similar situations. I don't mean to be out of line, it just sounds like our OP points to a lot of external reasons for things that are in her control (like her weight and what food she eats).

sweigartn09 wrote: »

How does a calorie deficit work?

Eat fewer calories than your body typically uses. You'll see it lots of different ways.... Calories in / Calories out........eat less / move more.

If your body uses 2000 calories in a day...and you eat 1,500.....that's a 500 calorie deficit. That 500 x 7 = 3,500 calories (or 1 pound loss a week). The number of calories you will use depends upon your stats (you plug into MFP)....and calories given depends also on your weekly weight loss goal.....higher goal = lower calories. Just pick something sustainable.

cindyangotti wrote: »

WBB55 wrote: »

Bacchants wrote: »

I think you need to check your privilege.

If she was that poor, she'd get grants for school and food assistance.

Bacchants wrote: »

Then if she has bad credit she might not be able to get a student loan.

Then she couldn't have gotten a loan for the car.

I agree with you 100%. When I originally replied I thought she was a minor when she was talking about her parents unhealthy cooking. No, she is a married adult. There is a lot she could do for herself to improve her eating. Her parents are buying all the food and doing all the cooking? Wow. Come on OP. Look at your situation and make some healthy changes on your own, as an adult.

I can totally imagine a mother who would feel insulted if her adult daughter who was living with her did not want to eat the food the mother cooked for her.

That said, @sweigartn09, there are surely ways to have a diplomatic conversation with your parents about this.

How about you offer to cook a few nights per week? How many parent-cooked meals are you obligated to eat? Making healthy choices for the rest of your meals will offset this. I eat bigger meals with my fiance and budget calories for this.

sweigartn09 wrote: »

How does a calorie deficit work?

Wooh! If you need to ask that question, you need to start at the very beginning and forget the idea of good or bad food.

Set up your profile on MFP, give honest numbers, and set a reasonable goal. MFP will determine a calorie count that will be adequate for you to meet your goals. Log every single thing you eat accurately and stay within the calorie goal.

Simple answer; a calorie deficit means to eat less than your body burns each day. That is the one and only way to lose weight.

Also I understand what you mean by having bad food in the house. I had friends in high school who's parents never had a vegetable in the house and that was completely normal for them. Sorry more people on this post don't see your issue. I remember one of my close friends coming to my house to eat all the time because her mother never cooked and they ate out every single night which was making her have stomach issues . Luckily my mom was always willing to feed and hungry mouth lol. So if your in that type of position I can understand completely. If your parents are cooking okay then I say eat less but if they are just bringing in like frozen pizza,cookies, and chips I understand.

Everyone is different, so just poke around the grocery store and look for things that might work for you.

I have had success by cooking large pots of stuff and portioning it out to freeze. Chicken and rice---in my area, a whole chicken is about $6.00 and the rice is super cheap. I can make a week's worth of meals from one pot.
I'll also take frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, maybe a few taters and make a soup/stew and add ground beef or turkey.
Red beans and rice are good, too.
Oh, and collard greens...they smell, but I love them and they are very cheap.

The main thing to remember about losing fat is to cut your calories. It's not necessarily WHAT you eat as much as it is HOW MUCH you eat. If mom and pop are cooking, I say be gracious and accept it, but cut back.

Your finances are your business...you did ask about food. However, I think it's a good idea to avoid the student loans. Now, if you can get out from that car loan you'll really be cookin' with bacon grease.

Oh! And air pop popcorn.
Before I got my air popper I used a stovetop pan. You'll need to use a bit of oil, which is 'expensive' calorie-wise, but overall it's a pretty decent snack.

I'm married with 2 kids. They all have breakfast and lunch at school for free, but I have to buy my own breakfast and lunch items in addition to our regular grocery budget. Plus, I had to find something quick and easy, or else I wouldn't stick to it. I'm okay with repetition. I shop at Walmart, Costco, and Kroger. Here's what I get for the week:

Breakfast:
1 box regular instant oats $1.99
1 jar hazelnut spread (Nutella is 200 calories/serving, but the Kroger brand is only 160) $3.99
1 jar PB2 $5.99 (at Costco)
Microwave 1 packet instant oats with just enough water to cover the oats. Mix in 2 tbsp hazelnut spread (260 calories) or 2 tbsp PB2 + 3.5 grams sugar (or any other sweetener) (205 calories). The spread and PB2 last for ages, so if you get 3 boxes of oats (36 servings), that's a month's worth of breakfasts for $16.

Snack:
4 lbs of grapes $6.97 (Costco)
Any other fruit or veggie that's on sale $4
I do 2 snacks a day between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner, so this gets me through about 2 weeks, so $22/month.

Lunch/Dinner (all from Walmart):
Boneless skinless chicken breast $1.99/lb
Steamer veggies $1.99
Salad dressing (I like the Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette Light, only 30 cals/serving) $1.99
Mrs. Dash no-sodium seasoning $2.99
Minute brown rice $2.99
Season chicken, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Cook 1/2 cup of rice. Pop the bag of veggies in the microwave. 6 oz of chicken, 2 cups of veggies, 2/3 cup of cooked rice, 2 tbsp dressing = 430 calories.
This is obviously the most expensive part. For an entire month of this for lunch and dinner, it's about $120.

So you're looking at about $160/month or $5.25/day. I hope this helps!

Aldi and Lidl are two supermarkets that I regularly go to, because they are dirt cheap. I'm pretty much living on a budget myself and have gotten so used to it.

The last advice my mother gave me before she passed away last year, was to always have bread and milk, because you can make something out of it.

Get frozen veggies and fruits.
Buy herbs (dill, chives, etc) in bulk and you can freeze them for a certain amount of time. I'm Mauritian (live in the UK), so freezing everything that's cooked is part of my culture lol
Buy the supermarket's own brands - even the cheap, cheap stuff. I have a 1kg bag of Tesco Value porridge at home and that costs 75p. For me it lasts about 3 months.
Meat is always cheap if you buy in bulk, and again, can last you for a long time if you freeze it.
Tinned tomatoes and other tinned pulses, beans and veggies are good staples to have in the cupboard. You can make a lovely curry with tinned tomatoes, some meat and some herbs and spices all thrown into the pot.
Buy rice, potatoes and pasta in bulk.
Try and cook dinners to last a few days. I get about 4-5 days' dinners out of the things I cook. Just finished my last portion of spaghetti bolognese tonight!

Hope this helps