“50 Ways To Burn More Calories” is the biggest, boldest headline on this month’s Allure magazine (the one with a spacey Megan Fox on the cover where she says that she can’t stand looking at herself and the thing she loves most is to be alone so she often spaces out to block out crowds – good thing she chose Hollywood as her lifelong career then!) The list of 50 tips mostly includes non-stunners like “get more sleep” “walk more” “watch less TV” and “eat whole foods.” Salmon and brown rice, the cure-all for everything! Thankfully they also include some downright idiotic suggestions for your entertainment: “Wear stillettos – they work your calves!” (and give you bunions and shorted tendons!), “Pop a pill – glutamate supps burn an extra 20 calories!” (20 calories?! You probably burn that just by wrestling off the child-proof cap) and my personal fave “Avoid eating any kind of fat within two hours of a workout – or your body will burn the fat in your protein bar instead of the fat on your butt!” (This cannot possibly be true).
Strangely, the number one way to get thin didn’t even get an honorable mention in Allure’s Top 50. It doesn’t get a lot of press but there is one way to get thin that has a proven and impressive track record in both real life and the research. It’s not a pill or a powder. As much as MeMe Roth would like you to believe it’s not willpower. Much to my dismay it’s not exercise either. Want to know the number one way to a flat belly?
Get rich.
What, you were expecting something to do with calories in/calories out? It has been shown time and time again that income is the single strongest predictor of body weight. A Seattle study from two years ago showed that 22% of people making less that $15,000 a year are obese (defined as having a BMI over 29) compared with just 15% of those making $50,000 or more a year. If you crack six digits your chance of being obese drops to under 10%. A new Seattle study (being from Seattle I can attest to the plethora of research scientists out there!) extrapolates on why this might be. You may think that it’s your dedication to local food or your passion for exercise or even your obsession with Nicole Richie that keeps you thin – and undoubtedly they do – but it takes money to do those kinds of healthy activities.
MSN reports that lower-end grocery stores have ten times the number of obese patrons as more expensive markets. In the already-svelte Seattle (the city has an obesity rate of just 2o%), 40% of Albertson’s shoppers were obese compared with less than 4% of Whole Foods shoppers.
“It’s not a matter of availability, lead researcher Adam Drewnowski of the University of Washington said. All of the stores in his study stocked a wide range of nutritious food, including plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Instead, he contends it’s because healthy, low-calorie foods cost more money and take more effort to prepare than processed, high-calorie foods. In a separate study two years ago, Drewnowski estimated that a calorie-dense diet cost $3.52 a day compared with $36.32 a day for a low-calorie diet.”
$36.32 a DAY?! I eat a very healthy diet and my budget for my family is $3-5 per person per day. Sure there are ways to be healthy on a budget but learning those tricks often takes education and time… both of which require money.
Fortunately people are starting to catch on to the great poverty divide in the obesity wars. The government recently passed “the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, to spend $400 million starting next year to bring supermarkets to low-income areas.” In addition, General Mills – who in the past has gotten a bad rap for sugary cereals but is also the purveyor of Green Giant frozen veggies – has started a get-healthy initiative called Eat Better America. You can sign up on their site to win $1500 plus a variety of other prizes. You can also follow them on Twitter and friend them on Facebook. To help you finance your healthy eats, General Mills would like to give one of you a $25 gift card. To enter, just leave me a comment below telling me your best eating healthy on a budget tip!
Anyone else read that Allure article and want to smack them for writing “Eat less sugar” as if it’s actual news and then making it the top headline?” What kind of grocery store do you shop at? Does the rich = thin connection surprise you? How do you eat healthy on a budget?
I try to plant my own herbs! also, i buy oats, legumes, whole grains in bulk.
$36/day ? What on earth are they eating ? Gold plated Smoked Salmon ? That's insane !____Where I live it's usually pretty easy to tell the overweight peoples shopping trolleys from the thin peoples (or those like me – transitioning from one to the other). The thin/reducing people have mostly fresh fruit
Somehow half my comment didn't post – trying again:
The thin/reducing people have mostly fresh fruit; vege's and meat etc and very little pre-packaged things.
Most of the over weight people have pre-packaged things and very little fresh food.
Noticing that was a big break-through for me because even though the pre-packaged stuff I was buying all had "healthy"; "Lean", "Fat-Free" etc labelling it didn't translate to a lean and fat-free butt.
I think if I was rich I'd be a lot thinner. I'd have someone do the cooking for me, and that's half the battle. I find getting home from work exhausted and having a choice to either microwave a quick meal or cooking from scratch I'd much rather microwave something and not have to think about it. Of course these days I don't keep anything like that in the house. So no, the rich=thin connection doesn't surprise me.
Rich=Thin makes sense. Back in the pre-industrial days, the wealthy were pale and chubby, evidence that they didn't spend their days out in the sun doing the back breaking work of planting and sowing. These days, tan and thin means you have the time and money to hire a trainer, a chef, go on vacation and waste time at the tanning salon. Oh, and also spend thousands at Whole Foods, lol!
I eat healthy on a budget all the time! When I worked for the government I had a higher paying job, yet was spending more money on food then I am now, working for pennies in another country. I think the best tips include coupons, planting your own veggies, buying food in bulk and freezing, buying meat when it is on sale and freezing, cutting out a lot of processed food, and stop with the fast food!
I try to buy fruits and vegetables that are in season and I tend to NOT buy veggies that are pre-cut/pre-washes/pre-everything and just do it myself. :]
I think that his numbers could be accurate depending on where you live. The US is the only country where we pay a premium on fresh fruits and veggies.
The idea proffered makes sense, as processed foods are so much cheaper and easier for most folks. AND, when I was in dire straights financially, it seemed cheaper to me to spend $3-4 at a time at a fast food joint than $100 in one big gulp at the grocery store.
http://fattiefatterton.wordpress.com
I think it's mainly those 99-cent menus that lure people into the fat trap. Why bother buying expensive fruits and veggies (that you actually have to clean, cut and cook) when you can buy an already-prepared Boffo Burger and not even need to do dishes?
If I had a Brady-Bunch style Alice, I'd have that wench mixing me homemade salad dressings and spiralizing veggies all day long.
As someone who works on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (but was born in and still lives in the MUCH lower-income Bronx), I definitely agree that money = thinness, but I don't necessarily think it has anything to do with availability of healthy food. I think there are, instead, two factors at play:
1. The extremely wealthy women I see on the Upper East Side spend their days at the gym, doing yoga, shopping and meeting friends while various servants and assistants attend to their business (and their husbands work). If I spent all day, every day on leisure activities and didn't NEED to do anything I didn't WANT to do, I bet I'd have a lot more time to focus on working out and being really anal retentive about my food (i.e. screaming at Cook not to use butter). When you're working class and spend all day glued to a desk, commuting long distances to work, and then at grad school at night, you're squeezed for time and I really think TIME to focus on weight is a big deal.
Continued…
2. It's the atmosphere that surrounds you. People in my neighborhood (in the Bronx) are most middle-class Italians (like myself) but there is a much greater acceptance of a little body fat around here than on the Upper East Side, where, to me, everyone walks around looking like Skeletor. There's also a greater acceptance of cosmetic surgery there than where I live, where spending thousands of dollars to make your nose smaller is both financially absurd AND morally ridiculous. And people in my neighborhood are far more open to having some cannoli after dinner than the Upper East Siders.
Granted, I don't live in the poorest of the poor areas of the Bronx. My neighborhood is very pleasant and peopled with homeowners and families, but I don't think the availability of fresh foods is the issue; it's a time issue for many working people, and an issue of what your social circle finds acceptable in terms of weight. But for sure the rich and the working class/poor are very different.
I have a garden full of healthy greens and veggies. Plus, reading labels is huge – if you don't know what you are putting in your body why do it? We don't buy anything with artificial sweeteners and try to buy products with the least amount of ingredients while staying on budget.
I buy meat and freeze it when its on sale to save money… Also, Making time to eat helps me eat healthier… If we plan dinner instead of "we'll figure it out when we are hungry" we make better decisions on what to eat because it is planned out and all the things we need are already in the house.
And if you're really rich you can get thin by visiting the hospital for "exhaustion." Is that how they get skinny in Hollywood? Sometimes I just have to give one big eye roll to the women's mags that have these type of features. Of course, they left out numbers 51-54.
51. Breathe! By being alive you kick your metabolism into high gear. Bonus: Living gives your cheeks a sultry glow.
52. Load up your purse. Aside from looking tres chic, carrying a heavy tote can tone you shoulders–just in time for tank top season.
53. Snack. Believe it or not, snacking can save you major calories. Nosh on celery and cucumbers throughout the day. Thanks to their high water content, you'll be too full to eat lunch.
54. Strap on a corset. Make like a French aristocrat and cinch your waist with a corset. Not only will you feel thinner, but you'll limit the amount you eat.
🙂
Scour for coupons on healthy products–trust me, they're out there and it's worth the time to find savings on healthy products.
Having a freezer saves me money and helps us eat healthfully. We grow a big garden and freeze the vegetables, also buy in bulk at the store when there are sales. We live 1/2 hr drive from the nearest grocery so simply going to the store is an expense of time, money and fuel. Well worth the cost of the freezer.
Gardening, buying in bulk and freezing have definitely saved us a lot of money
It doesn't surprise me, given how much more expensive (relatively) good food is. Buying in bulk and planting a garden helps. Plus, I just control how much I eat, so I don't have to buy as much.
canned goods have saved me tons on money. they tend to be cheap and when they go on sale you can stock up and not have to worry about anything going bad for a *very* long time
The connection between rich and thin doesn't surprise me, but I kind of think the chicken/egg question is important. Meaning, how many people are fat because they're poor (poverty came 1st), and how many are poorer because they are fat (it's well documented that fat people are discriminated against in the job market, etc.)?
Also, the $ spent on food: I wonder how much of that is accounted for by eating out? Meaning poor people would tend to eat fast food, which is more budget friendly, and wealthier people at sit down restaurants with more healthy options. Just a thought.
OK, now after that long-winded speech, my big tips for eating healthy on a budget:
1-Eschew sugar and refined carbs–if you avoid them, you'll stay fuller for longer and eat less, which adds up.
2-Seasonal fruits and veggies.
3-Cost friendly healthy foods such as frozen veggies and eggs.
4-The ubiquitous Kroger (which has stores under a variety of names, such as City Market and King Soopers) has a credit card that sends you store cash for your "rewards" points. Plus (yes, I know this is a little creepy for some people) they track your purchases and mail you coupons for stuff you actually buy.
I use our card for basically everything and pay it in full. I estimate that I save $60-$70 a month using this card.
Was that $36 a day per person??? That's nuts. My family eats healthy too (or at least we try) and spend about $4 – $6 per person a day and we live in Southern CA where food tends to be higher. To save I shop a few different markets but the majority of our food comes from Trader Joe's. I find it to be much less expensive than the big markets. We get our veggies from a CSA and buy food from the health store in bulk which is cheaper than TJs.
Have you seen Food Inc.? There is this heartbreaking scene where this family eats fast food b/c they can get a burger off the .99 value menu for less than a head of broccoli. Really made me think about many things…
The problem with those magazines and why i only buy Clean Eating now, is that its the same crap month after month, year after year. its cycling through the minds of the girls as they turn into women…
Same crap. Different day.
I dont even know if I buy anything General Mills but I'd like the $25 gift card!!!!
We cook ahead (often soups or chilis, since they're generally very cost effective), take out what we need for the week, and freeze the rest for future meals. Some of our healthy, veggie-full meals cost less than $1 per person.
We also make our own bread, but when we're running short on time for baking, we take advantage of B1G1 sales on our favorite brand of bread and freeze several loaves.
The freezer really is the answer for us, I guess.
oh and that dollar amount to eat healthy per day must be spent eating OUT not preparing your own food.
Eating healthy costs more. A lot more. We spend over twice our food budget compared to when we were starving students. But we eat WAY better and weigh about 50 Lbs less…
I find, to keep on a budget, I have to cook most things from scratch. And I'll make large batches of things and freeze them for lunches and such. I try and get things on sale and freeze them. I wish I had a garden…that would really make a difference in food costs.
So true! I lived on the Upper East Side for a while (at the 92nd St. Y, so I was definitely NOT one of the Ladies Who Lunch, lol!) and it is an entirely different planet from the rest of the city. I also lived in a working class area of Los Angeles but worked next to Beverly Hills. Again, same city, different planet.
Personally, I'd much rather hang out in the Bronx than on 85th and Lex.
My best eat healthy on a budget is to buy frozen berries and veggies. They are generally cheaper and will last longer, I hate throwing food away because it's gone bad, it really is like tossing my money in the garbage. No, the rich=thin connection is no surprise, I grew up in an urban area of the Bronx, and a few years ago the one supermarket within walking distance (most people in NYC do not have cars) of my apt building was shut down and re-opened as a CVS Pharmacy! I'm glad my parents have a car so they would still get real food but what about everyone else?
I am very annoyed with Allure/Cosmo and the majority of fitness magazines to be honest. I subscribe to Runner's World in exchange for giving up my Women's Health subscription. *Sigh*
I eat lots of fruits and vegetables so I probably spend about $20/day on food, which I think is completely ridiculous. This number is significantly reduced when my fresh produce is on sale. It's been alright since I've been making good money, but I'm going back to grad school in the fall and will need to re-think my grocery budget. But eating healthily is a priority for me and I usually justify it by reminding myself that I don't go out wasting my money on alcohol like other grad students. Right now I overdo it on the veggies (there is such a thing) so I need to find a better balance…isn't that always it–balance and moderation?
One of the things I hate is the cost of herbs and spices at the grocery store, so I always go to my local natural food store to stock up on bulk herbs. It is insanely cheaper. At the grocery store, t's like you're paying for the little McCormick's bottle more than the herb itself! Having a good stock of herbs makes it easier to make tasty meals and mix things up even if you use the same basic ingredients from day to day (like I do).
I planted a veggie garden this year to save some $$ (and hve the satisfaction of growing my own food).
Also, if a recipe calls for 4 cubed chicken breasts, I'll only put in 3! Or sometimes I'll do half beans, half meat.
Shop at local farmer's markets and cook at home more often. Having healthy picnics is also a great way to "eat out" cheaply.
Hi Char!
I have a very tight budget right now. Mortgage payment or groceries. So I for sure eat less that way. Also my 10 3/4 year old is eating everything right now, so I give him my portion of dinner, cause I don't want him asking me 20 minutes later for a "snack". 🙂 But when I'm home alone without him, I can eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting. Shame on me!
I don't want the $25 gift card, but I completely see where the rich find it easier to be thin.
As a struggling college student, food like popcorn and pizza ($.75 totinos!) was way more affordable. If I controlled my calories, I was constantly hungry because these foods aren't very filling at all. Also, since I was working full time with a full course load, I definitely didn't have the time or energy after work/school to exercise and prepare fresh food.
Now that I'm part of a Dual-Income-No-Kids family, it's easy for me to just pop into Whole Foods and grab an organinc, unprocessed snack if I'm hungry without worrying about how it's going to affect my budget for the month. I have enough energy after a simple 8 hour a day desk job to go for a two hour bike ride, and prepare a homemade meal afterwards.
Produce is expensive, so I'm trying to grow my own strawberries and spinach. Unsuccessfully, I should add. It amazes me that I was able to grow two kids without killing them.
I'm not sure if it's saving money but I'm doing a CSA (community supported agriculture) this year. It's forcing us to eat and try different veggies and I love it so far! I also shop at Sam's to save money on fruit, veggies and milk. But, I really have to check prices to make sure items are a good deal and steer clear of other purchases. 100 tube socks for 5 bucks, why not!
1. Never eat out. Unless it's date night. But my kids rarely enter a restaurant. We cook at home every night.
2. Foodsaver – we stock up on lean meats, chx, make our own burgers and food-save them and freeze. Makes #1 easier. Grab a steak out of the freezer, scrub a few sweet potatoes, throw down a salad and you're done.
buying in bulk helps, but buy raw ingredients and make your own food. Breads, granola bars, trail mixes, green smoothies, etc. They taste so much better and are much cheaper and healthier than store bought snacks. Most of what is paid for at the supermarket is convenience and packaging.
I stopped eating out and saved a lot of $$. I also eat healthier that way, because the food I prepare at home has less saturated fat, sugar, and sodium. Healthy food doesn't cost that much when you only buy basic ingredients: brown rice, seasonal fruits and veggies, milk and eggs. I'm not a total vegetarian, but I rarely eat meat, which is a more expensive way of getting your proteins that milk and eggs.
Having an extra freezer is probably the most significant way we save money and eat healthier. We buy/freeze meat, cheeses, some vegetables, flour, and bread. Sometimes if we make something that's easy to freeze we make two and freeze one. Having homemade yummy muffins and meals in the freezer makes us much less likely to head to Starbucks for a muffin or a drive-through for dinner.
The rich=thin thing doesn't surprise me. We're not super wealthy, but we do have enough space in our home for an extra freezer, and we can spend a little more at once to stock up here and there. That makes it easier and cheaper to cook at thome.
I wonder if I would be thinner if I were richer… Right now, it feels really hard to get up in time to exercise before going to work. I'm always trying to exercise enough and sleep enough, and seem to struggle to do both! If I didn't have to work, I know I would exercise more. Imagine exercising every day like I do now on Saturdays! Ahhh… But being at work does distract me from eating/food. Maybe if I wasn't working I'd have too much time to spend eating…
i have fresh fruit and veggies delivered to my door every other week. they come from local, organic farmers. it costs me $44 for each delivery, but it's a huge order and lasts for weeks. i haven't had to buy produce in months!
My biggest trick is to stock up at Trader Joe's whenever I visit my parents (who live right by one) – you can get super cheap, super nutritious food there and I will buy 2 months worth at a time! I freeze almost everything if it might go bad.
I guess when I don't make a trip to Trader Joe's, my tricks are similar. I have an mvp card to every grocery store here and I follow what's on sale. I try to stock up on items when they go on sale and then freeze if I need to. I don't pay that much attention to the brand BUT I read labels and make sure I'm not getting the food cheaper because of cheap additives. (Great example: I don't mind generic or off brands, but I'm careful about brands of frozen veggies because many add some sauce I don't want or sodium.) I eat a lot of pasta because it's cheap but I add veggies to it. I make "tacos" with rice and beans in a taco shell with salsa and guacamole because, again, it's cheap. That's pretty much it!
I know what you mean about the herbs. I buy in bulk and refill the little bottles as they're easier to use and store on the shelf. The rest go into a vacuum sealed container. I don't know how McCormicks etc stay in business !
This: \”If I had a Brady-Bunch style Alice, I'd have that wench mixing me homemade salad dressings and spiralizing veggies all day long. \” is the funniest thing I have read ALL WEEK. I've been quoting you all day long, Naomi!
Yeah – Food Inc. almost made me swear off food completely. That movie scared the crap out of me on so many levels!
You are hilarious! I love your list additions:)
Excellent points and well made!
Costco…has saved us $1000's.
I need to bitch b/c I am SO SICK of people thinking it's expensive to eat healthy. IT's NOT! In fact, I find myself spending FAR less on a high raw vegan diet than I ever did when i purchased limited chicken or fish for the family or even trying to be a cheese eating vegetarian. Truly, I eat plants. I buy a HUGE cart full of plants every 3rd-4th day at the groc store. NOT organic, just conventional, yes, i know. And i dont care. And i feed our family for probably $5 per person per day. Tops. Probably more like $2-3 a day. But there are items like Veganaise that's $4 a jar or splurge fruits like apricots or whatever…but it's a far cry from 36 a day!?? I hate this argument. I could go on and on but i need to pack 🙂
$36.32 a day??? Oi Vey Maria!
This statistic was probably due to the researcher shopping at Whole
PaycheckFoods. I always knew I was unique; never realized that quantified to being in the 4%. Yes, I am obese and yes I shop at Whole … um, Foods. Just not every day.I'm going to Out myself here. No, not like that. I mean I'm going to confess what I do to eat healthy fresh greens from March to December: I eat the weeds that grow in my backyard. Yes, I heard that shocked gasp (not from you, kind Charlotte), but it's true. Dandelions, purslane, chickweed, lamb's quarters — we spend an inordinate amount of time, money, and pesticides trying to kill green leafy vegetables that are actually good for us.
Yes, I will get off the soap box now. I'll leave it for the next person 🙂
I really enjoyed this post, especially the “examples in this post” portion which made it really easy for me to SEE what you were talking about without even having to leave the article. Thanks
Buy diet pills
Considering the correlation between education and eating habits, I'd suggest "nab a college scholarship" as my budget-friednly tip. But I know that's easier said than done. What about my famous oatmeal-in-a-bag? You pay $2 for a giant bin of oatmeal, parcel out cup-size portions in baggies (which I reuse over and over), add a spoonful of brown sugar to each and voila – two weeks' worth of healthy, satisfying, portable breakfast, just add hot watter and a cup. Find an extra few bucks in the couch/your mom's wallet? Snag a container of fresh blueberries and toss a few in every day.
I use my freezer, coupons and follow the ads. I make sure that I always have fresh fruit & vegi's for me & my kids and I try to get what is on sale. That way we get a variety.
Healthy real, whole foods does not have to be expensive. The best tip I've learned is to experiement with different cuts of meat. I can get a grass-fed beef roast for about $5 a pound, and it will easily feed me a week's worth of dinners. The trick was learning how to cook it. Make your crockpot your best friend and you will have have a tender, juicy roast. Only buy a few fruits and veggies at a time. I used to go shopping once very two weeks and fill up on produce, only to wind up throwing half it away because I didn't use it in time. CSAs are great! And personally, I think they are a great value. Now that the Farmers Markets have opened up here in Seattle, life is wonderful! I look forward to getting fresh, local delicious produce and trying new things.
It's true — extremely wealthy neighborhoods ARE like their own fantasy words! And I, too, have SOOOO much more fun in the Bronx than on the UES! 😀
Thanks! The financial and physical differences between the various inhabitants of my city continue to fascinate me. Personally, I'd rather have a little junk in the trunk in the Bronx than be skin and bones on 76th and Madison. 😉
The rich=thin correlation does not surprise me at all, and I'd suspect a lot of it comes down to having more time to take care of yourself, as I think has already been mentioned.
I've never really sat down to figure out what I'm spending per day on food. I spend usually around $200/week at the grocery store, for 2 people, which would work out to around $14 per person per day. Except that a) Husband usually buys his breakfast & lunch, whereas I usually eat food from home, and b) that bill would include some non-grocery items. Still, I'd say that buying a lot of fresh produce and meat would likely add up to more than a box of KD or a fast food value meal.
I keep a list of the cost of staples (favorite cereals, apples, milk, etc) at all of the grocery stores where I shop. Then when I see that something is advertised as being 'on sale', I know if the price is truly a bargain.
Best eating healthy on a budget tip: Plant a garden (or bum fresh veggies off your neighbors that have them!) They are always happy to get rid of zucchini and squash.
eat about every 3 hours.
that way i never get to the point of starving (or go out and am suddenly hungry), when i'm way more likely to buy junk food, eat high-calorie foods or overeat.
Do you think there might be more pressure and social expectation on the richer urbanites to be slimmer?
I eat old fashioned rolled oats for breakfast and mix raisins to make it tasty. I buy both in bulk at a health foods store. Yum!
My best eat healthy on a budget is to buy frozen berries and veggies. They are generally cheaper and will last longer, I hate throwing food away because it's gone bad, it really is like tossing my money in the garbage. No, the rich=thin connection is no surprise, I grew up in an urban area of the Bronx, and a few years ago the one supermarket within walking distance (most people in NYC do not have cars) of my apt building was shut down and re-opened as a CVS Pharmacy! I'm glad my parents have a car so they would still get real food but what about everyone else?
You're SO right about that- the richer you are, the more able you are to access healthier foods, go to fancy gyms, hire personal trainers, and basically spend the time and effort required to ensure that weight gain doesn't happen (hiring private chefs, anyone?). One of my favourite tips is to make condiments from scratch. Ketchup and hummus take about 2 minutes to make, and it saves a LOT of money. Plus, if you add the right spices, it's actually going to taste way better than any storebought kind. Win-win!
umm i dont know where these people are shopping, because i manage to spend ~ $36/week on healthy foods. granted, im only shopping for myself, but still. i plan what i am going to eat for the week based on whats on sale at the store. i also clip coupons whenever i can to save some $$.
Great giveaway- I cut coupons and only buy store brands……only go for what is on sale=flexibilty!
Bagged frozen veggies from Kroger. They have specials – 10 bags – $10 = 10 lunches for me!
I buy big containers of spinach and fruit at Costco. It is cheaper and we do get through it. I also cook with lentils or beans instead of meat all the time.
I don't cut any coupons, but 90% of what I buy is fresh produce (which is pretty cheap, even where I live in Manhattan) and whatever meats are on sale. I freeze most of my meat (in my regular, apartment-sized refrigerator that I share with a roommate) and find that with the rotation at my grocery store, I pretty much always have whatever meat I'm in the mood for. I rarely spend more than $20/week cooking for myself, and I consider going out to dinner to be a form of entertainment – meaning it doesn't happen THAT often, and when it does, it comes out of my entertainment budget instead of my food budget. I do not understand how on EARTH people can spend that much to eat "healthy" unless their idea of eating healthy is to buy pre-packaged organic meals instead of getting off their lazy butts and cooking a few things.
Oh – and I typically work 60-80 hours/week. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes (MAX) to throw together a healthy meal when I get home at night! I usually cook every day too – I know it would be faster to "cook in bulk" but for 15 minutes a day, I'd rather have the variety.
Nice post i like your tips,
I eat healthy on a budget all the time!
I always have light but healthy food in my breakfast , and have some juice also.
yoga pants
Great work.I like your blog..Very informative.
I am always amazed and fascinated in that art work. I seen it before but still it looks so cool to me. I wish I can have that kind of give away.