I NEEEEED UR SUPPORT!!!

Ooooh girl do I feel your pain! I also have three kids and was a single mother for 13 years! Money has always been tight and healthy eating has always been a problem. I would love to offer some support on here and we can swap some money saving tips! It would be great to get some mutual support from someone who knows exactly how hard the struggle is!

Hello and welcome. I will be sending a friend request and you can look at my profile and add me if you would like to. Why don't you buy frozen veggies like the steamfresh ones and also frozen fruit. They are the next best thing to fresh and they won't go bad. I like very few veggies so the steamed ones are how i get my veggies in. You can do this and we are all here for you, my daughter is on here and she is a single mom too.

Bev

oh and I totally forgot about this

free fruit.. can't get better than this!!! plus it's fun, not sure where you live, but in a lot of places the law is that any fruit that grow on or over public land is fine to pick. Many places are starting to map where these fruit trees are, and of course it's seasonal. Here we get pears, blackberries, walnuts, pecans, cherries, mulberries that grow on public land and are free for the picking. Take the kidlets and a basket and have some fun! ( double check that your state/city allows this) but most do. I've even seen public fruit maps for other countries, (not sure where you live)

also there is some etiquette to this, never take more than you can carry, never pick a tree bare, take some leave some, and utilize alternative means of getting there, ie walk, bike, bus etc.

http://www.fallenfruit.org/index.php/about/

Great info,,,,

I have several friends who purchase produce baskets from local co-ops and get great prices: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Or, if one particular store near you has good produce prices, decide how much money you have to spend on fresh produce every month. The week you go shopping, spend 25% of your produce allowance on fresh produce and put the remaining 75% on a reloadable gift card. Then, you can pop in each week and spend another 25% of your monthly produce budget to buy fresh stuff that you can eat before i t goes bad.

Frozen veggies are good too, but for some things, fresh just tastes better. Even if you can only afford a few things each week, you'll have some yummy fresh produce from time to time.

Welcome and gratz on your 5lbs lost!

We live on a tight budget also, a fix income and hubby's a full time student, so grocery money is always tight. I got into couponing, as this not only helps me make the money stretch but it helps me lose weight as i walk the isles. I use online sites to tell what coupons go with what sales, so it probably takes me about 1/2 hour a week but been saving my family about $300 a month on food alone.

We buy a lot of fresh fruit in the summer when its really cheap and dehydrate or freeze it for in the winter when its too expensive to buy. Frozen veggies go on sale a lot so you can stock up on those. Oats are awsome, can make them in banana bread, or oatmeal. I have a great recipe for steel cut oats in the crockpot that's very good and good for you. Filling too. I make my own yogurt in the crockpot also, since its better and much much cheaper than store bought.

there are so many cheap and healthy sites and ideas out there. Add me if you'd like, we can run this race together!

Good Luck. Feel free to add me. I have a long way to go and the more friends the better.

Rick

Hey!!!

I have trouble with fresh veggies and fruits too. Time sure flies and they turn bad on me before I know. As a result, I have a tendency to buy frozen veggies and some fruits. I often prepare my veggies in a stir-fry method (trying new combinations and seasoning here and there to try to pump up the flavor - including a Goya ham flavor seasoning which has made my cabbage taste like my old southern favorite). It has made a difference in how much veggies I eat. Now I even buy the fresh veggies, clean, cut and freeze 'em. Works well for me.... The frozen fruits are used more often in a smoothy or something similar (Soy milk and splenda). The other fruits I partake in are usually those that last a while (apples) or dried fruits like raisins. (Remember if carbs are your weakness, the dried fruits and apples should be at a limit.)

Ronni

I need support too! I'm 34years old too, but I only have one son and I've just lost a lot (about 30-40lbs) of weight over a long period of time. My goal is to go another 20lbs, and I'm going to do it the healthy way, by eating healthy and working out. If you need help with motivation, just friend me and we'll keep each other in check!

Hey, Hang in there Girl.
I know it is difficult with kids, cause they have there own tastes, and it can be difficult when everyone else in the family does not have to loose weight or watch what they eat. But you can do it. Make sure you drink plenty of water. Sometimes are bodies are craving water, but We confuse it with hunger. Another thing is to make sure you have you snack foods PRE-pared. Its happened to me plenty of times where I forget to bring my snack, or forget to pack my lunch..and that either makes me more hungry, or grab the wrong foods(i.e. Fast food). For time, sake with fresh veggies, I will cut them up and freeze them, or just buy frozen veggies. They are still pretty fresh and wont go bad as long as you freeze them. For meats, I portion them out and place them in a baggie, like 3 chicken breasts per Ziplock. So I dont make too much food, and it goes to waste. Sometimes if I make more than enough, its leftovers after two days. Another thing I do occasionaly is I prepare my main dishes on Sunday, and leave the frozen veggies for the day of the meal. The other thing I do, is make sure my kids drink water for dinner. AT first they looked at me like I was crazy, but they got over it. Everything has so much sugar. If we go out to eat, I will let them have what they want to dringk, but at home its water. Saves money. I dont buy soft drinks anymore. I will buy juice.. but they have it like twice a week.(maybe) and no more than 4 oz.. I am 37, and I have lost 18 lbs. I need to get back to my pre baby weight of 150. By the way I was 220about a month ago. Dont give up..Just remember your not alone. Im truckin on with ya!
Take Care

Don't focus on what you weigh NOW, give your energy to what you want to weigh. Can you change your screenname?