regina_mundi

I too am a fan of southernsavers.com : Jenny does all the coupon matchups for you, but bear in mind that coupon inserts vary by region, and it has become increasingly common for me not to have the coupons she lists. She (and other coupon bloggers) will also post freebie offers, which require you to pony up your contact…

I'm fond of scrambling them in my cast-iron pan with nothing but s+p and eating them on a Wasa Hearty Rye Crispbread, topped with a tablespoon of salsa. At 125 calories, it keeps me full absurdly long!

I was a grad student until seven years ago, but everyone's living on a student's budget these days. Or they should be. Your list looks clean, cheap, and cheerful. I also notice you're supporting yourself with student loans. Could you ask your DGS about funding (a teaching or research assistantship or a gradership for a…

Not crackers per se, but I've really been enjoying Wasa Crispbreads. They're the size of graham crackers, and of course you can break them up to prolong your cheese. The light rye version has 30 calories, no fat, 1.5 g fiber and 1 g protein per "slice." I find the more caloric hearty rye variety is very filling, and cheap…

Yep. I eat pasta every day, but I halve the serving size and make up for it with a vegetable. Sometimes it's frozen green beans thrown in seconds before I drain the pasta before tossing it all in a pesto made with spinach, garlic, almonds, a bit of parmigiano-reggiano, and tons of the basil that is taking over my garden. I…

"Salad" is a huge category. A dish that consists primarily of leafy greens every day? Sure.

$83.33 monthly ($1000 yearly): this figure includes paper products, cleaners, hygiene stuff, etc. I'm not on foodstamps, just frugal. I haven't paid for toothpaste, shampoo, washing-up liquid, or "feminine products" for years.

I've fallen into a habit of having junk food for lunch every day for a week or so: four pizza rolls and eight waffle fries, 284 calories. I'm spending the summer writing a book, and baking those suckers in the oven is the perfect amount of time for a pressure think. Plus it keeps me from craving other junk food the rest of…

Here's everything I've bought in August, all eight days of it! I try to keep my purchases under $20/week. The following cost me $19.47, cutting it close. avocado cabbage tofu bulk TVP bulk sea salt Blue Diamond almond milk* Voskos Greek yogurt* Ore-Ida waffle fries* Wasa Light Rye Crispbread tuna Splenda with fiber* Aussie…

I'll be flamed for this, but 95 lbs was the last weight I was complimented constantly. This increased my confidence, which may have been a reason for the compliments as well. However, I have always been skinny fat, so my gain of 10 lbs (to 115) in June made me look much worse than such a gain might on someone more fit. My…

I weigh 105 lbs and don't look ridiculous in a size 4, but when I weighed 115 lbs, size 4 began to feel a little snug. I too am 5'3".

That doesn't look so bad. The carb number is breathtaking, and the sodium is about what you would expect. Drink lots of water, eat a salad, cut your pizza into lots of slices, linger over them, and either take the rest home or share them with your family. And you're going to be with loved ones, doing something they enjoy,…

Quinoa is surprisingly high in protein for something that can be used like rice. Beans and tofu are quite good, too. A somewhat controversial source of protein is [a href="http://www.bobsredmill.com/tvp-textured-veg._protein.html"]texturized vegetable protein[/a]. My local, excessively hipsterish indie Whole Foods-type…

That's a great tip. I asked to have my dessert boxed, and it was done artfully. The annoying thing about restaurants that pride themselves on using local ingredients is that even if you look up the menu on the web, the menu actually presented to you might be quite different, because some special at the market caught the…

I know! That's why I became the (discreetly, I hope) annoying diner who ascertained that the salad was just mesclun greens and watermelon, with the most miserly amount of goat cheese and walnut I could get without offending the chef.

As a matter of fact, I am. . . kind of. Everyone on the two or three episodes I've seen on that show look really unhealthy, and I'm not talking about their weight—there's a dullness in their eyes, hair, and skin tone. But I never pay for shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, "feminine hygiene" products, plastic bags,…

I limit myself to and am usually under $83.33 per month (i.e., $1000/year) on food, household, hygiene stuff, etc., so I don't have a regular list, because what I buy depends on what's on sale and what I have coupons for. I also grow some of my own vegetables and all my herbs. Always in my pantry: dry black beans, garbanzo…

Butter, definitely. I always have pounds of it in the freezer, wrapped in foil and dated, acquired when on sale during the baking months. For day-to-day use, I've been using the BestLife spread that one of Oprah's army is always plugging, not because he's Oprah's boy but because it was free with coupon and, more…

Another belly grabber here! When I'm in a particularly foul mood, I'm tempted to grab a sharpie and draw a plump face around my navel and to imagine it hectoring me about getting so flabby. I'll note I have resisted that temptation.

It might depend on why someone has decided to lose weight. I'm here because I gained almost 10 pounds in June. Depression made me spend most of my days in bed, getting up only for some starchy meal. Because I need to be able to fit into my clothes again without frightening small children, I've been trying to take the…

MaryZContrary, last week I was having the exact same problem as you, except I had been at the exercise and 100+ calorie deficits for four weeks, with no weight loss at all. People here told me to eat more (and I've even eaten glorious crap like French fries) and to change my exercises—even to skip a day. Voilà, weight…

They sure are, and so overpriced.

My sympathies. I can eat an entire 5-oz. bag of kettle-cooked potato chips. . . and pass out from the grease. Stay strong!

5'3", skinny fat 108 lbs. Depending on the extent to which the manufacturer vanity sizes, I wear a size 0-4. I'm here because a pair of vanity-sized size 2 trousers is feeling a bit snug.

When my mom was pregnant with me, her OB told her to eat an egg every day. I've loved eggs ever since. I also hate waste so I eat the yolk, too. A poached egg over a heaping heap of steamed spinach with s+p and roasted garlic make a lovely brekkie.

cleaning out the fridge here: 1/8 cup garbanzo beans cooked with thyme, a bay leaf, and I forget how many cloves of garlic 1 cup julienne cucumber slivered remnants of a Vidalia onion 1/4 cubed avocado tbsp of crumbled feta black pepper squirt of lemon

Another vote for Peet's. My little bro gives me ten pounds every Christmas. Every Christmas I tell him, "Thanks! This will last a whole month." When I'm not drinking it, I buy Yuban or Chock Full o' Nuts, which are surprisingly awesome for stuff that comes in a can.

On a "tall" day I am 5'3." I'm just trying to lose the weight I put on in June. It's the first time ever I've not been able to take off weight I put on. In the past I used to gain five pounds whenever I traveled overseas and then lose it all, and then some, within days. I now realize that the gains were really water weight…