Cant afford it, now what??

eating healthy isn't expensive..drink more water..a lot of times hunger is attributed to dehydration..so drink a full glass of water before each meal. Eat food items that are more filling for snacks like bananas and other fruits/vegetables. Eat baked chicken, frozen (not deep fried or battered) fish...buy deli meat and put it in a salad with no-fat dressing...eat soup, soup is very cheap and there are plenty of healthy soup choices.

I has a health issue I was recovering from, but I added regular exercise into my routine first and then joined here to track calories. The more I exercise, the healthier my food choices tend to be.

My biggest piece of advice....just start slow - it's cheaper to incorporate small changes and you'll be less likely to give up! Change one or two things this week and something else the next. You can start by drinking more water, adding a veggie with every meal or getting in a 20 min walk everyday. Soon, you will develop healthy habits that will last forever....better than dehydrated food anytiime!!

Good luck :flowerforyou:

I definitely agree with drinking more water. I find that even if I am truly hungry, drinking some water usually puts off the grumps until meal time. It helps a lot to cook at home. I often make a big meal (healthy, of course) on Sunday and save the portions for lunches during the week. This helps enormously because it's only a few dollars to eat lunch for the week vs. a few dollars a day. Salad is huge. Eat your greens (with just a misting of dressing or a small teaspoon) before your starch and proteins and you'll be fuller, faster. Shape Magazine came out with a great cookbook called "Lowfat & Easy" that I love and has great, approachable food for few calories. Most only take half an hour to make and they really are easy. You can do it!!

There is alot of unexpensive things to eat. For example water, nuts for snacking. whole wheat bread with cheese & bologna. Fruits and Veggies. You can also blend milk with fruits in it. You can also Get whole wheat bread and slice bananas to go on top then drizzle some honey on top ( just a little) .. Peanut butter n celery is also something else u can eat. Granola bars. Etc. You can do this. Dont let anything get in the way

i wouldn't eat much bread/cheese/bologna/most granola bars/peanut butter...those are kind of negative foods in my opinion.

Drink more water and eat REAL food. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lentils, beans, lean proteins (Tofu, or meat), and you are good to go.

Cut out processed foods, sodas, and alcohol.

Use your crock pot to make healthful soups for the week, cook up a protein and have it ready on hand in the fridge, make a pot of beans so you can through it over some rice or in a tortilla, cut up fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, jicama) so they are there and ready to snack on.

My current breakfast is SO Delicious Coconut Milk Greek STyle Yogurt over frozen blueberries, with cinnamon and sliced almonds. It is delicious and filling.

For lunch do a salad with greens, roasted veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, onions) garbanzo beans, a protein (Tofu, Tempeh or Meat) and an olive oil and balsamic dressing with a cup of soup.

DInner you can do the same but have a bowl on soup and a side salad.

We are here for ideas. This isn't about a quick fix. You have to change you life habits, so make changes you can stick with forever.

I cant afford the systems and the meals and the programs and I hate pills..... I have 30lbs to lose to get healthy but then another 20-30 to be where I want to be. I need HELP!!! How do I surpress my appetite for starters

I think the advice on this site is way better than anything else I have seen. It is like a daily club you can meet up in as often as you like.
Have a good look around, you will find it very interesting and inspirational.
But I definitely agree that you would be well to use a weighing scale and weigh everything that goes in your mouth and log it all. Then at the end of the day if you need a brisk walk for 30 mins to even it all out, you will know about it and have the opportunity to act on it. That really is as simple as it can be.
Well done on making a start. And good luck.:flowerforyou:

Hi & welcome to MFP.

Don't fall for all the advertising and hype, even the ones that pop up on this site - you don't need anything but MFP, and focus, determination, and the will do do it.

You need to start logging everything you eat NOW. You will be surprised at what different foods are on your diary as far as calories, fat etc go. As you go, try and plan ahead to see what you total will be, then tweak to improve your nutrition. Make the best choices you can.

Think about portion size - if you can afford it get some little digital food scales - I got some here in BigW (in Australia) for $14.

Drink water - use little glasses and often if you don't like a big glass of water. Don't add cordials or fruit juice - loads of sugar.

Processed foods tend to cost more - go for fresh foods you can prepare yourself.

Stop eating fast foods, snacks that are full of fat, sugar etc. Processed foods are full of salts and sugars that you probably don't even think about. Put them into your diary and check them out! They also cost a lot of $ per gram weight. This is an Australian site, might be useful to you called Food Cents (run by the government health dept so no gimmicks)

http://www.foodcentsprogram.com.au/about-foodcents/shop-smart/priceperkilo/ -

it has a calculator on it so you can see how much that packet of chips/crisps really costs you, then try fresh potatoes and compare!

Try and exercise - I started by just walking around my backyard as fast as I could, and slowly upped the number of laps I did - sometimes I run now. I only have a small backyard, so I do like 20 laps. I also go for walks, free; there are programmes on youtube you can download for free - try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WSPkxYX2Xc&feature=related and I am sure you will find more. If you have a Wii, hire Zumba, Just Dance, Wii Fit etc - great fun.

Log in daily, and know this is a journey of one step at a time and not a quick fix; you will lose weight. Look at some success stories in the forum - look at their diaries to see what they ate, usually people with big losses seem to do well on drinking lots of water as well.

Good luck!