Need help losing weight on a budget

I'm also on a budget since my other half and I have just got our first place together. Remember you can eat whatever you want as long as it's in your calorie goal.

Look for deals in the shop, like 3 for 2 etc, buy one get one free.

My day usually looks like:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with a cup of tea
Lunch - A sandwich, usually with some sort of meat and salad, tea again
Dinner - Whatever I feel like on the day, just portion control and make sure you have calories left over
Snacks - Some low fat/low calorie baked crisps or rice cakes, a couple of squares of chocolate, more tea. Apple and peanut butter is also one of my favourite snacks. Or a small amount of cheese, usually a Babybel.

um - eat what you would normally eat just count calories.. and make sure you get enough protein as if you do not you are more likely to loose muscle as well as fat. the beauty of mfp is that you can eat whatever you want so long as it fits your calories..the results are predicatable

I have eggs and toast and coffee for breakfast, or porridge and yoghurt and coffee, or cereal and yoghurt,
i have an apple and a protein bar and coffee around morning tea or toast and some sort of protein and an apple, at lunch i have a sandwich and some yoghurt or fruit (and coffee) and afternoon tea i have fruit and some protein, at dinner i have heaps of veges (usually frozen), lean protein, for dessert i might have icecream or yoghurt or fruit

Hi! So I also I'm on a budget and my daily average is:
for breakfast: oatmeal with PB or sandwich with guacamole and fried egg or veggie scramble eggs, for lunch I eat almost daily 150g of white rice, 4 oz chicken breast and then my veggies ;usually broccoli and culiflower(if you by them frozen is cheaper and last longer) and for dinner I love having a big tuna salad or big tuna sandwich if I didn't have bread in the morning plus my chocolate protein smoothie.

For afternoon snack I just buy any cheap granola with at least 10 g of protein cause quest bar currently dont fit in my budget.

So my shopping list usually Is

-avocado
eggs/eggwhite
almond milk
chicken breast
ground turkey meat
cottage chesse
any whole wheat bread with no more than 60 cals per slice
rice
beans
frozen veggies
frozen fruit or fresh and then I cut them and freeze them my self
tuna
greek yogurt
mustard

buy just whatever you want and make it fit in your daily calorie/money budget.

Good luck!

I grew up with my Aunt and she raised me, my brother, sister and took care of my grandmother on a shoe string budget. Chicken wings go for 99 cents a pound, sams should sell 10lb chicken breast for 20$. Frozen vegetables are cheaper never spend more than 2$ a pound unless it is Asparagus. Pasta and sweet/potato should be around 1$ a pound. Learn to cook chilli and seasonings is your best friend. Best regards.

Surely it should be easier to lose weight on a budget? You have less money to spend on food. Diet fads are just that; fads. You don't need them, they aren't any good. Besides, you shouldn't go on a diet. To actually lose weight and keep it off you have to always be on a diet. It's sad that people just want a quick fix - society is so weak willed.


I don't think anyone actually realised how simple it is. If calories in < calories out you lose weight. If calories in > colouries out, you gain weight.


So, what do you do? You get on the scales after your morning bowel movement and weigh yourself. Every day for a week. You then take the mean of that weeks weights. Then you repeat it. If week one is less than week two, you have gained weight and you need to reduce your caloric intake. If its the other way round, you've lost weight. Keep the calories the same.

You have to repeat this process until you reach your goal.


So, if you can maintain weight or even increase it on a budget , you most certainly can lose it.

As I said. You don't need fads. You don't need so called superfoods. You don't need anything. Just reduce your carbs, drop your calories and hey presto! Weight loss..


You know, from being on this app, I've seen that there is such a huge market for personal trainers, coaches and dieticians.



Now, OP, I'm not trying to have a go, just pointing out how simple it is.


If you don't have accurate scales, go buy a pair. If you don't have food scales, likewise.

If you don't have willpower, become disciplined.


You want to lose weight, there aren't any fairies to wave a magic want and make your adipose tissue dissapear.

Do what I've said above, and you can thank me later..


Best wishes and apologies for any upset possibly caused,

~Soon to be billionaire from marketing 'magic' supplements as a personal trainer and diet coach,


Tom.



PS. It is so simple. I know that it can't feel like that, but it is.. Remember to thank me when you figure it out.

bunnywestley81 wrote: »

I buy a lot of the "at the end of shelf life" reduced stuff and freeze it. It is always worth checking out the reduced sections of a supermarket. Especially later in the day as they do silly reductions to get rid of it!

I got 7 chicken drumsticks, 2 salmon fillets and 2 plaice fillets, 60p for all of it a couple of weeks ago. Should have been at least £10!

Only downside is you can't guarantee what will be there.

No guarantees, I agree, but great when you spot something that you know you can make into a great meal. End of day fish is fantastic for cheap purchases. If I don't have immediate plans for it, the fish/meat goes straight into the freezer, and I get it out a week later, when my meal plan has been updated to include it. I do think people are often scared of the freezer, and how the can use it for their food storage but, honestly, once you understand what you can do, it opens up a world of possibilities.

TBH 'ThomasWright1997', I suspect the OP understands CICO principles, and is just stuck thinking of things to do that are healthy, cheap and filling. Rather than making expensive book purchase, or joining even more expensive weight loss groups, online recipes are my way of finding great and varied meals. There's a whole section of this forum dedicated to recipes, and Food/Nutrition - I'd recommend looking at that. My 5 basic 'from scratch' meals that I can churn out blindfolded are - veggie curry, tikka crusted salmon, whole roast chicken with new potatoes and veg, cottage pie, and Thai fish curry. I have tonnes more, but those are my failsafes, and I pretty much always have the ingredients in the fridge or freezer to do them.

also try allrecipes, simplyrecipes or just google budget recipes or healthy budget recipes

1. Making food from scratch is cheaper than buying convenience foods - you are being charged for that convenience. Chop chop chop.
2. A slower cooker is a great way to cook cheaper cuts of meat.
3. The prices should be good at the stores you mentioned but you can also check supermarket flyers for "loss leaders" - these are sales to get you in the store that should be cheaper than the big box stores.
4. Produce can be cheaper at farmer's markets, although this may not be true at ones billed exclusively organic or focus on a lot of items other than produce.

Eat less and move more, it's cheaper to eat less and it's free to move more