budget tips for healthy eating

Here's some tips i've learned and formed on how to eat healthy on a budget. these tips work for me, and might not be great for you. but hey, it's somewhere to start, yeah?

1. Don't eat out. You often don't know what's in the dish you're ordering, how it was prepared, etc. and it costs a whole lot more! i can eat lunch out for $7 or more, or i can buy items to prepare lunch for the whole week for about the same cost-- bread, lunchmeat, fruit, and yogurt or pudding.
2. Buy in season. Spring? buy asparagus, cabbage, tomato. Fall? buy squash, melons, corn. not only is the food tastier, it's also cheaper and has more nutrients. want fresh fruits and veggies throughout the year? look into preservation methods. last week, i bought 10 ears of corn for $1, then prepped and froze them. berries freeze well as-is.
3. Don't buy the leanest meats. the fat that's on them can often be easily cut off (steaks) or poured off after cooking (ground meats). the fat that's included increases the flavor of the meat so you're not over-seasoning (aka adding tons of sodium!)-- and contrary to popular belief, fat doesn't make you fat. too many calories make you fat. read more here.
4. buy canned tuna! it's often on sale, and goes great on sandwiches, salads, or just as a snack with triscuits. but make sure you buy the tuna packed in water, not packed in oil.
5. Bring your lunch to work-- this one ties into #1.
6. Make your own "convenient foods"-- granola, breakfast bars, fruit spreads. You control what's in it so there's often not extra sugar and sodium added, and you know that you're making it with fresh ingredients. it takes extra effort, so it depends on how expensive your time is, but as with my granola, i baked it while doing other chores around the house. just search online for recipes for items you think you could make yourself.
7. drink water. lots of water. sometimes when you think you're hungry, you're really just thirsty. so there's the diet tip. the cost tip? drink tap water. it's actually better for you than bottled water.
8. Don't waste your money on organic fruits/veggies. i can see buying organic meats for the lack of growth hormones, but organic fruits and veggies aren't regulated as much by the USDA. if you have the money to spend, by all means, buy organic if you want-- but this post is about eating healthy on the cheap, and if it comes down to buying organic or buying nothing, buy the non-organic to save money.
9. make plans to use your leftovers. one of my favorite meals is to bake a whole chicken, surrounded by potatoes, onions, and carrots. then i pick apart the leftover chicken (okay, i beg chris to do that, cause i hate to get my hands dirty) and use that for chicken salad sandwiches for a few days. think ahead.
10. eat vegetarian. not all the time, but if you try to make two or three meals a week meatless, you'll see how much you save. a good portion of my grocery budget goes to chicken, pork, etc-- and when i cut that out and instead use a filling veggie like squash, mushroom, eggplant, i save money and end up getting more vitamins and minerals.
11. eat less. seriously. ever cook a hamburger helper? those meals are supposed to have 5 servings. i usually make it maybe 3 servings. that means i'm filling up on too much of the bad stuff, and not enough of the salad and veggie sides. also, just in general, eat less! how many times in a given week do you finish a meal and feel "stuffed" rather than "satisfied"? i know i do more often than i'd like to admit. so if i don't eat as much, two things-- i have more leftovers for the next meal, and i don't have to prepare so much in the first place.

there you have it. i hope some of these suggestions are helpful. they're things that i try to follow often, as i try to make healthy meals on a budget.
enjoy!!

Eating Right as a Family

Well, my quest to eat healthy is now a family effort "hooray" for not having to do it alone! But "boo" for the reasons why). My husband has Barrett's Esophagus. It ain't pretty. Basically, his food comes back up into his esophagus after eating. He takes medicine but it doesn't always work. He also has some other digestive issues so his doctor suggested we start cutting the fat from our diet as well as Cokes and coffee (he said he's NOT cutting coffee but will cut down on sodas). So, this means we need to eat more fruits and veggies for the fiber and very lean cuts of meat, such as fish and chicken and the leanest beef we can find. This is exactly what I've been wanting to do, but sadly, our Walmart's produce is bunk. And for the price we have to pay for fresh produce, I better get some mad fresh stuff. So, I think we're going to have to go out of town to Kroger for our groceries from now on. They have a great selection of produce and it's WAY fresher than Walmart's.

Anyway, I'm interested in what Erin plans on blogging about on Monday--cost-friendly ways to eat healthy. If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears. We live in a pretty rural area so we don't have convenient access to farmer's markets. There's a guy who sells produce out of the back of his truck on the town square, but I never know when he's going to be there. I'd love to get some fresh squash, cucumbers, zuccini, tomatoes, etc. We do have a place called Uncle Henry's that sells some produce (along with BBQ and hams, yum!) so I need to check them out. If they aren't too expensive, I'll start getting our stuff from there.

Hopefully, all this eating right will teach my son good habits. We grew up in the candybar and Coke generation and I just can't stand the thought of him sitting around, watching TV, eating junk food. My parents were good about not keeping sodas around and we had no candy in the house; we did have Little Debbie snacks for our school lunches and my mom baked a lot of cakes and cookies, but we never had to have dessert with dinner. If he can enjoy fruits, that will be a great "dessert."

you take the good with the bad

the good: i got a hekuva workout this weekend, moving in the 105 degree texas summer.
the bad: i rewarded myself with pizza, soda, chips, and salsa.

the good: i was down to 198.0 last week.
the bad: i'm back up to 199.6 this week.
the good: i'm holding pretty steady for the wedding.

the good: my mom said that i looked skinny in some photos i sent her this weekend.
the bad: my weight's not changing. how does this happen?

the good: i'm close to work and can cook healthy dinners more often since i'll be home earlier.
the bad: i'm still sorta low on cash til after the wedding. there's so much stuff to buy for that.
the good: i'm getting creative on how to still make healthy dishes with a smaller budget.

holding steady

so, the good news is that I'm staying under 200 still. actually, in the past two weeks, i've lost 2.2 lbs (thanks to loseit! because i always forget my previous weights). that's good. well, that's something. i'm trying to stay pretty stable because of the wedding and i'd hate to get the dress fitted again in the next three weeks. speaking of the dress, it'll be here on wednesday. so expect a "real" wedding dress fitting update next week.

so as much as i need to stay stable, i really want to lose more weight. i'm definitely becoming much more comfortable with my body, and i've gone down a pants size (although i don't know how much i "dropped a size" as wasn't ever wearing the correct size to begin with)-- but i want more. greedy, greedy, greedy.

in all honesty, i think it'll be easier to lose weight when i'm married. i will have more time to prepare dinner and make healthy lunches for the next day, because my commute will be cut down from over an hour, to about 10 minutes. i may be home in time to relax before i even think about dinner! and i've already warned chris that there will be very few junk food items in the house. my problem with junk food is that if it's in the house, i'll eat it. all of it. usually in one sitting. he seems ok with it. we'll see how that works out.

BUT-- i have had a dark chocolate mint truffle sitting in my desk drawer for almost a week now. it's there as my emergency stash- when i'm having a HUGE craving for chocolate. i've almost broken into it a few times, but asked myself if i REALLY needed to have it-- and i didn't.

Rewards

So, on my walk in to the office today, I decided that WHEN I lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight, I will drive myself and the baby down to Dallas for a nice visit with Erin. We will go shopping for clothes and have a great time. I need a goal other than just "losing the weight" because although that in and of itself is quite rewarding, I need something a little more motivating. And what better motivation that a trip to see my BFF? I know it may take awhile to lose the weight, even though it's only 15 pounds, but I'd rather lose is slowly and healthily and keep it off than to crash diet and lose it but have it come back soon after.

I started working out last week, but I only made it one day to the gym before getting sick with bronchitis. I need to get back to it, but I'm having a hard time this week. I'm feeling sorry for myself for having to go back to work while my husband "gets" to stay home with the baby (although, he'd gladly trade places with me if it were possible). I can do nothing to change this (I don't have the option of staying home like some women do--I'm the breadwinner at the moment) but it doesn't make it any easier. I figure if I can start exercising, I'll feel a bit better about myself. I'll have more energy and my mood will be lifted. Plus, I'll just generally feel better.

I look forward to looking and feeling better, not to mention going to see my girl!

Hmm...

Ok, so witty titles aren't exactly my thing... However, I have noticed that it was much easier for me to eat healthy when someone else (my Mom) was planning my meals. I ate less and weighed less. It also could just be that I've finally hit the part of my weight loss journey where just watching what I'm eating will no longer cut it.

So, two things need to happen. The first of these is that I need to cut back on portion sizes and snacking. Being home all day does not help this. Secondly, I need to start exercising. Regularly. So, starting Thursday July 8, Waffles (my 55 pound Lab-Shepard mix) and I will be going for walks. We'll start out slow. But this is actually going to happen. Please, feel free to ask me if it did and if I didn't go, guilt trip me into making it happen. I need motivation and encouragement... and I need it now!

I was so close to my goal pre-wedding... just a few pounds off. Now, I'm just over 210 pounds! I want to reach that 200 pound mark! And soon! I know I can do it!

Michelle Aguilar from The Biggest Loser

I debated on having this intro ask your forgiveness for bringing spirituality into the weight-loss journey. I changed my mind. My faith is very important to me, and there are a lot of people who rely on God to get through bad habits, addictions... and isn't my poor diet an addiction? Isn't my overeating an addiction? Yes, it is. So from this point on, I do what I should have done from the beginning-- rely on God through this journey. I give all my control to Him so that I can overcome anything- including bad eating habits and being overweight.