OS and weight loss?

Joopin

Hi
Ive been lurking for a while and just love this site. Wow are you all an insperation. I really need to get my self together this year and stop this hemoraging money thing thats been going on for so long. I did a quick calculation of my situation and found that I could be saving about £500 per month towards things that I really want to do. Instead I have been making the Asda family very rich. Oh course that means Im going to have to stop smoking. I was going to quit just after new year but Ive had a ton of course work to do and focused on that first.

Im currently a student and although Im too old for it Im living with my mum (moved back home after my dad died then gave up a well paying job to go back to college) and my son.

For the last god knows how many years come the end of the month I have nothing left, doesnt matter if I was earning £2000 a month or the pitance I have now. I have to spend money. But Ive thought about it and I want to spend my money on things like taking my son snow boarding and getting some Jo Malone smellies rather than too much junk from the super market.

So this year will be the new me. But I also want to lose weight and eat healthy as well as cheap. The question is can this be done OS way? Normally when Im on a diet I end up going shopping almost everyday to buy healhy stuff even if I cant eat it and end up throwing it away.

My contrubution to the household budget will be me buying the food to feed us three and my brother most nights. Hoping to do this for about £200 a month. And I want it to be a healthy (and weight losing) as moch as possible.

Can this be done???

Thanks Joopin

MonkeyGirl

Welcome to the boards. I can't really help you with your questions as I'm trying to eat healthy and loose weight as well. What I have found that helps is having a food blender as somedays I just don't feel like eating a meal so I make up juices / smoothies out of fresh fruit and veg and then snack on fruit if I get the munchies.It may be woth getting a slow cooker as well. I've had one for about a year now but used it today for the 1st time and I'm chuffed with it. That way you wont be temtped to snack on unhealthy nibbles as you will be able to smell the aroma from the food in the slow cooker and the thought of eating that lovely food will keep you going as you wont want to spoil your dinner. Least it kept me going today.

I'm sure some other people who are far more useful than me will come along and help you out a bit more.

Good luck with it.

MonkeyGirl

Sarahsaver

cooking all meals from scratch, walking to the market and so on is very conducive to keeping a healthy weight;) I don't particularly think a 'diet' as such needs to be followed except if you have a medical reason. Years ago people were more physically active and didnt have processed food, and were less overweight.

nicki_2

I'd recommend picking up the Asda magazine this month - they've got HEALTHY recipes in it made from their Smartprice range. Cheap and healthy is the kind of diet I like. I usuall buy nearly all smartprice products and last year I lost over a stone in weight (but put all but 7lbs back due to personal probs and resorting to food/alcohol instead of sorting it out). Between that and eating LOADS of fresh fruit and veg, even smartprice versions, you shouldn't have any problems loosing weight! I feed a family of three (well OH and DD should actually count as 4 people the amount they can eat!) on £40 a week including toiletries, cleaners etc so £200 should be easy if you stick to Smartprice products;)

Ronankfan

If you eat healthy products rather than restrict yourself to a "diet" you should lose weight. I am hoping to feed a family of 5 on £40 a week next month so i will let you know how i get on (getting my menu planner ready!!!)

ms_london

Joopin wrote:

I did a quick calculation of my situation and found that I could be saving about £500 per month towards things that I really want to do. Instead I have been making the Asda family very rich. Thanks Joopin

Seeing that £500 saved each month should be motivation in itself!! Thats a huge amount!!

Well done on deciding to quit smoking!!

In terms of food shopping, take advantage of the online offers you get/free delivery etc. Asda smartprice may be cheap, but a lot of "diet products" arent - for example Weightwatchers products. Can you buy fruit/veg from a market? Or do you have a farmers market or butchers near you? Shop around for the best deals & see what's around.. It does take more time, but the market is SOOO much cheaper than the supermarket for fresh produce.

I think most of all you need to be organised, know in advance what you will be eating for the week, and take a list when you go shopping. Try out new healthy recipes & do a lot of homecooking, freezing any extra portions for a time when you might be too busy/tired to cook.

There are enough links & threads on this part of the board to get you started.

Good luck.

Ms_London

comping_cat

I changed to OS and healthy eating about a year ago, i dont think making my own foods, not buying the processed stuff etc is any cheaper, but my shopping budget definatly hasnt gone up, and in Feb im hoping to start reducing my budget by meal planning and sticking to my shopping list when i go out!!!
Catherine x

dooj

If you are thinking about stopping smoking then let me give you a little bit of advice, if you stop without using any nicotine replacements (which in my opinion is the best way) then you may feel what you think are hunger pains a lot of the time, in fact this is a symptom of nicotine withdrawl and you arnt actually hungry. So just be aware so you dont start to eat more than you actually need to. i stopped smoking over 2 years ago and its the best thing i did. Its not easy though and i found in the early stages i had to give myself lots of tasks to keep me busy and to stop myself from eating instead. Also be careful if you go out drinking cos without the cigarettes your drinks may go down a lot quicker (this happend to me i have never been so drunk in my life) so drink slowly.
Good luck with the weight loss and the smoking.

I am trying to loose some weight too and went shopping last night and bought the fresh ingredients version of what i would normally eat and it cost me almost exactley the same amount of money.
I think the key to losing weight is planning ahead, regular exercise and having lots of fruit around to ssnack on.

Pink.

Hi Joopin,

Welcome to mse :hello:

There are a couple of weight loss support threads that may help anyone who is trying to lose a few pounds after Christmas.

On the I wanna board there is the long running Lose weight 4 and in the Discussion Time board there is a recent one started for Old Stylers to chat and support each other, OS Detox/Weight Loss Thread.

Pink

Alfietinker

Hello! First tip: ignore the butter-making thread ;-)

Seriously. We're (hubby and I) are losing weight and saving money. We used to drink every night, now we save it until the weekend.

Our biggest saving has been cooking for 2 days. We used to buy meals that would "serve 4" and eat the lot. Now we eat the same amount over 2 days.

Cooking yourself can save loads of money, although we tend to bypass recipes that call for expensive ingredients like saffron.

Good luck!

Penny-Pincher!!

My OH has put on weight since changing to OS. We eat well but meals are I think heavier (suet puddings, cakes, potatoes, dumplings, sauces etc etc) even compared to when we had loads of take aways. Im lucky ATM as all food im eating isnt mal-absorbing properly, but if my body was "normal" LOL, Im sure I would have put on weight :eek:

We have saved a fortune through cooking OS. There's 3 of us (inc 11yr DD) and we spend about £30 a week which includes all food, cleaning products, laundry stuff (only buy certain stuff), tea/coffee (snob with these) and things like loo/ktchen rolls(again fussy). As im at home 24/7, when we do the evening meal-i make extra then have this for lunch the next day. Cook extra chilli/sauces to put on spuds through the week. Do HM stews weekly with dumplings and stick to good old fashioned wholesome food. Roasts, toad in hole, spagbol, shepards pie, chops, stews, curries, HM pies etc etc. All cheap and cheerful but good solid food that fills tummies

We buy alcohol when we can get a good deal via Tesco-normally using vouchers towards it. A few weeks back I managed to buy 15 bottles of Hardys, Jacobs Creek and a few other good wines for under £2.25 a bottle after using a voucher :eek: I dont drink, but OH will open the odd bottle of red and drink over 2 evenings. He loves his Guiness and draught bitters/beers, but again, they are only bought at cheap prices.

MEALPLAN every meal-start by just doing a week and buy what you need.

Breakfast here are normally something like: toast, cereal, fruit, croissants, muffins, pancakes, bacon sarnies, sausage sarnies, egg on toast and occasionally the full british All bakery goods are bought when reduced and frozen for when needed. If I get low on bread and unable to get reduced loaves-I buy Aldi's thick white at 25p a loaf and is lovely for toast or sandwiches.

Lunches are normally things like: left overs from day before, baked potatoes with HM chilli (portioned in freezer) or chese and coleslaw, sarnies/rolls with ham or cheese, beans on toast, soup and a roll, HM Pizza etc etc. DD has a packed lunch with sarnie/roll/chicken and rice, yogurt, 2 pieces of fruit, biscuit or HM flapjack/cake, crisps and a watery squash.

If you work away from home and normally buy a lunch, this is another area you can cut back on very easily and healthily.

Im sure you will do well. It may seem tricky at first but will become easier and second nature-promise

PP
xx